Input variables, which describe a metal strip prior to and after the passage of a rolling stand, are fed to a material flow model. The material flow model determines online a rolling force progression in the direction of the width of the strip and fees said progression to a roller deformation model. The latter determines roller deformations from said progression and feeds them to a desired value calculator, which calculates the desired values for the controlling elements of profile and surface evenness using the calculated roller deformations and a contour progression on the runout side.