comp·trol·ler

(kŏmp-trō′lər, kən-trō′-, kŏmp′trō′-)

An officer who audits accounts and supervises the financial affairs of a corporation or of a governmental body. Also called controller.

Usage Note: The spelling comptroller developed around 1500 from controller as a result of an association between cont and the etymologically unrelated word count, which was sometimes spelled compte in Middle English. Historically, comptroller was pronounced just like controller, but as more people began to read, they saw the letters mp and started pronouncing them. The pronunciations (kŏmp-trō′lər) and (kŏmp′trō′lər) became widespread. In our 1995 survey, 43 percent of the Usage Panel pronounced comptroller like controller, while 57 percent pronounced it with (mp), mirroring the mp spelling, with stress on either the first or second syllable. By 2011, only 30 percent of the Panel pronounced comptroller like controller. The remainder (70 percent) preferred pronouncing mp as (mp), with the stress either on the second syllable (45 percent) or the first (25 percent). The pronunciation thus appears to be in flux, with each of the three variants enjoying the support of a significant portion of the Usage Panel. Speakers may want to bear in mind, though, that if they say (kŏmp′trō′lər), with stress on the first syllable, half of their literate listeners will think they are mispronouncing the word (half of the Panelists disapproved of this pronunciation). But putting the stress on the second syllable (kŏmp-trō′lər) will not save you from censure either; a quarter of the Panelists found this pronunciation unacceptable.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

comptroller

(kənˈtrəʊlə)

(Accounting & Book-keeping) a variant spelling of controller, used esp as a title of any of various financial executives

compˈtrollerˌship n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•trol•ler

(kənˈtroʊ lər)

n.

1. a government official or an officer of a business firm, usu. the chief accountant, who superintends financial accounts and transactions; comptroller.

2. a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.

3. a regulating mechanism.

[1350–1400; Middle English countrollour < Anglo-French countrero(u)llour, Middle French contrerolleur=contrerolle duplicate roll (see control) + -eur, -our < Latin -ōr- -or²]

con•trol′ler•ship`, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

comptroller - someone who maintains and audits business accounts

accountant, controller

auditor - a qualified accountant who inspects the accounting records and practices of a business or other organization

bean counter - an accountant or bureaucrat who is believed to place undue emphasis on the control of expenditures

bookkeeper - someone who records the transactions of a business

bourgeois, businessperson - a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise

certified public accountant, CPA - an accountant who has passed certain examinations and met all other statutory and licensing requirements of a United States state to be certified by that state; "in addition to accounting and auditing, CPAs also prepare tax returns for individuals and corporations"

chartered accountant - a British or Canadian accountant who is a member of a professional body that has a royal charter

cost accountant - a specialist in the systematic recording and analysis of the costs incident to production

Translations

comptroller

[kənˈtrəʊləʳ] N → interventor(a) m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

comptroller

n (form) → Rechnungsprüfer m, → Bücherrevisor m; Comptroller of the Queen’s Household Beamter des Rechnungshofes, der die königlichen Finanzen überprüft

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He was made Comptroller of Customs, and in this post he had to work hard, for one of the conditions was that he must write out the accounts with his own hand, and always be in the office himself.

View in context

Among those affected are two Deputy Comptroller Generals (DCG), three Assistant Comptroller Generals (ACG), 13 Comptrollers, 39 Deputy Comptrollers and 45 Assistant Comptrollers.

Customs To Retire 304 Senior Officers Next Year

"It will leave the comptroller's office doing what most comptrollers do and that's tax collection and enforcement," said Kramer.

Franchot, lawmakers at war over bills to change alcohol oversight

Senger, a former state representative, says Mendoza has been "bashing" Rauner unfairly and "incorporated" her political positions into the office "in a way I've never seen before with the other comptrollers."

3 vie for state comptroller

Chris Sprowls of Clearwater have been honored by Florida's Court Clerks and Comptrollers for their partnership on "good public policy to innovate, strengthen, and improve Florida's criminal justice system."

Clerks and Comptrollers honor Sen. Brandes, Rep. Sprowls

My organization uses the Defense Agency Initiative (DAI) accounting system, so I started interviewing comptrollers at organizations that also use DAI.

What Comptrollers Want

She holds professional memberships in the American Society for Military Comptrollers and the Acquisition Professional Community and has Level III DAWIA certification in IT.

NAVSUP SES chosen as DASN (FO)

Because public pension funds are such large institutional investors, the comptrollers and boards that control them are often involved in class action litigation on behalf of beneficiaries.

The New York State Comptroller as sole trustee of the common retirement fund: a constitutional guarantee?

To establish a strategic partnership with the wing commander and senior staff, comptrollers must earn a seat at the strategic table by establishing credibility at the tactical and operational levels.

Financial managers: becoming strategic force multipliers

Finalizing program cost estimates for the Budget Estimates Submission (BES) is best done by professional comptrollers. The purpose of the budget is to requested sufficient funds to cover every line item in the approved program.

Organizing for expeditionary operations--transforming headquarters financial management into the commander's A-8 staff

In office since 1989, she is the only elected county comptroller in Florida, with more power than most county comptrollers: She has the authority to audit all the county's departments, including those of the other county officers, such as the county property appraisers and the tax collector.

A Truly Public Accountant

Recent reports by the New York State and New York City Comptrollers blasted the Tax Commission, and some of its policies, questions the brevity of the hearings.

NYC Tax Commission under fire