The Controlling Concept. Horváth & Partners Management Consultants
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Название: The Controlling Concept

Автор: Horváth & Partners Management Consultants

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Бухучет, налогообложение, аудит

Серия:

isbn: 9789811218668

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СКАЧАТЬ are responsible for accounting and balance sheets.

      Management accountants (sometimes also called cost accountants in English) are in charge of management accounting.

      The controller is responsible for providing all the necessary support for management through systems and information (also including management accounting) – they are the main character of our book (cf. Figure 2).

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      Figure 2:Controller/Controlling

      Due to their close involvement in performance management, the controller is referred to as a business partner to the manager. (The name “management accountant”, which is still common in some places [UK, USA], does not do sufficient justice to the actual role of the controller.)

      In our book, managers are the people who are responsible for decision-making in the company.

      Figure 3 shows an overall view of how we understand the roles and the people playing them in this book:

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      Figure 3:The Performance Pyramid

      Financial accounting supplies the basic data from accounting and balance sheets for management accounting. Management accounting and performance measurement are the sole responsibility of the controller. Management control, in the sense of process design and information supply, also falls under the remit of the controller. Performance management operates using Controlling as its foundation.

      Thus, we can summarise as follows:

      •The Controlling process comprises and integrates management control, performance measurement and management accounting.

      •The Controller is the person in charge of management support designing and using the Controlling process (“business partner”).

      •Controlling lays the foundation for performance management in the form of information and processes. We see this as all the leadership and management activities which are needed to produce the company’s goods and services congruent with corporate goals.

      •On the whole, we see this concept of Controlling as the essential cornerstone of performance management.

      This book is a practical guide for managers and controllers on how the Controlling Concept can increase the performance of their organisations.

      Bragg S. M., The Controller’s Function – The Work of the Managerial Accountant, 4. ed., Hoboken, N. J. 2011.

      Chapman, C. S. (Ed.), Controlling Strategy – Management, Accounting, and Performance Measurement, Oxford 2005.

      Desroches, D., Lawson, R., Evolving Role of the Controller, Montvale, NJ 2013.

      Kaplan, R. S., Atkinson, A. A., Matsumura, E. M., Young, S. M., Management Accounting – Information for Decision Making and Strategy Execution, 6. ed., London 2012.

1 Nature and Structure of Controlling

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      Fig. 1.1:Chapter objectives

      In this introductory chapter we will first develop a common understanding of the term Controlling, of the general tasks of Controlling, and of the roles and competences of controllers. The main objective of the chapter is to provide the reader with an initial overview of the main components of an effective Controlling system.

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      Fig. 1.2:Position of the chapter in the “House of Controlling”

      Over the years, Controlling has developed continually in business practice and has become an indispensable management support function for any modern company. Nevertheless, there are still considerable differences of opinion about the term Controlling. In many cases, Controlling is often taken erroneously to mean control, but Controlling is much more than that. Controlling is a cross-functional performance management concept tasked with the performance-based coordination of planning, control and the provision of information. Hence, the controller is the “economic conscience” of the company.

      In recent decades Controlling has become strongly rooted in nearly all industries; nowadays, Controlling departments can be found not only in classical industrial companies but also in retail, financial services providers, or public authorities. However, alongside the universal necessity for coordinating planning, information provision and control, there are often further specific reasons for setting up a Controlling function in the respective field. These reasons also explain why Controlling functions in different industries sometimes have very individual characteristics.

      In principle, we must differentiate between Controlling as a function (“controller service”, “controllership”) and the controller as the executor of that function. As a matter of fact, in terms of performance management, Controlling is a core task of management. To a certain extent, every manager performs some Controlling functions. Thus, Controlling as a process and mindset is created jointly by managers and controllers in a team and forms a type of “intersection”. In this, the controller is involved in the management processes of target-setting, planning and performance management by supporting decision-making through the provision of information and the creation of transparency, as well as being a planning facilitator. As a result, the controller is partially responsible for enabling the manager to take timely, target-based decisions.

      Together, managers and controllers share responsibility for the Controlling process (see Chapter 8 for details of the Controlling process). Fig. 1.3 shows Controlling as the area of intersection between the tasks of the manager and those of the controller.

      Primarily, Controlling is not the name of a position or person, but rather a remit or scope of tasks carried out by different people, or by management itself, without a specific person actually having to hold the title of “controller”. Above all, in small companies the Controlling function is frequently executed by management itself or by the head of accounting.

image Is there a controller mission statement in your company?
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      Fig. 1.3:Controlling as intersection between managers and controllers (International Controller Association [ICV] e. V. o. J., p. 3)

      The СКАЧАТЬ