Comptroller

What Is a Comptroller?

A comptroller is a high-position manager that oversees the financial procedures of an organization. For example, they take care of the accounting and finance departments within public agencies and organizations.

In the State of New York, for example, the official state comptroller is currently Thomas P. DiNapoli. In this role, the main job is to oversee the mayor's budgeting and economic situation while also advising on the appropriate amount to spend.

Currently, Thomas is responsible for major pension funds, the retirement system in New York, protecting taxpayers, and more. His role is vital because it protects and helps the mayor make the right decisions regarding financial situations.

While this is a state role, similar positions can exist in other big companies that play a smaller role, mostly in finance. Some may even have different roles in their companies or the facilities they work in.

For example, if we need to compare the role of comptrollers by state, then for NY comptrollers, you see that it is based on pensions and economic advice. However, if you go to a different state like Maryland, you might find different responsibilities.

In Maryland, the responsibilities of this role mostly consist of payments. They make financial reports and handle the payments of the state’s bills, including state employees’ salaries. Nevertheless, the Maryland comptroller still has a big financial responsibility but in different ways.

This is a big role, and it’s one of the higher positions in any company or public organization/agency.

Comptrollers’ Areas of Expertise

It’s a high position with lots of responsibilities and requires many hours at work and your full attention. Thus, you will need a large set of skills and experience. Someone in such a position will be working on various topics and developing expertise in areas such as:

1. Accounting: This position will oversee many accounts and regulate the accounting department. Knowledge of how accounting works, how money is regulated, and how to ensure the job is getting done is a necessity for this role.
2. Financial Forecasting: Monitoring the current economic status, analyzing taxes and various rates, and forecasting them for the future would allow wise financial decisions.
3. Financial Checks and Control: In this role, one also needs to make sure that companies are not at risk of fraud so you will need to come up with a control system that would check the regulations and make sure they are being performed.
4. Financial Risks: There will always be risks in every investment and every turnout that every company or agency experiences. In this role, you have the duty of making sure that whoever you’re working for takes the best route possible with the fewest risks.
5. Developing growth plans: In every financial sector, the main thing is to see the money and investment growth. Your role here is to speculate and come up with growth plans that can help the company increase its financial matters.

The person in this role should also be communicative, intellectually ahead, and a good leader. You’ll be working and leading groups of people in different positions such as finance, accounting, etc... You need to be very communicative when you work with different people.

Requirements to Become a Comptroller

Candidates for this role need the following requirements:

• A bachelor's degree in either accounting or business administration to start off. Getting higher education, either a master's or Ph.D., is a plus and will eventually reward you in the long run for the job.
• About 4-6 years of experience in finance, accounting, or economics. A lot of times, employers look for people with many years of experience because they need people to lead and know what they’re doing.
• You will need to be good with Microsoft Office, as you will be using Excel and Quickbooks frequently. Experience with the sales force is also a big plus. 

As someone who is trying to get a job, the best thing would be to get as many certifications and experience in other subjects, such as computer science. This will be very helpful and show your talent in other areas.

The starting salary could be around 67k a year, and as time goes by, you can be making high six-figure numbers, especially when you’re working with the state. The responsibilities will increase, but so will the pay, the benefits, and the prestige of the job.

This role can take much of your time, and you may even be staying after office hours to finish up with the projects. However, this is a very prestigious position with many benefits and the opportunity to take you higher on the scales.

Comptroller vs. Controller

One thing to remember is that we don’t want to confuse this position with the controller. It would be best if we remember that they’re both very different roles, even though they both have a role in the financial aspect of an institution or government organization.

A controller is someone who normally focuses on how accurately someone is reporting the financial aspects of a company, while a comptroller focuses on the overall financial aspect of the role. So one is based on accuracy, and the other is based on the data given by a controller.

Key differences:

1. They both report to different executives in a company. The controller normally reports to the CFO or one of the executives, while the other reports directly to the CEO.
2. Both normally also work in for-profit rather than non-profit sectors, and many don’t work in the public sector because of the scarcity of public revenues. Now even though comptrollers work in for-profit organizations, they also work in public sectors because in these roles, they have more power and opportunities to move up.
3. A comptroller normally starts with an average salary of $60k a year and can make up to $360k a year. This is because they work with the highest executives in a company.

As we have covered, the controller normally looks at the accountant or financial department, and they make sure everything is going accurately. This is because they need to make accurate findings. After all, those data analyses will be used in future needs or marketing campaigns.

A comptroller typically needs a controller to overlook the finance department because the comptroller will be looking at the overall progress rather than the specifics in their department. So, essentially, they’re both a support system for one another.

A controller has a big responsibility and needs to be accurate, but the other has more responsibilities as they need to check a company’s overall cash flows and investments. 

Both roles make a good amount of money, and they’re both connected to the CFO and the CEO because of the fact that they will need to work out the finances with them and come up with a better way to generate cash flows for the company.

Without the controller, the comptroller's work would be doubled, and it would cause extra work and overwhelming responsibilities. On top of that, this is not a one-person job because finance is important. It helps us save money and pay others.

Both roles are important and needed. Some may ask if a CFO is needed since we have two positions overlooking finance. However, a CFO is essential and needed for the long term.

What is the importance of a State or City comptroller?

Now let’s talk about who occupies this role in different states and cities and why they are important.

Thomas P. DiNapoli is the one holding this position in the State of New York, while Brad Lander occupies this role in New York City. He takes care of the city's finances and needs by working alongside the mayor.

This role is a big responsibility; each state and city needs its own comptroller. Without them, overlooking finance would be much harder.

Thanks to Brad Lander's oversight of the finances, we knew that in NYC, payments to settle city vehicle crashes have doubled in the last decade.

This is important because we need to know why so many crashes are happening and why we are losing so much money. It does not just help us find problems, but it also helps us solve issues that might have been overlooked previously.

Of course, the person in this role must work and report to someone higher than them. However, once they do, actions can be taken to fix the issue, and the financial impact can be reduced. This is important because it helps us establish how to solve issues.

On that matter, we need someone in this job because we use them to analyze what’s been happening to the money financially, and information becomes valuable to us. So if we don’t have someone overlooking the finances and creating data, we would have a hard time keeping track.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is an important role, especially if one is working in a government position. It requires a lot of work, patience, and effort. However, it is a rewarding job with many opportunities to work up the ladder.

Taking care of the financial aspects and keeping a lookout is very important because it helps us know what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong. Without specific information, we might not know how to progress.

This is an important role in any company or organization, so they will need someone with a lot of experience who knows finance like it’s their second instinct. If you meet the requirements and would like to be one, it can be a very rewarding position.

The pay is also good, and the job is a very esteemed and highly respected one. It is a job that will take a lot of your time and effort, but in the end, if you love it, then it won’t feel like a chore but rather exciting.

Free Resources

To continue learning and advancing your career, check out these additional helpful  WSO resources:

• American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)

• Buy Side vs Sell Side

• Corporate Finance Jobs
• Finance vs. Accounting

• FP&A Role