Top 15 Business Controller Skills to Stay Top of Your Career

This post provides complete information and list of important business controller skills and qualities to have to increase your effectiveness on the job and succeed in your career.

Please, read on:

Businesses are controlled internally and externally by the business controller who makes the basic decisions on behalf of the owner(s) of the business venture.

Who is a Business Controller?

A business controller is the overseer of a business venture who takes responsibility for the day to day running of the business venture.

Simply put, a business controller is responsible for the daily operations of a business.

Top 15 Business Controller Skills to Stay Top of Your Career

Here are important skills and qualities a business controller should have to be effective in their job and succeed in their career:

1. Goal oriented
2. Analytical thinking
3. Management skills
4. Accounting skills
5. Proficiency in Microsoft applications
6. Strategic planning
7. Innovation/creativity
8. Knowledge of the business sector
9. Administrative skills
10. Problem solving skills
11. Decision making
12. General business acumen
13. Satisfactory interest in business
14. Good communication skills
15. Knowledge of trends in the marketplace.

1. Goal oriented

The goal of every business set up is simple: make maximum profits while minimizing cost.

That is what goes through the mind of every business owner before he/she establishes a business.

So, in view of this, he/she employs someone who serves as the caretaker of the business.

The business controller is expected to keep in mind the goal of the business and ensures that he/she does all he/she can to make the goal a reality.

This means that for you to be tagged a good business controller, you need to be goal oriented.

Nothing stops you from having your own target in the business as long as your own goals don’t jeopardize the success of the business.

You should be able to set goals for yourself and work it out to make it a reality.

This is a good way to be a good business controller.

2. Analytical thinking

As a business controller, you have a lot to think about. You have a handful of issues to contemplate on and make decisions with the power vested on you as the business controller.

So, you have to be analytical in your thinking for you to think out solutions.

One of the things you must be able to analyze is the market trends.

You should be conversant with the market and know which way the market is going.

It is not possible to be ignorant of the market trends and make good account of your job as a business controller.

The second thing you have to be analytical about is the human behavior in regards to what your business offers them.

Customers are humans and can react.

So, if you can find a way to manage the behavior of your customers, then you are sure of keeping them for the long term.

3. Management skills

Another word to describe you is business manager. You are in charge of the operations of the business put in your care.

So, you are expected to manage the affairs of the business and give it your best.

The growth or downfall of the business is dependent on your managerial skills.

If you really want to make a good impression on whoever employed you, one thing must be consistent and that is your managerial skills.

You need to understand that daily; your managerial skills are put to the test to prove that you are not just the best pick for today but also for tomorrow.

This means that you have to be up to date with latest management skills.

Understand that the art of business managements changes from time to time.

So, you don’t rely on your past knowledge or experience.

4. Accounting skills

This might look a bit strange and out of place but that’s not the case.

Accounting skills is one of the management skills you can have as a business controller.

This is because accounting deals a lot with preparing of accounts that show the income and expenditure of the business.

It is not an odd skill for you to have and work with.

Definitely, you will have accounts to verify and this can only be done if you understand accounting and know the various ways of handling accounting issues, if not you may get lost in the process.

This does not necessarily mean that you must be a professional accountant, but if you are one then that is an added advantage to you.

With that said, you are encouraged to learn some basic accounting skills and get advanced with them if you can.

5. Proficiency in Microsoft applications

Microsoft presents you with a good blend of software applications that can help make your job an easy one.

Microsoft suite contains some applications like the word processor for your word related jobs, Excel for your spreadsheet jobs, PowerPoint for your presentation jobs, and Access for your database jobs and some other software tools.

If you can learn how to work with the above software applications, you will make your job quite easy.

But you have to learn how to use the above software tools. This is necessary for you if you want to apply technology to your job.

These applications cater for various aspects of your business controller job.

For some reasons, some people still don’t have proficiency in the use of Microsoft applications and that has been the reason some of them have been deemed surplus to requirements in the long run.

6. Strategic planning

You don’t wake up and dash out of your house to oversee the activities in the business area without first planning out the order of the jobs to be done in the business environment.

You can’t afford to commit such blunder in the business area.

One of the jobs you have to do is to ensure that you plan the way things should be done in the business area.

You take part in the budgeting processes and work with various stakeholders to make sure that those plans are implemented.

But the basic thing there is that you have to be a good planner to stay top of this job.

You can’t be without a working plan and expect to succeed in this job.

So, the onus is on you to draft out a workable plan for the business.

7. Innovation/creativity

In business you are expected to do whatever works for you and the business.

It is not mandatory that you have to stick to a particular method all the time.

You can spice up things and do whatever is legally right to grow the business.

One of the things you must learn to do is how to collaborate with stakeholders and other people in the business or industry to gain relevant knowledge on how to grow the business.

This is because, in listening and learning from others, you should be able to spice up the business.

Also, online adverts and network won’t be bad for the business unless you didn’t plan your way in the whole process.

You have to think of giving the customers what would blow theirs mind and make your business a household name.

8. Knowledge of the business sector

One thing is sure; if you want to succeed in business you must understand the dynamics of such business.

This includes having sufficient knowledge and experience of the sector your business belongs to.

This is a good way to make success in your job.

If you understand the dynamics of the industry your business belongs to, then the next is to take up the challenge to remain competitive in the industry.

Remaining competitive in the industry shows that you mean business and have the desire to be a giant in the industry.

It is your job to do that, so the earlier you go about it the better for you and the business.

You can’t afford to be ignorant of the demands of the industry and hope that things will work out without good effort. You should intentionally go for knowledge obtainable in the industry.

9. Administrative skills

Remember that management of the business is what you are called to do.

So, you just have to be good with administration as a basic skill to have in the business.

Administrative skills will be necessary for you if you wish to succeed in this job.

Administration connotes the overall arrangement and organization of activities in the business place.

It means that you should be able to fix meetings with relevant stakeholders once in a while to help sort out pressing issues in the business.

Also, you are to have a laid out plan on activities, fix them up in the business calendar, and attend to some other functions in the business area.

These are some of the details of administration you will need to be good at.

You just have to be up and doing in this job.

10. Problem solving skills

This is sure to pop up as a basic skill that you need to succeed in your job as a business controller.

This is not just peculiar to your job; other jobs have this as one of the most important skills to have.

The truth still remains that to get better in your job you should look out for problems and solve them as they come.

However, the problems you might face in your own job might be slightly or largely different from what might be obtainable in another job.

The most important thing is for you to brace yourself up whenever challenges come and give it your best abilities.

But something is important for you to know and that is problem solving skills improve as long as you keep learning new strategies.

You need to know that different challenges of problems may or will demand that you apply a different approach from what you are used to.

11. Decision making

Business controllers have a lot of decisions to make almost on daily basis.

This is because as long as you find yourself in the business arena, you have to decide what happens, when it happens, and how it happens.

Most of the decisions you are expected to make are administrative in nature, in the sense that most of the issues that require your attention are basically administrative issues.

These are day to day activities which need you to arrange and align them properly.

So in making your decisions, keep in mind the ultimate goal of the business and make sure that you are not in any way jeopardizing the goal of the business through the inclusion of irrelevant activities that won’t help the business in the long run.

12. General business acumen

A business controller should not be a stranger to business related issues.

But this may be one of the requirements from your employer if you want to land a job in this capacity.

You have to be acquainted with advanced business knowledge.

Also, if you already have the job, you will be doing yourself a whole lot of good if you go ahead to know more about business.

You have to know what is happening in the marketplace and how your business can fit into the current trend.

It is all about how good you are in business related matters.

The more knowledge of business you have, the more you are able to succeed as a business controller.

13. Satisfactory interest in business

To add to the point above, business must be your primary interest. This does not mean you should not have interest in other skills or job opportunities but if you want to make your mark in this job, you should have sufficient interest in business.

Also, you need to understand that if you don’t have a satisfactory level of interest in business it will affect the level of effort you make in growing the business.

This is certainly not good for you in the long run as it might really lead to the business owner looking for suitable alternative to replace you.

Even if business was not originally in your mind, for the sake of your job you have to train your mind to love business.

14. Good communication skills

Business is one aspect of life that you cannot just do without communication.

Communication establishes a relationship between customers and a business.

Through communication, you learn about the needs of customers and how possibly to solve their problems.

Likewise in this job, you have customers to communicate with.

You have to know what customers are thinking and what they really want.

It is on this ground that you will know how to cater for the needs of the teeming customers in the marketplace.

It is not only the customers you establish communication with but also other stakeholders of the business.

You just have to keep in touch with other stakeholders in the industry because through them you get to know what is trending in the marketplace.

15. Knowledge of trends in the marketplace

Trends are changes that happen from time to time in the marketplace or in the industry where you operate.

Trends are normal and are bound to change whether you are informed of it or not.

It is a constant thing that happens in the business world.

Knowing about trends will help keep you on your toes and avoid laxity in running the business.

This is because the speed by which things change in the marketplace makes it impossible for you to rest on your past achievements.

So with the way trends are changing, you will be able to predict what should be the next trend if you are really observant.

Business Controller Skills for Resume

If you are writing a resume or CV for a business controller job, you can create a highly impressive Skills section by applying the skills and qualities discussed above.

By highlighting some of the above business controller skills and qualities that you have in your resume/CV, you will be improving your chances of getting an interview with the recruiter/employer.

This is because you have shown that you have the right skills and qualities to succeed on the business controller job.

Conclusion

A business controller is in charge of the day to day running and management of a business.

He/she makes decisions that are deemed to be in the interest of the business venture.

So it is not out of place to say that you will need the above explained skills and qualities if you desire to succeed working as a business controller.