Finance controllership is quite a difficult role to define in several ways. In simple words, the role straddles the division between leadership, accounting, and finance strategy. Companies consider finance controllers' services as a source of extra expenditure. These professionals save a considerable amount of the company's money with the help of their knowledge. They do it efficiently because they know everything about the company.

Finance controllers mainly perform day-to-day accounting functions and finance activities of an organization. They participate in budgeting activities and risk assessment, maintain documentation, and craft strategies for increasing profit. Finance controllers also organize and prepare financial reports, analyze data and monitor the organization's overall expenditures and revenues.

If you are interested in this profession, you will be glad to know the high average salary you will get, which is $54.58 per hour. But to get this high-paying job, you need a master's or bachelor's degree in business or accounts. Insurance agencies, banks, and other financial management firms are the best working places for you.

What Does a Finance Controller Do

There are certain skills that many finance controllers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and detail oriented.

Learn more about what a Finance Controller does

How To Become a Finance Controller

If you're interested in becoming a finance controller, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 69.9% of finance controllers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.9% of finance controllers have master's degrees. Even though most finance controllers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Finance Controller

Finance Controller Job Description

A finance controller or chief accounting officer is responsible for the management of a company's or organization's financial operations. Their duties include overseeing business accounts, analyzing and forecasting financial data including risk and profit, and participating in budget creation and alteration.

Learn more about Finance Controller Job Description

Finance Controller Career Paths

Average Salary for a Finance Controller

Finance Controllers in America make an average salary of $105,869 per year or $51 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $156,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $71,000 per year.
Average Finance Controller Salary
$105,869 Yearly
$50.90 hourly

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Roles and Types of Finance Controller

The role of a finance controller includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general finance controller responsibilities:

  • Ensure a sound control environment which is consistent with the rest of the fixed income financing businesses. Understand accounting treatment
  • In coordination with project team, prepare periodic project reviews with all relevant financial analysis. Control
  • Prepare reports to summarize and forecast company business activity

There are several types of finance controller, including:

Chief Finance Officer

Role:

Taking it all the way to the top. As a chief finance office, you may not be the CEO, but you're pretty far up there. In fact, you're so far up the chain of command that you're in charge of all of the company's financial actions. That's a job with a lot of responsibility.

As the CFO, you get to follow the company's cash flow and spend some time doing financial planning to ensure everyone is staying on budget. You may even get to allocate some funds to an under-budgeted department. But the biggest part of your job is identifying any weaknesses or strengths that the company has when it comes to the green stuff.

As the CFO, you can't be someone who just says "yes" all of the time. You have to have a keen mind when it comes to budgeting because you don't want to be the cause of the company going bankrupt. So you'll have to say "no" from time to time. But you'll survive.

  • Average Salary: $143,947
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Accounting Manager

Role:

Accounting managers supervise the work of bookkeepers at accounting departments, making sure that every financial statement and report is delivered on time. They are responsible for personally managing distinguished clients' accounts, and maintaining a good relationship with the company's key customers is their business as well.

Accounting managers have the nose of a bloodhound when it comes to seeking out new business opportunities, and they are always up to date on the latest strategic financial speculations.

Never underestimate the power of accountants. Ask Al Capone. He/She would have never been caught if he/she had paid his/her taxes on time.
  • Average Salary: $84,451
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Finance Manager

Role:

Finance managers take care of the finances of an organization. You have to produce reports, carry out research, and come up with beneficial financial strategies. Your responsibility also involves tracking the financial performance of your company to note areas for improvement. Also, you will assist top executives in making good business decisions with the present state of the organization's finances.

As a finance manager, you are to monitor the daily financial operations of your company. You will also oversee the other staff members in the financial department. Finance managers continuously look for ways to reduce the company's financial risks. More importantly, you make the company comply with the financial legislation.

A degree in accounting, finance, economics, or business is a major requirement. Some organizations prefer candidates with prior work experience in a related field. You should have exceptional mathematical, leadership, and communication skills. In-depth knowledge of business principles is also necessary. Finance managers make an average of $93,198 yearly.
  • Average Salary: $101,374
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Finance Controller Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active finance controller jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where finance controllers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Finance Controller Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,177$107,530
2Texas2,687$88,830
3New York2,236$117,325
4Florida2,220$76,439
5Illinois2,056$92,712
6Massachusetts1,526$102,594
7Virginia1,386$92,651
8Georgia1,336$84,367
9Pennsylvania1,302$95,864
10North Carolina1,256$90,335
11Washington1,226$103,340
12New Jersey1,124$112,322
13Minnesota1,117$92,110
14Michigan1,047$99,589
15Ohio1,015$111,498
16Maryland984$109,097
17Colorado984$92,572
18Wisconsin856$90,089
19Arizona779$94,237
20Missouri726$92,501
21Indiana652$89,879
22Tennessee632$80,135
23Connecticut600$111,874
24Utah573$91,522
25Oregon510$86,228
26Alabama493$78,171
27South Carolina389$79,420
28Iowa362$91,388
29Kentucky330$82,282
30Louisiana287$83,654
31Nevada267$103,100
32Nebraska239$78,294
33Mississippi220$78,316
34New Hampshire207$96,440
35Delaware204$93,934
36Kansas191$84,053
37Idaho174$85,250
38New Mexico167$91,149
39Arkansas156$77,702
40Hawaii149$74,190
41Rhode Island144$95,893
42North Dakota138$98,484
43Maine136$94,773
44Oklahoma116$77,747
45Alaska100$90,442
46Wyoming98$83,074
47West Virginia95$87,311
48South Dakota95$80,005
49Vermont85$98,646
50Montana81$79,624

Finance Controller Education

Finance Controller Majors

24.8 %
14.6 %

Finance Controller Degrees

Bachelors

69.9 %

Masters

19.9 %

Associate

5.8 %

Top Colleges for Finance Controllers

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Finance
Business
Economics
Political Science

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business/Commerce
Business
Economics
Education
Computer Science

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Education
Accounting
Economics

4. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Economics
Accounting
Computer Science
Business
Political Science

5. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Finance
Accounting
Marketing
Economics

6. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Computer Science
Economics
Political Science

7. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Accounting
Finance
Business
Marketing
Business Economics

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Economics
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering

9. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Mechanical Engineering
Economics
Liberal Arts

10. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Liberal Arts
Business
Education
Economics
Business/Commerce

Top Skills For a Finance Controller

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 6.9% of finance controllers listed cpa on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Finance Controller Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Finance Controller templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Finance Controller resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Finance Controller Demographics

Finance Controller Gender Distribution

Male
Male
62%
Female
Female
39%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among finance controllers, 38.5% of them are women, while 61.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among finance controllers is White, which makes up 63.2% of all finance controllers.

  • The most common foreign language among finance controllers is Spanish at 33.3%.

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Best States For a Finance Controller

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a finance controller. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Ohio. Finance controllers make the most in New York with an average salary of $117,325. Whereas in New Jersey and Connecticut, they would average $112,322 and $111,874, respectively. While finance controllers would only make an average of $111,498 in Ohio, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New York

Total Finance Controller Jobs: 2,236
Highest 10% Earn:
$181,000
Location Quotient:
1.27

2. Connecticut

Total Finance Controller Jobs: 600
Highest 10% Earn:
$173,000
Location Quotient:
1.32

3. New Jersey

Total Finance Controller Jobs: 1,124
Highest 10% Earn:
$174,000
Location Quotient:
1.03
Full List Of Best States For Finance Controllers

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Top Finance Controller Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ finance controllers and discovered their number of finance controller opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Microsoft was the best, especially with an average salary of $124,096. Dell follows up with an average salary of $115,736, and then comes Motorola Solutions with an average of $89,026. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a finance controller. The employers include UBS, Rolls-Royce, and Anytime Fitness

Most Common Employers For Finance Controller

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Cisco$138,927$66.7924
2Citi$132,149$63.5336
3BNY Mellon$131,770$63.3511
4Microsoft$124,096$59.66221
5Xerox$122,387$58.8411
6Intel$122,222$58.7625
7Morgan Stanley$121,516$58.4224
8Deutsche Bank$116,188$55.8613
9Dell$115,736$55.6444
10SAIC$114,767$55.1824

Finance Controller Videos