How to: Finance Recruitment for SMEs

Recruiting top financial talent is a critical challenge for UK SMEs, especially in a landscape littered with economic uncertainty and driven by rapid technological change. Over £20 billion was earmarked for recruitment in 2024, and in 2025, SMEs are demonstrating a strong commitment to growth and innovation. This guide offers a structured approach to navigating the complexities of finance recruitment, ensuring your SME attracts and retains the right talent.​

Step 1: Where are you now?

Start this process by looking at your current financial operations and identifying any gaps.

• Strategic Roles: Do you need a CFO or Finance Director to guide financial planning and strategy? Is your finance team lacking leadership and someone who can help drive innovation?
• Operational Roles: Is there a need for a management accountant or a financial analyst to manage the overall accounting and forecasting process? Does your team need more support at transactional level to help manage the day-to-day accounting process?
• Specialist Roles: Some SMEs find themselves in need of specific support. You might need a Risk and Forecasting Manager, or someone who specialises in FP&A.

Understanding these needs will help in crafting precise job descriptions and targeting the right candidates.​

Step 2: Have you defined your employer value proposition (EVP)?

In a competitive market where finance vacancies surged by up to 14.4% over 2024, a compelling EVP is essential. Your EVP should wrap up your unique combination of benefits, culture and rewards offered to your team.

Think about the things you offer that make you an attractive employer:

• Growth Opportunities: Highlight any potential for career advancement within your SME. By nature, SMEs grow quickly and provide opportunities for growth.
• Flexible Work Arrangements: This is still vital in 2025. Yes, we’re all sick of hearing about it, but you’ve got to keep on top of what your employees want.
• Inclusive Culture: Demonstrate your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’ll potentially impact your company’s reputation, incoming talent and overall success if you don’t.
• Technological Innovation: If your finance team are changing the game with new tech, talk about it. Technology is exciting and shows you’re committed to keeping up with how the world changes.

Step 3: Are you utilising all available recruitment channels?

Ensuring you’re using appropriate channels to find new talent for your SME is crucial. Here’s some options:

• Leverage your professional network: Use platforms like LinkedIn to connect with finance professionals.​
• Use a recruitment agency: Partnering with agencies that specialise in finance roles (like Sewell Wallis!) lets you tap into their expertise and networks.
• Reach out to educational institutions: Engage with universities and colleges to gain access to emerging talent pools. That finance grad could be your next FC a few years down the line! ​
• Look at apprenticeship programs: Think about apprenticeship schemes - 53% of SMEs are using apprenticeships to address skills gaps cost-effectively. ​

Step 4. Is your hiring process structured and solid?

A well-defined hiring process ensures consistency and fairness, makes it easier for talent to interact with and ensures all your hiring managers are coming at the process from the same perspective and with the same tools.

• Screen your applications: Use standardised criteria – qualifications, years of experience etc. - to evaluate resumes and cover letters. A recruiter can expedite this part of the process pretty seamlessly.
• Interview Stages: Think about conducting multiple interview rounds. If the role is technical, having an element of that as part of the assessment is a good idea. You’ll also want to make sure you’re considering cultural fit and asking questions about your candidate’s values and goals.
• Decision-Making: Involve key stakeholders in the final selection process to ensure alignment with the wider business goals as well as the team’s goals.

Using a structured approach encourages informed hiring decisions and can drastically reduce the risk of turnover, which can cost thousands.

Step 5. They’ve said yes, now what?

Research shows that 69% of employees are likelier to stay at a company for three years if they experience great onboarding.  e new hires to company policies, culture, and expectations from Day 1.

• Provide mentorship opportunities: Pair new employees with experienced staff to facilitate knowledge transfer.​
• Offer continuous feedback: Make sure to establish regular check-ins to address concerns and provide support – a new employee is more likely to talk if they’re shown it’s okay to do so.

Ensuring you’ve got a strong onboarding process and the first three to six months of someone’s role are clearly mapped out will help settle the employee into your business, and more importantly, allow you to hold onto your hard earned talent.

Step 6. Monitor, learn and adapt:

Regularly review your recruitment outcomes to identify areas for improvement in the process. Get feedback from people who’ve recently been through it.

• Have some key performance indicators: Track metrics like time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and employee turnover rates.​
• Build a mechanism for feedback: Solicit input from new hires and hiring managers to refine the recruitment process. This can be as straightforward as an anonymous questionnaire and doesn’t need to be overly complex.
• Keep on top of market trends: Stay informed about industry developments to adjust your strategies accordingly.

Continually improving your recruitment cycle will make sure they’re effective in the long term and continue to be aligned with business objectives, even when they change.

Finance recruitment for SMEs needs to involve a strategic approach. You need to understand your needs and what you’ve got to offer, make sure your process is tight and you’re using it in the right places, and double down your efforts into retention and making your recruitment process slick. Following this guide will make it easier to navigate your first few finance hires into your SME, and help you to build a robust finance team that works well together and drives business growth.