General Meeting on the eve of the Congress

At the ICV General Meeting in Munich on April 28, Chairman of the Board Prof. Dr. Heimo Losbichler looked back on another successful financial year in 2023. The outlook for the 2024 financial year is also optimistic, with an initial highlight of around 550 participants at the Congress of Controllers. In November 2024, the newly organized Autumn Conference CCS will also invite participants to the Digital Week as avatars in the icvIspaces metaverse for the first time.

HHeimo Losbichler opened the General Meeting with a minute’s silence and a vote of thanks for Dr. Walter Schmidt. The former Board Member and active part of internationalization in the ICV passed away in 2023 and was posthumously appointed an honorary Member of the ICV.

The Chairman of the Board then took the members on a journey through the past year of the Association. Together, they looked at the strategic goals and the enormous wealth of knowledge that the ICV has once again developed in various committees and shared through a wide variety of channels – online, in print, at face-to-face and online events. 15 ICV Live Webinars alone were offered in 2023 and were popular with members and interested parties.

Four new ICV Expert Work Groups were founded in 2023: HR Controlling, nextgen@planning, Change Management & Finance and Life Sciences.

The interest of external parties in cooperating with the ICV remains high. The ICV uses these partnerships to generate benefits for its members, for example in the form of discounts when participating in events organized by cooperation partners. The interest of companies in corporate membership of the ICV also remains high. The Association welcomed 31 new corporate members to its ranks in 2023. This brings the total number to around 260.

At the General Meeting, special thanks went to Peter Bluhm from Atvisio for his interview contributions with representatives of the ICV and all about the ICV in his Performance Manager Podcast, with which he supports the association on a voluntary basis. Atvisio has also been the main sponsor of the ICV Controlling Excellence Award for many years.

Heimo Losbichler also focused on the ICV Mentoring Program, which has successfully transitioned to a higher level of professionalization and is available exclusively to ICV members. In the Member Portal, interested parties can now find their best possible matching partner more quickly and easily by comparing interests and skills.

A special service was launched for students in 2023: they can place the details of surveys for their master/bachelor theses on the ICV website.

On behalf of the ICV Board of Trustees, its Chairman Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer looked back on the past year. In particular, he referred to the update of the ICV and IGC Perspective and the 5th Future Study of Controlling, which was conducted jointly with WHU. He also referred to the workshop held by the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board with young finance professionals with the aim of increasing diversity in the ICV.

Longstanding members were also honored again at the General Meeting. In 2023, 99 members had each been listed as personal members of the ICV for 20, 30 or 40 years. As every year, the honorees, who were present in person, enriched the event with their speeches about their connection to the ICV and their motivation for their many years of loyalty. The next General Meeting will take place on April 27, 2025.