About the role
A Controller job description covers overseeing accounting operations, financial reporting, budgets and forecasts, and internal controls. The role protects the accuracy of the company’s financial statements and its regulatory compliance. Hiring managers should assess accounting and financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, internal controls, and AI fluency.
What does a Controller do? A Controller oversees the accounting function, including billing, payables, receivables, general ledger, cost and inventory accounting, and revenue recognition. The role produces accurate financial statements, budgets, and forecasts, and maintains internal controls and regulatory compliance.
Core Controller responsibilities include:
Accounting operations. Manage billing, A/R, A/P, GL, cost and inventory accounting, and revenue recognition.
Budgets and forecasts. Coordinate budgets and financial forecasts and report variances.
Statements and close. Publish timely monthly financial statements and support month-end and year-end close.
What are the essential Controller skills?
The essential Controller skills are accounting principles and financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis, spreadsheet modeling and reconciliation, internal controls and compliance risk management, and AI fluency.
Skill | Why it matters | Bryq assessment and level |
|---|---|---|
Accounting principles and financial reporting | Sound command of principles underpins accurate financial statements. | |
Budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis | The role prepares budgets and forecasts and reports variances. | |
Spreadsheet modeling and reconciliation | Reconciliations and month-end close depend on advanced spreadsheet work. | Microsoft Excel (advanced) |
Internal controls and compliance risk management | Designing controls and ensuring tax and regulatory compliance protect the business. | Risk Management (advanced) |
AI Fluency | AI tools assist with reconciliations and commentary, and outputs must be verified. | AI Fluency Assessment (functional) |
A Controller runs the accounting function from daily transactions to published statements. These skills let them close the books accurately, explain variances, and keep policies and controls in line with tax and regulatory requirements.
Levels are a starting point. Bryq lets you set the level each role needs.
Which nice-to-have skills help a Controller stand out?
Analytical and critical thinking, team leadership and people management, ethical judgment, time management, and data visualization add value but are not needed on day one.
Analytical and critical thinking. Strengthens review of results and decisions.
Team leadership and people management. Helps direct the accounting team.
Ethical judgment in financial decisions. Supports sound choices under pressure.
Time management during close cycles. Keeps deadlines on track.
Business intelligence and data visualization. Makes financial data easier to share.
Use these skills as tie-breakers between candidates who are equally strong on the essentials. Never screen out candidates who can learn them on the job.
Which competencies predict success as a Controller?
The essential competencies for a Controller are Communication and Leadership Potential.
Communication. Explains variances and coordinates reporting with auditors, executives, and staff.
Leadership Potential. Directs the accounting team, sets policies, and drives close deadlines.
Optional competencies are Empathy, which supports team management, and Learning Agility, which helps keep up with changing regulations and tools.
What AI skills does a Controller need?
A Controller with strong AI fluency uses AI daily for close automation, reconciliation, and financial analysis.
AI tools increasingly assist with reconciliations, anomaly detection, and drafting financial commentary. Accuracy and compliance requirements make checking AI output critical, so a Controller verifies figures before anything is published.
Close review. Use AI to flag unusual journal entries and reconciliation discrepancies during month-end close.
Reporting narratives. Draft variance commentary and management reporting narratives from ledger data, then verify figures before publishing.
Regulation updates. Summarize new accounting and tax regulation updates and map them to existing policies and internal controls.
How do you assess Controller candidates with Bryq?
Bryq measures all the essential skills and traits for a Controller in one integrated candidate profile: cognitive ability, personality traits, soft and hard skills, including AI fluency. Bryq builds an ideal profile for the role and matches candidates against it.
Profile Fit. Profile Fit measures cognitive ability and personality traits, matched against the ideal profile for the role.
Accounting Roles. Accounting Roles measures accounting principles and financial reporting.
Financial Roles. Financial Roles measures budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.
Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Excel measures spreadsheet modeling and reconciliation.
Risk Management. Risk Management measures internal controls and compliance risk management.
AI Fluency Assessment. The AI Fluency Assessment measures how well candidates use AI and verify its output.
Optional add-ons. Strategic & Critical Thinking, People Management, Ethical Judgment, Time Management, and Microsoft Power BI cover the nice-to-have skills.
Competency profile. Competency mapping covers Communication and Leadership Potential, with Empathy and Learning Agility as optional additions.
All Bryq assessments are validated by I/O psychologists. Profile Fit is independently bias-audited under New York City Local Law 144 (code4thought, April 2026). The AI Fluency Assessment is built on peer-reviewed and subject-matter expert research. A person makes every hiring decision.
Controller job description template
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Controller |
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About [Company name][Add a short description of your company.] About the roleWe are looking for a strategic, detail-oriented Controller to oversee our financial operations. You will manage corporate accounting, financial reporting, budgets and forecasts, and internal control policies. Your work keeps our financial information accurate and compliant. Responsibilities
Qualifications
Skills and competencies we look for
Working with AI
What we offer
Equal opportunity[Add your equal opportunity statement.] |
Frequently asked questions
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Author
The Bryq I/O Team
Bryq’s I/O Psychology Team is a group of industrial-organizational psychologists who design and validate the science behind our assessments. They write about what research says on hiring, skills, personality, and performance, and how HR leaders can apply it to make fairer, evidence-based decisions.
