The Controller's Career Path

CFO takes another look at the obstacles that can block a controller from moving into the CFO's office.

There once was a time that ... controllers could safely assume that they would move up to the job of CFO, either via an internal promotion or an external recruitment. Today that career path isn't so certain.

Many of the challenges surround the changing role of the CFO, who today are often looked on as possible successors to the chief executive. Meanwhile, controllers have to pay more attention to compliance issues and internal controls, and so can be perceived as being too "internally focused."

However, notes CFO Europe's Janet Kersnar:

Amid the discussion about whether controllers make good CFOs, there's one more question to be addressed: do controllers actually want to be finance chiefs? Not necessarily, says Gerrit Bonnema, a former Big Four auditor who's now group controller of ING Real Estate, a division of ING bank in The Hague which oversees a $120 billion property portfolio.

Today, he says, controllers have a lot of attractive career options, including moving up to the role of managing director or CEO, largely because their skills as auditors are now in greater demand. And besides, he says, the CFO's job has changed just as much as the controller's, and not always for the best. As Bonnema sees it: "The CFO is the target, your head is on the block continuously. I don't know if it's really worth it."

Big Shoes to Fill? [CFO]
CFOs Wanted: Controllers Need Not Apply [CFO]