The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Strategic Thinking & Advising: Part II

Overview

The strategic controller helps leadership decide what should happen, not just explain what has already been done. The controller often acts as the enterprise translator between strategy, operations & financial outcomes. This can sometimes appear to be accuracy-focused & not necessarily decision useful insight. Controllers must move away From just variance explanation & include performance interpretation. To do this, the controller must understand business models & value drivers, be able to translate strategy into financial growth & align KPIs with strategic priorities. Part of this process includes understanding concepts of root-cause analysis vs. surface-level variance analysis. It also includes understanding correlation vs. causation in financial data. Within this segment we will review all of these concepts & controllers will come away with insightful ideas regarding how to elevate their roles.