The Club Controller is an important member of the club management team. There are a number of constituencies that rely on the expertise and efforts of the Controller, including the General Manager, the club’s Board or ownership, the department heads with bottom line responsibility, and, of course, the employees who jobs depend upon the solvency of the club.
The Controller’s role is more than that of an accountant who, according to accounting definitions, records and reports financial transactions. In addition to maintaining the General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Member Billing and Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and Financial Reporting, the Controller plays a vital role by assisting managers in maintaining the profitability of the club.
The functions of the Controller tend to fall into a routine of monitoring daily activity, processing bi-weekly payroll, ongoing processing and payment of invoices, monthly member billing, and end of month closing and financial reporting. Once a year, the Controller has a central role in the annual budgeting process for the club.
But the Controller also provides guidance and assistance to the General Manager and department heads in meeting their fiscal responsibilities to the club and its members. These managers have a broad range of detail- and labor-intensive requirements and must deal with the daily challenges that arise in a high quality service environment. By keeping in mind the underlying principle of service-based leadership – of providing the necessary tools, training, resources, and support to key constituents – Controllers should offer targeted outreach assistance to managers; particularly to department heads – those key individuals with bottom line responsibilities.
Outreach services include:
Ensuring that department heads have clear accounting guidance: Written accounting standards, policies, and procedures should be available to all managers. While Club Resources International has produced and offers a great many of these, detailed procedural guidance should be prepared and implemented at the club level.
Assisting department heads with club-required programs: Department heads may need assistance with benchmarking spreadsheets, Tools to Beat Budget, Annual Budgeting, and preparing for monthly meetings to review financial performance.
Providing timely operating data: Those with bottom line responsibility have need for timely information about their operations. The two most important are Weekly Revenue Reports and Pay Period Summary Reports that allow managers to monitor their revenues and their single largest expense – payroll.
Ongoing training on accounting issues: In any complex operation there is the need for ongoing refresher training on key matters. Staff turnover and the constant focus on daily operations sometimes make it difficult for managers to keep accounting issues foremost in mind. Controllers should monitor departmental compliance with accounting policies and provide refresher training for arising issues and ongoing problems.
Making periodic visits to department heads: These visits, based on the premise of “How can I help you,” “Is there anything the Accounting Department can do to assist,” or “Your department seems to struggle with timely inventories. Is there anything we can do to help?” When coupled with a service-based attitude, such visits will go a long way in improving accounting processes while building a positive team spirit among managers.
Conducting an accounting audit of each department: This annual check-up should be conducted with an attitude of helping department heads. A simple checklist of important accounting considerations will provide both the department head and the Controller with a guide to identify and address areas needing improvement. After the audit is completed, the Controller should work with the department head to draw up a plan of action to address any issues or concerns.
While the foregoing may sound like a lot of additional effort for the Controller, a club with a smooth functioning accounting process will usually perform better. Additionally, many of the continuing irritations for the accounting staff arise from operating departments failing to meet accounting requirements in a timely and accurate manner. These two benefits alone will make the Controller’s extra efforts well worthwhile.
Thanks and have a great day!
Ed Rehkopf
This weekly blog comments on and discusses the club industry and its challenges. From time to time, we will feature guest bloggers — those managers and industry experts who have something of interest to say to all of us. We also welcome feedback and comment upon the blog, hoping that it will become a useful sounding board for what’s on the minds of hardworking club managers throughout the country and around the world.
Club Resources International - Management Resources for Clubs!
Most of us recognize that our business is not rocket science. The basics of what we do are well-known to any club professional. What makes our jobs so challenging is the sheer volume of things that must be attended to daily in a detail and people-intensive business. Unless a club operation is well-organized and its managers highly disciplined, it operates in a state of barely-controlled chaos interspersed with periods of downtime. The challenge for all is to transition quickly from storm to calm back to storm while remaining focused on long term goals, ongoing projects, and continual process improvement. The solution is to organize the club so that most things happen routinely and that managers at all levels be highly disciplined in approaching their duties and efforts to improve the operation.
Given these and other specific challenges that vary from club to club, it is absolutely imperative that club managers organize their operations in detail. My own list of requirements includes:
Each of these necessities, while challenging, will improve the organization and discipline of the club while fostering consistently higher levels of service. The resulting efficiency and service of a well-run club will make it easier to attract members, which improves dues and revenues and ultimately better positions the club in the marketplace.
1. Start with a plan. As with any major project, there must be a plan. Things to consider when planning include: goals, program requirements, training principles, impacted positions, priorities, budget, timelines and milestones, curricula by position, equipment and supplies, resources and materials, benchmarking, administration and documentation, annual certifications, plan and implementation review, and designated responsibilities.
Tip: Many of these topics have been covered in materials found on the CRI website, for example: 
Training resources can be found anywhere. The advent of the Internet and search engines makes it relatively easy and convenient to find training material for almost any topic or position. Some will be free and some will cost, but once department heads determine topics, they should begin searching for relevant material.
Instead of the traditional view that employees are easily replaceable elements in an organization, people who must be trained to do narrow, well-defined tasks and who must be closely watched and supervised at all times, the concept of empowerment says that today’s more educated and sometimes more sophisticated employees need and want to contribute more to their employer and workplace. Yet many clubs marginalize their employees by refusing to listen to them and by failing to let them contribute to the enterprise in any meaningful way.
Supervisors’ Responsibility
A club should subscribe to the “Hot Stove” approach to discipline. Employees are told what is expected of them and what the consequences are of ignoring rules, requirements, policy, and procedure. If they then touch the hot stove, they get burned.
“Now the Institute has taken another client: Miami International Airport, which many travelers will tell you needs customer service training like an airplane needs wings. Surveys rank its service among the nation’s worst. The airport’s terminal operations employees are taking classes taught by Institute instructors, learning leadership practices, team building, staff relations and communication skills-many formulated by Walt Disney himself.
3rd Posted Comment: “I agree with the posters who feel that senior management should lead by example and treat their subordinates with dignity and respect. It just seems like common sense, that when employees are happy and feel well treated, this will filter down to the way they treat the customers. Everyone in an organization deserves to be treated well and this makes for optimum performance.”
While the instructor provided ample handouts to explain and illustrate the Ritz-Carlton way, I took over fifteen pages of notes. I shall try to summarize the main elements of how they consistently provide such high level service.
First, Ritz-Carlton has a well-defined corporate 
Here’s an example: an international guest at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington DC, checked out and flew to NYC to catch an international flight. Upon arrival at JFK airport, he realized he had left his overseas flight tickets at the hotel. He called the Ritz-Carlton in a panic. The desk clerk with the OK of her supervisor and the hotel GM, took a flight to NY and personally delivered the guest’s tickets in time to catch his plane.
Know and use employee names. Everyone likes to be recognized as an individual and be called by name. Certainly your members do, and your employees do as well. Introduce them to members, guests, and visitors, when appropriate. Failing to do so implies they’re just part of the scenery instead of key contributors to the success of your club.
Treat employees as adults. When you treat employees like children, they will act like children. Don’t talk down to them or treat them as if they’re immature. When you give people responsibility, most will reward your trust. Those that demonstrate they can’t be trusted should be encouraged to move on. 
Given the importance of empowering your employees, it’s helpful to understand the many ways to destroy such empowerment and that none of them are caused by employees. If your employees do not feel empowered, look no further than your 
You’ve given them guidelines, but then micromanage them. Maybe you’ve done a good job of defining limits, but then micromanage them. When you do this they will quickly understand that they are not “empowered” and that you will continue to make all the decisions, no matter how trivial.