According to estimates by Horváth & Partners, the value of this market segment in Romania amounted to about 80 million euros in 2018, which means 40% of the total local consulting market.
Currently, the market for consulting services in controlling continues to grow, amid digitization, which is becoming a mega-trend, including at the level of financial departments.
Controlling is a vital tool for a well-functioning organization, providing management with essential business-related information and helping to make strategic decisions. The Controlling Department is involved in planning, budgeting and monitoring the company's financial performance.
It ensures the adequate use of resources, transparency in transactions and has a significant role in increasing profitability. The process of controlling has three stages: planning and budgeting, monitoring and analysis, conclusions and recommendations.
In the last step, profit-increasing measures and cost reductions are emerging, as well as potential recommendations for adjusting the strategy.
According to Horváth & Partners, if two years ago, the topic of digitizing financial departments was a minor one, it has now become a priority concern.
In Central and Eastern Europe, two-thirds of companies have launched initiatives to increase digitization within their financial departments.
Digital tools can provide significant savings in increasing efficiency, especially in data management and transaction processing, components of controlling activity.
"When the financial department uses the new tools and digital methods intelligently, the whole company has to win. Using advanced analytical methods, the financial department gets a more efficient and proactive controlling system," emphasizes Kurt Weber, General Manager of Horváth & Partners Romania.
Horváth & Partners analyzes that around 90% of Romanian financial executives, up 7% from 2017, support digitization trends in the current business environment and see the utility of changing corporate performance management from a reactive and analytical model to a proactive and predictive one.
Horváth & Partners identifies three ways of addressing digital transformation: a holistic one, developing a digital financial strategy, a second harmonization of data and transactional processes, and the third concerning the development of digital prototypes for special applications.
The company's representatives also identified five main features of a digital financial organization:
• using a dynamic management type in which business decisions are taken promptly;
• the inclusive approach, building on integrated processes of functional and financial management based on common platforms;
• efficient organization through process automation;
• Changing roles, with a strong focus on business partnerships and methodologies development;
• Creating new competences in finance by implementing training programs.
In this sense, starting in 2017, Horváth & Partners has been doing a biannual program with the "Business Controller" specialization in Romania, designed for managers in financial departments who wish to master best practices in controlling.
"We have initiated this training program to help companies that want to improve their long-term business," said Kurt Weber.
The program takes place at the Horváth Academy, which has a tradition of over 25 years in providing the group's training services. Thus, at the end of the courses, the participants will receive the certificate of specialization for the occupation of Controller, respectively Specialist in planning, control and reporting of economic performance, accredited by the National Authority for Qualifications.
In a company, controlling activity is managed by both Financial Controller and Business Controller, functions that coexist, but are often confused. Business Controller focuses more on the business environment and less on the financial side. He has a close relationship with the production, sales and logistics departments, building business plans and helping to define strategies to identify potential difficulties and opportunities for company development. Business Controller's attributions include identifying cost-cutting solutions as well as increasing efficiency.
A Financial Controller is significantly involved in the financial reporting and tracking of recorded business history. Its competencies are almost exclusively focused on financial control of the business, consolidation of financial department reports and reporting of results to shareholders.
"We decided to organize these courses, because there is currently a major deficit of Business Controllers in large companies in Romania. The market needs at least 2,000 Business Controlling specialists, and as proof, a man with an experience of about two, three years now can get a salary of about 1,500 euros net, "concludes Kurt Weber.
