Controllers Handbook

written by Krish Srinivasan

June 2011

About the Author

Krishnamachari (Krish) Srinivasan is a Commerce graduate, a qualied Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant from India. He has worked in various organizations like SAIL, Xerox, Greaves, Stahl group, & Bilcare and has over 28 years of corporate experience. He has held positions at the CFO VP Finance levels for the past 14 years in the Specialty Chemicals and Pharmaceutical packaging industries, in India, Gulf & Singapore. Currently he is the Director and Head of Biz Consulting division at Global 9 Resources Pte Ltd, Singapore. Global 9 provides CFO-level expertise in sourcing banking facilities, MIS structuring, Strategic Financial Planning, Working Capital and Cash ow review system, prot improvement reviews, turn around strategies among other services like payroll processing, accounting, secretarial services, personal and corporate tax support etc. The rm aims to leverage Krishs rich wealth of knowledge and experience to help SMEs & budding entrepreneurs build a professional and protable organization.

Preface During my career, while moving up the ranks to become a CFO, I always had this desire to put down my ideas, suggestions, bestpractices and thoughts into a, so others may benet from my experience. In the hustle and bustle of corporate world, I noticed not many have the time or patience to train young Controllers. The ambitious learn through trial and error, while others seek assistance from coaches and consultants who in most cases do not have the rst hand knowledge of having moved up from being a Controller to the top. This led me to write this handbook through which I hope to ease the stress of having to gure things out yourself and make the whole experience a lot more enriching. Please keep in mind that whatever I have stated below is from my own personal experiences and may or may not be immediately applicable to your situation. So adapt the message as you see t and stay abreast of latest trends in the practice. Note: The male form HE has been used throughout this book purely for convenience. The content is applicable to both men and women alike.

To my parents, and in particular my Dad, my mentors and colleagues, and my wife and sons. Thank you for your support through my career.

Contents

I. Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

II. Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 III. Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 IV. Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 V. Conflict Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 VI. Functional Key Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 VII. Team Building and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 VIII. Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 IX. Tax Laws and Cross-Border Transactions . . 32 X. Commercial Awareness and Business Sense . 34

XI. Crisis Prevention and Management . . . . . . . . . . 38 XII. Supporting Other Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 XIII. Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 XIV. Dos & Donts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 XV. Financial Projections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 XVI. Management Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 XVII. Time Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 XVIII. Relationship Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 XIX. Career Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 XX. Fitness & Stress Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 XXI. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Role
It is important at the outset to dene the role of a controller in todays corporate world. Long gone are the days where he was expected to be a mere book keeper. The role has evolved to that of a business manager, participating in the day to day management of the

I. Role

Controllers Handbook

company along with the CEO/Unit Head. He must look to facilitate business growth rather than just being a spoke in the wheel. As an enabler, he must balance between aggressive business strategies and corporate governance. Thus the role of a Controller has changed from transaction processing to decision support. He has to be the business conscience of the company and help to grow corporate values. The controller must take responsibilities in, (a) controlling and reporting and (b) strategic planning and decision support. With respect to the former, he has to adopt a systematic, organized and structured approach to ensure that controlling and reporting are qualitative and consistent with the policies of the company and reporting standards. As for the latter, wearing the strategic hat, he has to evolve ideas, participate in business meetings, sales & logistics reviews and facilitate market development. Todays fast changing world demands a controller possess acute knowledge about the business, market situation, competitors, products & services, and resourcing.You may have observed Finance Controllers

I. Role

Controllers Handbook

limiting themselves to pure number crunching and book keeping in many companies; while this may partly be due to the companys culture, the main reason ought to be how the Finance Controller draws the boundaries of his role. You are what you project yourself to be. By redening your role to that of a matured business manager, you change how people perceive you and your job scope . This benets your employer but more importantly helps accelerate your career as well. Like Einstein said, a mind that has been stretched will never return to its original dimension!

II

Responsibilities
While the controller plays an active and participative role in running the business, his responsibilities keep growing in todays complex business situations. Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Taxation, Secretarial, Legal and Treasury are some of

II. Responsibilities

Controllers Handbook

the areas where primary responsibility rests with the controller. In addition, he has to ensure that nancial accounting is strictly in accordance with the local laws/accounting standards and is accurate through appropriate reconciliations. He is also responsible for drafting the chart of accounts, policies and procedures for business processes, developing control systems to monitor day-to-day transactions, developing systems to monitor & manage exceptions, recruiting qualied & competent sta, developing control mechanisms to adhere to corporate governance standards such as the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act etc. A controller is also responsible for preparing budgets which include a well structured sales budget by product, region and business group, an operations budget to meet with the sales budget to ensure smooth and uninterrupted supplies and a cash ow budget. He then must summarise them in a nancial document to show the budgeted prots by division and country to cover a rolling 3 year period. This would allow him to estimate the capital required to grow the business and evaluate the alternatives for nancial viability before presenting the same to the Board for approval.

II. Responsibilities

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His responsibility also extends to ensuring that the actual capital spending is within the approved budget and monitor cost/time overruns. He is also expected to make sure that the companys cash ow for short, medium and long terms are suciently arranged through bank loans or other nancial products. If the company has a separate Corporate Treasury department the Controller may work closely with them to make sure that the business is funded properly to meet the budget/nancial plans. He is also directly responsible for preparing management accounts/reports and reviewing the same by comparing the actual with those of budgeted numbers. He has to drive a systematically run Sales & Operations review for nancial planning every month for a rolling 24 month period and identify the decisions to be taken by the senior management team to enable the company to achieve their long term plans in a proactive manner. Financial planning, funding, tax planning, cost management and control are other key responsibilities of the Controller. All audit, tax and legal matters have to be carefully handled to ensure that the laws of the land are complied with.

III

Attitude
It is important that the Controller nurture a positive orientation to the business while maintaining nancial stability and enforcing control mechanisms. Making sure the latter is kept up to date and the sta are well trained on the subject is of importance as

III. Attitude

Controllers Handbook

well. Critical review of the processes is required to prevent nancial incidents by willful oenders. Where controls inhibit a timely response to market, a logical via-media solution needs to be found. In the event of a process lapse, evaluate the reasons and make sure concerned persons receive additional training to ll knowledge gaps. Avoid personal remarks at all costs. An environment that encourages people to be honest and highlight issues upfront needs to be fostered. For instance, nance team members must refrain from opinionated remarks on abnormal claims while reviewing expense claims. Instead such issues may be condentially highlighted to the employees superior who can evaluate the situation before deciding on whether it can be approved. If time permits, sensitive issues need to be handled by the Controller himself. Being the conscience keeper of the company, the Controller has to be on top of all ethical matters, maintain personal integrity, and monitor & control integrity issues working with HR and the functional managers.

IV

Leadership
A controller is expected to lead from the front, when it comes to professionalism, ethics and adherence to best-practices. Based on the company situation, he has to alternate between transformative and controlling styles of leadership. Under the former, sta

IV. Leadership

Controllers Handbook

may be encouraged to innovate and own initiatives while the latter, to be adopted in more trying times, is needed in project management situations to achieve tough deadlines and targets. The focus may be on working smart as against working hard. Sta need to be encouraged to ask questions and duly recognized for good deliveries. Private discussions can be had with under-performing sta to help them overcome impediments to their performance. Encourage a NO SURPRISE culture by asking people to share good and bad news boldly upfront. Be an impartial leader, treating all sta equally and on their merits. This in turn will earn you their respect and help avoid personality conicts within the team. Be proactive in resolving conicts amongst sta and promote an environment of mutual respect. Lead your team by demonstrating how to make improvements at work by simplifying the work process, by automation and by eliminating unwanted or duplicate control measures.

Conict Management
In every company functional conicts are inevitable. This is caused by the individual view points and perspectives of the respective functions on the same subject or transaction. However, for the benet of the organization the conict needs to be resolved as soon

V. Conict Management

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as possible with a business view point. For example, air lifting of raw material is a restricted transaction in most organizations. However, in order to service a specic customer order or to meet a supply-chain emergency, import of raw materials by air may be necessary. Instead of getting hung up on the topic, the concerned department heads say Finance and Supply Chain heads can analyze the cause and make sure that symptoms pointing to systemic errors are attended to in order to avoid repeating the mistake. In order to get the business going, they need to listen to each others view point and once convinced proceed to release the order for import of raw material by air. Steps need to be taken to ensure such conicts are only exceptional and do not become a regular feature. This is possible if and only if the respective functional heads look into xing the root cause of the problem and make sure that the customer ultimate gets the nished goods on time. There are times when on the basis of good corporate principles one of the functions may not agree with the other. What is important in this scenario is

V. Conict Management

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to explain the reasons for the disagreement instead of holding personal grievances against each other. Please note that it is better to resolve conicts face to face than exchanging emails/over a phone call unless geographically the two persons are located apart. Email exchanges in such a situation may be avoided as the tone can be misread and the real substance may not explained properly when an argument begins. Always trust your colleague unless you have reasons to believe otherwise. I will share one such event which I experienced. One of the operations head was willing to sign o for writingo certain quantity of a key component as the system was showing that stock was available but physically not traceable. As the value was high and also because enough eort had not been taken to reconcile the stock, I temporarily allowed for fresh issue of material without write-o for nding out the real problem. Upon investigation, it was found that as scrap accounting was not properly done the system was showing availability of stock which stopped further issue of material. This was explained to the operations head who understood the importance of making

V. Conict Management

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sure that material issues are documented properly and instructed his team accordingly.

VI

Functional Key Strings

The controller must at all times be completely focused on the key elements of business: Sales, margins, costs, prots, taxes and cash. Key reports on sales by country, product group, and month need to be reviewed regularly alongside budgeted numbers. Margins by

VI. Functional Key Strings

Controllers Handbook

products, business group and sales mix by country need to be understood with variances analysed. Costs must be controlled at the point of expenditure and sta may be instructed to highlight any abnormal & unbudgeted expenditure before they are incurred. Costs need to be analysed by cost centre for better control. Taxation rules whether direct or indirect have to be well understood for compliance and better tax planning. It is important to be abreast of all changes in local tax laws and international taxation. Owners and stakeholders look for EBITDA, net prot and cash. Much focus is required on working capital management viz inventory control, collection of receivables and managing payables. Working capital is one single large area where the Controller can play a very vital role in ensuring that companys funds are not blocked too much in inventory and receivables. Even the best managed companies constantly challenge their inventory turns and credit management processes to improve their bottom line. Regular interaction with marketing is required to know about business trends with large customers and also discuss credit exposures for large accounts as along for

VI. Functional Key Strings

Controllers Handbook

evaluating credit risks for new customers. Fixed assets and capital expenditure control may be reviewed each time any capital expenditure is made. A proper Capital Expenditure approval process and procedure may be established to make sure that the company evaluates the project from cash, protability and business growth angles. A good controller is expected to be thorough with the nancial information of the company pertaining to the past, present and future in comparison with budgets/projections.

VII

Team Building and Management

The success of any organization or a leader depends on the team. As the saying goes, The strength of a chain is only as much as that of its weakest link.

VII. Team Building

Controllers Handbook

Hence it is important that the Controller builds a good team with qualied, competent, positive-thinking and enthusiastic sta. It requires a lot of eort manage such a bubbling team and care may be taken to encourage questioning, idea generation, accountability and creative thinking. People may be empowered and allowed to experiment with ideas. Failures may be seen as lessons and it shall be shown at all times that that the buck stops with the leader. This puts additional responsibility on the individual sta to be more cautious but still keep innovating. Every employee has a dierent mode of expression and has varying capabilities. Comparisons need to be avoided but good work can be appreciated in front of other sta. Employees have dierent motivation triggers and most people look for recognition in the form of appreciation. Monetary rewards may be given only for exemplary performance to make sure they earn it. It is important for every controller and manager to spend time with each sta reviewing his/her work on a monthly basis. Firstly, this will foster better relations with the team member, and secondly, the sta gets feedback on a regular basis to help improve his/her performance in line with the expectations of

VII. Team Building

Controllers Handbook

the management. Normally sta can be at four levels, e.g. Tell, Sell, Consult or Delegate. 1. Tell: The employee has to be given clear instructions to Tell the Manager when faced with an issue 2. Sell: Sell ideas and alternatives to the employee to solve his issues by himself 3. Consult: The employee has reached a stage wherein you are able to consult him for solutions to your issues 4. Delegate: The employee is now able to manage issues for you. Have a personal target to move each employee one level up at a time and contribute to his/her growth in the corporate ladder. Constructive criticism is ne with an open mind for ideas. Sta need be given job rotation at least once in 3 years to improve their knowledge and competencies. While every care has to be taken to retain good competent sta, do not fret when they leave for better growth opportunities elsewhere. Set key objectives for each employee and

VII. Team Building

Controllers Handbook

allow them to contribute their own. Discuss with each employee to help align their individual functional objectives with the companys overall objectives.

VIII

Technology
Todays world is lled with gadgets and software. The role of a Finance professional has changed largely from a book keeper to a business manager on account of the numerous integrated ERP software in the market which takes care of most entire business functions

VIII. Technology

Controllers Handbook

like Sales accounting, inventory, purchases, nancial accounting, production etc. The success of a Controller depends on how much tech savvy he or she is and how update is his knowledge on business management related technology. The use of Microsoft products like Excel, Word and Power Point have become so important, it will be dicult to achieve eciency without these products of technology. The Controller need to develop skills to be able to use gadgets like computers, net works, video conferencing gadgets, black berry, Iphones etc to maximize performance in his role. These are only tools to achieve excellence in our work and cannot substitute our functional competence & skills. Automating processes help the controller in ensuring that internal controls are in place, transactions are consistently & accurately recorded and above all gives the edge to analyse the data in a dynamic environment. Apart from the software that is being used in the company, a good understanding of the product technology is very important for making an impressive pitch with the bankers who can relate the nancial

VIII. Technology

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information with input from your product knowledge. In countries like India where excise duties are dependent on the nature and category of the product, product knowledge is a must to make sure that we take advantage of the concessions given by law for specic products.

IX

IX. Tax & Cross-Border

Controllers Handbook

Tax Laws and Cross-Border Transactions

As a Controller one need to be fairly conversant with both local and international tax laws particularly those regarding related party transactions, transfer pricing and maintaining arms length dealings. This area is very vital as tax authorities in most countries meticulously look at related party transactions and PE (Permanent Establishment) issues. The Controller has to be very cautious about PE issues as it would mean a big blow to the companys bottom line if the crossborder transactions are not properly documented and handled in a professional way. It is best recommended to consult experts in this eld who will be able to use data -base engines like PROWESS to compare the related party compensation arrangements with those of similar transactions of unrelated parties.

IX. Tax & Cross-Border

Controllers Handbook

It is advisable to review all the transactions with related companies every quarter as to whether the transactions are in line with the agreed terms as per professionally validated documents. The Controller is also expected to keep himself updated with the local law changes by attending seminars and reading relevant journals periodically. Operations department need to be informed to check with the Controller on the implications of all changes to the way related party transactions are handled. This will ensure that all transfer pricing regulations are followed in spirit and the impact of changes in product, business process are taken care of.

Commercial Awareness and Business Sense

Controllers are expected to have a good knowledge of commercial law and be able to advise the company on the obligations and rights on each business transac-

X. Business Sense

Controllers Handbook

tion. It is important for long term arrangements to be properly documented with a proper agreement detailing the scope, terms and conditions of the commercial transaction. Purchase/service contracts, condentiality agreements, guarantees, rental agreements, noncompete agreements, sub-contract, capital purchase and erection contracts, labour contracts etc are some of the key commercial agreements signed by many organizations. Though the controller may not be expected to draft these agreements, he would be expected to review the same before they are signed by the CEO/Unit Head. It is therefore important for the Controller to be completely familiar with the underlying contract, review the key clauses of scope, obligations and duties, make sure that the clauses are mutual and fair, provides exit and arbitration clauses and last but not the least a validity clause if the contract is for a specic period. The controller may necessarily consult a specialist for all major contracts and lead the meeting with the contracting party to make amendments wherever necessary. Please note that contracts provided by the suppliers or service providers would have been com-

X. Business Sense

Controllers Handbook

pletely vetted by their legal support and so it is the responsibility for the Controller to make sure that the companys interests are protected. Please remember the standard phrases - let the buyer beware and ignorance of law is no excuse. When in doubt consult the specialists. Similarly, every controller must have complete business sense essential for his success as a professional. The following abilities are necessary to be on top of your job with complete business sense: 1. Excellent knowledge of the product, market share, competition, technology, market expectations for a new/modied product etc. 2. The potential business risks and identied risk mitigation strategies are in place 3. Are clear and rm in their decisions and completely focused in their tasks 4. Will not hesitate to make suitable modications along the way to their plans Thus, developing stronger business acumen means a more thoughtful analysis, clearer logic underlying

X. Business Sense

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business decisions, closer attention to key dimensions of implementation and operation, and more disciplined performance management.

XI

Crisis Prevention and Management

Avoiding a crisis is of course the best way in every function. However, the Controller must be fully competent to manage a crisis after it has landed. While a

XI. Crisis Prevention

Controllers Handbook

crisis can happen in any area, the best way to avoid it is by regular & systematic review of business operations, risks and proper nancial planning. Prepare a checklist of important key areas that need to be under control at all times and x a schedule for reviewing them with the concerned person in your team. Wherever senior management is involved, x up a scheduled meeting, send agenda points and share the nancial information and actions required to achieve the budgeted numbers. Develop a culture to have a NO SURPRISE culture within the organization. This means that you need to share with your team and the management of any important ndings that they need to know. Blowing the whistle unnecessarily will only cause panic and also lead to people not believing your words. However, when you are in doubt, please share the topic with the concerned and state that the outcome is not conclusive. Please remember to keep them posted of the nal outcome. This will ensure that the concerned colleague is aware of what is happening around in their areas. Management may be particularly informed of nancial implications of any crisis & a Controller is expected to play a positive role in solving problems and totally avoid being part of

XI. Crisis Prevention

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the problem. Maintain your calm and ensure proper & complete analysis of the issue on hand. Once the crisis is handled to the complete satisfaction of the concerned, take necessary steps across the company to ensure that the risk factors are well monitored for eective control.

XII

Supporting Other Functions

The role of a Controller does not stop with Finance function alone in the current days of competition. It is therefore important for the Controller to interact

XII. Support

Controllers Handbook

with the heads of other functions like production, purchase, marketing, maintenance etc to know their views relating to costs, eciency and sensitivities of business. The Finance Controller must necessarily visit the shop oor regularly to know about the products that are being manufactured, production process, productivity, material accounting, and eciencies of business. This will help in rst getting a proper understanding of the companys business nuances and also help in identifying areas of cost reduction. The Controller may give a helping hand to other functions and interact in such a way to oer help and solicit the support of the other functions in cost reduction, waste elimination and improving other operational eectiveness. The Controller has to be able to understand and evaluate the functions from an internal control angle while at the same time be an enabler to smoothen the business process. Eciency cannot remove controls but at the same time controls shall not be an impediment to the business process. There needs to be a good balance between the two and the Controller has to play a vital role in this review process.

XII. Support

Controllers Handbook

The more the controller spends time with people from other functions like marketing, Supply chain, production etc, to have an in-depth understanding of their processes. This will help for internal control reviews, process improvements, and compliance matters. Colleagues from these functions will be happy to cooperate with you as you have a complete understanding of their diculties to solve inter-functional issues.

XIII

Control
It is a known fact that the Controller is the conscience keeper of the stake holders and is expected to monitor the business processes from a Corporate Governance angle. The expectations of the public, stake holders and the owners from a Controller is that he or she

XIII. Control

Controllers Handbook

needs to have immaculate credibility and track record. Hence a Controller can at no point of his career aord to be lax in his conscience keeper role. Apart from the expectations, laws have been enacted to punish and even imprison the defaulting Controllers whose dereliction of job causes the owners, stake holders and the Govt to lose money. In order to have better control, the Controller needs to have a thorough knowledge of business, business processes and have a good foresight into the future of the company. His eyes, ears and antenna need to be always receptive to important information and eorts shall be taken immediately to x control weaknesses. The Controller need to regularly review internal controls either on his own or with the help of internal auditors for taking prompt & necessary action. Within Finance function, regular review of the reports is a must along with review meeting with the individuals within the organization.

XIII. Control

Controllers Handbook

Wherever, the Controller suspects something illogical, he must probe into the subject deeply to convince that things are in order.

XIV

Dos & Donts

A Finance Controller has to maintain a clean track record and maintain high integrity. No employer will be keen to have a tainted person particularly as the Finance Manager/Controller. As we are the conscience keepers of organizations, our activities will be under

XIV. Dos & Donts

Controllers Handbook

constant scrutiny and we have to live up to what we say. The Controller will be expected to be impartial and objective both within and outside of the department. Please follow the principle to criticize ideas and not the persons. Always provide your feedback in a positive manner and build your revised suggestion around the original. Please remember to give credit to the originator to make sure that your points are well taken in an objective manner. Be friends with the functional heads and reach out to them when they need help in resolving issues. As you will have all the condential info about the company, maintain high level of secrecy and be discreet with your sharing of key information. Maintain good relations with bankers, auditors and consultants on a professional count and maintain a distance. Be free with your team members but always remember that will look at you as their role model in the company and so be cautious about what you say & do. As you will be handling lots of condential and business critical documents, please keep your desk and computer organized to ensure safety of the documents.

XIV. Dos & Donts

Controllers Handbook

With each email communication you can build or spoil your image. Hence be very objective in your writing and DO NOT write emails when you are in an aggressive mood and upset with some of the happenings in the company. Even if you have to communicate, please keep the HOT MAIL in the draft box and review after an hour or two before you press the send button. Write emails in simple language and make sure that the person receiving the mail sees the subject and not pushed to be defensive.

XV

Financial Projections
As the Finance Manager/Finance Controller you will be involved in preparing some nancial projections for the bankers and on a monthly basis the Latest View of the current nancial year to the management. In both the scenarios, you need to maintain the nancial

XV. Financial Projections

Controllers Handbook

information is shareable (as generally approved by the management) and also please make sure that you discuss with your functional head rst before you send to the Unit Head or the Business Group Head. Always follow a NO SURPRISE culture and share the info in advance with your functional head so that he can take appropriate action and also share with the unit head as may be necessary. The nancial projections shall reect the current business trend and the strategic business plans of the organization. While making the projections, please write down all the assumptions, validate them with the concerned functional heads and get their concurrence on the numbers & underlying facts. A well documented nancial plan, particularly the annual budget will help in proper analysis of the actual business performance vs the budget at all controllable areas and provide risk mitigation strategies for non-controllable areas. Notes on xed cost assumptions will make the relevant functional heads to manage costs better within budget and assumptions on sales by region will help manage the market risks. Always spend time to review your numbers from the view point of

XV. Financial Projections

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the recipient and discuss with your functional head before sending it to others in a presentable format.

XVI

Management Expectations
Management everywhere is always looking for 100% integrity and commitment from the Finance Controller, especially owing to the role, as it involves cash &

XVI. Management Expectations

Controllers Handbook

sensitive aspects of the business. The management will expect the Finance Manager/Controller to be completely hands-on, and in full command of the nancial numbers. As the management always will rst reect their business plans with the Finance Controller to know the nancial impact, it is naturally expected of the Controller to be completely proactive in his thought process. Keep yourself abreast of all the compliance requirements for the business and always be upfront if you are not sure but quickly revert to the management upon getting the right inputs. The management would also like to have a sensitivity analysis both nancial and otherwise of the dierent options. Good knowledge of MS Excel and Power point presentation will be required to summarize the discussion so that a well considered management decision can be taken. Finance function is the hub of all activities in the company and therefore the Controller need to have good knowledge of the Finance related areas including commercial laws, knowledge of our product, knowledge of the business plans & proposals, good IT skills and communication capabilities.

XVI. Management Expectations

Controllers Handbook

You are what you project yourself as. People recognize brilliance and brilliance will be rewarded. Be patient and you will get the management attention.

XVII

Time Management
As you might have observed from the above paragraphs, a Finance Manager/Controller is expected to be handling plenty of areas across the business functions both knowledge wise and be able to do things hands-on where required. Hence Time Management

XVII. Time Management

Controllers Handbook

skill is very important to juggle with all these expectations and within the given time. Prioritizing work is of utmost importance within Time Management. Delegation of work is also very important to get things done as planned and need to be timely apart from being accurate. It is highly recommended that you spare some time to save time by attending a training program on time management. It is a well known fact that Finance department sta in each company burn midnight oil each year for annual accounts closing and even for month end reporting. I feel this can be very well avoided provided we manage time during the day, week, month and year. First is to plan and set a target of what we want to do. List down the activities, whether it is for month end reporting or annual closing work. Prepare a time table working backwards from the target date. Then you will know when to start each activity so that we achieve our target date even if some unplanned activity comes up. Identify critical activities and gear up your team to work in their respective areas to do things daily like for example update customer collections daily in the ERP system, le papers then and there, update

XVII. Time Management

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vendor invoices daily as and when received, review work constantly with a view to clear bottlenecks and improve smoother ow of work. As the head of nance department help your team members to achieve their time plan by talking to purchase, marketing, production and other functions from whom the papers and information ow into nance. Similarly talk to banks to get info on transactions on a daily basis so that you can manage your collections, payments and cash much better. Have frequent meetings with your team to discuss issues and help clear them asap. Have daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly info updated in your data bank or MIS reports. Work SMART than working HARD. Most important, have the habit of getting back home like your colleagues in Marketing, Production, Purchase and HR. A good work-life balance is important for being eective and ecient.

XVIII

Relationship Management
We all have seen that every organization has grown because of nurturing Relationship with investors, bankers, customers, vendors, employees and all the

XVIII. Relationship Management

Controllers Handbook

general public. As a Finance Controller, we also need to learn the art of developing and growing the Relationship. Many Controllers spend lots of time in their cabin churning reports, crunching numbers and writing emails to all others. Though this may be part of their job, they have to understand that others inside & outside the organization are also human beings. Please walk up to the various departments (including your own Finance department) to spend time with them to understand their pains, issues & view point. Most of the organizational issues can be solved by taking those few steps out of our cabin to meet people, going for lunch with other department heads or colleagues, keep smiling, and most important listen to what others say. If we have the habit of going to the other departments only to argue or ght out an issue, then people will avoid talking to you. So please do not do that. Go and meet people when there are no issues and help resolve their issues if you can. Promise something which you can handle and deliver on time. Great CFOs are made by small gestures in their career

XVIII. Relationship Management

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path to a majority of their colleagues. Kindly remember that as the Controller you may be having lots of condential information and so be very discrete while talking about those sensitive topics. Employees and colleagues go that extra mile for anyone who strikes a chord with them and so focus on Relationship Management. My request to you is please do not start with the result in mind while building relationship. Trust is a very key factor in Relationship and if that is broken then it takes long time to rebuild it. A Controller maintaining good Relationship with bankers is very key to the company as apart from the strong nancials of the company it is many a times the Controller who has earned the trust of the bankers over a period of time is able to get the bankers nod in time for funding and at the most cost eective terms. Similar is the need to earn that trust & respect from regulatory authorities by maintaining good compliance track record.

XIX

Career Planning
Each one of us is interested to grow and expect the company to recognize our performance & contribution. During the early years in a company at all levels we have to take initiative to not only manage our respective functional roles but also be helpful to other

XIX. Career Planning

Controllers Handbook

functions to play a key role in the growth of the organization. We have to do our career planning to work towards a goal to grow into the next position in the company. In large organizations there can be lots of peers at the same level competing for a position that may fall vacant. As only one person can be chosen for that position, the person with good knowledge demonstrated through his work, and also is very pleasant to work with will get his chance against others who may also be equally deserving. Please do not take it to your heart and suer within yourself. You have to openly discuss with your superior to nd out how you could have qualied for that position and take the feed back in your stride. It is very easy to say this but as an ambitious person, very dicult to accept. We have two choices here, one is to stay back without grudging and the second is to move on gracefully to another organization. I am not suggesting that you become complacent and stay put accepting things as it is, but would like to say that you chalk out what you want to do. Do

XIX. Career Planning

Controllers Handbook

some introspection (a SWOT) and plan your career moves by yourself. Ask the question, what I want to do three to ve years down the line. Write down what you need to do to achieve that and make it happen. As the saying goes, Plan your work and Work your plan. People who spend long years in one company tend to have a comfort zone and are reluctant to take new challenges outside of the organization. New organizations will help you learn dierent work cultures, approaches to business and your ability to adapt to new environment. You can meet new colleagues, experience challenging tasks and more importantly could learn to look at things from a dierent perspective.

XX

Fitness & Stress Management

Our role in an organization is that of a support function and it is purely a desk job. With long hours in front of the computer, we tend to develop health

XX. Stress

Controllers Handbook

issues obesity, back aches, eye related problems, headaches and many more. As a Controller, there is a likelihood of excessive stress, and this just builds up, leaving people with ill health at the age of 35 these days. Hence physical tness plays a very vital role in our life. Break the monotony by exercising in the morning, play an active sport like soccer or table tennis and you will be surprised to nd it helps manage both physical tness and stress. Make physical activities a routine and you will look forward to weekends and will be seen smiling your way to work each day. Our families reect will also reect this mood. Any person under excessive stress and with poor physical activity tends to be negative, less optimistic and generally not preferred as company by colleagues. A healthy body has a healthy mind and a healthy mind brews positive thoughts which can spread and benet others around you. Stay t and add value to others.

XXI

Conclusion
The views expressed in this document are based on my personal experience and I hope youve beneted from it. Kindly adapt the points mentioned here to suit your needs. I wish you the best in becoming a great Controller and more importantly a successful

Controllers Handbook

corporate executive. Success is dened dierently by each of us; in my opinion, you are successful if you have been able to add value to the organisation you work for and your colleagues by sharing your knowledge. Monetary gains and designation are used as measures of success by some, but these are constantly in ux and do not reect your true value. I would appreciate your constructive feedback on this handbook. I also invite you to visit our companys website regularly for such documents. I am sure many of you have similar ideas and the ability to spread your knowledge. Please do pen your thoughts down and share it with the world.

Best regards. Krish