CFO Insights
Future of Controlling
The Future of Controlling
Partnering, Upskilling, Specializing: Re-inventing the role
of the controller for a digital age and capitalizing on
new value-adding activities
Controllers have always been a vital support benefit by re-imagining the role, services, This issue of CFO Insights addresses
for management in the modern business capabilities and structure of your controlling questions about the future of controlling.
world. Nobody would deny that reliable function within your organization. On a practical level, what does the dynamic
planning, forecasting, reporting and fact- of a fundamentally shifting business
based analysis are critical to a company’s Reshaping the controlling mission is not only landscape imply for finance leaders keen
success. But in an era where the only about changing and managing new risks; to shape this future? Why the sudden need
constant is change, finance leaders in many it is also, and perhaps most importantly, for change? What specific things have to
sectors are starting to recognize that the about unlocking massive opportunity. change? And, most importantly, how?
role of the controller needs to evolve as well. When you tap into this potential, your
Digital supply chains and new eco-systems controllers stay ahead of the curve and
are transforming the way companies make sure none of their tasks are absorbed
operate and interact; innovative business by other functions such as accounting or
models are revolutionizing the market; business management. Technology can
cost constraints are increasing; and today’s help increase productivity, while business
technologies pose new challenges as well partnering offers a better approach to drive
as opportunities. At the same time, periodic companies performance and introduces a
socio-economic crises and new talent man- strategic dimension to your job description.
agement paradigms make it all the more The role of controllers looks set to become
difficult for enterprises to adapt. We can all much more proactive, measure-oriented
agree that the pressure on today’s finance and value-adding, even as they take on the
leaders is mounting, but that pressure can responsibility for automating many aspects
CFO Program
also be converted to energy. It is up to you of their traditional day-to-day tasks.
to use this pressure to your company’s The
CFO Insights
Become a co-pilot – and much more
Controllers are sometimes compared to air
traffic controllers. Their job is to monitor,
to guide, to warn. But what would happen
if aviation operations were to fundamen-
tally change? We can imagine a futuristic
scenario when unmanned aerial vehicles
become the norm in passenger aviation (a
very real possibility in a matter of decades).
Revolutionary and highly automated drone
aircraft could radically alter the nature 1. Evolve from air traffic controller There is substantial value waiting to be
of the traffic in the air and on the airport to co-pilot and business partner: unlocked in these new roles. As the control-
tarmac. The job of an air traffic controller controllers become increasingly lers of the future, it is up to you to acquire
would have to change just as radically and important as pro-active and measure- new skills, hire new talent and expand
in just as many dimensions as our future oriented business partners. The role your scope. You will be the ones to drive
controller. Even though they would still be morphs from a behind-the-scenes progress and break existing silos, weave
providing the services we know, many of management advisor into an active networks of collaboration and increase
these tasks will gradually be automated. change agent, generating relevant productivity with agile, cross-
This gives rise to a number of new roles business insights to support critical functional teams.
for air traffic controllers as part of their decision-making.
oversight over the automation process. In a We have seen organizations move forward
sense, they become quasi co-pilots in addi- 2. Evolve from paper pusher to digital in this vein, for example a global automo-
tion to acting as operators executing and champion: with many traditional core tive OEM that has successfully reorganized
monitoring specialized knowledge-based tasks being automated, controllers are for tomorrow by introducing a role-based
services, from actively interpreting data to now acting as digital service providers, operating model focused on end-to-end
deriving strategic insights. Although this for instance by offering self-service processes and a new model of collabora-
speculative example might be a bit of a mobile reports or automated forecasts. tion. The result: a Controlling setup primed
stretch, it gives us some idea of the scale of for current and future business models,
the changes we can expect for the role of 3. Evolve from number cruncher to data while also contributing significant added
controlling in the digital age: steward: to orchestrate group-wide data value to the organization. In another
governance, controllers establish stand- example, we saw the controlling team at a
ards that ensure data is consistent, of global consumer goods company signifi-
high-quality and easily accessible across cantly reduce financing costs by changing
the organization, whether it is finan- its set-up. Implementing a role-based and
cial or non-financial data. An obvious agile network structure with services bun-
advantage given the central importance dled in specialized centers and automating
of data governance in an era of digitali- a large share of processes were key drivers
zation. of this success.
4. Play a critical role in building the all-
important new business models of
the future: as an enabler for emerging
businesses, controllers can develop ded-
icated mechanisms for planning, report-
ing, analysis and interventions tailored
to the particular needs of innovative
business models.
5. Initiate transformative projects in the
organization: as a driver of business
transformation, controllers provide
valuable support for implementation
and steering.
2
CFO Insights
Do something new today and drivers of analytics for controlling, they skill profiles needed and make a plan to
What path do we envisage for the future will introduce approaches from predictive recruit or re-skill the talent you need. While
of Controlling? Are we in the midst of an forecasting to scenario planning – the most of the controller’s traditional skills
evolution or a revolution? Or will it – as we latter being particularly relevant in times of will continue to be relevant, a new skill set
expect – be a bit of both? uncertainty, such as the current economic will emerge that includes an affinity for
climate during the COVID-19 crisis. technology, expertise in data analytics and
On the one hand, controlling professionals´ exploration, and competence in controlling
current tasks will still have to be carried out New tasks also include the orchestration agile teams.
by their organization – from strategic plan- of group-wide and monitoring as well as
ning to risk controlling. There are, however, control of agile projects. A German utility The controllers of tomorrow will also be
many aspects of these tasks that will either provider recently offered a great example equipped with a deep understanding of
be automated by enablers such as Robotic of the benefits of the new approach to (new) businesses. Unless they have pro-
Process Automation (RPA) or supported in controlling along these lines. After setting found knowledge of innovative markets
large part by advanced analytics and cog- up a reporting factory with standardized and products as well as business-
nitive methods. This automation approach processes and centralized governance, specific drivers, controllers can’t act as
applies to rule-based processes such as the company achieved major advances an effective sparring partner for manage-
the planning and preparation of budgeting in cost efficiency. We also worked with a ment. Finally, former number crunchers
data, consolidation or financial reporting. global engineering and technology group to will evolve into expert communicators,
But it will also encompass more complex introduce AI-driven working capital man- using storytelling techniques to deliver
controlling activities such as working capital agement based on a cognitive application their insights in an easily comprehensible
management and risk assessment. that automatically identifies optimization and inspiring way. A practical way to foster
potential and tracks measures along the the new culture in your organization and
On the other hand, new and significant cash-to-cash cycle. to train the workforce was demonstrated
value-adding aspects will complement the very successfully by a global automotive
task profile. One of these, as mentioned Encourage upskilling and mobility group. Thanks to the Digital
before, will be the automation itself. After New tasks like these are value-adding Finance Fluency Platform we introduced,
all, someone will have to design, build and activities with huge potential for control- which includes an interactive e-learning
maintain the automated services for the lers. However, in order to tap into that, course on steering digital businesses,
Controlling mission. Professional control- you have to first set the stage and acquire we saw the in-house culture completely
lers will also be tasked with harnessing the the relevant capabilities. One of the most change and new capabilities come to the
potential of huge data sets generated by practical ways to prepare for the future fore across the entire group.
the digitalization process. As developers of controlling is to identify the specific
3
CFO Insights
Emphasize on specialization, bundling The future of Controlling – and how to Start your journey now
and agile behavior get there Transforming the controlling function's mis-
One critical success factor for the con- For practical purposes, you will need to sion means handling a lot of moving parts.
troller’s new roles and re-shaped tasks take a variety of key actions during your In order to make your transformation
is establishing a suitable organizational journey of transformation on the way to journey a success, experts recommend
set-up that accommodates changing achieving your desired Controlling setup for embarking on mission-critical activities as
demands and agile behavior. The fact is the future: soon as possible. Once the first proof of
that the rigid functional compartmentali- concept has been validated, you will be able
zation of yesteryear is not really conducive • Explore innovation: immerse yourself in to achieve tangible results quickly and con-
to the future of Controlling. There are still the available technology solutions and tinuously. Rethinking the role of Controlling
widespread silos populated with finance current trends. Find out what works for in your organization is best approached
generalists that should be replaced with other organizations and what might be with a focus on value-adding activities such
a role-based organization that assigns relevant for you. as proactive business partnering and with
specialists to fields such as Design & Gov- the use of cutting-edge technology such
ernance, Execution & Control and Business • Define your vision and target picture: as analytics and AI to achieve a significant
Partnering. Currently, most finance organ- having a holistic and tangible vision for productivity boost. It’s up to you now to
izations concentrate their personpower in your organization and a detailed path expand your horizon, acquire new skills,
the area of Execution & Control, working on towards your transformation goals are think outside the box and transform your
and perfecting the delivery of Controlling critical for success. Controlling team. You stand to reap out-
services. In the future, the FTE split will standing rewards as a result.
shift in favor of the third segment, Busi- • Build your ecosystem: operate focused
ness Partnering, driven by the increasing on close collaboration with both internal
automation of controlling tasks. Business and external players in order to share
partnering can significantly improve focus insights and work together for more
and agility by nominating a dedicated growth.
one-on-one business partner for individual
top-level leaders and actively participating • Scale the edges: kick-start disruption and
in strategy and business model develop- add complementary activities in neigh-
ment. For agile business partnering at the boring fields to core controlling tasks, for
team level, organizations can establish instance with a special task force or in a
cross-functional groups for specific tasks. think tank. Always make sure that these
The way to break the current silos is to initiatives remain synced and connected.
introduce end-to-end process ownership
across the boundaries of finance and • Pick individual target plays: focus on one
Controlling, enabling continuous improve- or two use cases and put them to work
ment along the entire value chain. Special right away. The goal is to turn these use
emphasis should be given to bundled cases into a proof of concept.
service delivery, which represents a power-
ful efficiency lever. Models such as Centers • Prove it works: the best way to get ahead
of Excellence (CoE) and Shared Service quickly is with an agile “fail fast” approach
Centers (SSC) improve both service quality around a minimal viable product (MVP).
and cost efficiency. SSCs allow companies This ensures fast implementation, itera-
to leverage automation with rule-based tive optimization and avoids the delays
transactional services, while CoEs bundle typical of the design stage.
specialized services and expert knowledge.
• Market your success: secure buy-in
from the entire enterprise with a robust
communication and change management
strategy.
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CFO Insights
Contact
Rolf Epstein Tobias Witzemann
Partner | Head of CFO Program Germany Director | Finance & Performance
Tel: +49 (0)69 97137 409 Tel: +49 (0)711 16554 7358
[email protected] [email protected]Contributors
We would like to thank the following leaders and practitioners within Deloitte’s Finance &
Performance consulting practice for sharing their insights based on their experiences:
Hagen Demmerle, Martin Grzyb, Jens Heinrich, Philipp Klingmann, Thomas Klingspor,
Stefan Prüße, Tobias Reuhl, and Martin Steigenberger
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Issue 07/2020
