Balancing Strategic Planning and Day-to-Day Financial Management as a Controller

In the life of a controller, “balance” is more than a buzzword, it’s a daily high-wire act. Between the granular demands of daily financial oversight and the high-level vision required for strategic planning, controllers are constantly toggling between the present and the future. And the stakes? Well, they’re nothing short of keeping the business solvent today while ensuring it thrives tomorrow.

The evolving role of the controller makes this balancing act even trickier. According to a recent Deloitte CFO Signals survey, 72% of finance leaders say their controllers are expected to play a more strategic role than they did five years ago. Yet, the same professionals still need to produce accurate financial reports, manage compliance, oversee internal controls, and make sure the lights stay on, literally and figuratively.

So how does a controller do it all without burning out or letting something critical slip through the cracks? The answer lies in developing a framework that doesn’t just prioritize both strategic planning and operational execution but integrates them. Here’s how top-performing controllers are making it work.

1. Build a Financial Rhythm That Supports Strategic Thinking

It’s easy to become so consumed with monthly closes and variance analysis that there’s little time left for strategy. But blocking out regular time to zoom out from the spreadsheets is essential. Just like a CEO protects their time for vision-setting, controllers must set aside strategic hours each week, non-negotiable. This could mean aligning with the CFO on long-range planning models or running scenario analyses that test the financial impact of market changes. According to McKinsey, companies that allocate even 10–20% of finance team time to forward-looking activities see more agility in decision-making and faster reactions to external disruptions.

2. Leverage Technology to Automate the Routine

If you’re still manually reconciling spreadsheets or chasing down receipts in someone’s inbox folder named “Finance Maybe,” you’re not alone, but you are behind. Automation is your best friend when it comes to freeing up bandwidth. Tools like BlackLine, NetSuite, and even AI-powered platforms such as Planful can automate routine accounting tasks, from journal entries to reporting. Gartner reports that finance teams adopting automation save an average of 25,000 hours annually, which translates directly into more time for high-value analysis and planning.

3. Treat Your Month-End Close Like a Manufacturing Process

Controllers often carry the weight of being both the watchdog and the tactician. That’s why repeatable, optimized processes are critical. Think of your month-end close as a production line: the more streamlined it is, the more capacity you have to focus on strategic priorities. According to a study by APQC, top finance teams close their books in 4.8 days compared to the median of 6.4. Cutting even one day off your cycle can create room for deeper analysis, allowing you to connect short-term performance to long-term strategy.

4. Embed Strategic Planning in Departmental Conversations

One of the most overlooked advantages a controller has is proximity to every department’s numbers. Rather than holding all strategic planning at the top, bring it down into operational conversations. When reviewing budgets with department heads, use that time to challenge assumptions and connect financial plans to broader business objectives. Harvard Business Review notes that companies that integrate finance into operational decisions outperform peers by 20% on average in long-term profitability.

5. Stay Curious About the Business, Not Just the Books

Strategic insight doesn’t come from financial data alone. Controllers who act like business partners, asking “why” as often as “how much”, tend to spot trends before they show up in the P&L. Join sales pipeline reviews. Listen in on customer feedback loops. Understand the product roadmap. These conversations bring context that transforms financial data into strategic foresight.

6. Communicate Financial Insights Like a Story, Not a Spreadsheet

Great controllers don’t just track numbers, they interpret them. When you present to leadership or stakeholders, frame your insights as narratives. Use data to explain what happened, why it matters, and what comes next. Storytelling adds dimension to numbers and makes strategy actionable. Research from Stanford University shows that information delivered as a story is retained up to 22 times more effectively than data alone.

7. Don’t Just Balance, Blend

The key to thriving in a dual-role as both financial steward and strategic partner isn’t balance in the sense of choosing between the two. It’s integration. Strategic planning and day-to-day management shouldn’t live in separate silos. When your weekly cash flow review reveals trends that inform next quarter’s investments, or when your variance analysis leads to a shift in go-to-market tactics, that’s when real strategic finance happens.

At the end of the day, controllers who excel are those who recognize that their work is no longer just about compliance and reporting. It’s about translating today’s financial reality into tomorrow’s competitive edge. And while that requires skill, it also demands a mindset shift, from gatekeeper to guide.

In a world where uncertainty is the new constant, the controller who can both mind the books and mold the future? That’s someone every leadership team wants in their corner.