The fund accounting is getting done. Reports arrive, questions get answered and the administrator knows the timetable. So why does the finance team still feel stretched? For a private equity firm considering its next hire, that question is more useful than immediately deciding it needs another accountant.
There may be work sitting between the formal responsibilities: coordinating information, reviewing exceptions, answering partner questions or making sure the right people are involved before a decision is needed. A new hire can help, but first the firm needs to describe what it wants that person to own.
Follow a question through the business
Take an ordinary request from a partner about a fund expense or an investor report. Who gathers the information? Who checks it? Who decides whether something needs attention? If the same senior person keeps pulling the answer together, the pressure may be about ownership and coordination as much as volume.
That does not mean the existing arrangement has failed. It means the recruiting brief should account for the work as it happens. A candidate needs to understand the questions they would be expected to answer, not simply the reports they would touch.
Distinguish the fund from the management company
A finance role may include fund reporting, management company responsibilities or a combination of both. Candidates should not have to discover that distinction late in the interview process. The experience required can differ, as can the daily rhythm and the people the hire would support.
Be specific about which responsibilities sit with internal colleagues and which sit with outside providers. If the new person will coordinate both, explain what that involves. Reviewing work, resolving an exception and preparing information from scratch are different assignments, even when they appear under the same broad heading in a job description.
Ask what the partners should stop doing
My view is that a finance search becomes clearer when a firm can finish this sentence: after this person is established, we should no longer need to handle these matters ourselves. That gives the discussion a practical destination.
The answer might involve a controller taking ownership of recurring work. It might call for a more senior professional who can help the partners think through the operating model. Or it might reveal that the firm needs to define responsibilities more carefully before adding another person. The title should follow that conversation.
It also helps to separate the immediate workload from the work the firm expects to add. A candidate can assess an opportunity more realistically when both are described plainly, including what remains uncertain.
Give candidates the real assignment
Before starting interviews, agree on a few questions:
- Which responsibilities will this person own immediately?
- Who will review their work and make the decisions outside their authority?
- How will they work with the administrator and other providers?
- What experience is essential, and what can be learned within the team?
- What would useful progress look like after the first several months?
Those answers give a private equity finance candidate something concrete to respond to. They also help an employer avoid comparing people against different versions of the same job.
Try a hiring brief built around one reporting cycle
Consider an illustrative private equity firm that has added a second fund. The administrator still produces the agreed reporting, but the internal finance lead now spends more time reconciling questions across funds, preparing explanations for partners and following up on missing information. The immediate reaction might be to advertise for a senior fund accountant.
Before doing that, write down what happens during one reporting cycle. Include the interruptions: a request for a different presentation, an expense allocation question, a late change and the follow-up needed before a document is approved. Then identify which work requires technical production, which requires review and which requires someone to coordinate the answer.
Those distinctions can change the search. A technically strong accountant may be exactly right if preparation is the bottleneck. If the real need is to supervise providers, challenge information and handle partner questions, the brief needs to say that. Otherwise the firm risks hiring a capable person into a different assignment from the one it actually needs filled.
This example is a way to frame a discussion, rather than a prescribed staffing model. Your fund structure, internal team and service arrangements determine what belongs in the role.
Use interviews to explore how someone reviews work
A resume can establish that a candidate has worked with private equity funds. It may say much less about how that person reviews information prepared by others. Ask for an appropriately anonymized example of a question they investigated. What prompted the review? What did they check first? What did they resolve themselves, and when did they involve someone else?
Listen for an explanation you can follow. A candidate does not need to disclose a former employer’s figures to demonstrate a sensible review process. They should be able to explain their responsibility, the information available and how the matter reached a conclusion.
It is also useful to ask about communication. How would the person summarize an unresolved issue for a partner who has five minutes available? What information would they take to the administrator before asking for a correction? Clear answers help distinguish familiarity with a process from ownership of it.
For candidates considering private equity finance jobs, this works in reverse. Ask how much of the role involves preparing, reviewing and coordinating. An appealing title will not tell you how your week will actually be spent.
Agree on a sensible first few months
The first month should allow time to understand the people, providers and recurring deadlines. That sounds obvious, but a search can lose its way when everyone privately expects the new hire to redesign the finance function immediately.
Choose a few concrete priorities. Perhaps the person should take responsibility for one recurring review, make outstanding questions easier to track or document a handoff that currently relies on memory. Explain which colleagues will help and which decisions still belong with the CFO or partners.
My preference is to discuss those priorities before the offer, while there is still room to compare expectations. It helps the employer describe a credible opportunity and gives the candidate a fair basis for deciding whether the assignment suits their experience. It can also expose a gap between the seniority advertised and the authority the firm is prepared to provide.
That is a useful place for a recruiting conversation to begin: what needs to work better, and what should the next person reasonably be able to change?
One final question belongs in the brief: what would make this a worthwhile next step for the person you hope to attract? A clearer remit, meaningful ownership and access to the right colleagues may matter alongside compensation. The employer should be able to describe those features accurately. Candidates can then evaluate the opportunity on its actual responsibilities, and the search can focus on people who want that kind of work rather than everyone with a similar title.
Start with the work that needs attention
At Ramax, the useful starting point is the business problem behind the search. If your finance function feels stretched, you do not need to arrive with a finished job description. We can discuss the responsibilities, the relevant experience and the kind of professional who could take the work forward.
Discuss private equity recruiting with Ramax.
Related perspectives
- A CFO and a Controller Sound Like the Same Job
- Does Your Fund's Finance Function Match Its Next Stage?
October edition. Prepared and reviewed October 22, 2026.
