Today’s business world strongly emphasizes the need to create value. To add value to their organizations, controllers must serve four distinct roles: steward, operator, catalyst, and strategist. This course focuses on the first two of these roles, steward and operator, by providing an overall understanding of the skills and tools necessary for controllers to fulfill their responsibilities as an operational manager.

In this course, you will reflect on the role or roles with which you currently identify with and examine which role(s) you need to develop. Specifically, the course explores the operator role by examining essential controller skills and the controller’s role in human resource management to determine important skills required for organizations to thrive. The course also considers the steward role by examining financial performance and performance measurement, information/risk management, and relationship management skills required in organizations.

The course will give you the opportunity to reflect on your current role as operational managers and determine the role(s) that you need to strengthen to add value to your organization. In taking this course, you will gain insights, skills, and practical tips to improve the overall value that you can add to their organizations. At the completion of the course, you will have a much broader view of the controller’s overall role in their organization and how you can immediately begin to create additional value.

Topics Include:

• Today’s controller: roles and responsibilities
• Controller essentials and organizational needs
• Differences from previous standard
• New controller roles
• Controller as HR Manager
• Controller as Financial Performance Manager
• Controller as Information, Risk & Relationship Manager

NOTE: No updates or changes were made to the 2024 version of this course. If you completed the course in 2022 or 2023, please be advised the 2024 course material has not changed. If you have any questions, please contact pdevents@cpaontario.ca.

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Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Contrast the four broad roles of the controller position and identify which role(s) they need to develop most.
• Outline the areas of operational management that are most important to their organization and/or to their personal development.
• Identify key career management skills necessary to function well as a controller.
• Identify steps to take when entering a new controllership role.
• Identify HR policies/issues in their organization that need to be addressed.
• Evaluate the potential effects of technological changes on their role as controllers and the work performed in the accounting area.
• Consider a broad range of performance measures for their organization including the use of data analysis to both identify and evaluate opportunities to add value to their organization.
• Understand the importance or risk management and internal control in their role as controller.
• Identify and manage the key external relationships connected to the controllership role.