Give every finalist the same job to answer for
Write the responsibilities and review authority before you compare profiles. Include entity count, consolidation work, ERP environment, team management and the people receiving the reports. A candidate who owned a single-entity close may have useful experience, but the interview must establish the additional work required by your group reporting structure.
If the role is still taking shape, use the controller role brief first. Then choose the evidence you want from every candidate. Keep the questions and scoring criteria consistent, and record where a candidate needs follow-up rather than filling the gap with an assumption.
Ask the candidate to walk through a close they owned
Begin with the reporting pack they were responsible for. Ask which entities it covered, who prepared each schedule, who reviewed adjustments and who released the final version. Have them explain one unresolved item and how they communicated its effect on the close. Use sanitized descriptions or sample records so the discussion does not require a former employer's confidential material.
- Ask how they reviewed a reconciliation. What supporting record did they use, what remained unexplained and who was responsible for resolving it?
- Ask about an accounting judgment relevant to your business. Which policy applied, what evidence supported the treatment and who approved it?
- For consolidation work, ask them to explain the entities, intercompany balances and review steps they personally handled. Separate their work from the responsibilities of the group controller.
- Ask how they handled an audit request or a reporting question from a CFO, sponsor or lender. What did they provide, and how did they make the supporting records traceable?
Record the candidate's personal responsibilities alongside the team's output. That gives your reviewer a specific basis for the next interview or reference question.
Test the accounting workflow behind the ERP name
For a NetSuite role, define the environment the controller will inherit. Ask which reports and close workflows the candidate used, which entities they supported and what they did when a period, permission or reporting setting prevented the next step. Distinguish operating the finance workflow from configuring the system as an administrator.
Our US GAAP and NetSuite guide includes a fictional close-review exercise with supplied reports, open items and an answer rubric. It can help your qualified finance reviewer assess how a candidate handles missing evidence, report scope and approval decisions. It requires no production access or live posting. Adapt the assessment to the controller's entry responsibilities and document the scoring criteria before candidates complete it.
Review the candidate's explanation as well as the answer
Have the finalist write a short handoff to the person who will review their work. Ask for the outstanding issue, the evidence still needed, the owner of the next step and any decision that must be made before release. Your reviewer can then assess whether the explanation lets someone else follow the work and decide what happens next.
For a controller managing other staff, discuss how they review a team member's schedule and return corrections. Ask a reference, with the candidate's consent, about the responsibilities the candidate held and the working relationship with their reviewer. A reference should help resolve a specific question from the process.
Keep a shortlist decision record
For each requirement in the brief, record the evidence, the reviewer and the remaining question. A useful entry names the work assessed: for example, the candidate identified a mismatch between the period and entity scope of two supplied reports and requested corrected reports before explaining the difference. That is a hypothetical assessment observation, not an Opus candidate result. Record what your own candidate actually did.
Discuss gaps before selecting the hire. If the controller will need specialist review for an unfamiliar accounting issue, identify the reviewer and the work they will cover. If the required working hours or management scope cannot be agreed, resolve that before an offer is made.
Move from the chosen candidate to a defined start
Your team makes the final selection and directs the controller's work. Opus provides recruiting and the ongoing employment support in your arrangement. Confirm the contracting or employing entity, included services, start date, notice and replacement terms in the proposal. Review the employment-support scope and replacement terms alongside the candidate decision.
Name the finance reviewer and prepare access, accounting policies and the prior close records before the start. Our handoff template records the first output and its approval path. For cost planning and a comparison of published controller recruiting services, use the controller hiring guide.