Transformation of the Modern Finance Team: The Reshaping and Upgrading of the Controller Role

Today, finance leaders are immersed in strategic decision-making and digital transformation, but to successfully fulfill their evolving responsibilities, they need a team that is equally resilient and adaptable to support them.

New technologies, new ways of working, and evolving business needs are not only affecting the CFO's daily work but also profoundly changing the roles of other key finance executives. "At the highest level, the entire finance organization is undergoing an unprecedented structural shift," said Sanjay Sehgal, market consulting lead at KPMG.

For finance leaders, understanding the new responsibilities that Controllers and other finance department personnel must take on will be a key step in building a modern finance team ready for the challenges of 2024.

Trusted Advisor: The Core Shift in the Controller's Role

In an interview, Sehgal noted that the Controller "is becoming a trusted advisor to the CFO, and this trend is well established."

Like many positions, the specific responsibilities of a Controller vary by company. However, according to human resources consulting firm Robert Half, Controllers typically oversee a company's day-to-day accounting operations, including payroll, accounts payable, and accounts receivable departments, and may also be involved in preparing internal and external reports, managing the general ledger and taxes, reconciliations, coordinating audits, and budget management.

The importance of the Controller position is reflected in compensation trends: it is among the higher-paid roles in the finance team. According to Robert Half data, a corporate Controller at the 75th percentile (meaning they earn more than 75% of finance professionals) earns an average annual salary of approximately $210,750.

Controllers also hold core responsibility for the company's closing process, ensuring that the enterprise "generates information in a controlled manner so that public companies can report to the market and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)," said Kevin McBride, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at software-as-a-service company ServiceNow.

In an interview, McBride explained that as Controller of the Santa Clara, California-based SaaS company, he is responsible for global payroll, accounts payable, travel, collections, and credit management. The responsibilities of a Controller and a Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) can overlap, but they are not necessarily combined; for example, under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a CAO can serve as the principal accounting officer, but the CAO typically focuses more on corporate governance, while the Controller focuses more on processes like the close and ensuring financial statements comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

McBride noted that the Controller's job "is really about diving into the numbers, the descriptors, and the story behind financial performance, and ensuring that process is well controlled." He joined ServiceNow in November 2021, after spending 21 years at tech giant Intel Corporation, where he held key finance roles including Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, and Global Accounting and Financial Services Controller. Before joining Intel, he also served as an industry fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

The Path to a "Touchless Close"

In recent years, the Controller role has moved beyond purely financial number-crunching functions, driven by the "structural shift" occurring across the finance function—partly fueled by generative AI, machine learning, cloud technology, and other digital tools that have captured the attention of finance leaders in recent months, Sehgal said.

New technologies such as generative AI could fundamentally change how Controllers work and their role positioning—for example, Sehgal said, "I can foresee a future where we achieve a touchless close process." This means the entire financial closing process would no longer require routine manual intervention from Controllers and others. According to a 2022 Gartner report, 55% of finance executives plan to achieve a touchless close by 2025.

As companies continue to experiment with generative AI applications, finance teams are expected to get closer to achieving this process in 2024, which could rapidly change how Controllers currently allocate their time and energy.

McBride said that new technologies integrated into accounting over the past few decades have already brought improvements in quality, efficiency, and cost, enabling business leaders to access the information needed for operations at a lower cost. In terms of the Controller function, "it also gives us the ability to invest in other ways and drive business impact."

However, McBride cautioned that technology "is not new in accounting"—he was still using paper forms early in his career—and "with every technology introduction, there is a gap between hype and reality." Generative AI and the promise it brings are still in the early stages, he said.

As automation permeates the finance function, technology frees up more time by eliminating routine tasks, which in turn enables Controllers and CFOs to deepen their partnership. "Together with the CFO, we spend more time discussing strategic topics and how to best position the Controller function and the entire finance department," McBride said.

This evolution in the relationship comes as CFOs also shift toward more strategy-driven roles, while Controllers find themselves taking on processes that may have previously fallen within the scope of the finance leader's responsibilities.

"As the CFO elevates themselves, I think the Controller's role within the organization becomes bigger," Sehgal said.

Claire Bramley, CFO of Teradata, an AI cloud analytics and data platform company based in San Diego, California, said that finance leaders are increasingly serving as the CEO's "right hand," spending less time poring over day-to-day numbers. In an interview, Bramley noted that Controllers work closely with CFOs to drive an efficient, innovative, and forward-looking finance function, but the focus on day-to-day operations is what distinguishes the two roles.

As a finance leader, "you need to ensure processes are in place and understand what is happening," she said. However, finance leaders now spend more time thinking about how to drive the company forward.

New Responsibility for Free Cash Flow Forecasting

Bramley cited free cash flow as an example: because she now spends more time on Teradata's strategic transformation efforts, she is relying on her Controller to take on the responsibility for free cash flow management forecasting.

Sehgal emphasized that the Controller still critically plays the role of "owner of the financial data," "from an agreement perspective and a reporting perspective, the CFO and the executive team rely on it." McBride also agreed that being accountable for the numbers remains central to the Controller role.

However, amid a shortage of qualified accounting talent, emerging technologies, and new business demands, Controllers have not been immune to the expansion of responsibilities within the finance function. As the CFO role moves in a more strategic direction, other members of the finance team may also be pulled along.

"It's easy for Controllers to be sidelined... not included in certain business and strategic decisions," Bramley said. "But if you, as a Controller, decide to get more deeply involved, I think many companies will give you the opportunity to develop commercial acumen, build business relationships, and become a key part of managing the business."

For example, today's Controllers have tremendous opportunities to drive enterprise digital transformation—the Controller organization is often the largest team within the finance function, "so if they can drive digital transformation and stay ahead, then the rest of the finance department can adopt it as well," Bramley said.

This could also pave the way for Controllers to reach the CFO position—Bramley served as Global Controller at HP for two years before moving to Teradata after 14 years with the company.

"A modern Controller who is involved in strategic decisions, helps add business value, and makes an impact on the technology side—I think they are clearly a candidate for CFO," she said.