CFO vs Controller

Publication Date :

14 Feb, 2019

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Table Of Contents

Difference Between CFO and Controller

A chief financial officer CFO of an organization is a senior executive assigned with the task of managing companies affairs, especially from the point of view of finance and money where their work is to manage effective procurement for new expenditure, investments of existing idle cash flow, utilization in the optimum manner and analyses of organization's financial strength and weakness. In contrast, the controller is primarily responsible for financial reporting, record keeping, management of information technology, and accounting. Therefore they are mainly the people from accounting backgrounds instead of the finance and banking background of a CFO.

The CFO controls and manages everything related to finance in a company. CFO stands for chief financial officer for a company and comes directly below the company's CEO. On the other hand, the controller reports directly to the CFO of the company and makes sure the day-to-day operations relating to finance are executed and run properly.

Difference Between CFO and Controller

Who is a CFO?

Three important divisions report directly to the CFO of a company. Those three divisions are the controller, treasurer, and tax manager. Again the position of the controller is divided into four more subdivisions.
The function of a CFO is to control and manage everything that relates to finance in a company. Though he is responsible for overlooking everything related to finance, his primary role is to make forward-looking budgeting, projections, planning, and other forward-looking financial strategies.
That’s why I run the operational and backward-looking functions related to finance. A CFO is essential whenever a company needs to make accounting changes or has chosen between projects by doing projections and cash flow forecasting or want a solution for complex financial strategies. Three more divisions report directly to the CFO.

Who is a Controller?

A controller’s rank is similar to the ranks of treasurer and the tax manager of a company.
Under the controller, four more divisions directly report to the controller. Those four divisions are accounting, financial planning accounts receivable, and accounts payable. The main function is to make sure that the day-to-day operations relating to finance are executed and run properly.
These functions include approving all day-to-day transactions within the organization and creating recurring and monthly reports. Its function also includes keeping track of all the accounts receivables and accounting payable.

CFO vs Controller Infographics

Let's see the top differences between CFO vs Controller.

Key Differences

The CFO of a company is responsible for almost anything related to finance. The rank of a CFO in the company comes just below that of a CEO. The controller of reports directly to the CFO of the company, and the rank of a controller within the organization is under CFO.
The main function of a CFO is to make future projections of cash flow, make financial strategies, and make estimates to decide which project to undertake. A controller is responsible for the smooth functioning of the day-to-day finance-related operations. Those involve approving transactions to create weekly and monthly reports and looking after accounts receivables and payables.
Three important divisions report directly to the CFO of the company are a controller, treasurer, and tax manager. Four important divisions report directly to the company's controller: accounting manager, financial planning manager, accounts receivable manager, and accounts payable manager.
The rank of a CFO is similar to other positions like a chief operating officer (COO), chief information officer (CIO) and chief marketing officer (CMO). A controller’s rank is similar to the ranks of treasurer and the tax manager of a company.

CFO vs Controller Comparative Table

Basis	CFO	Controller
Definition	CFO stands for chief financial officer for a company. The rank of a CFO in an organization comes just below that of a CEO.	The controller makes sure that the day-to-day operations relating to finance are executed and run properly.
Hierarchy	The rank of a CFO within the organization comes just below the CEO.	They rank below the CFO in the hierarchy of an organization
Divisions	There are three important divisions that report directly to the CFO of a company. Those three divisions are a controller, treasurer, and tax manager.	Under the controller, four more divisions directly report to the controller. Those four divisions are accounting, financial planning accounts receivable, and accounts payable.
Function	Though the responsibilities of the CFO overlook everything related to finance, his primary role is to make forward-looking budgeting, projections, planning, and other forward-looking financial strategies.	The controller is responsible for approving all day-to-day transactions within the organization and creating recurring and monthly reports. Its function also includes keeping track of all the accounts receivables and accounting payable.
Joint Ranks	The rank of a CFO in an organization comes just below that of a CEO. The rank is similar to other positions like a chief operating officer (COO), chief information officer (CIO), and chief marketing officer (CMO).	A controller’s rank is similar to the ranks of treasurer and the tax manager of a company.

Conclusion

In a large organization, it is important to have divisional and sub-divisional heads to look after the smooth function of the various roles. That’s why heads like CFO and controller play a very important part in the functioning and decision-making of an organization. A CFO on paper is responsible for anything to do with finance in a company.

The CFO has to make all the critical decisions related to finance like cash flow projections, budgeting, deciding on which project to choose, and also take care of all the impacts of accounting changes. But as one person can't look after everything, he has divisions who directly report to him. One of those important divisions is that of a controller responsible for mainly managing the day-to-day finance operations, including accounts receivables and accounts payable.