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What Is The Difference Between a Financial Controller And a Business Controller?

What Is The Difference Between a Financial Controller And a Business Controller?

Financials were rarely sought after. Everyone seems to be looking for them, and they have the jobs to choose from. Although the demand for all types of finance functions has risen sharply in recent years, you hear one term strikingly often: controllers. It is often wrongly thought that a business controller is a step up the career ladder for a financial controller when it concerns two entirely different functions. What exactly is the difference between a financial controller and a business controller? And what is expected in both roles?


What does a financial controller do?


A financial controller works closely with the accounting professional to ensure that financial reports are reliable. He is a financial who mainly deals with periodic reports, annual figures, and Profit & Loss reports.


When are you suitable to work as a financial controller?


A typical financial controller - if there is one - does not mind following strict procedures and guidelines in his or her work and likes to work on annual accounts and monthly reports. As a financial controller, you are focused on the content and facts.


What does a business controller do?


Unlike a financial controller, a business controller is mainly concerned with interpreting figures. Reasoning from the statistics, a business controller optimizes business processes to work more profitably. For him, it is a means to manage the business. Although there is an essential link with the finance department, the business controller is very central to the organization.


When are you suitable to work as a business controller?


The essential features of a business controller are flexibility, purpose, and persuasion. As the business controller searches for processes that are not running efficiently enough, he or she will need to show initiative and convince people in the company to work differently because he expects this to improve the company's profitability.


"We do this because we have always done it this way," is a common argument for a business controller, and that will have to be parried over and over. A good dose of perseverance and not bothered by a setback area, therefore properties that come in handy for the business controller.


The difference between a financial controller and a business controller


The profile of a business controller differs fundamentally from that of a financial controller. Where a financial controller is mainly concerned with charting the current status of the company and ensures that all financial aspects are correct as annual accounts, a business controller is more concerned with the future, and he or she uses the figures that work of the financial controller as a starting point for analyzes. As a business controller, you function, as it were, more as a consultant, whereas a financial controller, you focus on the overall financial results of the organization.


Which finance function suits you? And which financial suits your company?


The financial controller and business controller are generally different types of employees, with different preferences and strengths. We are happy to help you determine which finance role is right for you.


Are you looking for finance talent as an organization? Then it is crucial to map out which type of person you are looking for in which position; the job title and job description are essential to attract the right candidates and create the right expectations.