COMPTROLLER GENERAL'S OFFICE
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Comptroller General's Office was established by South Carolina's Constitution in 1801 for the purpose of supervising and accounting for the expenditure of all state funds.
The role of the Comptroller General's Office is set by the State's Constitution (Article VI, Section 7) and cannot be changed without revisions to that document. The State Constitution is interpreted to require a modern, responsive, efficient and cost-effective accounting system.
The Comptroller General is one of five Budget and Control Board members who collectively handle executive and administrative management of state government.
The Comptroller General is the State's bookkeeper and paymaster. The Comptroller General is responsible for ensuring that appropriations made by the General Assembly are not exceeded by state agencies.
Each year the General Assembly approves a general appropriation for state government. The Comptroller, as the State's Chief Financial Officer, reviews the General Appropriation Act and creates an account for the items appropriated therein. A listing of each agency's accounts is sent to the applicable agency on July 1 of each fiscal year. The account with its associated appropriation amount represents the funding level available for that particular account within the respective agency. Included in this process is the establishment of all appropriated and supplemental appropriation accounts.
This office also processes the payrolls for all state agencies, boards and commissions except for state universities and technical education centers. The latter are authorized to withdraw funds from their own bank accounts in order to pay their expenditures.
Other responsibilities assigned to the Comptroller General's Office include statewide supervision of the collection of property taxes. The office also administers the Property Tax Relief Fund, the Homestead Tax Exemption Program, the Merchants' Inventory Tax Program, and the Manufacturers' Depreciation Fund.
The Comptroller General's Office is unique to South Carolina; no other state has an office like it. Some states have organizations that encompass some of the functions exercised by the Comptroller General's Office, but no state has a comparable Chief Financial Officer.
The Comptroller General's Office is comprised of the following divisions: Executive Control, Administration and Local Government, Central State Audit, Central State Finance, and Data Processing. A brief description of each division's responsibilities follows:
EXECUTIVE CONTROL
The Executive Control Division provides executive management and coordination for the Comptroller General's Office.
ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Administration and Local Government Division renders services in the areas of personnel, budgeting, the supervision of collection of property taxes and works directly with the counties and municipalities in South Carolina.
The division serves as the primary link between the Comptroller General and the Budget and Control Board's various divisions. This division also serves as a liaison to members of the General Assembly, other state and federal governmental entities, news media and the general public by responding to requests for information, reports and assistance.
Personnel services include screening and referring job applicants, preparing the payroll, and providing assistance to employees and supervisors in matters such as conditions of employment, workers' compensation, leave, service awards, insurance, training, retirement, employment eligibility verification, parking and other human resource management areas. The Comptroller General's Office is a participant in the states "Total Quality Management Program (TQM)" and various employee training sessions and professional seminars are provided by this division to continuously improve service and insure accountability to the states taxpayers. Numerous internal and external reports and plans are produced by this area including goals and procedures for affirmative action, workers' compensation reports, performance appraisals and success criteria, disciplinary action and grievance procedures, and the employee handbook. This area is also responsible for assuring that the agency is in compliance with all state and federal personnel rules and regulations.
Employee benefits administration includes maintaining files for office employees, ensuring that the proper payroll deductions are made on a timely basis, reconciling monthly reports for the Insurance Benefits Unit for health, dental, optional life, and dependent life insurance, as well as monthly reconciliation reports for the MoneyPlus flexible benefits plan and long-term care insurance program. This area is responsible for ensuring that the state's benefits are effectively communicated to employees and assistance is rendered to employees with claim and enrollment problems.
In addition to the office employees, the State's appropriated salary for the county auditors and treasurers is administered by this division. This includes maintaining personnel files for each auditor and treasurer and preparing the bi-monthly payroll along with administration of the state benefits programs for each of these officials. Assistance is provided to this group in the areas of insurance and retirement matters.
The Comptroller General's Office supervises certain activities of all county auditors, treasurers and tax collectors. Various reports required by law, including the Annual Settlement, are audited and maintained by this office. This division also administers the Merchants Inventory Tax Program, the Manufacturers Depreciation Fund, the State Property Relief Fund and the Homestead Tax Exemption Program which offers tax relief for senior and disabled citizens. Various workshops and conferences are organized and conducted to keep local government officials informed of new laws and procedures required to carry out their duties.
The administration of the State's U. S. Savings Bonds program is also the responsibility of this division. The automated purchase of U. S. Savings Bonds program was implemented by the Comptroller General's Office to eliminate a great deal of work which was formerly imposed on other state agencies' finance operations. Administration is responsible for maintaining a trust account, issuing the vouchers for the purchase of the savings bonds, and maintaining individual computer files on each bond owner participating in the payroll deduction program. The division works closely with the Federal Reserve Bank to ensure that the program operates smoothly and efficiently.
The agency's budget and accounting functions are another responsibility of this division. Administration is responsible for monitoring the current year's budget as well as planning and projecting the agency's budget for the next fiscal year. It maintains accounting controls over all financial transactions for the agency. It ensures that the agency is in compliance with all rules and regulations and with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
The division is responsible for the Inventory Master File Reporting System. The inventory system is used to monitor and report on agency inventory. The inventory system also provides an audit trail. The inventory system is reconciled with the financial system to ensure that the inventory and financial systems are in balance.
The division oversees the procurement functions for the agency. The procurement section is responsible for: coordinating the acquisition of all goods and services relating to the agency including the solicitation of bids; the procurement of all office supplies, equipment and printing services; and the handling of contracts for leased equipment and maintenance contracts on existing equipment. This area assures quality control on purchases, and manages and controls the disposal of all office supplies that support the daily needs of the agency. Numerous internal and external reports are created by this section including reports such as :
REPORT |
DESCRIPTION |
---|---|
Materials Management Office | Assuring compliance with the State Procurement Code |
Information Technology Management | Reporting planned purchases of information technology |
Minority Business Administration | Reporting planned and completed purchases from minority firms |
Administration also performs public relations functions for the agency. Requests for information or assistance are received on a daily basis from a wide spectrum of individuals. One of the goals of the division is to provide assistance to these individuals in an efficient and timely manner.
Administration includes a variety of office management and administrative support services for the Comptroller General's Office. This division carries out routine programs and special assignments to improve morale and achieve optimum efficiency throughout all divisions of the office and to assist the Comptroller General in his statutory duties and leadership role.
CENTRAL STATE AUDIT
Every dollar appropriated by the General Assembly and spent by South Carolina state government must be approved by the Comptroller General's Office. The Central State Audit Division is responsible for auditing and certifying the validity, authenticity, and legality of each disbursement.
Higher education institutions and technical education centers are permitted by law to process individual payments, but their request for funds to cover these payments must be approved by the Comptroller General's office. All other agencies, boards, committees, and commissions must submit a detailed request for each payment or obligation incurred. All obligations incurred in the operation of an agency such as rent, travel expenses, utility bills, and contractual items must be submitted to the Central State Audit Division for payment approval. Complete justification and documentation are required for every voucher processed.
Another important responsibility of this division is to publish rules governing disbursements based on current statutes for all state agencies. Although some agencies, as previously mentioned, are allowed to process individual payments themselves, the rules issued by this office govern their payments and the advice of this office is sought on a continuing basis.
In addition to approving payments for salaries, the Central State Audit Division must control and remit all deductions from the employee's checks which are either mandated by law or authorized by employees. Reports to the Internal Revenue Service, the State Tax Commission, the Social Security Administration and the South Carolina Retirement System are required on a schedule established by law. Each payday, reports for deductions of insurance, credit unions, public charities, and others are also prepared and sent to the various entities.
The statutes, regulations and rules that govern all of these payments require constant research by the staff of this division. An extensive knowledge of tax law is necessary in order to distinguish those payments that must be reported on 1099 and W-2 forms.
The staff has a close working relationship with the General Assembly providing consultation on all legislation regarding the payment of funds and administering advice on the financial impact of proposed legislation.
CENTRAL STATE FINANCE
The Central State Finance Division provides for centralized accounting and reporting of the State's financial activities. Central State Finance uses the Statewide Accounting and Reporting System (STARS) to satisfy the statutory reporting requirements and as a basis for generating financial statements prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
STARS is a table-driven system made up of over thirty separate tables. The Central State Finance Division is responsible for all additions, deletions, and/or changes to the table maintenance subsystem of STARS.
Prior to the start of each new fiscal year, the General Assembly approves a general appropriation for state government. The Central State Finance Division creates the Chart of Accounts for all state agencies in accordance with the newly approved General Appropriation Act. An account is established for each item appropriated in the General Appropriation Act. During the fiscal year, adjustments are made to these accounts based on revenue fluctuations deviating from the level allocated in the Appropriation Act.
The division receives and pre-audits all appropriation transfers and journal vouchers from state agencies prior to being input into STARS. An Error File report is reviewed daily and corrective action is taken on any entry that posted incorrectly. To assist agencies in identifying accounting events that posted to STARS, the division provides state agencies with reports on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Agencies use these reports to reconcile their accounts, analyze account activity, and control expenditures.
The division prepares the State's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The CAFR is prepared in accordance with GAAP. The CAFR provides an accurate financial picture of the State's fiscal condition and operations. A wide variety of other interested parties, both inside and outside state government, use the State's CAFR. External users include bond rating agencies, potential purchasers of the State's general obligation bonds, and members of the general public. The CAFR is published within six months after the end of the fiscal year. This timely issuance, combined with the adherence to other strict requirements, qualifies the CAFR to receive the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.
Central State Finance is also responsible for preparing a number of other financial reports. These reports include:
In addition, the division prepares financial statements that show the results of the State's activities for the fiscal year in accordance with the statewide program budget structure mandated by the General Assembly. The Comptroller General reports on the results of the State's activities during an annual year-end press conference.
The division also administers the Unemployment Compensation Insurance Fund. The Unemployment Compensation Insurance Fund is a self-insured fund that accounts for unemployment compensation premiums collected from state agencies.
It is the responsibility of this division to inform state agency accounting and finance personnel of changes in regulations and policies that affect the operations of their agency. Procedural bulletins, policies and procedures manuals, training sessions, and instructional memoranda are the primary means used for this purpose.
A centralized Records Management Center is located in this division and functions in accordance with policies and procedures provided by the Records Management Program established by the Comptroller General's Office. The Records Management Program ensures that documents received are available and readily accessible when requested by agencies, auditors, legislators, and the media. Documents are stored in a manner consistent with established records retention schedules, applicable regulations, and/or the State of South Carolina's Public Records Act.
DATA PROCESSING
The Data Processing Division provides information technology support for the other divisions of the Comptroller Generals Office. This support includes planning, development, implementation and operation of information technology.
The primary objective of the division is to ensure the efficient utilization of technologies to assist personnel in accomplishing the missions of the Comptroller Generals Office. Support is provided for technical platforms ranging from personal computers and local area networks to a mainframe environment. Support is also provided for information systems software, communications, reprographics and office automation.
Currently, the division maintains and supports a local area network that is used throughout the agency. This includes all hardware and software setup, maintenance, technical support and network security. Additionally, access is provided to the State's wide area network and to the Internet. The division also assists agency personnel by providing basic instruction and consultation services on network software, including both purchased packages and custom applications.
Mainframe support includes the production processing and development of application software to support the agency. These systems meet the information processing needs of the agency both specific to the administration of the agency, as well as, its many varied statewide functions.
Mainframe production processing includes scheduling, monitoring and ensuring the proper completion and distribution of output from the automated applications of the office. Thousands of production jobs are executed each month for the mainframe application systems of the agency. The jobs produce approximately 6,000 reports per month. Also, tapes belonging to other organizations are input and output from the jobs each month. In addition, over 4,500 internal tapes are created by these jobs.
The development and maintenance of over 10,000 modules that make up these applications is provided by the division. This includes modifications and additions to existing applications, and the design, development and implementation of new automated applications. The division is also responsible for all documentation, user instructions, security and technical support for these applications.