The Controller's Toolkit

Christine H. Doxey

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781119700654
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Comptabilité de gestion

Get practical tools and guidance for financial controllership you can put to immediate use

The Controller's Toolkit delivers a one-of-a-kind collection of templates, checklists, review sheets, internal controls, policies, and procedures that will form a solid foundation for any new or established financial controller. You'll get the tools and information you need to master areas like business ethics, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, risk management, security, IT processes, and financial operations.

All of the tools contained in this indispensable book were recommended by corporate and business unit controllers from small to medium-sized companies and large, multinational firms. You will benefit from master-level guidance in areas like:

• Ethics, Codes of Conduct, and the "Tone at the Top" to support ethical behavior
• The operational and financial aspects of corporate governance
• The importance of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission Framework
• The requirement for entity-level controls
• The importance of linking the business plan with the budget process

The Controller's Toolkit also belongs on the bookshelves of finance and accounting students, executives, and managers who wish to know more about the often-complex world of financial controls.

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1
About This Toolkit

The Controller's Toolkit provides a single source for everything that controllers and finance and accounting professionals need to know to be successful. This toolkit will enable aspiring, new, and current controllers to take a giant leap forward and gain proficiency as corporate leaders.

The comprehensive content provided in this toolkit consists of process flows, checklists, tables of controls, and tables of risks and controls. Each comprehensive table of risks and controls identifies the risks to the business process, recommended policies, controls that will mitigate the risks, and internal control metrics. Besides laying out the accounting and technical requirements of the controllership, this toolkit describes the leadership skills that support the success of a controller's career.

This toolkit is a must-have for accounting and finance professionals wishing to advance their careers and expand their skills and knowledge. This toolkit may also appeal to chief operating officers (CEOs), chief financial officers (CFOs), chief human resources officers, controllers, treasurers, and anyone else who is in the chain of command or who serves as an influencer for corporate finance and accounting processes.

This toolkit is a great reference for many roles within these wide-ranging corporate functions and for companies of many sizes. It can also serve as a training tool, since the content takes a new look at the roles and responsibilities of a controller.

This comprehensive toolkit is organized by specifically defined areas of risk that apply to any company or industry. Each chapter is focused on a business process and includes an overview, a process flow, a table of controls, and a table of risks and controls. The author has included 66 tools, each of which has been designed specifically for controllers to tackle the challenges of a specific business process. Here's how this toolkit is organized.

How This Toolkit Is Organized
Section Number	Area of Risk	Chapter Number	Chapter Title
Introductory Chapters		1	About This Toolkit
		2	Defining the Role of a Controller
1	Corporate and Reputational Risk	3	The Controller and Risk Management
		4	The Controller and Ethics
		5	The Controller and Corporate Governance
		6	Entity-Level Controls
2	Strategic Planning and Mergers and Acquisitions Risk	7	Strategic Planning and Mergers and Acquisitions
3	Internal Control Risk	8	Internal Control Program
4	Compliance Risk	9	Regulatory Compliance
5	Payment Risk	10	Procure-to-Pay
		11	Hire-to-Retire
		12	Order-to-Cash
6	Financial Operations Risk	13	Record-to-Report
		14	Budgets, Forecasts, and Capital Budgeting
		15	Supply Chain Management and Inventory Control
		16	Treasury and Cash Management
		17	Shared Services and Business Process Outsourcing
		18	Dashboards, Data Validation, Analytics, Metrics, and Benchmarking
7	Information Technology Risk	19	Information Technology Controls and Cybersecurity
8	Business Continuity and Physical Security Risk	20	Business Continuity and Physical Security
9	Leadership and Change Management Risk	21	Leadership and Managing Change
		22	Trends, Process Transformation, and Digitization

CHAPTER 2
Defining the Role of a Controller

OVERVIEW

The controllership function is carried out by a controller, which usually is the individual in charge of and with authority over the processes related to finance and accounting. A controller has the main goal of keeping the company's bottom line secure by accurate internal controls and well-defined financial operations. But a good controller needs to be aware of all areas of risk that may impact a company and its ongoing success.

The role of the controller is often defined as being a business partner to other functions and divisions within an organization. In many organizations the role of the finance professional is defined as being a business partner to the organizations supported.

Controllers are faced with much broader challenges and opportunities in today's business world and are being asked to take on additional responsibilities outside of the traditional “chief accounting officer” role. Controllers are connected to most of the key business processes within an organization. Controllers provide the stewardship and accountability systems that ensure that the organization is conducting its business in an appropriate, ethical manner.

Controllers and their staffs should also provide the information, analysis, and advice that will...