financial controller
Financial controllers handle all tasks related to the budgeting and accounting aspects of a company or organisation. They implement and ensure compliance with internal financial and accounting procedures, and prepare documentation for external audits. They collect information related to financial statements such as assets, liabilities, equity, and cash flow in order to assess the company's financial position to prepare annual budgets and forecasts.
financial controller financial controllers handle all tasks related to the budgeting and accounting aspects of a company or organisation. They implement and ensure compliance with internal financial and accounting procedures, and prepare documentation for external audits. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include accounting department processes, financial department processes, financial statements, tax legislation, enforce financial policies.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £50,062 a year for Chartered and certified accountants (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £38,696 to £68,056 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2421). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only financial controller, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
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Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Economics and Accounting
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Customer and Personal Service
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
What you'd actually do
- Evaluate needs for procurement of funds and investment of surpluses and make appropriate recommendations.
- Delegate authority for the receipt, disbursement, banking, protection, and custody of funds, securities, and financial instruments.
- Develop and maintain relationships with banking, insurance, and external accounting personnel to facilitate financial activities.
- Monitor financial activities and details, such as cash flow and reserve levels, to ensure that all legal and regulatory requirements are met.
- Receive, record, and authorize requests for disbursements in accordance with company policies and procedures.
- Develop internal control policies, guidelines, and procedures for activities, such as budget administration, cash and credit management, and accounting.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does financial controller do?
Financial controllers handle all tasks related to the budgeting and accounting aspects of a company or organisation. They implement and ensure compliance with internal financial and accounting procedures, and prepare documentation for external audits. They collect information related to financial statements such as assets, liabilities, equity, and cash flow in order to assess the company's financial position to prepare annual budgets and forecasts.
What skills does financial controller need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include accounting department processes, financial department processes, financial statements, tax legislation, enforce financial policies, develop financial statistics reports. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace financial controller?
Our AI-durability model gives financial controller a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.