First phase for a Controller: learn before you change
A controller's first phase is with the ledger. Review the chart of accounts, the close checklist and the reconciliations, and note which ones are done by habit and which are checked. Ask for the aged balances and the list of open audit points. These show quickly where the books are loose.
Meet the people who feed the close: accounts payable, payroll, billing, inventory or job costing. Each has a piece of the process and a view on why it is slow. The close often fails at a handoff nobody owns, and only walking the chain reveals it.
Ask the team to show you how they actually do a reconciliation, not how the checklist says to do it. Watching a single account from source to sign off teaches more than a policy review. You will see shortcuts, manual steps and the places where errors are most likely to enter.
Second phase for a Controller: repairs people can see
The second phase is about the calendar. Build a close schedule with named owners and a review step, and agree it with the people who must follow it. Shortening the close is tempting, but the tradeoff is accuracy against speed. Shave time by removing rework, not by skipping reviews.
Document the policies and judgements that live in someone's head: revenue timing, accruals, capitalization, estimates. A new controller who writes these down creates something the auditors and the next hire will value. It also exposes inconsistencies, which is uncomfortable but useful.
Keep a running list of corrections found and where they came from. After a couple of closes, the list shows a pattern: a particular feed, a person who needs training, a setting in the software. Fixing the cause removes dozens of future corrections.
Third phase for a Controller: make it hold
By the third phase, the goal is a tested close that does not depend on the interim. Run it with the team leading and the controller watching. Whatever breaks is what you still need to fix. Leave a trained team lead for the ongoing role, and a written list of what is unfinished.
Cross train at least one person on each critical task. A close that depends on a single individual for payroll accruals or inventory is fragile. The controller can set up the pairing, and the manager can make sure it continues after the engagement ends.
How your situation changes the Controller plan
The situation matters. In a vacancy, the immediate need is to keep the books moving and spot what the departed controller was quietly handling. In a system rollout, the controller guards data quality during migration. In a transaction, the controller supports diligence with clean schedules and explanations.
In a vacancy, review what the previous controller did that nobody wrote down, such as informal approvals or recurring journal entries. In a transaction, prepare supporting schedules for each material balance. In a system rollout, own the reconciliation of old and new balances until both agree.
Mistakes in the Controller brief
Common brief errors: asking for a manager when the real gap is hands-on technical work, and not saying which accounting framework, entity structure or software applies. List how many entities, which systems and who the controller reports to so candidates can judge fit.
Be clear on the level of the work. A controller brief that mixes hands-on posting with team management and strategic reporting often attracts nobody, because the three jobs need different people. Decide which part matters most and say which parts are secondary.
Questions to settle before you brief a Controller
Before you brief, count the entities, currencies, bank accounts and systems involved, and say who outside the company touches the books, such as auditors, tax advisers or lenders. These facts decide how heavy the job is. A single entity business and a group with intercompany balances call for quite different people.
Decide also whether the controller will do the work or direct it. Hands-on contractors and managers of small teams are both called controllers. If the team is thin, the role is probably mostly doing. Say honestly which half you need, and the profiles you receive will fit it.
Finally, think about the people. The team may be anxious about an outsider reviewing their work. A short word from management explaining that the aim is a stronger close, not blame, changes how the first reviews go. A controller who gets cooperation learns the truth sooner, and a team that feels respected is far more likely to keep the improvements after the engagement ends.