Taxes

• Companies pay taxes on revenue and a variety of taxes on employees, including income, social security and medicare. Transfer price taxes are also charged if companies exchange goods internally, such as between subsidiaries or divisions. The controllership function ensures that all taxes are prepared accurately and filed on time.
  
  

Business Partner

• Financial oversight is one of the most important tasks in a business. As such, a controller partners with chief executives of the firm to ensure that the business achieves its strategic mission. To do this, the controller ensures that financial statements and budgets are prepared accurately so that spending plans can be instituted.
  
  

Audit and Compliance

• Audits ensure that companies are in compliance with federal, state and local laws regarding financial accounting. The controller or CPA in the controllership function of a business meets with internal and independent auditors to review company financial statements. Compliance measures are internal controls within a company that ensure that the company is following the law on all areas of its business, especially regarding financial accounting. The controllership function oversees the financial compliance of the company.
  
  

Managing Accounting Staff

• The accounting staff is usually overseen by the controllership of a company. The staff perform all of the accounting duties for the firm and should be answerable to someone who understands the duties and requirements of each job. The controller will also coordinate the efforts of all accounting staff to ensure that company financial reports, taxes and budgets are prepared accurately and on-time.