The controller is intricately involved in the company accounting process. And in many cases, they will do a lot of accounting day to day. But in larger finance teams, there’s a clear distinction between the two.
Accounting
Accounting is the act of recording the company’s transaction data. This includes money coming both in and out of the business. Thus, accountants are primarily concerned with recording figures accurately and as smoothly as possible. Obviously this is overly simplistic, but that’s the concept in a nutshell.
Controlling
As explained above, controlling is more concerned with ensuring that recorded data is accurate, on time, and within the rules set by the company. When there’s a discrepancy in the books, the controller’s should spot it, figure out what happened, and follow up with the parties involved.
They’re also typically in charge of policies and procedures to ensure that the right transactions are made by employees. The most obvious example is expenses – the financial controller is typically tasked with creating an expense policy and holding team members accountable to it.
Both accountants and financial controllers are involved in the financial close process – balancing the books at the end of every fiscal period, to start the next period fresh.
