What Does a Financial Controller Do? When Australian SMBs Need One

A CFO Who Doesn’t Cost CFO Money

Most small businesses can’t justify a full-time Chief Financial Officer. The salary alone would run $200,000 or more. But there’s a gap between “my accountant does the tax” and “I have proper financial oversight,” and a financial controller often fills it. Here’s what the role involves and when it makes sense for a smaller business to bring one in.

What Does a Financial Controller Do?

A financial controller (FC) sits between the day-to-day bookkeeping and the strategic financial decision-making that a CFO handles. The key responsibilities:

• Management accounts. Producing accurate monthly profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports that management can use to make decisions.
• Budgeting and forecasting. Building the annual budget, tracking performance against it, and updating forecasts as conditions change.
• Cash flow management. Watching what’s coming in and going out, identifying risks, and making sure the business can meet its obligations.
• Internal controls. Setting up processes that reduce the risk of errors or fraud, and making sure financial procedures are followed consistently.
• Compliance oversight. BAS lodgements, payroll tax, superannuation: ensuring these are done correctly and on time, even if someone else physically does them.
• Working with the external accountant. Preparing the business for the end-of-year tax process, making the external accountant’s job easier (and cheaper).

A financial controller is not your bookkeeper. The bookkeeper records transactions. The FC checks that those records are right, interprets them, and tells the business what they mean.

FC vs. CFO: What’s the Difference?

A CFO focuses outward: fundraising, investor relations, M&A strategy, board reporting, long-term capital allocation. A financial controller focuses inward: making sure the numbers are right, the controls are working, and the reporting is timely.

For most SMBs, an FC is more practically useful than a CFO. You need clean numbers and working cash flow management well before you need someone thinking about your Series B.

When Do Australian SMBs Need One?

There’s no hard rule, but most businesses start thinking about it when:

• Revenue exceeds $3–5 million annually and financial complexity is growing
• You have multiple entities, revenue streams, or cost centres that are hard to track manually
• The business owner is still doing (or closely overseeing) the bookkeeping and it’s eating their time
• You’ve had surprises: a tax bill you didn’t see coming, cash flow gaps, unexplained variances
• You’re seeking external finance and your financial reporting isn’t investor- or bank-ready

Options for Smaller Businesses

A full-time in-house FC at a reasonable level in Australia earns $100,000 to $180,000 per year, depending on experience and location. That’s beyond most small business budgets.

Two more accessible options:

Part-time or fractional FC. A qualified financial controller working two or three days a week, or across multiple clients. Rates typically run $500 to $1,200 per day. For $2,000 to $5,000 a month you can get proper oversight without a full-time salary.

Outsourced accounting firms. Some accounting firms offer FC services as a managed service, bundling bookkeeping, management accounts, and advisory in one package. Cost varies widely but can be cost-effective compared to a part-time hire if you don’t need physical presence.

How to Hire One

For a part-time or fractional FC, look through professional networks like LinkedIn, referrals from your accountant, or specialist recruiters in finance. CPA Australia and Chartered Accountants ANZ both have member directories. When interviewing, ask specifically about experience with businesses of your size and industry, not just corporate backgrounds. A controller who’s worked in large companies isn’t automatically the right fit for a 25-person trade business with complex job costing.

One Honest Take

A lot of small business owners avoid bringing in a financial controller because they worry about the cost, and then spend twice as much cleaning up a mess that better oversight would have prevented. If your accountant is telling you things at tax time that surprise you, that’s a sign you need more regular financial oversight, not just once a year. A part-time FC is often cheaper than you think and more valuable than you expect.

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Sources

• ATO: Record keeping for business
• CPA Australia: Small business financial management
• Seek: Financial controller salary guide (AU)

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