Financial controller · job description template
Financial controller job description
The short answer · updated
A financial controller keeps the company’s numbers complete, correct and on time. The core responsibilities: run the month-end and year-end close, produce the management accounts, own the financial controls, keep VAT and payroll reporting compliant, and prepare the statutory accounts and manage the audit.
Job purpose
The financial controller owns the accounting of the business: the ledgers, the close, the controls and the filings. The job exists so that the finance director, the CFO or the managing director can rely on the numbers without checking them line by line.
Write the purpose in two or three sentences, as the Acas job description template suggests: the main headings, the main duties and who the post reports to. A clear purpose also tells candidates whether this is a hands-on controller in a small team or a controller leading accountants in a larger one. For the full picture of the role, see what a financial controller does.
Key responsibilities
Pick the lines that fit the business and cut the rest. A job description that lists everything tells a candidate nothing about what matters most.
- Run the month-end and year-end close to an agreed timetable, including reconciliations, accruals and journals.
- Produce monthly management accounts (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow) with commentary on what moved and why.
- Design, document and enforce financial controls: approval limits, supplier set-up, payment authorisation and ledger reviews.
- Prepare and submit VAT Returns, and oversee PAYE reporting whether payroll runs in-house or through a bureau.
- Manage cash: the daily bank position, supplier payment runs, credit control and the short-term cash forecast.
- Prepare the statutory accounts and the audit file, and act as the day-to-day contact for the external auditors.
- Maintain the chart of accounts and the finance system, and lead changes or migrations to it.
- Support the annual budget and reforecasts with the finance director or CFO.
- Lead, review and develop the accounts team, where there is one.
- Keep fixed asset, intercompany and balance sheet reconciliations up to date.
- Answer finance queries from the leadership team, lenders and investors, with the finance director.
Reporting line and scope
Reports to: the finance director or CFO. In a smaller company with no finance director, the financial controller reports to the managing director, founder or chief executive, and is the most senior finance person in the business.
Direct reports: in a small business, often none, or a bookkeeper or accounts assistant. In a larger one, the accountants, ledger staff and payroll team. A group financial controller usually oversees the controllers of each subsidiary and owns consolidation.
Board and committee exposure: the controller prepares the board pack numbers and may present them alongside the finance director. Where there is an audit committee, the controller usually attends for the audit and the controls. Say in the job description which of these apply, because it changes who applies. One level up, see the finance director job description.
Skills, experience and qualifications
No qualification is required by law for a financial controller, but most employers ask for one of the three professional accounting routes: the ICAEW’s ACA, the ACCA Qualification or CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification. Each combines exams with practical experience. Accept any of them, or equivalent experience, unless the role truly needs one.
Describe the experience the job needs, not a number of years or a type of person. Acas warns that phrases such as “highly experienced” can discriminate on age unless you can show a good reason for the requirement.
- A professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) or equivalent experience.
- Running a month-end close and producing management accounts to a deadline.
- Designing and operating financial controls, and preparing for an external audit.
- Working knowledge of the accounting standard the company reports under (for most UK private companies, FRS 102).
- VAT and PAYE compliance.
- Hands-on use of the company’s finance system, or one like it.
- Explaining a variance clearly to someone who is not an accountant.
Fractional financial controller job description
A fractional financial controller works a set number of days a week or month, often for more than one company. The job description changes in three ways.
Days and rhythm. State the days a week or month, and when they fall. Month-end usually needs the controller in the first working days of the month, with lighter weeks in between.
Scope. Say what the controller owns and what stays with the team or an outside accountant. A fractional controller often reviews and signs off work rather than doing all of it.
Outcomes over six to twelve months. Replace a long list of duties with the results you want: a close that finishes on time, controls that pass the audit, management accounts the board trusts, a finance system that works. To hire a fractional financial controller, start on our fractional financial controller page; for reduced-hours employed roles, see part-time financial controller jobs.
A fractional controller working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination.
Interim and permanent versions
Interim. An interim financial controller is full-time for a fixed period. The job description names the reason (a vacancy, leave, a close that has fallen behind, a system migration, an audit or an acquisition), the expected length and the handover at the end. See interim financial controller roles.
Permanent. A permanent job description is the fullest version: the whole list of responsibilities, the team, development and the terms. When you appoint, the employee must receive a written statement of employment particulars on the first day, which includes the job title or a description of the work, pay, hours and place of work. If the gap is finance leadership rather than the accounting, see finance director recruitment.
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. Every brief gets a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
A template you can copy
Copy these headings and fill each one in. Keep it to what the role needs.
- Job title: Financial Controller (or Group Financial Controller); add fractional, interim or part-time where it applies.
- Reports to: the finance director, CFO or managing director; list any direct reports.
- Purpose: two or three sentences on what the role is for and the state of the finance function now.
- Responsibilities: six to ten lines from the list above, most important first.
- Requirements: qualification or equivalent experience, the experience the job needs, and the finance system you use.
- Terms: permanent, fixed-term, interim or fractional; days or hours; location and remote working; start date. State the pay basis (salary or day rate); see our financial controller salary page. Tell applicants you will need proof of their right to work in the UK.
Questions people ask
What should a financial controller job description include?
A job title, who the role reports to, a short purpose, the main responsibilities, the qualifications and experience the job needs, and the terms. The Acas template uses the same outline: main headings, main duties and the reporting line.
How long should a financial controller job description be?
Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes. Cut duties that apply to every finance role and keep the ones that make this job different.
How is a fractional financial controller job description different?
It states the days a week or month, sets out what the controller owns and what stays with the team, and describes outcomes over six to twelve months rather than a long list of duties. See our fractional financial controller page.
Does a financial controller need a qualification?
Not by law. Most employers ask for the ACA, the ACCA or CIMA, or equivalent experience.
What does a financial controller earn?
It depends on the size and complexity of the business, the sector, the location and whether the role covers a group. Our financial controller salary page sets out pay with sources; fractional and interim controllers are paid a day rate.
How do I hire a financial controller?
Write the job description around the gap (close, controls or reporting), choose permanent, fractional, interim or part-time, and test candidates on your own numbers. To hire through us, start on our fractional financial controller page; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
