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A Look at a Career as Controller in the Corporate Finance Industry

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A Look at a Career as Controller in the Corporate Finance Industry
Having worked in the Financial Industry for 11 years I feel like it would be natural for me to seek a job such as Controller at a Financial Institution or in the Finance Industry. In order to determine the requirements for such a position I searched a sample job description:
Responsible for direct supervision of all accounting and financial functions. Primary responsibilities include supervision of the monthly close process, monthly, quarterly and annual billings to clients for services provided, billing reimbursements from clients, collection of accounts receivable, supervising accounts payable, payroll, monthly reporting for the owner, monthly preparation of a reforecast, annual preparation of a budget, assist in the preparation of quarterly tax projections and annual tax return preparation and all treasury administration. The Corporate Controller will also be part of a team that creates and implements policies and procedures to identify, resolve and document accounting issues in addition to creating procedures to make the close and reporting processes more efficient and accurate. (www.accountingjobstoday.com)
“Budgeting is a key function of controllers and their staff, including the counting of spending and revenues” (www.about.com). As it would suggest, a Controller controls access to corporate funds. Controllers typically report to the chief financial officer (CFO) of an organization.

It’s typically required that one must have a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or management. It is also good to complete a CPA, CFA, or CMA program. With the great responsibility of the position and the education requirements also comes a higher tier of compensation. “The median expected salary for a typical Controller in the United States is $171,097. This basic market pricing report was prepared using our Certified Compensation Professionals' analysis of survey data collected from thousands of HR departments at employers of all sizes, industries and geographies.” (www.salary.com)
My employer, Metro Bank, has a Controller position. At Metro Bank our Controller oversees the Accounting Department, Finance Department, Purchasing, etc. The Controller is also strategic in passing the annual budget, financial forecasting, and the future of the organization as a whole. As Metro Bank is a small employer it is not unusual for additional tasks (such as Purchasing listed above) to be handing to the Controller:
In lean organizations, controllers can have broad job descriptions or a number of unstated additional duties, assuming a variety of additional roles. These can include market research, general data analysis, product management and 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. (www.about.com)

I believe this is an attainable career goal for me and would definitely like to aspire to a position of this magnitude. However, it is not a career to be taken lightly. The Controller has a lot of responsibility and therefore a lot of pressure to perform well. Someone who wants to be or is already a Controller would need to be very dedicated to their job, have great attention to detail, and enjoy working with numbers. You would also need to be able to balance work and home life well. This kind of career can take up a lot of your time and energy. If one chooses to have a family outside of work they would need to be able to balance the two well. Works Cited
Salary.com. “Salary Wizzard.” Controller Salary (2014): 1 Page. http://www1.salary.com/Controller-Salary.html Accountingjobstoday.com. “Corporate Controller Sample Job Description.” Accounting Jobs Today (2012): 1 Page. http://www.accountingjobstoday.com/cm/Job-Descriptions/controller4.html About.com. “Controller. The Financial Control Function.” Financial Careers (2014): 1 Page. http://financecareers.about.com/od/finance/a/controller.htm

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