Preface
This revised edition of The Controller's Function is a complete operations reference manual for the corporate controller. Within these pages the reader will find a comprehensive discussion of how to manage all major aspects of the controller's job, including strategic and annual planning, financial reporting, and managing all aspects of the accounting department, as well as peripheral issues such as control systems, the fast close, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission cost reduction analysis, software selection and implementation—and much, much more.
This book was written in response to the growing realization that the controller is no longer being called on just to process accounting transactions and issue financial statements, tasks requiring detailed technical knowledge but no considerable management or analysis skill. Instead, the modern controller must exhibit additional mastery of a multitude of management skills, so that the accounting department runs in an efficient and effective manner, offers a detailed analysis of financial statement results, recommends improvements, monitors the activities of other departments, and perhaps even manages the computer systems in a smaller organization. This book gives considerable attention to the most recent advances in all these areas of responsibility, so that the controller will be fully capable of installing and using them to improve his or her company's level of competitive advantage. Included in our coverage ...
