A controlling system comprising an image forming device and a controlling device for the image forming device, the image forming device having an indicating device which can indicate that a toner cartridge is in a toner near empty state and a communication part for communicating with the controlling device via a communication network, and when the toner near empty state of the toner cartridge is detected, the communication part transmits the information to the controlling device. The controlling device has a controlling condition table in which a controlling condition set for each image forming device to be controlled is recorded, and when a toner near empty signal is received from the image forming device to be controlled, the controlling device refers to the controlling condition of the image forming device recorded in the table, and outputs or does not output a toner near empty indication instruction signal depending on the controlling condition. When the image forming device receives the toner near empty indication instruction signal, it displays so on the indicating device.