STATE OF CONNECTICUT
	OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER
Kevin Lembo State Comptroller	55 ELM STREET HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1775	Martha Carlson Deputy Comptroller

Consistent with the Constitutional and statutory obligations of the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) to ensure integrity and efficiency in accounting and reporting of State finances, OSC issues the following guide for internal controls and accountability.

The purpose of this guide is to help managers identify weaknesses in internal control systems. Such efforts will lead to the design of more effective controls before serious problems arise. I hope that this directive is of assistance, and welcome feedback from your agency.

The following guide:

1. Defines and explains the nature of internal controls;

2. Assigns each agency head responsibility for implementing, maintaining, and reviewing the agency's system of internal controls, and;

3. Requires that each agency head complete an annual internal control questionnaire.

The process of completing the annual internal control questionnaire will be simple, and quite useful to managers. Most agencies and departments have controls already in place. This OSC guide should help to augment and monitor control systems. The list of questions enclosed with the guide will help managers to pinpoint key issues and strengthen controls while minimizing inefficiency.

The Office of the State Comptroller recognizes that responsibilities for accounting, transaction approval, and reporting are, at times, divided among different employees in State agencies and entities in State government. Our aim is to modernize accountability systems in State government to give agency managers appropriate levels of responsibility. This approach will increase direct accountability, improve management, and minimize fraud and abuse. Properly utilized, internal controls assist managers in protecting the State's assets and maintaining the public trust.

This office has modeled this guide on the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982, a measure that has significantly improved management and internal controls in the Federal

Government. The OSC Internal Control Guide also draws upon a number of other successful examples of internal control initiatives, including work by the General Accounting Office, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A.123, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We have worked to combine the strongest elements of all of these organizations' efforts into a single, cohesive approach that we hope will achieve similar success for Connecticut State Government.

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