City controller skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

1 min read

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical city controller skills. We ranked the top skills for city controllers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 40.7% of city controller resumes contained financial reports as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a city controller needs to be successful in the workplace.

7 city controller skills for your resume and career

1. Financial Reports

Here's how city controllers use financial reports:

Prepare the Annual Financial Reports and new appropriations, transfers for State accountability.
Developed costing standards and operational and financial reports for emerging businesses to enable the evaluation of potential product growth and profitability.

2. Payroll

Payroll is the sum of all the compensation that an organization has to pay to employees at a specified time. Payroll is managed by the finance or HR department while small business owners may handle it themselves. Payroll isn't fixed as it varies every month due to sick leaves, overtime, etc.

Here's how city controllers use payroll:

Prepared and entered Payroll timesheets Prepared Barrett Law billings (Sanitary Sewers) Deposited City Funds
Implemented computerized accounting systems integrating purchasing, manufacturing, cost-accounting, inventory control, accounts receivable, payable and payroll functions.

3. Balance Sheet Accounts

Here's how city controllers use balance sheet accounts:

Reconcile and manage all Balance Sheet accounts including monitoring the A/R and A/P.
Reconciled and created critical Balance Sheet accounts to properly record significant factored receivable balance and transactions with bank.

4. Financial Operations

Here's how city controllers use financial operations:

Communicate effectively regarding financial operations.
Directed daily financial operations and the execution of annual/quarterly financial statements for copper-winning operation with operations throughout the western United States.

5. Firsthand Knowledge

Here's how city controllers use firsthand knowledge:

Interviewed department or agency officials; obtained firsthand knowledge of financial activities of major audit area.
Interviewed high level department and agency officials to obtain firsthand knowledge of financial activities in their department.

6. Press Releases

Here's how city controllers use press releases:

Drafted and released press releases to local news media.
Intern Researched and investigated companies for audits Wrote press releases and newsletters/reviewed city officials in the media

7. Journal Entries

Journal entries can be defined as an act of keeping or making records of any transactions either economic or non-economic. The journal entries are made in the accounting systems of an organization. The entries are filled with two main fields; debit and credit. The debit and credit must be equal at the end of a journal entry else it is not considered correct. The journal entries also keep the date of transactions and the names of the accounts that were affected by the transactions.

Here's how city controllers use journal entries:

Reconciled various bank statements Assisted Controller in Budget Preparations Journal Entries in Munis (Tyler Works) financial software.
Reconciled inventory at multiple foreign and domestic warehouses and adjust journal entries to balance general ledger with perpetual inventory system.

What skills help City Controllers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

List of city controller skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a city controller resume and required skills for a city controller to have include:

Financial Reports
Payroll
Balance Sheet Accounts

Financial Operations
Firsthand Knowledge
Press Releases

Journal Entries

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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