IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/jaarpp/v13y2012i1p71-88.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The developing role of the financial controller: evidence from the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Graham
  • Susan Davey‐Evans
  • Ian Toon

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the work roles undertaken by financial controllers. The literature suggests a recent transformation, with the role of the finance professional making a significant shift from “score‐keeper” to a “value‐added” business partner. The paper suggests that the role has undergone a more complex change and combines elements from both of these descriptions. Design/methodology/approach - The methodological approach starts by analysing job specifications of financial controller vacancies. Using survey data, it then establishes what tasks they now do. Finally, it uses interviews to understand whether financial controllers believe that they could add more value to the organisation and if any barriers exist preventing the transformation of the role. Findings - The findings suggest that the role of financial controller has not transformed in recent years, but has instead enlarged, incorporating more “forward‐looking” elements, which are concerned with the management of the whole business. These developments have not replaced the “traditional” tasks such as reporting and control, but are supplementary to them. The research also indicates that financial controllers believe that the role should be expanded and that they could add more value, but are constrained by external pressures. Research limitations/implications - The authors acknowledge that this paper does not consider the contingent factors which shape the individual role within different types and sizes of business, but nevertheless it discusses many of the characteristics associated with the complex role. Originality/value - This paper has implications for finance and accounting managers working in business, the accounting bodies and those involved in accounting education.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Graham & Susan Davey‐Evans & Ian Toon, 2012. "The developing role of the financial controller: evidence from the UK," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 71-88, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:jaarpp:v:13:y:2012:i:1:p:71-88
    DOI: 10.1108/09675421211231934
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09675421211231934/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09675421211231934/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/09675421211231934?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Scapens & Mostafa Jazayeri, 2003. "ERP systems and management accounting change: opportunities or impacts? A research note," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 201-233.
    2. Andrew L. Friedman & Stephen R. Lyne, 1997. "Activity-based techniques and the death of the beancounter," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 19-44, May.
    3. Hopper, Trevor M., 1980. "Role conflicts of management accountants and their position within organisation structures," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 401-411, October.
    4. Jack, Lisa & Kholeif, Ahmed, 2008. "Enterprise Resource Planning and a contest to limit the role of management accountants: A strong structuration perspective," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 30-45.
    5. Lisa Jack & Ahmed Kholeif, 2008. "Enterprise Resource Planning and a contest to limit the role of management accountants: A strong structuration perspective," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 30-45, March.
    6. Bertrand Masquefa, 2008. "Top management adoption of a locally driven performance measurement and evaluation system: A social network perspective," Post-Print halshs-00282391, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bo Karlsson & Anders Hersinger & Monika Kurkkio, 2019. "Hybrid accountants in the age of the business partner: exploring institutional drivers in a mining company," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 185-211, July.
    2. Martínez Franco, Carmen & Feeney, Orla & Quinn, Martin & Hiebl, Martin R.W., 2017. "Position practices of the present-day CFO: A reflection on historic roles at Guinness, 1920–1945," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 55-62.
    3. Ewa Walińska & Justyna Dobroszek, 2021. "The Functional Controller for Sustainable and Value Chain Management: Fashion or Need? A Sample of Job Advertisements in the COVID-19 Period," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Robert Rieg, 2018. "Tasks, interaction and role perception of management accountants: evidence from Germany," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 183-220, August.
    5. Daff, Lyn & Parker, Lee D., 2021. "A conceptual model of accountants' communication inside not-for-profit organisations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    6. Oesterreich, Thuy Duong & Teuteberg, Frank & Bensberg, Frank & Buscher, Gandalf, 2019. "The controlling profession in the digital age: Understanding the impact of digitisation on the controller's job roles, skills and competences," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    7. Rodgers, Waymond & Degbey, William Y. & Söderbom, Arne & Leijon, Svante, 2022. "Leveraging international R&D teams of portfolio entrepreneurs and management controllers to innovate: Implications of algorithmic decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 232-244.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Rieg, 2018. "Tasks, interaction and role perception of management accountants: evidence from Germany," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 183-220, August.
    2. How, Shi-Min & Alawattage, Chandana, 2012. "Accounting decoupled: A case study of accounting regime change in a Malaysian company," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 403-419.
    3. Marc Bollecker, 2007. "Les Publications Europeennes Et Americaines Sur Les Contrôleurs De Gestion : Un Essai De Synthese," Post-Print halshs-00522301, HAL.
    4. Teddy Ossei Kwakye & Emerald Edem Welbeck & Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu & Fred Kwasi Anokye, 2018. "Determinants of intention to engage in Sustainability Accounting & Reporting (SAR): the perspective of professional accountants," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Lauri Lepistö, 2014. "Taking information technology seriously: on the legitimating discourses of enterprise resource planning system adoption," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 25(3), pages 193-219, December.
    6. Marc Bollecker, 2010. "La Socialisation Des Contrôleurs De Gestion : L'Importance De La Compatibilite Des Cultures Professionnelles," Post-Print hal-00479525, HAL.
    7. Modell, Sven, 2017. "Critical realist accounting research: In search of its emancipatory potential," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-35.
    8. Anna-Maija Lantto, 2014. "Business Involvement in Accounting: A Case Study of International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption and the Work of Accountants," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 335-356, June.
    9. Sheehan Rahman & Jashim Uddin Ahmed, 2012. "An Evaluation of the Changing Role of Management Accountants in Recent Years," Indus Journal of Management & Social Science (IJMSS), Department of Business Administration, vol. 6(1), pages 18-30, January.
    10. Clerkin, Brendan & Quinn, Martin & Connolly, Ciaran, 2024. "Decoupled accounting in a non-profit context: An explanation for stable management accounting?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. Marie-Andrée Caron & Hugues Boisvert & Alexander Mersereau, 2008. "La Pratique Du Comptable Professionnel En Organisation : Inertie Du Stéréotype Ou Expérimenter L'Incertain?," Post-Print halshs-00522425, HAL.
    12. Warren, Liz & Jack, Lisa, 2018. "The capital budgeting process and the energy trilemma - A strategic conduct analysis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 481-496.
    13. Morales, Jérémy & Lambert, Caroline, 2013. "Dirty work and the construction of identity. An ethnographic study of management accounting practices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 228-244.
    14. Hemling, Lars & Plesner Rossing, Jacob Christian & Hoffjan, Andreas, 2022. "The use of information technology for international transfer pricing in multinational enterprises," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    15. Bo Karlsson & Monika Kurkkio & Anders Hersinger, 2019. "The role of the controller in strategic capital investment projects: bridging the gap of multiple topoi," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(3), pages 813-838, September.
    16. Julie Bertz & Martin Quinn, 2014. "Interpreting management accounting rules: an initial study of public bodies," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 319-342, February.
    17. Lee, Kenneth & Aleksanyan, Mark & Harris, Elaine & Manochin, Melina, 2023. "Throwing in the towel: what happens when analysts' recommendations go wrong?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121412, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14570 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Quattrone, Paolo & Hopper, Trevor, 2005. "A 'time-space odyssey': management control systems in two multinational organisations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(7-8), pages 735-764.
    20. Maran, Laura & Bracci, Enrico & Inglis, Robert, 2018. "Performance management systems' stability: Unfolding the human factor – A case from the Italian public sector," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 324-339.
    21. Daff, Lyn & Parker, Lee D., 2021. "A conceptual model of accountants' communication inside not-for-profit organisations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:jaarpp:v:13:y:2012:i:1:p:71-88. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.