Financial controller

What does a financial controller do?

A financial controller leads accounting and financial reporting for a company, a division or a group of entities.

Others come to you for accounting questions, and you keep daily finance operations running on time and within the rules.

In Singapore, the role usually reports to the chief financial officer (CFO) or finance director. Finance managers, accountants and payroll or accounts payable staff report to you. In smaller firms, the financial controller may be the most senior finance person.

You work with external auditors, tax advisers, banks and regulators such as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). You also work with department heads and the board, who rely on you for accurate numbers and clear advice.

What the work involves

• Review the month-end close, sign off journals and check that the management accounts are accurate.
• Coach finance staff on reporting quality, controls and deadlines.
• Prepare financial information for the CEO, the board and, where needed, investors or lenders.
• Monitor cash flow and bank balances, and agree funding needs with the treasury team or banks.
• Work with auditors and tax advisers on year-end audits, tax filings and compliance queries.
• Lead finance projects such as ERP changes, process redesign and budget or forecast cycles.

Pay in Singapore

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Skills a financial controller needs

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Financial controller job description

We are hiring a financial controller to run our accounting and reporting function in Singapore.

You will own the monthly close, statutory accounts, tax compliance and cash management, and lead a team of accountants. You will advise management on financial results and risks, and support the budget and forecast cycle.

Responsibilities

• Lead the monthly, quarterly and annual close and produce management accounts on schedule.
• Prepare financial statements under the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS) and support the external audit.
• Make sure the company meets its statutory filing and corporate tax obligations with IRAS and other authorities.
• Manage cash flow, bank relationships and short-term funding needs.
• Set and maintain internal controls, approval limits and segregation of duties across the finance function.
• Manage and develop the finance team, including hiring, coaching and performance reviews.
• Work with business heads on budgets, forecasts and variance analysis.
• Present financial results and risks to senior management and the board.
• Improve finance processes and systems, including ERP configuration and reporting tools.
• Support due diligence, funding rounds or group reporting requests when they arise.

Requirements

• Degree in accountancy, finance or a related field.
• Professional qualification such as Chartered Accountant of Singapore, ACCA or CPA Australia, which many employers expect.
• Typically 8 to 12 years of accounting experience, with several years in a team lead or finance manager role.
• Working knowledge of SFRS, Singapore corporate tax and goods and services tax (GST) compliance.
• Hands-on experience with an ERP finance module such as SAP FICO, Oracle or NetSuite, and strong Excel skills.
• Clear communication and people management skills, since you deal with auditors, the board and your own team.

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Financial controller career path

Most financial controllers start as accountants and move up through finance manager roles.

The step after the controller role is usually finance director or CFO.

1. Accountant

   Entry

   You handle ledgers, reconciliations, accruals and month-end journals, and support audits.

2. Senior accountant or assistant finance manager

   Mid

   You prepare financial statements, review juniors' work and take on tax and audit schedules.

3. Finance manager

   Senior

   You run the close and reporting for a business unit or entity and manage a small team.

4. Financial controller

   Lead · SkillsFuture title

   You are accountable for accounting, reporting, controls and compliance across a division or group of entities.

5. Finance director or CFO

   Head

   You set financial strategy, manage investors and lenders, and sit on the executive team.

Steps marked "SkillsFuture title" follow the career pathway in the SkillsFuture Skills Framework. The others are titles commonly used in Singapore.

Related jobs and their pay

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Financial controller interview questions

We wrote these questions from the skills this job needs. They are not an official question bank.

1. Walk me through your month-end close process. How have you shortened it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Describes a clear calendar with cut-offs, owners and sign-offs
   • Covers accruals, reconciliations, intercompany matching and review of journals
   • Names fixes such as automation, earlier cut-offs or standard templates
   • Gives a measured result, such as fewer working days or fewer adjustments

2. The company signs a new office lease. How do you account for it under SFRS(I) 16?

   What a good answer covers

   • Recognises a right-of-use asset and a lease liability
   • Explains how the discount rate is chosen
   • Describes depreciation and interest over the lease term
   • Mentions exemptions for short-term and low-value leases
   • Notes the effect on key ratios and any loan covenants

3. A customer contract bundles software, installation and support. How do you recognise revenue?

   What a good answer covers

   • Identifies separate performance obligations
   • Allocates the price using standalone selling prices
   • Decides whether each item is recognised over time or at a point in time
   • Handles contract assets, deferred revenue and variable terms
   • Documents judgements for the auditors

4. How do you prepare consolidated accounts for a group with a foreign-currency subsidiary?

   What a good answer covers

   • Aligns accounting policies and reporting dates across entities
   • Eliminates intercompany balances and unrealised profit
   • Translates results using the correct exchange rates
   • Reports translation differences in equity
   • Reconciles consolidation to the entity ledgers before sign-off

5. How do you build and use a 13-week cash flow forecast?

   What a good answer covers

   • Starts from bank balances, receivables, payables and payroll timing
   • Updates weekly and compares forecast to actual
   • Flags shortfalls early and sets actions such as collections or drawdowns
   • Considers foreign-currency exposure and loan covenants
   • Shares a simple summary with management

6. Explain how you prepare the corporate tax computation for a Singapore company before filing with IRAS.

   What a good answer covers

   • Starts from accounting profit and adjusts for non-deductible expenses
   • Applies capital allowances and any tax incentives or exemptions the company qualifies for
   • Reconciles the numbers to the audited or management accounts
   • Explains the estimated chargeable income and final filing steps
   • Keeps supporting schedules for queries from IRAS

7. Which controls would you set up in SAP FICO or NetSuite to reduce fraud and errors?

   What a good answer covers

   • Role-based access and segregation of duties
   • Approval workflows for journals, payments and vendor changes
   • Period locks after close
   • Regular review of user access and exception reports
   • Audit trail for changes to vendor, customer and account records

8. A cost centre's actual spend is far above budget. How would you use Excel to find the cause?

   What a good answer covers

   • Pulls the ledger data and builds a pivot by account, vendor and month
   • Compares actual to budget and prior year
   • Separates timing differences from real overspend
   • Checks for miscoded or duplicated entries
   • Presents a short variance summary with actions

9. How would you let your finance team use ChatGPT without creating risk?

   What a good answer covers

   • Sets a written policy on what data can and cannot be entered
   • Bans confidential, customer or employee data in public tools
   • Uses it for drafting, formula help or summaries, and takes final numbers from the ledger
   • Requires a human review of every output
   • Checks the policy with legal and IT

1. One week before a board meeting, you find a material error in last quarter's reported profit. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Confirms the size and cause of the error quickly
   • Informs the CFO or CEO and the audit committee chair without delay
   • Corrects the numbers and checks other periods for the same issue
   • Tells the auditors and agrees how to disclose the correction
   • Fixes the control that failed

2. A sales director asks you to book a large order as revenue this month, although delivery is next month. How do you respond?

   What a good answer covers

   • Applies the revenue recognition rules instead of the sales target
   • Explains the reason clearly and calmly
   • Offers a legitimate option, such as agreeing delivery terms or showing the order in the pipeline
   • Escalates to the CFO if pressure continues
   • Records the decision and the evidence

3. Management wants to move to a new ERP in the middle of the financial year. How would you plan it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Maps current processes and the chart of accounts before design
   • Sets a cut-over point with a clean close and opening balances
   • Plans data migration, testing and parallel runs
   • Trains users and keeps support available after go-live
   • Keeps the auditors informed of control changes

1. Tell me about a time you coached a team member whose work kept falling short.

   What a good answer covers

   • Describes the specific problem and its effect on the close or reports
   • Shows how feedback was given and checked
   • Includes training, templates or closer review
   • States the outcome for the person and the team

2. Describe a time you explained complex financial results to people outside finance.

   What a good answer covers

   • Names the audience and what they needed to decide
   • Uses plain language and a few clear measures
   • Links the numbers to business actions
   • Shows how questions were handled
   • Says what feedback you received

1. Your company wants to send employee payroll files to an outsourced provider. What do you check under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA)?

   What a good answer covers

   • Confirms the purpose and that employees have been notified
   • Limits the data shared to what is needed
   • Checks the provider's security and has a written contract covering data protection
   • Controls access and how files are transferred
   • Knows who the company's data protection officer is

Common questions about a financial controller job

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