The Job of the Corporate Controller in Today's Environment

• Overview of the Controller’s Job
• Get clarity on the meaning of “Controller” and “Controllership”
• Define the Three Primary Functions of the Controller
• Understand the Controller’s Role in Strategic & Operational Planning
• Understanding the Stakeholders you are accountable to
• Additional Controller Functions – managing these tangential responsibilities effectively
• Compare and contrast the Finance Function v. the Accounting Function
• The Diverse Organizational Views of the Controller
• Controllership, CFO & Financial V.P. and how they relate to each other
• The Controller’s Role in Modern Business Management
• Leadership and the Controller’s Path to Top Management
• Characteristics and Qualifications of Successful Controllers
• Understanding & Using the Power of the Controllership Function
• The Controller as Manager
• Developing Effective and Loyal Staff
• Effective Interaction with your Boss
• Perfecting your Communication Skills
• Improving your Time Management
• Tips for Leading Meetings
• Selling your Ideas to Upper Management
• Technical Aspects of the Controller Function
• Your Planning and Forecasting Role
• Planning the Budgets - Determine the Essential Elements and associated risks to achievement
• Decisions are difficult to reverse – making the most of your forecasting tools and skills
• Budgeting Revenues and Profits - evaluating historical data, economic indicators and the competition
• Assessing impacts of the Budget Plan on Cash Management
• Economic Value AddedTM – a powerful and telling metric
• Applying EVATM to Capital Expenditure Forecasting and Analysis
• Review of important ExcelTM forecasting tools:
• Goal Seek
• Scroll Bars
• Data Tables
• Scenario Manager
• Solver
• Pivot Tables
• Bivariate and Multivariate Regression
• Flexible budgeting

• Accounting & Reporting Aspects of the Controller’s Role
• The Corporate Accounting Cycle - historical reporting, dashboard reporting, and strategic planning/budgeting
• The range of reporting opportunities afforded the Controller
• Your basket of tax reporting responsibilities
• Reporting Opportunities and Challenges
• Dashboard Reporting and Key Performance Indicators
• Handling Difficult Reports with Readers
• Technology & Automation for Increased Productivity
• Types of Management Information Systems
• Review your Accounting System Requirements - are you crippled with legacy systems?
• In-House System Development
• Key Questions to Consider when Purchasing an Integrated Software Package
• Establishing an Information Resource Center
• Control Parameters and Security
• Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management for the Controller
• Entering new states to do business – the registration process
• Regulatory & Income Tax Audits – best practices for managing the them and the auditors
• Coordination with Outside Accountants & Auditors SEC & Sarbanes-Oxley
• DOL
• Independent Contractor v. Employee
• Compensable Travel Time
• IRS
• Withholding & W-2s
• Independent Contractor Reporting: W-9 & 1099
• Non-Resident Alien Reporting: W-8 & 1042-S
• States
• Sales & Use Tax Issues
• New Hire Reporting
• Backup Withholding
• Risk Management
• A best practices approach to regulatory audits
• Your role as financial auditor liaison
• Future Trends of the Controller Role
• The Controller as Value-Added Business Partner
• The Controller’s Role in and IPO

Miles Hutchinson is a CGMA, and experienced businessman. He has been an auditor with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Chief Financial Officer of a $1 billion real estate development company. Miles is a professional speaker and consultant who has presented over 2,000 seminars and training sessions on a myriad of business and financial topics, like financial analysis and modeling, accounting, strategic planning, and compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He is recognized as an expert in payroll and sales & use tax as well as financial modeling & analysis, business strategy and communications.

He is the author of several useful accounting and tax tools. His clients include Abbott Labs, Bank of America, Boston Scientific, Citicorp, Corning, the FBI, the FDA, the Federal Reserve, GE, Pfizer, Siemens, US Marine Corps, and the US Army.