The Controller Function: Elevating the Role

Overview

This is the beginning of a series that will cover major aspects of the Controllership function. Controllers are essential to the day-to-day accounting for organizations. Yet, the role is not often readily understood. In today's world of acronyms such as CFO, CEO, COO, CAO, etc., the Controller function may get lost in the shuffle. However, they are a critical group of professionals who ensure the adequacy & transparency of accounting & financial reporting information.

A Controller is an individual who has responsibility for all accounting-related activities including high-level accounting, managerial counting & finance activities within a company. The duties of a Controller include assisting with the preparation of the operating budgets, overseeing financial reporting & performing essential duties relating to payroll. However, in today’s evolving world, the Controller function can provide much more in-depth value to their organizations. This series is dedicated to exploring the traditional Controller role & stepping out of the box to identify areas where the Controller can add strategic value to their organizations. In this first course we focus on the typical Controller function & begin to identify ways to elevate the function.