Controller and Rules and Operational Standards

Controller and Rules and Operational Standards
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Controller and Rules and Operational Standards
Introduction
The duties and responsibilities of the financial controller have changed significantly over the last few years. Most of the challenges that financial controllers face have been fuelled by the transforming regulatory climate as well as budget and resource constraints and plans for corporate expansion. With the change in priorities, financial controllers have found themselves conducting the duties that were traditionally designed for the chief finance officer (CFO) (Stanton, 2014). This paper examines the current role of the financial controller as well as the internal control policies and procedures for accounting operational standards.
Apart from just delivering the usual monthly reports and ensuring that there are rigorous controls, financial controllers are called upon to make more contributions in to the organizational practices. One of the things that the financial controller is being called to do is to get involved in the organization’s hiring process (Paramore, 2013). Instead of leaving the duty of locating good talent to the human resource department, the financial controller is supposed to ensure that they add value to the organization by helping the organization to invest in highly capable people who have inside knowledge about the business and can offer the chief executive with the information that is ideal to manage the business (Leung, 2013).
The other modern role of the financial controller is to ensure that there is improved reporting. Despite the changing roles, management reporting still remains the foundation on which the financial controller’s role is founded since it is essential to the interface of finance and the business. Despite this importance, internal management reporting is not considered as one of the more successful areas of the finance functions. Given the importance that internal reporting is to the organization’s success, the financial controller is supposed to ensure that management reporting is strongly linked to business strategy. Instead of just relying on a one-size-fits-all reporting tool, the financial controller must come up with the ideal measures and reporting format for the business. This means that the controller has to liaise with all the departments in the organization and even outside to come up with ideas on the areas that they can improve for better reporting (Desroches, & Lawson, 2014).
The other function of the financial controller is to ensure that there is accuracy and reliability in the reporting process. Although the management can do a lot in ensuring that the business enterprise is well serviced, the controller is still supposed to ensure that the numbers are robust. This is especially the case considering that many organizations are operating on tight budgets. Despite this, the organization still has to contend with numerous regulations and the controller is left with the pressure to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Most of the pressure is brought in by the strict accounting rules that have been set up by the IFRS. Together with performing these new roles, controllers are still expected to perfor...