The main role of a financial controller is to oversee an organization’s financial health. While it sounds straightforward, the position encompasses a wide range of responsibilities.
Financial controllers can create financial strategies to minimize costs and risks, manage accounting books and records, and ensure financial regulatory compliance.
Not every company needs a financial controller, but when operations reach a certain level, it can be beneficial to hire a dedicated professional to manage all finance-related matters.
What is a financial controller?
A financial controller manages all the aspects of a company’s accounting and financial operations.
As a senior management role, they are responsible for analyzing financial data and trends in order to create accurate reporting that reflects the company's current operations.
Financial controllers ensure best accounting practices and regulatory compliance are observed, and keep an eye out for any discrepancies that require further investigation.
The difference between a CFO and a controller
Although the role of a CFO (chief financial officer) and controller may have a lot of overlap, there are significant differences between the two.
CFOs are also experts in finance but instead apply their knowledge to a strategic big-picture view of the company. They are more involved in financial planning and forecasting, tracking cash flow, and analyzing how budgets and prices affect overall operations.
As the highest-level position within the financial department, CFOs are also responsible for major decision-making and presenting financials to company stakeholders and investors.
Financial controller duties, on the other hand, are more focused on accounting processes, reporting, and accurate bookkeeping. In fact, many controllers start out working as a certified public accountant (CPA) within an accounting team.
As a financial controller, their tasks include monitoring internal policies and budget controls, quickly spotting any discrepancies in balance sheets, general ledger, or other financial transactions. They are sometimes involved in financial strategies and planning, in support of the CFO.
Ultimately, a controller is responsible for ensuring all financial statements and records are accurate and adequately prepared for any regulatory audits.
Note that in some smaller businesses, the role of the CFO and controller are combined and performed by one person.
What is a comptroller vs. a controller?
Many people use the job title of comptroller and controller interchangeably, in reference to the individual in charge of a company’s accounting systems. However, the need for either role actually depends on the company and industry.
Comptrollers mostly work for government or nonprofit organizations, which comes with responsibilities to government officials and taxpayers. As such, comptrollers are more focused on managing available funds and keeping expenses within budget.
Comptrollers are generally perceived as higher level executives, compared to controllers.
Controllers are more commonly seen in for-profit businesses. They spend the bulk of their time monitoring financial accounting functions, return on investment, assessing risk, and ensuring compliance with legal regulations. Ultimately, a finance controller’s main concern is the company’s financial health and bottom line.
When does a company need a controller?
Companies that already have an accounting team and even a CFO may not know whether they also need a controller. While there’s no set time frame, here are a three signs that indicate your company might benefit from a financial controller:
Business operations are growing
Along with business growth usually comes new markets, more types of inventory, additional sales channels, and increasingly complicated finances. Hiring a controller to build the necessary financial systems will help streamline operations and create consistency between teams as the business grows.
Your finance teams are overwhelmed
It’s common for companies to look to their accounting department or CFO to perform tasks beyond their scope. For example, conducting internal audits or checking for financial regulatory compliance.
Controllers are high-level professionals dedicated to these such tasks, working to verify all transactions made within your company and ensuring all bookkeeping and accounting are in order.
You need more accurate financial reporting
This is the main reason to hire a financial controller. Whether a company notices discrepancies in its accounting books or is unsure of how to comply with regulations, these concerns are readily addressed by having a dedicated financial controller role.
A controller is primarily responsible for ensuring all finances and reporting are compliant, which can save you from any losses or unnecessary fines or losses in the future.
What does a controller do?
The standard financial controller job description is someone who oversees a company’s accounting operations and maintains financial integrity across all systems.
General tasks include maintaining accuracy of finance reporting, managing operational costs, and preparing tax and compliance documentation. The exact financial controller responsibilities, however, depend on the company’s size and industry.
Controllers in small- to mid-sized companies without a CFO may also perform financial analysis and strategy, in addition to the usual accounting and reporting tasks.
In a larger organization, where there is likely a CFO and more complex financial processing, controllers are dedicated to reporting and auditing. They focus on improving efficient use of the company’s finances through internal controls and accurate accounting information.
3 best practices for effective controllership
Maintaining accurate reports while also driving financial and operational performance is a challenge in any business. The best practices below can help drive effective controllership performance:
Digitize and automate processes
Controllers deal with a countless number of transactions, which can get messy without integrated finance management or business management software like QuickBooks Enterprise.
Making use of technology to automatically consolidate, organize, and report on finances greatly reduces the errors and time spent performing manual data input.
Give other teams access to data
With their unique view into company operations, controllers have become the go-to source for financial, operational, and performance data.
They’re able to generate detailed analysis and share data-backed insights that inform all areas of business. By building custom dashboards and reports, a controller can easily share financial information with other teams at the company. With QuickBooks Enterprise, controllers can customize over 200 built-in reports and save them as templates to run them anytime.
Establish open communication between teams
Finance is directly involved in all areas of business, from inventory purchasing to supply chain management. Establishing channels of communication between each team is necessary for controllers to get the data they need.
Additionally, once internal controls are in place, it’s equally important to monitor the processes for compliance and feedback. A practice of developing communication skills within an organization creates real results and the most effective controllership.
Final thoughts
Financial controllers play an important, distinct role within an organization. While not every company needs a controller for their current operations, being aware of the role’s function is useful for future planning.
If a company is experiencing continued expansion and needs a more efficient financial team, hiring a controller to build advanced financial reports and systems can help facilitate this growth.
