Process Management in the Controlling Department (of CFO-Area)

We held a mini-interview with Prof. Dr. Ronald Gleich, Professor for Management Practice & Control, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, who will give a lecture on "Process Management in the Controlling Department (of CFO-Area)" at:

14. KONTROLING KONFERENCIJA: Procesni kontroling, 26.05.2023.

1. How to evaluate a current state of process management excellence in controlling?

The topic is now established in many companies and is also necessary to create a market and efficiency orientation in controlling as well as in the entire CFO area. The performance of controlling, process and output, for example, the process of "creating a report" and the product "report", should be measured in terms of cost, quality and time, just like processes in the operations area.

2. Which standards would you recommend for defining processes in controlling?

The IGC process model (International Group of Controlling) can be used as a process model. This helps to describe process standards and to use these as a starting point for the description of one's own controlling processes. Consultancies also often work with process models, which can also provide orientation for companies and their processes in the CFO area.

3. How can we determine benchmarking for process management in controlling?

As a rule, databases from consulting firms can be used here. For example, the consulting firm Horváth has been conducting a CFO panel for more than 20 years, which also provides interesting process-related findings. For example, it can be used to derive how much capacity per 1,000 employees is spent on a planning or cost management process at top companies. This can then be used as a comparative value for one's own company.

4. What are the advantages of customer oriented improvement of processes?

The customers of the controlling processes are primarily the managers. They must of course be involved in the design of the processes of the CFO-Area. This should be done through regular surveys of managers on the design and the performance of processes. It is a mistake to initiate process improvements only from within the controlling or CFO area.

5. From the very beginning how would you determine the approach for the project of successful implementation or improvement of the processes in controlling?

In German companies, a performance measurement approach to controlling processes is now common practice, because controlling must also constantly improve and become more efficient from year to year without having to compromise on the process requirements of controlling customers. Digitalization and new integrated IT systems in particular have brought decisive progress in this area in recent years.

If you want to learn more about the Process Management in the Controlling Department (of CFO-Area), join us at: 

14. KONTROLING KONFERENCIJA: Procesni kontroling, 26.05.2023.