case study financial controller

Case Studies
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Case Study 1: Legal Firm using Outsourced Financial Control

A 3 partner legal firm with a staff of 15 seemed to have the accounting resources required to manage the practice. It had a full time experienced bookkeeper and an accountancy practice that looked after its tax compliance. However, the partners didn't feel that they were getting the financial information they needed to manage the practice on a day to day basis. They have engaged FinancialController.ie and their financial management concerns have been resolved. Their outsourced financial controller comes on-site 1.5 days per month and generates a financial report showing the profit for the month, variances against budget, fee performance by fee earner, status of outstanding fees and a cash flow forecast. In addition to the on-site time the financial controller is available via e-mail or phone to deal with any queries that arise in the normal course of business. The practice know knows where it stands financially and the "finance black hole" that was once a bone of contention between the partners is now in the safe hands of an experienced financial controller.

Case Study 2: Hotel use of an Interim Financial Controller

When a major Irish hotel group was faced with the resignation of the financial controllers from two of its hotels in the same week it decided to use the opportunity to restructure the senior finance team. However, this would take a number of months and in the meantime they needed a solution to maintain the financial management of two hotels. FinancialController.ie took over the Financial Control responsibilities of both hotels during the restructuring period and also provided valuable input into the efficiencies that could be introduced to assist the restructuring process. The project lasted 6 months.

Case Study 3: Business start up use of an Interim Financial Controller

Edun was founded by Bono and Ali Hewson to promote the production of designer clothing in third world countries. It is a global company with headquarters in Dublin. During the start up phase the company didn't need a full time Financial Controller. However, it needed the expertise and financial integrity that an experienced finance executive would provide. The role was filled by a member of our FinancialController.ie team. Initially this was on-site for 2 days per week. As the business started to grow this quickly increased to 3 days per week and in a short period the company reached the point where a full time role existed. We liaised with recruitment agencies to source suitable candidates, conducted the first round interviews and short listed the candidates to meet the executive management team. The final step was to transition the finance function to the successful candidate. The end of another interim financial controller role!

Case Study 4: Project Management of a Business Growth Phase

A food distribution company was awarded a significant national distribution contract by one of the largest retail organisations in Ireland. The impact on the finance department was significant as it involved the administration of the "order to payment" process for an additional 150 suppliers. The company needed resource and a plan to integrate the new contract into the existing finance function. The solution was provided by FinancialController.ie . The work was structured into a set of project deliverables and a team assembled to do the work with minimal disruption to the existing responsibilities of the finance department.

Case Study 5: Business Planning Project

Independent Colleges was established in 2008. This was a multi million euro investment in the 3rd level education marketplace. FinancialController.ie worked with the founders over a six month period to prepare the business plan and eventually present the financial analysis to the investors. When the college commenced operations the financial projections were handed over to the newly appointed finance director.

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How the role of financial controller is evolving

Ernst & Young Global Ltd.

Integrating ESG considerations into financial strategies

The role of the financial controller is increasingly intertwined with ESG principles. As these considerations become more central to corporate strategy and risk assessment, controllers should incorporate them into the financial planning and reporting processes. This must be aligned with sustainability goals and should be communicated to the stakeholders.

“It's exciting to see companies now hiring ESG controllers, putting the controllership at the forefront of this critical strategic initiative. With assurance being required over reporting, controllers are in a key position to lead the way for the company. This is a significant change from the past when statutory reporting or similar regulatory reporting would not have been the top priority of many corporate controllerships,” says Denardo.

Knowledge of non-financial reporting frameworks, such as those established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), is becoming essential. These frameworks guide the measurement and reporting of a company's sustainability performance, areas for which controllers are now responsible.

As businesses operate in a more interconnected world, financial controllers need to navigate a labyrinth of international regulations and reporting standards. The challenge is ensuring compliance with diverse regulations across markets and maintaining a harmonized approach to financial management that adheres to global standards and local regulations. Controllers should exercise due diligence and maintain an informed global perspective to safeguard the company's cross-border operations.

“The controllership function should adopt a globally local operating model, utilizing centralization to drive value while facilitating locally supported compliance, resilience and risk management. This should be a new operating model for controllers that balances shared services and business partnering functions while keeping compliance functions centralized. To effectively evolve, the controller's role must incorporate approaches that leverage technology and data for simplification and harmonization while maintaining a supportive local presence for compliance and risk management,” says Singh.

In an era where data breaches can decimate a company's finances and reputation, financial controllers are the custodians of financial data security. The confidentiality of financial information is paramount and the controller's responsibility extends to ensuring robust data governance and cybersecurity measures are in place. “The risk management, the agility and the scale of change happening in the market is significantly bigger and faster compared to several years ago,” says Denardo.

The volume and velocity of financial data in the digital age make maintaining accuracy in financial reporting more complex than ever. Controllers must ensure that financial statements are error-free and provide an accurate and fair view of the company's financial situation. With the pace of change in technology and regulation, financial controllers should commit to continuous learning and skill development. They need to anticipate future trends and challenges, adapting their practices and knowledge base to remain effective and relevant.

The expanding universe of controllership

The financial controller's role has evolved to include a more significant contribution to strategic decision-making. They are increasingly involved in guiding investment strategies, managing risk and identifying areas for growth. Financial controllers are becoming chief architects in shaping the business strategy, tasked with steering their companies through the uncertainties of the market with a firm hand on financial levers.

The traditional path from the controller to CFO is transforming as well. Now, controllers are seen as potential Chief Value Officers, a title reflecting their broadened influence over creating and preserving value across the organization. “Having a vision and cascading it down to your team is crucial. Financial controllers can't be isolated; they need to drive strategic vision within the finance function. Financial controllers should strive for a seat at the table to voice their insights and drive change, which is a critical skill,” says Simone Moretti, Asia-Pacific Managed Services Associate Partner at Ernst & Young LLP Australia.

With digital transformation, financial controllers are now the vanguards of technological assimilation within the finance function. Gone are the days when their primary concerns were ledgers and compliance checks. Today, they must exhibit a command of advanced financial software platforms. These systems streamline financial operations and open doors to in-depth data analysis, providing a granular view of the company's financial health and enabling predictive insights.

“The controller needs to become a native citizen of technology. They need to have an open mind, curiosity and the ability to apply new tools, available functionalities and technologies, but also be skeptical enough to select which technology makes sense for their company and their specific situation,” says Vaida Lapinskiene, EY Asia-Pacific Accounting Compliance & Reporting Leader.

Controllers should develop a dual expertise: a thorough understanding of financial fundamentals and proficiency in data analytics. These competencies enable them to convert complex data sets into straightforward intelligence that can inform and shape strategic business decisions.

They are now central players in crafting corporate strategy, driving innovation and ensuring ethical governance. Financial controllers have a pivotal role in guaranteeing that their companies prosper financially and contribute positively to society and the environment.

Controllership today represents not just a set of tasks, but an overarching dedication to fostering sustainable business practices and upholding the integrity of financial reporting. In doing so, controllers secure their place as indispensable advisors in their organizations, poised to navigate the complexities of the modern business world.

“The controller's role has transformed significantly; from being a traditional accountant, they have evolved into ‘value articulators’ – a custodian of value realization who assesses whether investments deliver their financial promises. No longer just transactional, today's controllers are data and tech-savvy forward-thinkers, essential for guiding the right decisions, ensuring compliance and driving the organization toward resilience and growth,” says Singh. For example, if the corporate controller of a US$25b energy company initiating a finance transformation saw her team’s future as including more active partnership with their pricing teams on managing revenue, versus just reporting on revenue, given the team’s in-depth understanding of how the company generates revenue.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve and ESG criteria becomes critical, the financial controller's role will continue to expand. These professionals are at the helm, steering the finance function through transformative times with a steady hand and a clear vision for the future.

How to prepare for the future of controllership

Upgrade your skill set: as a financial controller, actively pursue knowledge in data analytics and advanced financial software platforms to enhance your strategic decision-making capabilities.
Embrace technological proficiency: dive into the latest financial technologies and tools, and be discerning in choosing the right ones that fit your company's needs to stay ahead in automation and predictive insights.
Integrate ESG principles: familiarize yourself with non-financial reporting frameworks like GRI and SASB to incorporate ESG considerations into financial strategies, ensuring alignment with sustainability goals.
Maintain global compliance awareness: keep abreast of international regulations and develop approaches to maintain compliance while harmonizing financial management across different markets.
Prioritize cybersecurity vigilance: prioritize financial data security by implementing robust governance and staying updated on the best practices in cybersecurity.
Commit to continuous learning: commit to lifelong learning to adapt to rapid changes in technology, regulation and global business practices.
Engage in strategic business involvement: seek active participation in corporate strategy discussions and investment decisions, positioning yourself as a chief value officer and a vital business partner.

The role of financial controllers has significantly evolved from a traditional bookkeeping job to one that is central to strategic decision-making, incorporating advanced technologies, data analytics and ESG principles into their work. With a focus on continuous learning and embracing digital transformation, they are pivotal in steering companies toward sustainable growth and ethical governance, positioning themselves as vital architects of corporate strategy and value realization.

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EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

CASE STUDY: Financial Controller, EMEA
Case Studies

DESCRIPTION

The EMEA Financial Controller role was responsible for the back office finance and regional cash management of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Direct, manage and motivate a culturally diverse team (up to 120 people through 10 direct reports).
Develop and roll-out internal control guidelines, accounting policies (in compliance with IFRS) and standardised processes.
Manage general ledger, accounts payable and cash application activities.
Deliver accurate trial balances on pre-close deadlines and signed-off reporting packs post month-end close within set deadlines, ensuring clearance of suspense accounts.
Manage regional external and internal audit process.
Proactively liaise with BU and Support Finance teams to create process efficiencies and ensure entries are accurate and complete.
Deliver accounting services within budget.
Tax, statutory accounts & local compliance.

WHAT WENT WELL

Regular monthly financial reviews with regional financial controllers and the exercise of financial discipline throughout the department.
Accurate and timely financial reporting to management.
Tight control of departmental budget.
Message of openness, approachability and team-spirit promoted throughout the department through strong communication and role modeling behaviour.

LESSONS LEARNT

Strong cultural differences reside across regions and countries. An appreciation of these different cultures is essential to the motivation of the entire department.
Awareness of the environment is an important part of the controller’s function to maintain strong internal controls and prevent (and detect) fraud. E.g. geopolitical factors such as poverty, war, etc., increase the risk of company theft/fraud.

SITA (Société internationale de télécommunication aéronautique)

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12 Essential Financial Controller Interview Questions *

Toptal sourced essential questions that the best interim financial controllers can answer. driven from our community, we encourage experts to submit questions and offer feedback..

Interview Questions

Technical: How do you measure the accuracy of your work?

The candidate should be able to explain cogently a process for ensuring that errors are minimized. This will come down to a combination of technical skills for navigating spreadsheets and an understanding of the interconnectivity between accounting statements. Exceptional candidates do not eschew responsibility, nor pass blame onto others.

Technical: Explain two differences between IFRS and US GAAP accounting principles.

Among other potential examples: 1. GAAP is rules-based, and IFRS is principles-based. 2. IFRS prohibits the use of last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory accounting methods, GAAP rules do not. 3. GAAP requires financial statements to include a statement of comprehensive income. This element is optional under IFRS.

Technical: How do you see your profession evolving in the future? How are you preparing yourself to stay on top of these changes?

This is entirely subjective and can provide clues to the candidate’s vision and ambition. It is also a less obvious way of assessing how they stay up to speed with developments of their profession (and accreditations).

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Technical: What are the three core attributes that you would look for in hiring junior members for this team?

Assess for a broad mix that has a correct blend of both behavioral and technical qualities. One specific red flag would be for answers that would indicate a preference for hiring staff that - from either a technical or behavioral perspective - would be seen as “unthreatening” to the candidate’s position.

Technical: What is your process for auditing reports that you have delegated to other team members? How do you ensure their accuracy?

An enlightening answer is one that stresses the need to delegate and empower other team members but where there are suitable checks and balances that are in place. From a technical perspective, the use of control sheets in spreadsheets to organize assumptions together and precedent/dependent formula auditing are direct examples of actionable processes.

Behavioral: Describe a time when you needed to learn a new product from scratch for controlling purposes.

This inquiry sheds light on the cognitive abilities of the candidate to understand the commercial output of their business, and also on their objectivity. For example, if their answer includes elements of self-conducted research, alongside sitting with internal product teams, it highlights that they challenge - and verify - the base assumptions that they are provided.

Behavioral: Explain a time where your work led you to uncover a potential inefficiency or opportunity in the business. How did you work to communicate and implement this into commercial functions?

Another example of probing into the commercial mindset of the applicant and how naturally it comes to them to try and improve efficiency and strive for commercial excellence, despite their role traditionally being seen as a process-led, back-office function.

Behavioral: Elaborate on your process for prioritizing work.

Pay attention to the criteria used to prioritize work. Good points are when it is assessed based on timing, commercial importance, and spillover benefits to other priorities. Negative points would be when an arbitrary/subjective hierarchy is followed, such as the seniority of who the request is for.

Technical: Teach me something about a feature in Excel that I might not know much about.

The answer can be anything, so long as it’s not a very standard function (i.e., =SUM) of the software. Look more for how they can explain technicalities without visual aid and their elaboration on how learning such features helps them save time and/or work more efficiently.

Behavioral: Describe a time when you dealt with a difficult/evasive member of staff and how you worked around the obstacles.

Controllers can meet resistance from commercial team members that are looking to meet targets and book deals that may just solely suit their agenda. An effective controller is both inquisitive, persistent, and brave enough to get to the bottom of issues. Their answer should emphasize more the parts of how they worked to resolve the conflict in a professional manner, with a clear path toward a more amicable relationship going forward.

Behavioral: Have you ever been involved in ethical situations where your role was conflicted by different goals placed on you?

Controllers may find themselves in difficult situations where they are trying to appease the needs of commercial units and their responsibility to file objective accounts. Assess for a convincing progression through the STAR framework - situation, task, action, and result. Pay specific attention to action and result aspects, more so over any salacious details of the situation.

An insightful answer will shed light on how the applicant views ethics in their profession and how they reconcile situations in accordance with their responsibility.

Behavioral: How do you keep up to speed with the commercial developments of the business that you currently work for?

A controller’s role will be constantly evolving due to new accounting standards and the general evolution of the business area that they work in. A proactive candidate that keeps abreast of changes to policies and industry macro trends demonstrates that they are more of a proactive worker than a reactive follower.

There is more to interviewing than tricky technical questions, so these are intended merely as a guide. Not every “A” candidate worth hiring will be able to answer them all, nor does answering them all guarantee an “A” candidate. At the end of the day, hiring remains an art, a science — and a lot of work .

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Submitted questions and answers are subject to review and editing, and may or may not be selected for posting, at the sole discretion of Toptal, LLC.

Looking for Interim Financial Controllers?

Looking for Interim Financial Controllers ? Check out Toptal’s interim financial controllers.

Timothy A. Martin

Tim is an experienced CFO and finance professional in all aspects of financial planning, financial analysis, M&A, corporate accounting, and business case development with companies like IBM and Emerson Electric. He has extensive expertise in building dynamic, executable business/financial plans and enjoys freelancing as it allows him to help multiple clients at various stages of development across a wide range of industries.

Carol Kraemer

Carol advised in the sale of a global multi-billion dollar energy company and served as a sub-segment controller/CFO for Siemens. She helps companies grow through acquisitions, fundraising, and strategic advisory. Carol has built some of the most sophisticated financial models for high-tech startups as well as large corporations and infrastructure projects. Freelancing allows her to broaden her industry focus while working with very driven CEOs.

Ted Bartlett

Ted has led the finance and operational functions of companies with sales ranging from $2 million to $20 billion, including Xerox and the Gowan Company. He has recently specialized in modeling, negotiation, and deal architecture for mid-market M&A transactions and joined Toptal to help a broad array of clients to create value through acquisitions. Ted is also a licensed CPA and holds an MBA.

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Career focus: financial controller

Published: 15 May 2020 By Student Accountant

There are few jobs that sound more important than that of a financial controller. More people in real control of the finances are surely what the world needed a couple of years ago as it teetered on the brink (and then fell headfirst into) a chasm of global financial doom.

But what do financial controllers actually do – and to what degree are they really in control? There is no doubt that it is a popular career path for those who have worked for the ACCA Qualification, but full commitment is essential, as our case study shows. Really high achievers can expect reward both in terms of quality of work and also remuneration, but there are a number of roles on the path towards being financial controller of a multinational corporation that give finance professionals a diverse and challenging career.

As far as the nuts and bolts of the job, Nik Pratap, director at Hays, says: ‘Financial controllers primarily oversee all of the day-to-day operations in the finance department and will report directly to the finance director. They will typically come from a management or financial accounting route or from a firm of accountants and will now be working towards becoming a finance director.’

He also points out that generally speaking the job title of ‘company accountant’ is associated with smaller companies, whereas financial controllers are found within larger companies, though the duties of both roles are largely very similar.

Ben Searls, manager at Badenoch & Clark, meanwhile, adds: ‘Small companies tend to employ a company accountant to manage the entire financial responsibilities of the organisation. However, this tends to be a standalone role compared to a financial controller who will have a team that assists with a variety of tasks.’

‘A financial controller is responsible for the monthly, quarterly and annual management of financial accounts. They look after the financial reporting for the business and tend to be the finance director’s second-in-command. Their role is to manage the company’s transactions, such as accounts payable, receivable, payroll, control accounts and general operational finance,’ he adds.

Because of the close relationship between the accountant and senior management, a financial controller’s role can bring a unique set of challenges – and opportunities. ‘Financial controllers need to take more of an interest in the overall performance of a business rather focusing solely on the numbers,’ says Pratap.

It can sometimes be a challenge to make sure that the role of the finance controller is as visible as possible.

‘A current challenge is encouraging the business to work in partnership with the finance team, rather than seeing it as a back-office function,’ warns Searls. ‘By integrating the finance department into the heart of the organisation, controllers will find it easier to build strong relationships with key members of the organisation. This, in turn, makes it easier to maintain a two-way dialogue about the organisation’s finances and general health of the business.’

Because of the delicate balancing act that financial controllers have in terms of carrying out a crucial financial – and highly technical – role within a business environment, soft skills are imperative for candidates who want to pursue a career in financial control.

‘They will need to take on more of a business partnering approach to finance,’ says Pratap, ‘and they will need to be more involved in the business and strive to make a positive impact on a company’s profitability.’ On top of this, good leadership and communication skills are also paramount.

Search hundreds of roles from all over the world on ACCA Careers

This is not to say that soft skills should take the place of robust technical skills, which are, says Searls, ‘key for the role of financial controller, as well as the ability to demonstrate strong financial accounting skills and prepare management accounts.’

As with any job in the current climate, roles for financial controllers were impacted by the recession. But for every company that failed – or that shed staff during the lean period, there were as many that realised the importance of good business accountants, meaning, that now – according to Searls: ‘The role of financial controller is more in demand than ever and as such, the job market continues to improve. Our financial services teams are 80% up on recruitment activity when compared with the same time last year and the rest of the private sector is continuing to improve.’

Financial controllers work within all industries. Although sometimes the career you decide on early in your studies or straight after qualification is the one you have your entire working life, flexibility to change or diversify as the years go by can be a welcome perk of any job. Is it a question, then, of once in business, always in business?

‘Financial controllers can transfer into practice,’ says Searls, ‘however this is not the norm – most continue into their first finance director role. There are also opportunities to progress into more commercial roles and we see many specialise in areas such as audit, tax and treasury.’

‘The ACCA Qualification provides professionals with the skills they need to become a successful financial controller. We regularly meet professionals who have excellent careers as a result of their ACCA Qualification,’ says Pratap. However, he adds: ‘If a candidate wanted to complement their qualification they might look to take an MBA in the future.’

And Searls advises those interested to ask a current financial controller to mentor them and also to ‘keep as up to date as possible with international qualifications, as it will help you stand out against the competition’.

Case Study - Adrian Huen

Adrian Huen is an FCCA who qualified in Hong Kong in 1994 after taking an accounting degree in the UK. He explains why he was first attracted to a career in finance and chose to become a financial controller. ‘Accountancy is a profession that can be applied to and required by any kind of industries. All companies need some kind of finance functions. [It] is a very flexible profession and covers a lot of areas far beyond than numbers and financial reporting such as company and contract laws, tax and financial management. As an accountant, your career path can go as far as you could go within an organisation. It is a profession that can take you to the top of a corporate ladder.’ Starting as a financial controller, Adrian is now managing partner (commercial and finance) of an advertising network covering APAC (Asia/Pacific). He got the role through Michael Page International. ‘On a day to day basis, I provide financial and commercial advices/consultancy to the chairman and top management of the group in the region and local units in Asia, work with the top management on financial planning and business strategies (long and short-term), ensure all financial and reporting are in order as well as oversee clients and senior management staff contract negotiations.’ The biggest challenge of the work, he says, is to ‘manage senior management’s expectation within a huge organisation’. As far as the skills you need to be a successful financial controller, Adrian believes that you need to have good analytical skills and be able to work out the commercial and financial implications of any decision made with the organisation. ‘You need to react fast in any situation.’ Above all, he says, ‘you need to have extremely good interpersonal skills. At the end of the day, what we are dealing with in an organisation is people not numbers. Accountants are more than just bean counters. We need to be prepared to work as close partners with our senior management.’

This article was first published in Student Accountant

How a Financial Controller Contributes to Corporate Strategy

The financial controller (FC) is a dynamic role, balancing between detailed accounting, strategic financial planning, and leadership. A good financial controller is both a meticulous accountant and a visionary strategist, ensuring accuracy while driving efficiency.

As businesses evolve, so does this role. Today, companies expect their financial controllers to be more than just number crunchers; they're looking for strategic thinkers.

Let's dive deeper into what makes a financial controller tick and how their responsibilities are shaping modern businesses.

We'll be covering:

What is a Financial Controller?
The Financial Controller Job Description
The Strategic Contribution of Financial Controllers
Financial Controls & Their Impact on Strategy
Key Skills & Qualities of an Effective Financial Controller
How to Become a Financial Controller: Your Action Plan
Financial Controller: Final Thoughts

What is a Financial Controller?

A financial controller is the cornerstone of a company's financial integrity and precision. Often regarded as the backbone of an organisation's financial department, they ensure that the financial statements are not only accurate but also compliant with laws and regulations.

This position is occasionally referred to as the "comptroller."

Primary Responsibilities of a Financial Controller

Financial oversight : They supervise the company's financial activities, ensuring that ledgers accurately reflect the money flowing in and out.

Budgeting & forecasting : Using historical data and current market trends, they predict future financial outcomes and set budgets accordingly.

Regulatory compliance : They ensure that all financial reports adhere to local and international accounting standards.

Internal audits : Regularly reviewing financial processes to identify and rectify any discrepancies or inefficiencies.

Strategic planning : Assisting in shaping the company's future by providing financial insights and data-driven recommendations.

The Financial Controller Job Description

A financial controller stands as a pivotal figure within the finance department, often holding a senior leadership position. Those aspiring to this role should come equipped with a deep understanding of accounting and tax matters, coupled with a proven track record of leading teams and overseeing the company's financial records.

However, the role demands more than just numerical prowess. An effective controller is a proactive organiser and a driving force, ensuring the broader organisation adheres to financial guidelines and protocols.

Workable succinctly describes the role in their Financial Controller job description template :

"Finance Controllers are the keepers of an organisation’s accounting and regulatory compliance. They're responsible for managing information technologies, insurance, sales tax reporting, and federal income taxes, along with outside audits from CPA firms. They are often involved in detailed tasks that exceed their bookkeeping skills. In some environments, their duties extend to project management and other functions beyond accounting, like compliance."

Financial Controller vs. Other Financial Roles

While the title might sound similar, a financial controller's role is distinct from other financial positions, especially when compared to a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) .

Financial Controller (FC):

Focus : Primarily on the past and present financial activities of the company.

Scope : Ensures accuracy in financial reporting, compliance, and day-to-day financial operations.

Skill set : Deep expertise in accounting, auditing, and financial regulations.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO):

Focus : Primarily on the company's future financial strategy and growth.

Scope : Oversees the broader financial strategy, investment opportunities, and risk management .

Skill set : A blend of accounting expertise and strategic vision, often with a knack for leadership and stakeholder management .

In short, as The CFO Centre put it:

"The controller looks to the short term, the CFO is long-term. The controller helps make sure your company is compliant with issues, whereas the CFO focuses on the broader strategic direction."

While both roles are pivotal to a company's financial health, a financial controller ensures the financial foundation is solid, whereas a CFO builds upon that foundation to drive the company's financial growth and strategy.

The Strategic Contribution of Financial Controllers

Influencing decision-making processes .

At the heart of every successful business lies informed decision-making, and financial controllers play a pivotal role in shaping these decisions. With their finger on the pulse of the company's financial health, they provide invaluable insights that drive strategic choices.

Data-driven insights : Financial controllers delve deep into financial data, extracting actionable insights that can guide business strategies.

Risk assessment : By evaluating financial risks and rewards, they ensure that every business decision is grounded in fiscal reality.

Stakeholder communication : Acting as a bridge between the financial department and other business units, they ensure that all stakeholders have the financial information they need to make informed decisions.

Forecasting & Budgeting: The Crystal Ball of Business

Forecasting and budgeting are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet; they're the roadmap to a company's future. And no one understands this better than a financial controller.

Predictive analysis : Using historical data and current market trends, financial controllers predict future revenues and expenses , helping businesses prepare for what's ahead.

Resource allocation : With a clear forecast in hand, they guide how resources - both monetary and manpower - are allocated to ensure optimal growth and profitability .

Performance review : By comparing actual financial outcomes with forecasts, they identify areas of improvement, ensuring that the company is always on the path to financial excellence.

Driving Innovation & Efficiency

Staying ahead of the curve is paramount. Financial controllers are often at the forefront of driving innovation within the organisation, ensuring that the company remains competitive and efficient.

Technological advancements : They champion the adoption of the latest financial software and technologies , streamlining processes and enhancing data accuracy.

Operational efficiency : By continuously analysing financial workflows, they identify bottlenecks and implement solutions, ensuring that the financial department operates at peak efficiency.

Cost management : Through meticulous analysis, financial controllers pinpoint areas of unnecessary expenditure, recommending cost-saving measures that can significantly boost the company's bottom line.

Collaborative initiatives : Recognising the interdependence of departments, they often collaborate with other teams, introducing financial strategies that can optimise overall organisational performance.

Financial Controls & Their Impact on Strategy

What are financial controls .

Financial controls are the procedures, policies, and means by which an organisation's resources are safeguarded and efficiently utilised. They act as the guardrails that ensure financial transactions are executed correctly and are in alignment with the company's objectives.

Audit trails : These controls ensure that every financial transaction can be traced back to its source, promoting transparency and accountability.

Authorisation protocols : By setting clear approval hierarchies , financial controls ensure that expenditures and investments align with company objectives.

Reconciliation procedures : Regular checks ensure that the company's financial records match actual cash flows, preventing discrepancies and fraud .

The Strategic Power of Robust Financial Controls

When financial controls are robust and effective, they do more than just prevent errors—they become a strategic asset.

Informed decision-making : With accurate financial data at their fingertips, leaders can make decisions that are both timely and informed, driving the company forward.

Risk mitigation : Strong controls reduce the risk of financial mismanagement, fraud, and other fiscal pitfalls that can derail a company's strategy.

Resource optimisation : By ensuring that resources are used efficiently and in line with the company's goals, financial controls support strategic growth and expansion.

Stakeholder confidence : Investors, partners, and other stakeholders have greater confidence in a company with solid financial controls, leading to increased investment and collaboration opportunities.

Key Skills & Qualities of an Effective Financial Controller

Understanding the role of a financial controller is just the beginning. To truly excel, one must embody a blend of technical expertise and strategic vision.

Here's a deep dive into the essential skills and qualities that elevate a financial controller from good to great.

1. Building Trust

Trust isn't just a virtue; in the realm of finance, it's a currency.

For a financial controller, building and maintaining trust can make the difference between being seen as a mere functionary and being recognised as a pivotal leader within the organisation.

Here's why trust is invaluable and how to foster it:

Transparency in reporting : Clear, consistent, and honest financial reporting isn't just about compliance; it's a statement of integrity. By ensuring that all financial statements and reports are accurate and transparent, a financial controller sets the tone for trustworthiness throughout the organisation.

Open communication : Trust thrives in an environment of open dialogue. Regularly updating stakeholders, addressing concerns proactively, and being available for queries can solidify the financial controller's position as a reliable point of contact.

Consistent actions : Trust is built over time and can be eroded with inconsistency. By consistently making decisions that align with the company's values and best interests, a financial controller reinforces their reputation for dependability.

2. Strategic Vision

As mentioned previously, a financial controller's role extends beyond managing numbers; it's about foresight.

While daily tasks involve detailed financial operations, the true essence lies in anticipating what's next.

By analysing market trends and aligning them with the company's goals, a financial controller crafts strategies that not only address today's challenges but also pave the way for future opportunities.

This proactive approach ensures the company remains agile and prepared, no matter what the financial landscape presents.

3. Technological Adaptability

Today's financial controller needs more than just accounting skills; they need technological agility. That's where utilising automation tools comes in.

For financial controllers, it's not just about speeding up tasks - it's about enhancing accuracy. With automation, processes like invoice management are streamlined. Instead of manually entering each invoice detail, the system can handle it, reducing the risk of errors.

This shift allows financial controllers to focus on more strategic aspects of their role. It's about working smarter, not harder, and ensuring that every financial decision is backed by accurate data.

4. Continuous Learning & Adaptability

Finance is a dynamic field. For financial controllers, blending solid expertise with the ability to adapt is crucial.

Growth mindset : Finance isn't static. It evolves, and so should we. Continuous learning isn't just a buzzword; it's our compass in this ever-changing world.

Never stop learning : Whether it's a workshop, an online course, or a seminar, every learning opportunity is a step forward. It's not just about adding to our knowledge; it's about refining our expertise.

Staying in the know : Financial regulations shift and change. Being vigilant ensures we're not just compliant but also that we're safeguarding our organisation's financial future.

In short, being a top-notch financial controller is about blending the tried and true with the new, ensuring we're both relatable and razor-sharp in our professional journey.

How to Become a Financial Controller: Your Action Plan

1. kickstart with the right education .

Opt for a degree in subjects like Maths, Business, or Economics. These will provide a solid foundation for your financial career.

2. Choose Your Professional Qualification

Each qualification offers unique insights and skills. Decide based on your career aspirations:

Ideal for a broad understanding of global finance.

Duration: ~5 years, including work experience.

Best for those looking to delve into management accountancy.

Duration: 3-4 years.

ACA-ICAEW:

Perfect for those targeting roles in England and Wales.

Duration: ~3 years, inclusive of work experience.

3. Gain Relevant Experience

Even before completing your qualification, try to secure internships or entry-level roles in finance. This hands-on experience is invaluable.

4. Sharpen These Essential Skills

Effective communication : Take courses or workshops to enhance your ability to convey complex financial data simply and clearly.

Analytical thinking : Consider additional courses in data analysis or financial modelling. Being able to interpret complex data sets is a game-changer.

Time management : Explore tools and techniques to manage tight deadlines, especially during critical financial periods.

5. Network Actively

Join professional bodies : Being a member of institutions related to your qualification (like ACCA or CIMA ) can provide networking opportunities.

Attend workshops and seminars : Regularly participate in industry events to stay updated and meet potential mentors or employers.

6. Seek Mentorship

Find a seasoned financial controller or CFO willing to guide you. Their insights and advice can be instrumental in navigating your career path.

Remember, becoming a financial controller is a journey, not a destination. Each step you take, from education to networking, adds value to your profile and brings you closer to that coveted role. Stay proactive, keep learning, and you'll find yourself well-prepared to take on the challenges of the role.

Financial Controller: Final Thoughts

Navigating the world of finance isn't just about crunching numbers. It's about understanding the heartbeat of a business, making informed decisions, and guiding a company towards its future.

Financial controllers are central to this mission, ensuring every financial move aligns with the company's vision. Yet, there's a common misconception: they're often seen as just the "numbers people" while strategic roles are reserved for CFOs.

This perspective needs a refresh. Controllers are well-equipped to think both tactically and strategically. Their role is evolving, and it's crucial we recognise and harness their potential.

As we've journeyed through the multifaceted world of financial controllership, it's clear that the future is about blending accuracy with agility, detail with vision. If you're inspired to redefine your financial processes and embrace this dynamic approach, let's take the next step together.

Discover the potential with ExpenseIn and book a demo today. Let's craft your financial future.

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How a controller reduced cash burn by 36% vs. YTD budget in just seven months

About the Client

OfficeLuv centralizes office services through one product. They combine on-site personnel and technology to help office management teams offload tasks, restock and order supplies and groceries, manage vendors, gather employee insights, and analyze office spend.

The Challenge

OfficeLuv was left scrambling when their controller resigned from the company. They required help with all core accounting duties, from paying bills to ensuring customers were invoiced—and they needed it fast.

The Solution

OfficeLuv sought Paro’s help with accounting while searching for another full-time controller. As they are an office management services company, timeliness and efficiency is at the core of everything they do. But ultimately, OfficeLuv needed a controller—someone who was knowledgeable about their industry, could ramp up quickly and was adept at all basic financial tasks.

Paro matched OfficeLuv with a new controller the same day they reached out. Not only did Paro’s financial expert stabilize the situation immediately, he leveraged third-party systems to dramatically increase efficiency.

The pairing has gone so well that OfficeLuv decided to retain Paro’s services rather than continue their search for a full-time, in-house controller.

With the help of a Paro expert, OfficeLuv:

Redesigned and optimized their entire invoicing and collection processes
Developed technical systems that eliminated manual tasks that were wasting significant time and money
Worked closely with their product team and accountant managers to optimize every part of their financial operations, including modeling and projections
Flexed into budgeting activities

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The Top 8 Goals of Financial Controllers

Last updated: March 6, 2023
| Written by: Petra Martinis

As businesses continue to grow and expand, the role of a financial controller becomes increasingly important. A financial controller is responsible for managing a company’s finances, ensuring that all financial transactions are accurate and compliant with relevant regulations.

With such great responsibility comes the need to strive for excellence, which is why it’s essential to have clear goals and objectives in place. By setting measurable targets, updating key data points, identifying impending risks and reviewing company records on a regular basis, financial controllers today can remain agile enough to accurately guide their organizations through challenging times.

If these goals sound applicable to your role or responsibilities, read on as we explore some of the key goals of a financial controller in detail. By keeping a close eye on specific goals, not only will you become a top-tier financial controller but also provide significant value as an asset to any team or organization.

What is a Financial Controller?

A financial controller is a senior-level executive who oversees the accounting and finance functions within an organization. They are responsible for ensuring that financial reports are accurate and timely, managing budgets, forecasting future financial performance, and identifying areas for potential cost savings.

Financial controllers work closely with CFOs and other executives within the organization to ensure that business decisions are financially sound. They play a key role in developing and implementing policies and procedures related to finance and accounting, they monitor real-time data, evaluate processes, and the list goes on.

The Many Tasks of Financial Controllers:

Analyze financial data and create reports to present to executives and stakeholders
Create and manage budgets for the organization or department, monitoring expenses and income
Prepare financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
Track cash flows to maximize available resources and minimize associated risks.
Manage investments, like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc., by assessing risk and return potentials
Oversee financial compliance with internal policies and external regulations
Monitor real-time data of performance indicators like inventory levels, market prices, currency exchange rates, etc., to ensure accuracy of accounting records
Develop meaningful metrics that help measure performance against benchmarks established by the organization or department’s goals
Prepare annual corporate tax returns for filing purposes and monitor regulatory requirements for filings on a quarterly basis in case of changes or updates to applicable laws or regulations
Evaluate existing processes related to finance operations like accounts payable /receivable or payroll, identifying areas that need improvement or require automation for efficiency gains or cost savings purposes

Top 8 Goals of Financial Controllers

With so many tasks to manage, it is essential to prioritize and remain organized. Prioritizing and keeping straight goals is paramount for financial controllers if they want their organization to run smoothly. To stay on top of the game, here are a key goals that a financial controller should focus on:

1. Managing Cash Flow

Your top priority is to ensure that your company has a strong and stable cash flow, and this involves managing all financial transactions and optimizing accounts payable and receivable.

To effectively manage cash flow, it is good to develop a cash-flow projection that forecasts expected cash inflows and outflows. This will help you identify potential cash shortfalls and adjust your strategy accordingly. You can also establish clear policies and procedures for managing cash flow, including guidelines for managing credit and debt. Finally, consider working with your accounting team to implement technology solutions which can help streamline cash flow management and improve accuracy.

2. Financial Reporting

Another important goal of a financial controller is to prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements and to ensure that all financial reports are accurate and comply with regulatory requirements. Additionally, they must create reports for internal stakeholders with information on the current state of the company’s finances as well as projections for future performance.

Ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting is critical to maintaining the trust and confidence of your stakeholders. It’s important to establish strong internal controls to ensure financial information is accurately recorded and reported. This includes developing policies and procedures for financial reporting, ensuring that all financial data is accurate and complete, and conducting regular audits to identify and address any discrepancies.

3. Budgeting

Financial controllers are responsible for developing and managing the company’s budget. To do it effectively, it’s important to collaborate closely with other departments to ensure the budget aligns with the company’s goals and objectives. This involves analyzing past performance, forecasting future performance, and identifying potential risks and opportunities.

In addition, consider developing a contingency plan that outlines how the company will respond to unexpected changes in the market or other factors that could impact the budget. Regularly monitor the budget to ensure that it remains on track, and make adjustments as necessary to keep the company on course.

4. Risk Management

For financial controllers managing risk is a critical aspect of the role. They must identify potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them. They do this by reviewing financial elements such as investment potential, business performance evaluation, and the process of insurance placement. They also use analytics to study portfolios for growth and assess resources for capital investments.

Some financial controllers put into place various credit policies and look for ways to reduce inefficiencies through bench marking to maintain low-cost borrowing and secure returns. In any way, to keep risk under control you should monitor economic trends to ensure smart investment decisions are made and create performance reports that measure progress relative to budget expectations.

5. Compliance

Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements is another key goal of financial controllers. They must stay up-to-date on changes in regulations related to accounting and finance, as well as ensure that their organizations comply with these regulations.

You must stay up-to-date on laws, regulations, and compliance requirements to protect both the company’s assets as well as its legal standing in various markets. Emerging technologies like accounting automation software could help you improve processes and ensure compliance.

6. Cost Control

Controlling costs involves identifying areas where costs can be reduced without negatively impacting business operations. Financial controllers must be proactive about identifying areas where cost reductions may be possible or additional revenues could be generated by leveraging existing resources or introducing new products or services into the market. They should strive to develop a comprehensive understanding of current industry trends in order to maximize the potential profit margins for their organization.

To effectively manage costs, it’s important to regularly review all areas of the company’s operations and identify opportunities for cost savings. This might include renegotiating contracts with suppliers, implementing more efficient processes, or reducing staffing levels.

7. Forecasting

As a financial controller, you must be able to effectively forecast the company’s financial performance using data-driven insights and strategies. This involves analyzing trends and projections to predict future financial outcomes and identify potential risks and opportunities.

To improve your forecasting capabilities, consider leveraging data analytics and other technology solutions that can help you make more accurate predictions. In addition, regularly review your forecasting models to ensure that they remain accurate and adjust them as necessary based on changing market conditions.

8. Strategy Development

Finally, financial controllers play a key role in developing long-term strategies for their organizations by analyzing market trends, identifying opportunities for growth, and making recommendations to other executives within the organization, so strategy development should be on your top-goals priority list.

You are responsible for developing budget models and analyzing financial trends which can help inform decisions related to operations. By incorporating quantitative analysis into the strategies, you can assess the company’s short-term and long-term goals, identify areas of improvement and risks, track progress, and create fiscal policies designed to meet or exceed goals set by the leadership team.

Financial Controllers FAQ

What qualifications do i need to become a financial controller.

Most companies require at least a bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting along with several years of experience in a related field. A financial controller typically has at least three years of relevant experience that includes financial analysis, strategic planning, and transaction execution – as well as advanced computer skills in spreadsheet software programs. Certifications such as Certified Management Accountant (CMA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) might be needed for certain positions.

What skills do I need as a financial controller?

Skills required include analytical thinking ability, strategic thinking capacity, excellent communication skills, detail-oriented mindset, strong leadership abilities, expertise in GAAP accounting principles, proficiency with technology tools like Microsoft Excel/QuickBooks/Sage 50 etc., and knowledge about tax, laws and regulations affecting businesses.

What are the top goals of financial controllers?

Financial controllers have several goals that they aim to achieve in order to ensure their organization’s financial stability and success. These primary objectives include providing accurate and timely financial reports, monitoring budgets and cost controls, maintaining internal control systems, developing strategies for long-term financial health, and supporting senior management in decision making. Financial controllers also often help with forecasting, cash flow analysis, working capital management, budgeting, payroll processing, and implementing effective accounting processes.

How do financial controllers provide accurate and timely financial reports?

Financial controllers use a variety of methods to provide accurate and timely financial information to their organizations. They use various sources of data like previous records or industry benchmarks to establish realistic expectations for the company’s future performance. Additionally, they typically use software tools like spreadsheets or specialized accounting software to help produce more precise reports in a shorter amount of time.

What role does a financial controller have in developing strategies for long-term financial health?

A key part of a financial controller’s job is helping to create strategies that will promote long-term financial stability for their organization. This includes analyzing current and historical trends in order to identify any potential risks or opportunities which may be present in the near future that could affect the company’s bottom line. Once these risks or opportunities are identified, they can then work with senior management on developing strategies which will best protect their organization while still allowing them to achieve their desired goals over time.

How can financial controllers improve their performance?

Financial controllers should have a deep understanding of the organization’s goals and objectives, as well as its operations, products, and services. This can help them better identify potential risks and opportunities, as well as develop more effective financial strategies.

They should stay informed about changes in financial regulations, tax laws, and industry trends.

Financial controllers can also leverage technology solutions to improve accuracy and efficiency in financial reporting, budgeting, and other financial operations, and work closely with other departments, such as sales, marketing, and operations, to develop financial strategies that align with the organization’s overall goals and objectives.

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Business Consulting Case Studies

Case study: a critical fix results in a ceo’s confidence and a permanent solution, $20 million multi-entity healthcare-related business.

Business Overview

The CEO of a $20 million multi-entity healthcare-related business terminated his less than competent CFO and needed interim help.

Sutker Moran quickly stepped in and immediately identified various issues including unreported financials for six months, significant IRS problems, a deteriorating banking relationship, as well as gross accounting department inefficiencies.

Sutker Moran painstakingly went through the process of remedying each of these issues culminating in preparing timely and accurate monthly financials, restoring the banking relationship, restructuring the accounting department personnel, and completing a successful CPA review of the year-end financial statements.

Having earned the CEO’s confidence, the Company hired Sutker Moran to be the permanent CFO and play an integral role as the Company seeks to execute its growth-oriented business plan.

Case Study: Overcoming the Lack of Documentation

$150 million auto part manufacturer.

The Plant Controller for a global auto parts manufacturer gave notice. Given their long-standing tenure at this position, this position’s tasks were not well documented and nobody else in the organization knew how to perform them. Furthermore, corporate headquarters required a quick quarter-end hard close, which was fast approaching.

Once hired, Sutker Moran immediately instituted its well-vetted onboarding process to capture and document all the tasks performed by the outgoing controller. To complete the quarter-end financials on-time, Sutker put in extraordinary time to learn the functionality of the position which included learning two intricate ERP systems as well as understanding complex intercompany, multi-currency transaction entries. Sutker Moran successfully transitioned the now-documented role to a W2 Controller once this position was permanently filled.

Case Study: Two-Weeks Notice at Christmas time causes Company to Scramble

With the holiday break right around the corner, the controller for a $15 million SAAS Consulting Firm gave his two-week notice. Given the season, the owners were very concerned they wouldn’t be able to find somebody to learn and replace the controller’s position before he left.

Ownership called Sutker Moran and they were there the next day.

Sutker Moran implemented its well-vetted process utilizing one of their consultants who is well-trained in financial management and efficient onboarding. Given ownership’s confidence in Sutker Moran, the Company took a methodical approach in finding the right W2 to hire, rather than scramble to fill the seat. Sutker Moran assisted in interviewing W2 candidates. Once hired, Sutker Moran onboarded the new Controller, sharing the comprehensive instruction manual Sutker Moran created.

Case Study: Start-up’s CFO Suddenly left

With the departure of their CFO without any notice, this tech start-up, capitalized with over $35 million dollars, needed to act swiftly to shore up its financial management as well as provide comfort to its outside investors.

With absolutely zero transition time, Sutker Moran stepped in right away into the CFO role. Since all Sutker Moran employees are trained to efficiently and effectively onboard financial management positions, Sutker Moran did not “miss a beat” by closing and reporting financial statements within the allowed timeframe in the first month of the engagement.

Once established, Sutker Moran brought the financials to GAAP standard and assisted with year-end forecasting including never-performed balance sheet and cash flow projections. As now their permanent outsourced CFO, Sutker Moran assists with audits, tax studies, and financial reporting, as well as manages the accounting department.

Case Study: “Seat of their Pants” No Longer Worked

A self-performing construction company, while established, always ran its company “by the seat of their pants”. Ownership, finance, and operations rarely communicated. Furthermore, with financials always late, the Company’s lender lost faith in the Company’s CPA firm and its controller.

Sutker Moran stepped in, first, to clean up the financial statements, ensure payroll taxes were brought into good standing, and, overall, provided a level of comfort to the Company’s lender regarding its financial position. Once stabilized, Sutker Moran established a consistent monthly close process, recommended a highly regarded CPA firm, developed budget-to-actual analysis and gave management the tools they needed to successfully operate their business. Sutker Moran continues to be the Company’s Controller/CFO at a significantly lower cost than the prior controller.

Case Study: Rapid Growth Led to Instability

A private-equity backed rapidly expanding single-family home rental business needed to establish processes and procedures to fuel its growth. Employees worked remotely in various cities throughout the Midwest and were overworked. Receivables were not being adequately tracked resulting in financial statement misstatements and a lack of confidence in the accuracy of the information provided to the Board of Directors. The financial information provided to the CEO was meaningless.

The CEO was referred to Sutker Moran by an existing Sutker Moran client who he knew.

Once hired, Sutker Moran successfully converted the Company from cash-basis accounting to the accrual-basis and tackled the receivables issue. Sutker Moran secured collection of over $200 thousand in unreported receivables from the parent Company which were previously undetected. Weekly and monthly controls were established to ensure consistent tracking and collection of receivables.

While the Company was exponentially growing, Sutker Moran established consistent, timely procedures for monthly close and created a financial projection that guided management in hiring and purchasing decisions. New KPIs were established to arm the CEO with the information he needed when presenting to the Board of Directors providing all stakeholders the confidence in the financial information they were seeking. Once the company reached critical mass, the private equity firm brought in a W2 CFO. Sutker Moran helped transition to this individual.

Case Study: The Controller’s resignation leads to the discovery of financial misstatements. Then, profit-enhancing actions.

When the Controller of a $11 million fabricator resigned, the Company’s lender referred Sutker Moran to ownership/management. Once hired as the Company’s CFO/Controller, Sutker performed a high-level review of the financial statements where they recognized liquidity was very tight, profitability was minimal, and inventory continued to rise.

Sutker began its onboarding process of reconciling every balance sheet account. During this process, Sutker identified a significant overstatement in inventory. The restated financial statements revealed the Company was losing money.

Sutker and management conducted a thorough analysis of the business resulting in $600,000 of profit enhancements that included position eliminations, insurance cost reductions, and reductions in discretionary expenses. Sutker further helped enhance liquidity by facilitating the restructuring of the Company’s bank term loan, saving $50 thousand per month.

Case Study: First Skeptical. Now, a Promoter!

A $45 million General Contractor was interviewing candidates to fill its open Controller position. With the prolonged vacancy, the financial statements had not been closed for five months.

The Company Owner was told of Sutker Morans’ services by his lender. The owner was very skeptical of Sutker’s reported ability to provide full-coverage, high-level CFO/Controller services for significantly less cost of a W2 employee. He took our call as a courtesy to his lender. Intrigued, the owner and we had several follow-up conversations where he eventually hired Sutker over the leading W2 candidate. Given we were hired during COVID, the entire onboarding process was done remotely. Sutker installed its standard monthly closing process, developed monthly financial analysis, developed monthly financial projections, and instituted a monthly senior management meeting to review financial results and discuss anticipated future operational needs.

The Company recommended us to a $100 million General Contractor they know. We are now also their CFO/Controller.

Case Study: Stepping in to Ensure a Successful Transition

$40 million Plastic fabrication company

The Chief Financial Officer of a $40 million Plastic Fabrication Company resigned in the midst of its sale to a strategic buyer. The accounting staff and the president had limited knowledge of the inner workings of the financial department.

Sutker Moran was hired and immediately took over the position. Sutker instantly plugged itself into the Company’s cash situation to ensure vendors were being paid timely, especially critical given the impending ownership change. Simultaneously, Sutker began to finalize year-end financials which included developing a monthly close process for the accounting team. Sutker took the lead in navigating the due diligence period with the prospective buyer. Finally, Sutker seamlessly transitioned its responsibilities to the CFO of the buyer.

Case Study: Mapping Out the Solution allows for a Triumphant Return

$10 Million Restaurant Group

COVID-19 and the resulting capacity restrictions brought a successful restaurant group to its knees. Ownership as well as the group’s lender questioned its viability.

Working with ownership/management, Sutker Moran developed financial projections for each restaurant, modeled to easily evaluate various scenarios given the uncertainty of the situation. Sutker, then, analyzed various components of the operation which was used by management to identify cost reductions. After incorporating these reduced costs into the projections, Sutker modeled the payment deferrals it needed from its lender and landlords in order to survive. Armed with a plan, Sutker was able to negotiate and agree upon a deferred payment plan from its lender as well as its landlords. These deferrals allowed the restaurant group to survive until obtaining government relief and the eventual lifting of capacity restrictions.

Case Study: A Revolving Door Leads to an Interim, then a Permanent Solution to Company’s Financial Management

$100 Million General Contractor

A $100 Million multi-entity Construction Company found themselves yet again in need of a Controller. Their current Controller, in the role for only four months, quit. This was their fourth head change in the seat in just two years. The financial statements were in disarray, complicated by a general ledger system upgrade that was in progress.

Referred in by a friendly competitor of the Company, Sutker Moran took over the CFO/Controller role providing full-coverage CFO/Controller services at significantly less cost than a W2 employee. Sutker simultaneously reconciled every balance sheet account while developing and implementing a formal monthly close process. Sutker then focused on the Company’s convoluted WIP projection process. Sutker Moran, first, gained a thorough understanding of the existing process. Then, teamed with the Senior Management Team to reimagine a new formal process tailor-made for the Company’s operations. Armed with meaningful information, Sutker Advisors, as the Company’s CFO/Controller, challenges project managers with cost issues and helps identify operational under-performance.

Case Study: Here Comes the Calvary!!

$100 million IT-based solutions provider

A highly successful $100 million IT-based solutions provider urgently needed an interim Controller after the permanent Controller and the Company suddenly parted ways. The Company was in the midst of discussions with various private equity groups regarding a partial sale, switching banks, an upcoming annual audit beginning, as well as an ERP conversion.

Referred by the Company’s lender, Sutker Moran was hired (or as the Company’s owner referred to Sutker as “The Calvary”) as the interim Controller to facilitate the audit as well as manage the accounting staff. Sutker, first, corrected the financial statements. Then, Sutker successfully managed the Company through the audit process. Impressed with Sutker’s responsiveness and quality of work, the Owner ended his search for a W2 employee and hired Sutker full-time. Sutker now provides full-coverage CFO/Controller services at significantly less cost than a W2 employee, that started with the bank transition, managing the ERP conversion, as well as performing all financial duties related to the partial sale.

Case Study: Without Accurate Financial Information, Losses Accumulated

$30 Million Self-Performing Construction Company

A $30 million self-performing construction company has always lacked the necessary financial information to run their business profitability, especially the status of jobs-in-progress. Without accurate financial information, project managers had difficulty managing their jobs. The Company kept on running through various ineffective Controllers.

The cost-conscious owner hired Sutker Moran as their permanent CFO/Controller as Sutker could provide full-coverage, high-level CFO/Controller acumen for significantly less cost than W2 employees. Sutker, immediately, focused on the monthly WIP report leveraging their experience to create an accurate, meaningful, but simple report that the project managers could understand and use to manage their projects. Most importantly, Sutker developed processes and painstakingly implemented procedures surrounding the accounting/managing of the projects as well as other operational areas, resulting in a positive cultural change within the organization.

Case Study: The Bank and The Company Working Together to Solve a Problem

$100 Million Trucking Company

A historically profitable $100+ million provider of temperature-sensitive transportation services lost a major customer. Coupled with the downturn of the oil and gas fracking industry, the Company had severe liquidity issues.

Through various financial analysis and working with the management team, $6.1 million in profit improvements were identified and implemented. Through negotiations with each secured lender, the annual principal and interest payments were reduced by $5.3 million or $442 thousand per month. The Combination of profit-enhancements and principal re-amortization provided sufficient liquidity and resulting profitability.

Case Study: Dominant “Partners” almost Kill the Business

$30 million Packaging Company

The two largest customers, representing 86% of revenue, dictated the pricing of a $30 million Specialty Cheese Packaging business. One of these customers also supplied 71% of the raw cheese purchased used in production. These dominant “partners” were putting a stranglehold on the business resulting in lackluster performance and drained liquidity.

The first step was to improve operations – implementing various manufacturing efficiencies, reducing production capacity, and eliminating non-essential personnel. Next, it was time to convince ownership to push back on the major customers, one of which was supplying a majority of the raw cheese. Either our “partners” would allow us to make money or would lose a good supplier and, in one instance, also a good customer. The Company entered into a tolling arrangement with the largest customer and negotiated price increases with the second-largest customer. These steps would dramatically increase margins and eliminate a significant amount of cash required to pay for product. Through these restructuring actions, the Company's operating deficit was reversed the following year.

Case Study: Two-Weeks turned into One-Week Notice

$30 million distributor to the Construction Industry

The Controller for a $30 million distributor gave her two-week notice. The following day the owner called his lender for advice. The Lender recommended Sutker Moran. That next day, he gave us a call to hear what we were all about. The following day, he called us back and asked if we can sit with the ongoing Controller to assess the position. We went there the next day, which was already Friday!

We are experts in financial management. So, we told the owner there was nothing out of the ordinary and quoted him a fee which was substantially less than the cost of his W2 employee.

Skeptical about our permanent outsourced model, he hired us as the temporary controller where we onboarded the position for the one week the outgoing Controller had remaining. Proving our model, we, now, are the permanent Controller providing timely and accurate financial statements, managing the staff, and addressing accounting issues as they arise.

Case Study: A Bank Prospect: A Burgeoning Business with no Financial Plan

$120 Million Cell Phone Wholesaler and Distributor

A high-net-worth individual started a turnkey cell phone wholesale and distribution company with three interconnecting companies. He self-funded the rapidly growing company with $10 million as the Company reached $40 million in annual revenue.

Confident about the upward trajectory of his business, the owner reached out to a Chicago-based bank to provide a working capital loan to fund the growth. However, to this point, the accounting was done “out of a shoebox” and there was no financial information supporting his working capital line request.

With a complicated turnkey business model that has thin margins, the Bank needed to gain comfort with the business and what the true capital need was.

The lender referred us to their prospect. We assessed the business and developed a financing memorandum that thoroughly explained the model and provided financial projections that mapped out the initial working capital need.

With a satisfactory comfort level, the Bank approved a less than maximum working capital line with the understanding of a six-month revisit to determine if additional capital was needed.

Sutker, then, developed processes and procedures to provide timely and accurate financial information to the owner and lender which led to formally becoming the Company’s Outside CFO and key member of the management team.

Now, a year-and-a-half since the start of our engagement, the Company’s current run rate is $120 million with a projected $2 million in net income with additional working capital support from its Lender.

Case Study: Hands-On Advice Coupled with Solid Financial Management

$10 million Designer/Distributor of Woman Apparel

A growing, but under-capitalized designer/distributor of women's apparel hired Sutker Moran to take responsibility for the financial end of its business. Sutker Moran reduced the Company’s financial department cost by 60% while taking on the CFO role through the accounts payable functions. Through collaboration with other members of the management team, the Company is poised to have its best year ever.

Case Study: “Team Approach” Allows Company to Continue on Profitable Path

$7 million Maker of Home Décor Products

The CFO of a home décor company left soon after the Company’s controller retired, leaving a large void in the financial/accounting department. Sutker Moran took on a leadership role, quickly assessing and understanding the Company’s financial systems and operations. As a result, the accounting department continued without disruption. Sutker Moran generated timely and accurate financial statements and identified areas for profit enhancement. Showing its value, Sutker became the Company's permanent CFO/Controller.

Case Study: Relentlessly Finding the Right Provider

$15 Million Service Provider of Administrative Services

A middle-market service provider’s personnel were classified as a certain type by its long-time insurance broker. Ownership felt this classification was incorrect and costing the Company money. The broker insisted there were no alternatives. Sutker Moran searched and found many brokers who agreed with the incumbent, but we found one who didn’t and who worked tirelessly to get the classification changed, saving 30% on the Company’s workers’ compensation insurance.

Case Study: Does this Business Really Work?

$20 million web-based furniture maker

One of the two owners of a Company that was in the very mature age of its business cycle but cash flowing began to invest in a start-up business in a potentially burgeoning market. After several years of consistent losses and several million dollars invested, both owners questioned the viability of the business model. Sutker Moran helped construct a working senior management team and “locked arms” with them to make significant restructuring moves. These moves included eliminating a low profit, resource-draining royalty relationship, non-productive sales representatives, as well as identifying and converting excess inventory into cash. Even though Sutker played a small role in Company’s future success, we are proud to say we helped the management team build the foundation to allow it to have doubled in size and consistently generate millions of dollars in annual profits.

Case Study: Analyzing the Facts and Making a Decision

$18 million Global Marketing Service Organization

A middle-market marketing organization began to service an overseas client and wanted to build an organizational presence there. Sutker, as the Company's CFO, gathered and analyzed the start-up and ongoing costs required to support this endeavor. Based upon an expected gross margin percentage, Sutker provided management with the revenue requirements in order to break even, expected payback period, as well as projected profitability at various revenue levels, all of which management used to make its decision.

Case Study: Lack of Information Made it Difficult to Run Business

$60 million Commodity Product Broker

A growing, profitable commodity-item broker never knew how its year would come out as it always had last-minute, year-end surprises on its financial statements. Furthermore, the paper trail of transactions, essential to a brokerage business, was in disarray.

Sutker reorganized administrative processes, allowing for a clear delineation of duties that resulted in the efficient and accurate processing of transactions. We also developed comprehensive monthly projections, complete with accruals that allowed ownership and management to understand and anticipate its financial circumstances; Standardized the closing process, improving the timeliness and accuracy of the financial statements; Developed a monthly gross margin analysis by customer, product line, and customer order to help understand profitability; Finally, Sutker provided a monthly detailed analysis of results, including the Company’s performance versus projections.

Case Study: Beginning With the End in Mind

$100 million printer

A multi-division printing company wanted to develop an operating plan for its upcoming fiscal year.

Sutker introduced its results-oriented business planning process which included surveying key personnel regarding the marketplace, operations, personnel, and organization, working with the Company’s management team to, based upon the survey results, identify and analyze key company attributes, weaknesses, and opportunities. Based on this assessment, Sutker helped the team develop strategic goals. Then, “drilled down” to specific action steps to attain these goals as well as determine key result measures to assess their progress.

Case Study: Finding a Lender Who Fits Better

$12 million Engineering Services Firm

An engineering-based, construction-related firm had a really bad year due to poor non-core investments and excess overhead as anticipated revenue did not materialize. On its own, the Company shed the investments and right-sized its operations to match its anticipated revenue. However, their lender, already adverse to construction-related companies, no longer wanted to bank them. Furthermore, their Controller resigned during this period.

Sutker took on the interim Controller tasks. Sutker also developed a comprehensive refinancing package that included a detailed financial analysis showing the Company’s path from an unprofitable year to its projected profitable year, as well as presented their upcoming working capital needs. Confident about the credibility of the Company’s plan, Sutker reached out to several lenders who were not averse to the construction industry as well as whose customer base and culture matched that of the Company. Sutker negotiated the lending agreement with the new lender on behalf of the Company.

Case Study: Sutker’s Role Changes as Exponential Growth Continues

$40 million Façade Construction Company

Sutker became the outside CFO for a flourishing construction company, instilling processes and developing analysis that helped the owner and management team manage the Company’s growth. As the Company expanded vertically and horizontally, more financial management was needed.

Sutker sought and identified a full-time CFO and transitioned into a more business advisory position.

Case Study: One Giant Black Hole

A marketing services firm had a vast organization of talented individuals who priced potential opportunities based upon their own experiences, causing disparity amongst the quotes. Furthermore, these estimates were never compared to the actual cost incurred, resulting in uncertainty regarding job profitability and the validity of the estimates, themselves.

Through extensive interviews and analysis, Sutker developed a consensual, standard pricing template that was used for all estimates. With the estimates’ standardized, Sutker, working with the Company’s IT Department, developed a labor tracking system that mirrored the estimating template, allowing for relevant actual vs. estimate analysis. Proving its value, Sutker became the Company's outsourced CFO.

Case Study: Costing Analysis Key to Reinstating Profitability

$12 million plastic injection molder

A $12 million injection molding company was minimally profitable mainly due to the inability to pass through significant material price increases.

Through a zero-base exercise, eight unnecessary positions were identified and eliminated for a net annual savings of $450,000. We also conducted a lengthy activity-based cost analysis and discovered opportunities for $750,000 in annual price increases. A minimum order requirement was established for non-major customers, eliminating unprofitable short production runs. In addition, activity-based set-up charges were instituted to encourage major customers to order in larger lots.

Case Study: Competition Erodes Enviable Market Position

$75 million plumbing parts manufacturer

A third-generation, family-owned $75 million plumbing parts manufacturer had long enjoyed a commanding market share and steady profitability. When new competition forced the company to reduce margins, management was slow to react.

Through extensive interviews of all levels of management, we helped to assemble a less complacent, more cohesive hands-on management team. We then guided the new team to take action – consolidating departments, eliminating shifts, and discontinuing unprofitable product lines.

Case Study: Too Many Products Cause Sizeable Loss

$12 million framed picture manufacturer

A third-generation, family-owned $12 million framed picture manufacturer was losing money. For many years, these losses were buried within the overvaluation of obsolete inventory. Burdened with a large overhead structure, the company sold “all things to all people.” The excessive product lines and sizeable customer base created inefficiencies within the plant and confusion within the marketplace.

We analyzed each category within each product line, and each product within each category, and recommended a 40% reduction in SKUs. Selective price increases were implemented for the remaining products. In addition, we scrutinized each non-direct labor position, resulting in over $400,000 of savings from job eliminations. Finally, by narrowing the product base and instituting an inventory reduction program, the space required to support the operations was reduced, allowing for one of the three operating facilities to be sold.

Case Study: Building Financial Acumen Leads to Competitive Advantage

$80 million distributor to the Construction Industry

A middle-market construction-related company seeking to increase its competitive advantage eliminated its controller position and hired Sutker Moran at significantly less cost to prepare and analyze monthly financial statements, attend monthly management meetings, and provide guidance when financial issues arise from time to time.

Sutker Moran develops, in conjunction with other senior management, the company’s annual operating plan, provides monthly analysis on customer and product line profitability, as well as variances to budget. In addition, Sutker reviews administrative expenses, recently being instrumental in reducing the company’s corporate insurance by 40%.

Management Saw Roadblock Ahead and Changed Course

After a very successful year, a project-based international marketing firm invested in its infrastructure -- started a regional office, hired a senior sales executive, etc. After developing the monthly financial projections at the beginning of the new year, Sutker, as the Outsourced CFO, reforecasted the projections monthly incorporating updated potential projects and changes in the expense structure. Starting in July, Sutker/Management saw softening in the backlog for the 4th quarter and into the following year. This softness increased when Sutker reforecasted in August. Seeing the financial impact to the reduced business, both in profits and liquidity, Management took proactive steps to reduce its expense structure in anticipation of the lower 4th quarter revenue.

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The case study: Mark, who is a Chartered Accountant (CA), is the Financial Controller of X Pty Ltd (X). The company imports and distributes one product only and employs 21 people including the owner, Joseph. This product is imported from Spain. X has a history of profitability and stable growth. However, in the past 6 months Mark has been frustrated with Joe’s apparent lack of interest in the business. Customer complaints are increasing and service levels are declining. As a result, sales have started to fall for the first time since the company commenced operations. Joseph places a great deal of reliance on Mark, both for her financial expertise and her ability to keep things on track when Joseph is on one of his many overseas trips. One day Mark receives a phone call from a friend, Jackie. Jackie is also in the import and distribution business, although with a completely different product. Jackie advises Mark that she has recently had several meetings with the manufacturers of the product imported and distributed by X. The manufacturers are of the opinion that X can no longer provide the required levels of service and have decided to cancel X’s contract and award the distribution rights to Jackie’s company. Jackie then invites Mark to come and work for her when X inevitably collapses. She offers Mark a substantially higher salary than the one she currently earns. In addition, she would like Mark to recruit X’s best operations staff to come to Jackie’s company with her. Jackie says to Mark ‘. . . obviously, this is confidential so don’t mention it to anyone just yet, especially Joseph’.

Assume that you are Mark, the financial controller of X Pty Ltd.

(a) Identify the relevant facts of the above case study to your role as financial controller of X Pty Ltd.

(b) List the four key stakeholders affected by the above case study.

Replies: 10437

The F1 exam as all objective test. This case study is not F1.

@kengarrett said: The F1 exam as all objective test. This case study is not F1.

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

These five sets of case studies highlight how law firms in Asia-Pacific are innovating as businesses.

They feature examples of law firms changing how they manage their own people, and how they are reinventing services and delivery models.

All the case studies were researched, compiled and ranked by RSGI. “Winner” indicates that the organisation won an FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific award for 2024

Read the other FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific ‘Best practice case studies’, which showcase the standout innovations made for and by people working in the legal sector:

Practice of law In-house

People and skills

WINNER: Gilbert + Tobin Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 25 Last year, the firm ran an “AI Bounty” competition, offering staff a total of A$20,000 in prizes for their best ideas on deploying artificial intelligence at work. The contest attracted 106 submissions, with the money split among five main award winners and 50 smaller prizes. The firm will develop the best ideas identified, including tools to review a privacy policy and enhance due diligence.

Inkling Legal Design O: 9; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 24 The firm developed an online course that encourages writing in plain, straightforward English and provides a benchmark against which other lawyers can compare how well they write about ambiguous areas of law. The application, which launched last year, is designed to improve efficiency and accuracy when writing and has been used by eight clients so far.

Highly commended

Lander & Rogers O: 8; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 23 In its continuing partnership with Melbourne’s Monash University, the Australian firm invited five law students — dubbed “AI investigative agents” — to interview practice group heads and work with the firm’s innovation team to examine scenarios in which the technology might be applied. The training initiative identified more than 40 examples for possible use and the students’ insights on the topic have been published by the firm.

MinterEllison O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22 The firm created its own internal cryptocurrency to reward staff for taking part in its online training sessions. The so-called Mintcoins can be exchanged internally for charity donations or gift cards and have helped encourage the completion of more than 1,900 training modules by 850 people.

Rajah & Tann Singapore O: 7; L: 7; I: 8; Total: 22 The firm identified several common skills and qualities required by its lawyers working across the various business sectors, jurisdictions and languages in the region. These include project management and communication skills aside from specific legal knowledge. Lawyers can receive 50-plus hours of training and at least half of the programme comprises practical activities.

Ashurst O: 6; L: 7; I: 8; Total: 21 Lawyers at the firm can now use an online tool to highlight their availability and expertise, to help with allocation of work. In the first eight months of use, it received more than 720 notifications of availability from lawyers across the firm’s Asia-Pacific offices.

Khaitan & Co O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21 The firm worked with a consultancy to set up a process that assesses lawyers in areas such as productivity and business development skills, to decide if they are ready for partnership promotion.

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu O: 8; L: 6; I: 6; Total: 20 The firm created a programme where associates work with partners to develop new client relationships in emerging practice areas. These areas include the latest tech developments, sports, and agriculture and fishing industries.

King & Wood Mallesons O: 6; L: 6; I: 7; Total: 19 The firm added new modules in AI, process improvement and change management to its “legal transformation belts” programme, which grades and certifies digital skills and is also available to clients.

Knowledge and data

WINNER: MinterEllison Originality: 7; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 24 In December 2023, the firm’s environment and planning team led a pilot of a generative AI tool that can draft legal documents that are roughly 80 per cent assembled in under a minute. Replicating a junior lawyer’s work, the model draws information from a repository of the firm’s historic advice, and other sources, to provide a draft that senior lawyers can check and amend. The pilot involved 50 lawyers and the firm now plans to roll out the tool across the practices. Commended individual: Simon Ball

King & Wood Mallesons O: 7; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 23 The firm’s commercial real estate practice developed a system based on records of past property transactions to identify market trends across Asia. Using data visualisation software, the tool helps identify patterns across the firm’s global property work, such as popular drafting clauses and market standards. According to the firm, the tool has reduced typical time taken for some research tasks from up to four hours to just minutes.

JunHe O: 6; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 22 To encourage use of its knowledge-management system, the Chinese firm added training materials along with a feature that automatically logs when training sessions are taken. The firm also rewards its 700-plus lawyers for adding good quality data to the platform by tying this to their bonuses. This has led to an increase in activity on the platform, with 25,000 clicks recorded per month in 2023.

Khaitan & Co O: 8; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 22 The firm sifted 17mn items to identify 841,000 relevant documents for future case work and integrate them into a searchable system. AI tools, under development, will be able to create summaries of the documents and perform predictive analysis on contracts.

Anand and Anand O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21 The Indian firm created a “matter knowledge” bank where users can search for a case and generate a summary of relevant details. It spent three years digitising decades’ worth of physical documents and started using the repository in June 2023. The firm hopes to improve processes such as document drafting and trial preparation and encourage internal collaboration.

Clifford Chance O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20 The firm developed a tool to help with billing when a client’s requirements change during a transaction, and launched it in the Asia-Pacific region. The spreadsheet-based system gives an improved overview of work done on particular case work with live projections, allowing significantly faster billing decisions.

Sprintlaw O: 7; L: 8; I: 5; Total: 20 In 2023, the Australian firm launched a knowledge-sharing platform for staff servicing smaller businesses. The internal resource has halved the time taken for its lawyers to create some documents, such as standard shareholder agreements.

Hogan Lovells O: 6; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 19 The lawyers conducted a document review for an anti-bribery investigation using AI software that required training in Vietnamese. The subsequent search has identified 150,000 documents for scrutiny by lawyers.

Digital tools

WINNER: Clifford Chance Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 25 The firm partnered with tech company Microsoft to create a generative artificial intelligence bot, launched in late October, that tracks and summarises press releases published by Hong Kong regulators.

Lawyers in the region took the lead on ensuring the tool had appropriate understanding of legal jargon and included a summarisation and context extraction function that will save the firm an estimated 480 hours of associate and trainee time per year. Output can be turned into interactive graphs and trends, which the lawyers use to advise clients.

Yulchon O: 8; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 23 The South Korean firm created a service to help clients better comply with the country’s Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA), introduced in 2022, which puts greater responsibility on businesses to ensure safety in their operations and facilities.

The service involves a free self-diagnosis tool that shows clients where they are most at risk of violating SAPA. The firm also uses automation to track news reports of SAPA-related incidents and has created a training programme with videos offering insights into the law. The programme uses an AI-powered search engine to help clients find specific information.

Clayton Utz O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22 The Sydney-based firm launched an AI-generated compliance portal, Obligations Navigator, in December 2023. In a client assessment, the portal analysed 100 examples of case law and produced a hyperlinked list of 42,000 obligations, described in plain English and checked by human lawyers. Summarising compliance requirements can be labour-intensive, so the portal saves time and resources and gives the client a clear and comprehensive compliance process — helping them understand which obligations they must comply with, and how.

Lander & Rogers O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21 The Australian firm developed an AI tool to extract relevant information from files submitted alongside compensation claims. The innovation and compensation law teams partnered with the firm’s legal tech incubator, Halisok, to digitise the manually-intensive sorting process in mass litigation and class action suits.

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu O: 5; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 21 Led by managing partner Soichiro Fujiwara, the firm’s technology start-up MNTSQ designed an AI-powered search engine that allows lawyers to search an internal contract database for relevant Japanese clauses and provisions, after the firm found public search engines such as Google were insufficient.

Rajah & Tann Singapore O: 7; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 20 In June 2023, Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority implemented new requirements for anti-money laundering checks in residential property purchases. The Singaporean law firm launched an AI tool that automates these due diligence checks of potential buyers, which is now used by 30 property developers in the country.

MinterEllison O: 5; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 19 The firm developed a contract review tool to help mining group Anglo American manage its supply chain and contracts. The firm approached the miner — a long-term client — after it struggled with the management of contracts. Lawyers used the company’s data to build the tool from scratch in 2023. Commended individual: Benjamin Fox

Digital strategy

WINNER: A&O Shearman Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 25 In partnership with legal tech company Harvey, A&O Shearman (formerly Allen & Overy) was among the first law firms to make wide use of a generative AI tool in early 2023.

Capitalising on the publicity this created, it then launched an AI client working group in Asia Pacific where 81 participants from 19 companies paid the firm for advice on generative AI’s potential legal implications and practical lessons about adoption of the technology in a big organisation.

Highly Commended

Ashurst O: 7; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 23 The firm has run pilots and trials of generative AI that involved more than 400 staff in 23 offices including a competition to identify future applications and blind trials testing applications against humans. The strategy has been implemented worldwide, with a prominent role played by the team from Australia. The firm says nearly 90 per cent of staff felt its technology focus was preparing them for the coming years.

Mayer Brown O: 7; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 23 The Hong Kong office led the rollout in 2023 of AI tool Harvey for use in research, drafting, and data analysis. It is also used to cut the time spent summarising local case law, to improve due diligence, and Chinese-to-English translations.

PwC Asia Pacific O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22 The firm’s Asia-Pacific business merged its legal and NewLaw legal services divisions to help clients implement related technology.

Internally, the firm is using AI tool Harvey and its own virtual assistant ChatPwC, as well as experimenting with other relevant tools. The firm recorded more than 18,000 queries being submitted to Harvey in the first six months of using it in the region and estimates that the application saved the firm 9,000 hours of time in that period.

Rajah & Tann Singapore O: 6; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 21 The firm is working with its technology arm Rajah & Tann Technologies to bring in external software that will encourage lawyers to embrace digitisation fully and prepare for the future adoption of AI systems. Examples include applications that are designed to cut the time spent on research and to locate the relevant contract clauses from a centralised database.

JunHe O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20 The Chinese law firm’s tech team created a tool that automates the identification and redaction of sensitive material from documents. This tool helps lawyers protect sensitive data and better comply with data protection laws in China when using generative AI.

Trilegal O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20 Trilegal’s digital innovation group is leading technological advances at the Indian law firm, creating a knowledge management system and AI-based dashboards to monitor work progress and preparing existing systems to incorporate generative AI.

New solutions

WINNER: Inkling Legal Design Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 25 The firm advised the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) on redesigning its commercial project agreements. The lawyers simplified the contracts used by the public research body for project partners, which predominantly include scientists with a non-legal background. Clauses were simplified and legal jargon removed, while retaining legal compliance and addressing complex scientific issues. Redesigning these contracts has led to greater collaboration between the legal department at ANSTO and other parties, internally and externally. Using digital tools and visuals made the contracts easier to navigate.

A&O Shearman O: 7; L: 8; I: 9; Total: 24 In response to China’s property market crash, the firm developed an interactive portal to help co-ordinating committees representing bank lenders to navigate complex, large-scale corporate restructurings. The portal provides clients with access to resources relating to relevant restructurings, a Q&A tool and document review capabilities. Rapid access to comprehensive information and support saves clients time and money.

Lawpath O: 6; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 22 The Australian firm is targeting smaller companies by providing low-cost access to software and document libraries that use AI to fill out contracts and agreements. A human lawyer can be involved to check documents or deal with more complex work if required.

Atsumi & Sakai O: 6; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 21 The Tokyo-based law firm’s Policy Research Institute advised the Japanese government on emerging technology topics, such as developing AI regulation and the construction of a semiconductor factory.

Pinsent Masons O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21 The firm has broadened the legal services it offers at each stage of big renewable energy projects to offer clients a more integrated service — ranging from environmental, social and governance assessments to licensing and property transactions. Commended individual: Mark Hu

KPMG Law O: 5; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 20 The firm created a platform to assess how well equipped a company’s legal team is. The system, launched in 2022, uses a digital tool and questionnaires to gather data about the company and automates a report to help in-house teams assess their resourcing.

Keypoint Law O: 5; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 19 The Australian firm is celebrating a decade of operating without billable hour targets or budgets. The policy aims to offer a more flexible working arrangement to lawyers. Partners are typically paid 70 per cent of the services they charge to clients but, if they do not earn, there is no guaranteed pay. The firm has grown to 75 partners since it was launched in 2014.

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International Edition

DataKind tackles the world’s toughest challenges with data science and AI.

BanhJi Case Study: Developing a Financial Performance Score to Empower Cambodian Farmers

In developing countries, savings groups play a crucial role in fostering financial inclusion and empowerment, especially among rural communities. These self-managed financial systems provide farmers with access to savings, credit, and financial literacy. However, challenges such as over-indebtedness and limited access to formal financial services persist, hindering the economic well-being of farmers.

Recognizing the challenges faced by farmers in Cambodia, BanhJi , a fintech start up, provides structured credit solutions while mitigating the risk of over-indebtedness. DataKind partnered with BanhJi to develop a group-level Financial Performance Score , producing actionable insights to savings groups to improve financial performance. By leveraging data-driven recommendations, savings groups can make informed decisions to improve their financial resilience and access affordable credit solutions, promoting sustainable economic development.

Savings groups, also known as community-based savings and loan associations, empower individuals in developing countries to save money, access credit, and build financial resilience. Despite their effectiveness, savings groups face challenges, such as limited access to formal financial services and over-indebtedness.

Partner Introduction

BanhJi , founded in 2016, is a fintech start up providing a financial operating platform for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to enable them with better and easier access to cash and financing. A component of BanhJi’s platform caters specifically to the rural community, where it serves approximately 40,000 families across 880 savings groups and agriculture cooperatives. Recognizing the challenges faced by farmers in Cambodia, BanhJi seeks to empower clients to access structured credit solutions, while mitigating the risk of over-indebtedness.

DataKind partnered with BanhJi to develop a Financial Performance Score for their savings groups, leveraging data-driven insights to target capacity building activities and benchmark the sector.

The Collaboration

Through scoping conversations with the BanhJi team, DataKind identified two key pain points to financial inclusion for farmers in Cambodia:

Farmers take out more credit than they’re able to repay , and therefore fall into a cycle of over-indebtedness, where they’re either unable to repay their loans or must seek a new loan to repay the previous loan coming to term.
Formal financial institutions , such as microfinance institutions (MFI), who would like to distribute structured credit to smallholder farmers, don’t have the data-driven insight to ensure they’re helping their clients without promoting ongoing debt. And, access to microfinance institutions would allow farmers to access cheaper financing rather than having to turn to loan sharks.

DataKind leveraged five years of historical data on savings groups to develop a group-level Financial Performance Score . This score provides insights into each group’s financial standing, enabling BanhJi to deliver targeted technical assistance to enhance financial performance and access formal financial products. DataKind also explored if different loan sizes would reduce the risk of a savings group to default.

Methodology

As mentioned above, data analysis involved five years (2018- 2021) of historical loan repayment data, a total of 46,553 loans, from 832 savings groups across Cambodia. The DataKind team focused on loans that had either six or 12 installments, and examined all variations of loan behaviors to understand how frequently ‘defaults’ occurred and in what combinations. Most defaulted loans had more than six late/missing payments.

Features including early payments, late payments, missing payments, default payments, and repeat borrowers were evaluated to develop the Financial Performance Score . K-means clustering was utilized to identify patterns and inform the scoring model design.

Correlation analysis across features highlighted that savings groups payment behavior doesn’t correlate with the amount being borrowed. Further, the data didn’t support the hypothesis that loans at different sizes have different default rates and that recommendations can be built.

Financial Performance Score

The Financial Performance Score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better repayment behavior and an absolute maximum of 110 if they have early payments. We can interpret the ranges of our financial score as:

0 – 50: Savings group needs heavy intervention
50 – 75 : Savings group needs moderate intervention
75 – 90 : Savings group has a few defaults and may need early intervention
90+ : Savings group has very few (if any) defaults and doesn’t need intervention

The majority of savings groups exhibit on-time payment behavior, with over 50% achieving scores of 100 or higher.

This project empowered the BanhJi team with the data-driven insight to target capacity building initiatives for savings groups to improve financial performance. By leveraging data-driven recommendations, savings groups will be able to access formal financial products with lower interest rates from banks or microfinance institutions to scale their operations, thus promoting sustainable economic development.

“At BanhJi, we’re incredibly grateful for DataKind’s partnership and expertise in developing the Financial Performance Score for saving groups. Their dedication and the valuable insights gleaned from the project have empowered us to better serve our clients in rural Cambodia. This collaboration is a testament to the power of data science in promoting financial inclusion and driving positive social impact. With the Financial Performance Score, we can now provide targeted support to savings groups and expand our intervention to Agricultural Cooperatives.” – Chankiriroth Sim, Founder and CEO, BanhJi

The collaboration between DataKind and BanhJi exemplifies the power of data-driven approaches in enhancing financial inclusion for rural farmers. By developing the Financial Performance Score , savings groups can make informed decisions to improve their financial resilience and access affordable credit solutions. This case study underscores the importance of partnerships in leveraging technology for social impact and driving sustainable development in underserved communities.

Here’s more on DataKind’s work in financial inclusion.

DataKind’s partnership with BanhJi was supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

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LIBF UNIT 2 JUNE 2024 - 'Alex's New Car (PCP)' ANNOTATED CASE STUDY | FINANCIAL STUDIES CeFS U2 CS2

Subject: Business and finance

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LIBF Certificate in Financial Studies Unit 2 (FCML) June 2024 Part B Exam - Fully annotated ‘Alex’s new car’ Case Study

A fully annotated copy of the pre-released case study to support students to become familiar with the key themes contained within the ‘Alex’s new car’ case study (CeFS Unit 2 June 2024 Exam).

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U2 CS2 QUIZ - ‘Alex’s New Car (PCP)’ https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-13040969

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Artificial intelligence in strategy

Can machines automate strategy development? The short answer is no. However, there are numerous aspects of strategists’ work where AI and advanced analytics tools can already bring enormous value. Yuval Atsmon is a senior partner who leads the new McKinsey Center for Strategy Innovation, which studies ways new technologies can augment the timeless principles of strategy. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, he explains how artificial intelligence is already transforming strategy and what’s on the horizon. This is an edited transcript of the discussion. For more conversations on the strategy issues that matter, follow the series on your preferred podcast platform .

Joanna Pachner: What does artificial intelligence mean in the context of strategy?

Yuval Atsmon: When people talk about artificial intelligence, they include everything to do with analytics, automation, and data analysis. Marvin Minsky, the pioneer of artificial intelligence research in the 1960s, talked about AI as a “suitcase word”—a term into which you can stuff whatever you want—and that still seems to be the case. We are comfortable with that because we think companies should use all the capabilities of more traditional analysis while increasing automation in strategy that can free up management or analyst time and, gradually, introducing tools that can augment human thinking.

Joanna Pachner: AI has been embraced by many business functions, but strategy seems to be largely immune to its charms. Why do you think that is?

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Yuval Atsmon: You’re right about the limited adoption. Only 7 percent of respondents to our survey about the use of AI say they use it in strategy or even financial planning, whereas in areas like marketing, supply chain, and service operations, it’s 25 or 30 percent. One reason adoption is lagging is that strategy is one of the most integrative conceptual practices. When executives think about strategy automation, many are looking too far ahead—at AI capabilities that would decide, in place of the business leader, what the right strategy is. They are missing opportunities to use AI in the building blocks of strategy that could significantly improve outcomes.

I like to use the analogy to virtual assistants. Many of us use Alexa or Siri but very few people use these tools to do more than dictate a text message or shut off the lights. We don’t feel comfortable with the technology’s ability to understand the context in more sophisticated applications. AI in strategy is similar: it’s hard for AI to know everything an executive knows, but it can help executives with certain tasks.

When executives think about strategy automation, many are looking too far ahead—at AI deciding the right strategy. They are missing opportunities to use AI in the building blocks of strategy.

Joanna Pachner: What kind of tasks can AI help strategists execute today?

Yuval Atsmon: We talk about six stages of AI development. The earliest is simple analytics, which we refer to as descriptive intelligence. Companies use dashboards for competitive analysis or to study performance in different parts of the business that are automatically updated. Some have interactive capabilities for refinement and testing.

The second level is diagnostic intelligence, which is the ability to look backward at the business and understand root causes and drivers of performance. The level after that is predictive intelligence: being able to anticipate certain scenarios or options and the value of things in the future based on momentum from the past as well as signals picked in the market. Both diagnostics and prediction are areas that AI can greatly improve today. The tools can augment executives’ analysis and become areas where you develop capabilities. For example, on diagnostic intelligence, you can organize your portfolio into segments to understand granularly where performance is coming from and do it in a much more continuous way than analysts could. You can try 20 different ways in an hour versus deploying one hundred analysts to tackle the problem.

Predictive AI is both more difficult and more risky. Executives shouldn’t fully rely on predictive AI, but it provides another systematic viewpoint in the room. Because strategic decisions have significant consequences, a key consideration is to use AI transparently in the sense of understanding why it is making a certain prediction and what extrapolations it is making from which information. You can then assess if you trust the prediction or not. You can even use AI to track the evolution of the assumptions for that prediction.

Those are the levels available today. The next three levels will take time to develop. There are some early examples of AI advising actions for executives’ consideration that would be value-creating based on the analysis. From there, you go to delegating certain decision authority to AI, with constraints and supervision. Eventually, there is the point where fully autonomous AI analyzes and decides with no human interaction.

Because strategic decisions have significant consequences, you need to understand why AI is making a certain prediction and what extrapolations it’s making from which information.

Joanna Pachner: What kind of businesses or industries could gain the greatest benefits from embracing AI at its current level of sophistication?

Yuval Atsmon: Every business probably has some opportunity to use AI more than it does today. The first thing to look at is the availability of data. Do you have performance data that can be organized in a systematic way? Companies that have deep data on their portfolios down to business line, SKU, inventory, and raw ingredients have the biggest opportunities to use machines to gain granular insights that humans could not.

Companies whose strategies rely on a few big decisions with limited data would get less from AI. Likewise, those facing a lot of volatility and vulnerability to external events would benefit less than companies with controlled and systematic portfolios, although they could deploy AI to better predict those external events and identify what they can and cannot control.

Third, the velocity of decisions matters. Most companies develop strategies every three to five years, which then become annual budgets. If you think about strategy in that way, the role of AI is relatively limited other than potentially accelerating analyses that are inputs into the strategy. However, some companies regularly revisit big decisions they made based on assumptions about the world that may have since changed, affecting the projected ROI of initiatives. Such shifts would affect how you deploy talent and executive time, how you spend money and focus sales efforts, and AI can be valuable in guiding that. The value of AI is even bigger when you can make decisions close to the time of deploying resources, because AI can signal that your previous assumptions have changed from when you made your plan.

Joanna Pachner: Can you provide any examples of companies employing AI to address specific strategic challenges?

Yuval Atsmon: Some of the most innovative users of AI, not coincidentally, are AI- and digital-native companies. Some of these companies have seen massive benefits from AI and have increased its usage in other areas of the business. One mobility player adjusts its financial planning based on pricing patterns it observes in the market. Its business has relatively high flexibility to demand but less so to supply, so the company uses AI to continuously signal back when pricing dynamics are trending in a way that would affect profitability or where demand is rising. This allows the company to quickly react to create more capacity because its profitability is highly sensitive to keeping demand and supply in equilibrium.

Joanna Pachner: Given how quickly things change today, doesn’t AI seem to be more a tactical than a strategic tool, providing time-sensitive input on isolated elements of strategy?

Yuval Atsmon: It’s interesting that you make the distinction between strategic and tactical. Of course, every decision can be broken down into smaller ones, and where AI can be affordably used in strategy today is for building blocks of the strategy. It might feel tactical, but it can make a massive difference. One of the world’s leading investment firms, for example, has started to use AI to scan for certain patterns rather than scanning individual companies directly. AI looks for consumer mobile usage that suggests a company’s technology is catching on quickly, giving the firm an opportunity to invest in that company before others do. That created a significant strategic edge for them, even though the tool itself may be relatively tactical.

Joanna Pachner: McKinsey has written a lot about cognitive biases and social dynamics that can skew decision making. Can AI help with these challenges?

Yuval Atsmon: When we talk to executives about using AI in strategy development, the first reaction we get is, “Those are really big decisions; what if AI gets them wrong?” The first answer is that humans also get them wrong—a lot. [Amos] Tversky, [Daniel] Kahneman, and others have proven that some of those errors are systemic, observable, and predictable. The first thing AI can do is spot situations likely to give rise to biases. For example, imagine that AI is listening in on a strategy session where the CEO proposes something and everyone says “Aye” without debate and discussion. AI could inform the room, “We might have a sunflower bias here,” which could trigger more conversation and remind the CEO that it’s in their own interest to encourage some devil’s advocacy.

We also often see confirmation bias, where people focus their analysis on proving the wisdom of what they already want to do, as opposed to looking for a fact-based reality. Just having AI perform a default analysis that doesn’t aim to satisfy the boss is useful, and the team can then try to understand why that is different than the management hypothesis, triggering a much richer debate.

In terms of social dynamics, agency problems can create conflicts of interest. Every business unit [BU] leader thinks that their BU should get the most resources and will deliver the most value, or at least they feel they should advocate for their business. AI provides a neutral way based on systematic data to manage those debates. It’s also useful for executives with decision authority, since we all know that short-term pressures and the need to make the quarterly and annual numbers lead people to make different decisions on the 31st of December than they do on January 1st or October 1st. Like the story of Ulysses and the sirens, you can use AI to remind you that you wanted something different three months earlier. The CEO still decides; AI can just provide that extra nudge.

Joanna Pachner: It’s like you have Spock next to you, who is dispassionate and purely analytical.

Yuval Atsmon: That is not a bad analogy—for Star Trek fans anyway.

Joanna Pachner: Do you have a favorite application of AI in strategy?

Yuval Atsmon: I have worked a lot on resource allocation, and one of the challenges, which we call the hockey stick phenomenon, is that executives are always overly optimistic about what will happen. They know that resource allocation will inevitably be defined by what you believe about the future, not necessarily by past performance. AI can provide an objective prediction of performance starting from a default momentum case: based on everything that happened in the past and some indicators about the future, what is the forecast of performance if we do nothing? This is before we say, “But I will hire these people and develop this new product and improve my marketing”— things that every executive thinks will help them overdeliver relative to the past. The neutral momentum case, which AI can calculate in a cold, Spock-like manner, can change the dynamics of the resource allocation discussion. It’s a form of predictive intelligence accessible today and while it’s not meant to be definitive, it provides a basis for better decisions.

Joanna Pachner: Do you see access to technology talent as one of the obstacles to the adoption of AI in strategy, especially at large companies?

Yuval Atsmon: I would make a distinction. If you mean machine-learning and data science talent or software engineers who build the digital tools, they are definitely not easy to get. However, companies can increasingly use platforms that provide access to AI tools and require less from individual companies. Also, this domain of strategy is exciting—it’s cutting-edge, so it’s probably easier to get technology talent for that than it might be for manufacturing work.

The bigger challenge, ironically, is finding strategists or people with business expertise to contribute to the effort. You will not solve strategy problems with AI without the involvement of people who understand the customer experience and what you are trying to achieve. Those who know best, like senior executives, don’t have time to be product managers for the AI team. An even bigger constraint is that, in some cases, you are asking people to get involved in an initiative that may make their jobs less important. There could be plenty of opportunities for incorporating AI into existing jobs, but it’s something companies need to reflect on. The best approach may be to create a digital factory where a different team tests and builds AI applications, with oversight from senior stakeholders.

The big challenge is finding strategists to contribute to the AI effort. You are asking people to get involved in an initiative that may make their jobs less important.

Joanna Pachner: Do you think this worry about job security and the potential that AI will automate strategy is realistic?

Yuval Atsmon: The question of whether AI will replace human judgment and put humanity out of its job is a big one that I would leave for other experts.

The pertinent question is shorter-term automation. Because of its complexity, strategy would be one of the later domains to be affected by automation, but we are seeing it in many other domains. However, the trend for more than two hundred years has been that automation creates new jobs, although ones requiring different skills. That doesn’t take away the fear some people have of a machine exposing their mistakes or doing their job better than they do it.

Joanna Pachner: We recently published an article about strategic courage in an age of volatility that talked about three types of edge business leaders need to develop. One of them is an edge in insights. Do you think AI has a role to play in furnishing a proprietary insight edge?

Yuval Atsmon: One of the challenges most strategists face is the overwhelming complexity of the world we operate in—the number of unknowns, the information overload. At one level, it may seem that AI will provide another layer of complexity. In reality, it can be a sharp knife that cuts through some of the clutter. The question to ask is, Can AI simplify my life by giving me sharper, more timely insights more easily?

Joanna Pachner: You have been working in strategy for a long time. What sparked your interest in exploring this intersection of strategy and new technology?

Yuval Atsmon: I have always been intrigued by things at the boundaries of what seems possible. Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s second law is that to discover the limits of the possible, you have to venture a little past them into the impossible, and I find that particularly alluring in this arena.

AI in strategy is in very nascent stages but could be very consequential for companies and for the profession. For a top executive, strategic decisions are the biggest way to influence the business, other than maybe building the top team, and it is amazing how little technology is leveraged in that process today. It’s conceivable that competitive advantage will increasingly rest in having executives who know how to apply AI well. In some domains, like investment, that is already happening, and the difference in returns can be staggering. I find helping companies be part of that evolution very exciting.

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How a Financial Controller Contributes to Corporate Strategy

What is a Financial Controller?

Primary Responsibilities of a Financial Controller

The Financial Controller Job Description

Financial Controller vs. Other Financial Roles

Financial Controller (FC):

Chief Financial Officer (CFO):

The Strategic Contribution of Financial Controllers

Forecasting & Budgeting: The Crystal Ball of Business

Driving Innovation & Efficiency

Financial Controls & Their Impact on Strategy

The Strategic Power of Robust Financial Controls

Key Skills & Qualities of an Effective Financial Controller

1. Building Trust

2. Strategic Vision

3. Technological Adaptability

4. Continuous Learning & Adaptability

How to Become a Financial Controller: Your Action Plan

2. Choose Your Professional Qualification

ACA-ICAEW:

3. Gain Relevant Experience

4. Sharpen These Essential Skills

5. Network Actively

6. Seek Mentorship

Financial Controller: Final Thoughts

Explore our faster, simpler and smarter approach to expense management.

HMRC PAYE Explained: Tax Deductions, Deadlines & Requirements

The Complete Guide to Effective Invoice Management

The Power of Employee Benefits: Boosting Morale & Productivity

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BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

How a controller reduced cash burn by 36% vs. YTD budget in just seven months

About the Client

The Challenge

The Solution

With the help of a Paro expert, OfficeLuv:

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Accounting & Bookkeeping

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The Top 8 Goals of Financial Controllers

What is a Financial Controller?

Top 8 Goals of Financial Controllers

1. Managing Cash Flow

2. Financial Reporting

3. Budgeting

4. Risk Management

5. Compliance

6. Cost Control

7. Forecasting

8. Strategy Development

Financial Controllers FAQ

What skills do I need as a financial controller?

What are the top goals of financial controllers?

How do financial controllers provide accurate and timely financial reports?

What role does a financial controller have in developing strategies for long-term financial health?

How can financial controllers improve their performance?