Change of the Role of a Controller through Business Analytics

In today’s agile and dynamic business environment, digitalization is not only reshaping the whole manufacturing industry, but also fundamentally changing the performance management of companies. This directly affects and redefines the role of a controller towards the use of business analytics which enables an improved proactive management support. While in the past, controllership has been defined as the application of accounting information for management decisions, by turning descriptive analyses into predictive and prescriptive, new opportunities are created for the controller, which also results in added value for the company. As the world continues to move towards a data-driven economy, in which all decisions are based on data, the role of a controllership is becoming increasingly more important from a strategic point of view. In the near future, the controller will be indispensable as “a single source of truth” using analytical and business skills in strategy-oriented organizational topics. Thus, controllership is able to assist data driven decisions and to increase the value of the company in the end. Therefore, the role is changing from merely preparing and providing (mostly) historically-based data to being a management consultant and the main responsible person for corporate governance. The controller of the future will be acting as an interface between different corporate areas and will work hand in hand with the IT department. As a result, a controller will take over the role of a strategic business partner. These changes lead to new personal competences controllers will need to acquire to meet the requirements of the new position within the organization.