Audit of the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth (CTR)

This is a performance audit of the Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller, covering July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019.

“I am pleased to provide this performance audit of the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth.”

Auditors reviewed whether the office handled payroll, employee reimbursements, and other payments according to state rules and its own policies.

“The purpose of our audit was to determine whether CTR had administered its employee payroll in accordance with the six-day timeframe established in Section 148 of Chapter 149 of the General Laws and its employee expense reimbursements in accordance with its Employee Benefits & Policies Manual.”

The Comptroller handles major state financial systems and public money, so its payment practices affect accountability across state government.

“CTR oversees more than $60 billion in funding from governmental and other sources and 12 million business transactions annually.”

For residents, the main takeaway is that the audited payment processes did not show significant reportable problems during the period reviewed.

“Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance that must be reported under generally accepted government auditing standards.”

The Comptroller's office met the audit objectives for payroll, reimbursements, and vendor payments.

“Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer and the conclusion we reached regarding each objective.”

The report does not list required corrective actions; auditors had already discussed the report with agency management.

“My audit staff discussed the contents of this report with management of the agency.”

Because this office manages statewide financial controls, a clean audit result is meaningful for public trust in state payment processes.

“We strive to be a model for good government and to protect public resources by mitigating the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse while promoting transparency.”

MMARS is the state's accounting and reporting system where payroll and payment records are recorded.

“This system captures payroll-related accounting entries, which are recorded in the Massachusetts Management Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS).”