The role of the management controller

The management controller plays a particularly important role in a company. A true pillar in decision-making, its main missions are to analyze the practices and strategies implemented within an organization in order to better control their performance. However, its missions are not limited to that. Over time, the profile of the management controller has evolved to adapt to technological development and the acceleration of the economy. 

Even though its function is fundamental for all companies, its role is sometimes misunderstood.
So what is a management controller and why is its role crucial? This is what we will see right away in this article.

Management Control: Definition

A system particularly used in business to control and measure performance. Management control proves to be an indispensable tool for decision-making. Management control has several uses:

• To steer activity and implement corrective actions

• To contribute to the establishment of a strategy and monitor its implementation

• To allocate the right resources at the right time, taking into account goals

It is worth noting that management control concerns different areas of the company (human resources, accounting, customer service, etc..)

‍Complementarity and Differences Between Internal Audits and Management Control

The purpose of management control is simply to ensure the proper management of a company.
It is a complementary function to internal control and audits (financial, legal, process), which together provide a global view of the management of the company and potential areas for improvement, and especially to ensure the proper achievement of the set objectives.

However, there are several differences between these two disciplines.
The management controller is generally directly attached to the general or financial management of the company. Moreover, it uses quantitative results daily to analyze past performances and anticipate future performances as well as potential risks to the business model of its company.
Internal control (and the resulting audits) has a more occasional dimension. The internal controller is more dedicated to ensuring compliance with operational processes and ensures that financial and human resources are well aligned to achieve the set objectives. These internal audits are also carried out independently and ensure that laws and standards are respected by the general management. 

‍What Is the Role of the Management Controller

The management controller's mission is to assist an organization in its overall economic strategy and in optimizing financial profitability. To do this, it helps to define realistic intermediate budgetary objectives based on data from the various departments of the company, creates dashboards to monitor the budget, and ensures the tracking of performances. 

To perfectly carry out its missions, it must constantly adapt to performance analysis tools and take into account the requirements and constraints of the company in which it operates. In constant monitoring, it must have a comprehensive view of the market to address the concerns of its manager.

The missions of the management controller vary depending on the sector and structure of the company. Management controllers have advanced analytical tools, but it is imperative that they have a good knowledge of the companies they work for. 

In these different structures, its missions will generally include:

• Implement management and monitoring tools, procedures, as well as ensure their use

• Prepare budgets 

• Regularly produce reports related to the activity of the organization 

• Monitor any discrepancies between projected objectives and achieved objectives and propose corrective actions

• Conduct a financial study

• Transmit all important information that may serve the company’s objectives

The Profile of the Management Controller in Small and Medium Enterprises

In a small business, management is, in principle, ensured by the same person responsible for finances and accounting. It is possible to have the same person responsible for accounting, finance, business management, or even human resources and IT. Additionally, the missions of the management controller in this type of structure generally rely simply on budget creation and performance tracking. It should be noted that the smaller the company, the more involved general management is in strategic decisions and sensitive file analysis.

Conversely, in medium-sized structures, the management controller is more versatile and is assigned more responsibilities (it will be closer to all activities, closer to strategic decisions and the analysis of confidential files). Moreover, it is not uncommon for him to be responsible for managing a project from start to finish. The goal remains the same: to support the company for better decision-making.

The Profile of the Management Controller in Large Enterprises

In large companies, the management controller performs the following missions: 

• The development of budgets and possibly budget adjustments during the year 

• The analysis of results and profitability within the company and by product or service 

• The tracking of company performance through the implementation of several dashboards and indicators determined according to objectives and analysis of discrepancies

• The establishment of control procedures 

• The preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual closings;

• The reporting of information to management and alerting in case of deviation;

• The recommendation of solutions and the implementation of corrective actions.

Overall, a management controller working in this type of structure will be assigned the same missions as in small and medium enterprises. However, the larger the company and the stronger and older the culture of management control, the more resources the management pole will have. In this case, it can focus more on analyzing and optimizing results.

The Skills of a Management Controller

Being a management controller requires a certain number of skills. Some are specific to the profession itself: 

• To have excellent knowledge in accounting 

• To have a perfect mastery of essential office tools for its activity (spreadsheets, databases, accounting software, etc.) and the company's ERP 

• To master the analysis and processing of accounting and financial information;

• To master English;

• To be able to synthesize

In addition to rigor and organization, a management controller is expected to have communication skills, managerial abilities, and a capacity for anticipation or even adaptation. 

The Evolution of the Business Management Expert

A new profile of management controller has emerged. While its missions and responsibilities have changed very little, the profile of a management controller has nonetheless evolved in recent years in line with technological developments and the acceleration of the economy.

The management controller must demonstrate innovation: Very often tasked with predicting results and designing solutions to optimize results. It must primarily use its innovative capabilities to find the optimal solution based on budgets, the company’s objectives, and internal capabilities.

True manager and link between the different areas of the company: Transversal management has become necessary for the management controller as it must adapt to the internal means of the company and create synergies with other departments. 

At the same time, the management controller must quickly integrate into the company and must understand the evolution of its market and the economic environment of the company in which it operates. Moreover, it is expected to engage with all stakeholders in the company (salespeople, IT specialists, marketing experts, executives, service providers, lawyers, etc.). 

The management controller must broaden its skills: Nowadays, management controllers are much more sought after to produce non-financial indicators, as companies are concerned about complying with laws related to sustainable development. 

Business intelligence tools also impact the role of the management controller. It is evident that they increasingly develop the skills of a business analyst in the sense that their role is to add value to numbers and to extract information and insights related to the health of the company.

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Thanks to BI tools, the management controller can relieve itself of tasks that may be perceived as too time-consuming. Thus, it can devote more of its time to analysis. 

What Career Prospects for the Management Controller?

The management controller can start his career as an assistant management controller or even as a budget controller. After a few years, it can choose to evolve into roles with higher responsibilities such as financial director or administrative director or simply choose to change sectors and/or company size.

The management controller is a sought-after profile by organizations, but hiring remains demanding. Moreover, it now cooperates and interacts more with other jobs in the company.