Controller Career Overview: Budgeting is a key function of controllers and their staff, including the counting of spending and revenues. As the title suggests, they "control" access to corporate funds, exercising an important fiduciary responsibility. In many situations, professionals in the controller’s organization must approve expenditures.
In most companies controllers and their staffs develop reports and analyses that are crucial to the management of the business. In addition to the measurement and analysis of corporate profitability, controllers work closely with people in the marketing function in setting prices for the company’s products and services.
In lean organizations, controllers can assume a variety of additional roles. These can include market research, general data analysis, product development, corporate strategy, business forecasting, liaison with information technology groups and acting as a de facto chief of staff for the line executive whom you support.
A large corporation will have multiple layers of controllers, depending on how its hierarchy of departments and divisions is organized. Working in a controllership function can be an excellent way to gain a broad knowledge of the business.
