This will either scare or motivate Controllers: compliance, month-end close, and audit readiness are table stakes. Today’s best Controllers are more than technical experts. They’re systems thinkers, data architects, and trusted cross-functional partners.
At the Transform 2025 virtual conference, leaders from companies like Help Scout, Eight Sleep, Guideline, SeatGeek, and Poshmark all echoed the same message:
The modern Controller owns more than the books – they own the system behind the books.
From financial gatekeeper to process architect
Modern Controllers aren’t just validating numbers – they’re influencing how the numbers flow. And that means stepping into systems ownership.
“People look to Controllers to drive the change, to fix some of the things we’re seeing – especially on the systems or data governance side.” -Alicia Arntson, VP Controller, Eight Sleep
Alicia explained that Controllers are often the first to see bad data, fragile integrations, or flawed workflows. That visibility puts them in a unique position to lead systems improvements, not just react to them. Watch Alicia and leaders from Help Scout and Guideline in the panel talk, Rise of the Super-Controller on-demand here.
Think like a product manager
Jenny Rush of Help Scout put it bluntly: the Controller is no longer a back-office number checker. They’re becoming more like product managers for the finance stack.
“The controllership team are not just financial gatekeepers. We help design smart processes and provide insights for decision-making. We should be thought of like product managers – orchestration groups helping solve problems for cross-functional teams.” -Jenny Rush, VP Finance and Controller
This mindset shift is why system-savvy Controllers are now leading ERP improvements, re-architecting data flows, and defining the rules for revenue recognition and reporting automation.
Good design > good Band-Aids
Controllers have long been asked to fix problems. But now they’re being invited to design solutions before the problems happen.
“The more context you give the controllership team, the more we can help the business move faster with fewer surprises down the road.” -Rebecca Wang, VP Finance CorporateController, Guideline (see Guideline's success story)
This is especially true when Controllers are brought in during system design or policy changes. By influencing early decisions, they help build scalable, audit-ready processes – and save everyone a headache during close.
Owning the flow: from transaction to reporting
The team at Poshmark shared how the partnership with their Controller and Accounting team has evolved around powering and optimizing the finance stack.
“We’re setting accounting logic, building enrichment rules, and managing reporting infrastructure across the stack.” -Shiv Kapoor, Head of Finance Systems, Poshmark
That means the Controller isn’t just working in the sub-ledger. They’re building the foundation that FP&A, compliance, tax, and audit all depend on.
“We started with revenue recognition. Now we’re helping FP&A with the planning model and building insights across the business.” -Joe Blanchett, Director of Business Systems, SeatGeek
Why this matters now
Two big trends are accelerating the need for system-savvy Controllers:
- ERP re-implementation is on the rise. As companies grow, scale, and shift business models, legacy systems can’t keep up. Controllers are being tapped to lead rebuilds – not just approve outcomes.
- AI is raising the bar for data integrity. AI tools require clean, complete, connected data to produce meaningful results teams can trust. That puts more pressure – and more opportunity – on Controllers to structure the system that feeds the AI. Leapfin users using Luca for revenue data exploration have a huge advantage here thanks to the data transformation Leapfin automatically performs for them.
So what does it take?
Here are two traits we heard again and again from system-savvy Controllers at Transform:
- A bias for systems. You don’t need to code, but you do need to understand how workflows connect and what makes data usable. This requires curiosity and a learning mindset. Controllers who possess this trait don’t just close faster, they lay the foundation for every finance function to operate better.
- Ownership of outcomes. Don’t just flag the broken thing – fix it. Orchestrate the right team to rebuild it. Again, this is a huge opportunity for Controllers as this will often mean directing a cross-functional team including Accounting, Systems, and Data or Engineering. This is more than a trait, it’s essential experience for Controllers aspiring to grow into executive leadership roles.
Final thought
If you’re a Controller today, you don’t have to become a systems engineer. But if you don’t understand your finance stack end to end – you’re leaving impact (and influence) on the table.
The system-savvy Controller isn’t a “new type.” It’s the next standard.
Want more like this?
- Blog post: What's Holding Back Your Automation Strategy? Real Talk from Controllers in the Trenches Read now
- Blog post: AI for Accounting: What It Actually Looks Like in Practice Read now
- Videos: All Transform now on-demand Watch here
