A comptroller (pronounced either the same as controller or as /kəmpˈtroʊlər/) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.
Generally, the title encompasses a variety of responsibilities, from overseeing accounting and monitoring internal controls to countersigning on expenses and commitments.
[2] A variant explanation is that comptroller evolved in the 15th century through a blend of the French compte ("an account") and the Middle English countreroller (someone who checks a copy of a scroll, from the French contreroule "counter-roll, scroll copy"), thus creating a title for a compteroller who specializes in checking financial ledgers.
However, comptroller is sometimes pronounced phonetically by those unaware of the word's origins or who wish specifically to avoid confusion with "controller".
[4] In business, the comptroller is the person who, independently from the chief financial officer in some countries, oversees accounting, and the implementation and monitoring of internal controls.