WHAT DOES A JUNIOR CONTROLLER DO?
Published: Jan 10, 2026 - The Junior Controller supports core financial operations by managing accounting activities, ensuring accurate transaction processing, preparing financial statements, and maintaining compliance with audits and regulatory requirements. This role involves analyzing financial, sales, and operational data to produce clear performance reports, strengthen KPI tracking, and provide insights that assist senior management in decision-making. The individual also collaborates with cross-functional teams to enhance reporting accuracy and leads efforts to automate and improve financial and performance reporting systems.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Junior Controller
1. Junior Controller Duties
- Management Control: Support during the implementation of new management control procedures and criteria.
- Reporting: Prepare the monthly report.
- Financial Management: Manage finance, accounting, and treasury tasks and the relationship with the group’s respective corporate departments.
- Process Implementation: Implement and maintain management procedures and criteria established in the administrative department.
- Budget Control: Control and monitor budget items.
- Cost Optimization: Identify savings opportunities.
- Customer Management: Support customer and collection management.
- Sales Supervision: Supervise sales management.
- Executive Support: Support senior management in the preparation of reports, presentations, and analyses.
- Administrative Support: Support the department’s daily tasks.
- Management Reporting: Prepare reports for management.
2. Junior Controller Details
- Controlling Activities: Perform controlling tasks related to the product categories.
- Reporting Analysis: Prepare reporting and analyses for the Offer Management Director.
- Commercial Support: Support commercial decisions through frequent reports and analyses.
- Forecast Planning: Create and track monthly forecasts and elaborate plans.
- Performance Analysis: Analyze results and changes compared to previous years and forecasts.
- Report Creation: Create ad hoc and standard reports, analyses, and presentations.
- Business Planning: Participate in business plan preparation related to projects.
- Project Evaluation: Contribute to the evaluation of projects.
- Monthly Closing: Perform monthly closing processes.
- Cross-Department Collaboration: Collaborate closely with other departments.
3. Junior Controller Responsibilities
- Budget Support: Support the Marketing and eCommerce teams in preparing, managing, and steering departmental budgets.
- Financial Alignment: Ensure budget plans align with overall financial targets and strategic priorities.
- Data Review: Review financial data regularly to verify accuracy and identify discrepancies.
- Spend Analysis: Analyze spending patterns to highlight variances and underlying causes.
- Cost Risk Management: Identify cost-related risks and opportunities to improve cost efficiency.
- Cost Optimization: Provide actionable recommendations to optimize marketing and operational spend.
- KPI Development: Develop and maintain marketing investment metrics, KPIs, and reporting tools.
- Management Reporting: Prepare clear and structured reporting packs for management review.
- P&L Management: Plan, analyze, and monitor profit and loss accounts, including travel-related costs.
- Controlling Collaboration: Collaborate closely with the Head of Controlling on month-end close activities, planning cycles, and special finance projects.
4. Junior Controller Accountabilities
- Bookkeeping Review: Review and ensure the accuracy and completeness of the bookkeeping.
- Account Reconciliation: Book and reconcile entries related to intercompany and GL accounts.
- Process Execution: Execute standard processes within the team according to the procedures.
- Internal Controls: Assist in performing internal controls, including month-end activities, according to the control framework.
- Process Improvement: Participate in improvement projects and identify areas for improvement within the process.
- Business Analysis: Undertake research and analysis tasks and any other ad-hoc duties related to general business and financial activities.
- Policy Compliance: Ensure proper company policies and documented SOX procedures are being followed.
- Audit Support: Support audit or other regulatory requests.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Build and maintain good working relationships with relevant teams across a wide range of areas throughout the organization.
- Partner Cooperation: Cooperate with a strategic partner.
5. Junior Controller Functions
- Financial Operations: Support core financial operations, including accounting, billing, payroll, and expense management.
- Transaction Oversight: Oversee accurate processing and documentation of all financial transactions.
- Audit Coordination: Coordinate and ensure the timely completion of audits and required financial filings.
- Regulatory Compliance: Maintain compliance with internal controls and external regulatory requirements.
- Financial Reporting: Prepare clear and accurate financial statements regularly.
- Performance Reporting: Develop activity and performance reports in response to standard and ad hoc requests.
- Management Analysis: Provide analytical support to senior management to track firm performance.
- Strategic Support: Contribute financial insights to support business planning and strategic decision-making.
- Sales Metrics: Collaborate with Sales and Advisor Success teams to define and maintain sales performance metrics.
- Data Analysis: Analyze sales and operational data to improve reporting accuracy and usefulness.
- Reporting Automation: Support the automation and continuous improvement of KPI and performance reporting systems.
6. Junior Controller Overview
- Business Planning: Define, rollover, and adjust the holistic business plan of 3-5 years to be further detailed later as part of the annual budgeting process.
- Financial Planning: Ensure financial planning and analysis for the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, divisions, profit, cost, service centers, and products.
- Performance Tracking: Track actuals and forecasts of the monthly, quarterly, and annual performance and compare and analyze actuals and forecasts with original budgets through variance analysis.
- Profitability Modeling: Provide profitability models based on periodic versus present-value assessment.
- Product Profitability: Deliver model-based product profitability assessments and pricing recommendations.
- Variance Analysis: Provide the rationale for identified variances and autonomously suggest proactive actions such as mitigation efforts to close the gaps.
- Strategic Advisory: Act as a business and strategic advisor to senior management as well as an in-house partner for all controlling aspects, and ensure implementation by instituting appropriate measurement and control systems.
- Stakeholder Reporting: Interact closely with other relevant stakeholders, especially with HQ, on all kinds of regular reporting and specific information requirements.