Friday, October 30

What is a Comptroller?

We've heard it on the Simpsons, and now the guy opposing Bloomberg for New York mayor is a comptroller. A comptroller is a person who supervises accounting and financial reporting within an organization. A controller is an accountant in a business who oversees accounting and the implementation and monitoring of internal controls. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, a controller or financial controller is a senior position within most companies. Basically they are in charge of the money. The term comptroller evolved in the 15th century through a blend of the Middle English countreroller (someone who checks a copy of a scroll, from the French contreroule "counter-roll, scroll copy") and the French compte ("an account"), thus creating a title for a comptroller who specializes in checking financial ledgers. This etymology explains why the name is pronounced identically to "controller" despite the unique spelling.