Education, training and further education, career opportunities, salary and job offers in controlling

Controlling includes the entire process, from setting the target, to planning, to management in the area of finance and performance management.

This includes the responsibility for defining, deciding, managing. Therefore, controlling is assigned to a manager. They have to decide on goals and detailed planning. While the manager runs the business and is responsible for the result, the controller has the economic meaning and takes the responsibility for the results transparency. This interplay of the management and the controller accounts for the controlling in the intersection.

The management work is not tied to a specific company size, but must also be binding in small companies. Controlling does not have to be personal. However, the management must be oriented towards the goal and planning, be anticipatory as well as adaptive and decentralized. If a management that meets these requirements is not available, the controlling services make no sense.

A controller not only has to have the ability to present and explain projects and results. They have to ask questions and be ready for discussions. They are also often required to deliver bad news or demand responsibility. In addition to good communication, rhetorical and also social skills, controllers need above all assertiveness and perseverance.

Basic mathematical as well as logical skills, but also entrepreneurial thinking (and acting) are basic prerequisites for successful controlling. For the latter, a business education is a good basis. In manufacturing companies, technical understanding is essential. The development of controlling knowledge is also necessary. Here, the controller learns to use instruments, to interpret results and to derive measures from them. The necessary data are usually determined by appropriate software. Intensive knowledge of the relevant programs and communication media are therefore also part of the requirements portfolio of a modern controller.

Source: ICV Controlling Wiki, „Controlling” [German]

A controller should be:

• communicative
• exact
• patient
• assertive
• empathetic

A controller should know:

• his company's market
• economic developments
• industry trends

A controller should:

• be able to present
• know cost accounting
• know performance calculation
• know investment calculation
• know business calculation techniques
• be able to operate IT systems

According to Robert Half, personnel service provider for specialists and executives in finance and accounting (German), among other things, employees with a degree in economics are generally sought to fill positions in controlling. But career changers who qualify through further training also have increasing opportunities.

Successful examples of great careers that started in controlling include ICV Chairman Siegfried Gänßlen also Dr. Richard Lutz, Member of the ICV Board of Trustees and CEO of Deutsche Bahn since March 2017.

More on our Portrait pages

Controllers:

• design and accompany the management process of goal setting, planning and management, so that every decision-maker acts in a goal-oriented manner.
• ensure conscious preoccupation with the future and thereby enable opportunities to be taken and risks to be dealt with.
• integrate the goals and plans of all those involved into a coordinated whole.
• develop and maintain the controlling systems, they ensure data quality and provide information relevant to decision-making.
• are committed as a business conscience to the well-being of the organization as a whole

More here.

Overview:

1. Sustainable value creation
2. Beyond the costs
3. Dealing with symptoms is not enough
4. Innovation and competitive advantage
5. Taking actions above all
6. Taking responsibility
7. Business partner instead of a number cruncher
8. Seeing the people behind the numbers
9. Representing the company's values
10. Being a person of integrity

More here

...the ICV offers something new every year, nationwide and internationally, with current topics, trends in controlling and the basics of controlling in equal measure. The central event and highlight of the year for almost five decades has been the renowned Congress of Controllers. It takes place every spring in Munich with around 500 participants. In the second half of the year we invite you to the ICV Autumn Conferences. Our ICV live webinars and partner events (usually with discounts or other benefits for ICV members) complete the offer.

To the Event area

Congress of Controllers, Munich

Cooperation Partners of the ICV

The ICV honors excellent controlling solutions every year.

Young academics in controlling apply for the ICV Newcomer Award. The deadline for applications for the Newcomer Award is the end of April each year. The award-winning solution is presented as part of the ICV Autumn Conferences.

Controllers and controlling teams who are firmly established in their professional lives present their solutions to the Jury of the renowned ICV Controlling Excellence Award. The application deadline is the end of January each year. The controlling teams present nominated and award-winning solutions at the ICV Congress of Controllers in Munich.

To the ICV Newcomer Award

To the ICV Controlling Excellence Award

The International Association of Controllers offers a job search specifically tailored to controllers via the Stepstone job portal. You will only receive offers for jobs in the area of controlling. You can filter the entire offer according to your needs by job title, company or desired location.

We wish you much success in your job search!

For providers of jobs in controlling: Post your offer directly in Stepstone. It will then automatically be displayed on our website.

To the Controlling job offers by Stepstone, tailor-made for the ICV (page in German)

With around 6,000 members and more than 60 Expert Work Groups, Sector Work Groups and Regional Work Groups led by Regional Delegates, the ICV offers an incomparable opportunity to obtain information and advice directly from colleagues and to benefit from experience, best practice, but also well-founded theory. In addition to Individual Members, the ICV has around 250 Corporate Members. In the ICV Think Tank as well as in the Board and Board of Trustees, controllers, CFOs, consultants and professors work together on tasks, strategies and visions.

The ICV thus offers a unique offer for everyone working in controlling and interested in controlling.

ICV membership includes, among other things, discounts for events organized by ICV and partners as well as subscriptions to specialist books such as Controller Magazine and Finance.
Check the advantages of the ICV membership