RecordMove

Financial fraud examiner to financial controller

A financial fraud examiner already meets 22% of what the financial controller role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From financial fraud examiner

Distant match

To financial controller

6 You already bring

12 Still to learn

37 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance Substantial retraining

73.9/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what a financial controller is expected to do is already part of a financial fraud examiner’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the financial controller role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A financial controller role treats 5 of its required skills as things a financial fraud examiner already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

ensure compliance with accounting conventions
financial statements
interpret financial statements
prepare financial statements
tax legislation

What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 6 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A financial controller role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a financial fraud examiner background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held ensure compliance with accounting conventions information skills
already held prepare financial auditing reports information skills
already held prepare financial statements information skills
already held interpret financial statements information skills
already held financial statements business, administration and law
already held tax legislation business, administration and law

All 6 carried skills, including the 5 the financial controller role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 31 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 management skills 5 required, 4 supplementary

still to learn create a financial plan required
still to learn enforce financial policies required
still to learn evaluate budgets required
still to learn exert expenditure control required
still to learn explain accounting records required

optional, not held support development of annual budget optional
optional, not held manage budgets optional
optional, not held manage profitability optional
optional, not held supervise accounting operations optional

02 information skills 4 required, 5 supplementary

still to learn analyse financial performance of a company required
still to learn develop financial statistics reports required
still to learn synthesise financial information required
still to learn track key performance indicators required

optional, not held analyse financial risk optional
optional, not held check accounting records optional
optional, not held inspect government expenditures optional
optional, not held manage the general ledger optional
optional, not held prepare tax returns forms optional

03 business, administration and law 2 required, 2 supplementary

still to learn accounting department processes required
still to learn financial department processes required

optional, not held financial forecasting optional
optional, not held insolvency law optional

04 assisting and caring 1 required

still to learn follow the statutory obligations required

05 communication, collaboration and creativity 7 supplementary

optional, not held advise on financial matters optional
optional, not held advise on tax planning optional
optional, not held disseminate information on tax legislation optional
optional, not held draft accounting procedures optional
optional, not held liaise with auditors optional
optional, not held liaise with financiers optional
optional, not held liaise with shareholders optional

06 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 1 supplementary

optional, not held statistics optional

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a financial controller role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 6 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held ensure compliance with accounting conventions skill
already held financial statements knowledge
already held interpret financial statements skill
already held prepare financial statements skill
already held tax legislation knowledge
already held prepare financial auditing reports skill

19 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

optional, not held support development of annual budget optional
optional, not held advise on financial matters optional
optional, not held advise on tax planning optional
optional, not held analyse financial risk optional
optional, not held check accounting records optional
optional, not held disseminate information on tax legislation optional
optional, not held draft accounting procedures optional
optional, not held financial forecasting optional
optional, not held insolvency law optional
optional, not held inspect government expenditures optional
optional, not held liaise with auditors optional
optional, not held liaise with financiers optional
optional, not held liaise with shareholders optional
optional, not held manage budgets optional
optional, not held manage profitability optional
optional, not held manage the general ledger optional
optional, not held prepare tax returns forms optional
optional, not held statistics optional
optional, not held supervise accounting operations optional

20 held skills the financial controller role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role anti-dumping law knowledge
not needed by the target role banking activities knowledge
not needed by the target role conduct financial audits skill
not needed by the target role criminal law knowledge
not needed by the target role detect financial crime skill
not needed by the target role financial jurisdiction knowledge
not needed by the target role financial products knowledge
not needed by the target role forensic intelligence knowledge
not needed by the target role fraud detection knowledge
not needed by the target role identify accounting errors skill
not needed by the target role identify if a company is a going concern skill
not needed by the target role international financial reporting standards knowledge
not needed by the target role international law knowledge
not needed by the target role interpret law skill
not needed by the target role liaise with managers skill
not needed by the target role manage corporate bank accounts skill
not needed by the target role national generally accepted accounting principles knowledge
not needed by the target role perform forensic accounting skill
not needed by the target role public offering knowledge
not needed by the target role trace financial transactions skill

5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier

still to learn accounting department processes required
still to learn financial department processes required
optional, not held financial forecasting optional
optional, not held insolvency law optional
optional, not held statistics optional

Index

Other moves recorded from financial fraud examiner

Full index of moves from financial fraud examiner

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a financial fraud examiner become a financial controller?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A financial fraud examiner already covers 22% of what a financial controller is expected to do: 6 skills carry over, 5 of which the financial controller role treats as required.

What skills does a financial fraud examiner need to become a financial controller?

12 required skills are missing, plus 19 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is accounting department processes.

How hard is the move from financial fraud examiner to financial controller?

Its learning distance is 73.9 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.