Latest update includes:

Periodic Allotment
On or about Monday, December 12, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance will process the fourth periodic allotment to increase the expenditure ceiling in budgetary accounts to 66.67% (a two-month allotment).

The next scheduled periodic allotment will be on or about February 21. At that time, ANF will determine whether the allotment will be for 1, 2, 3 or 4 months.

DYNACash Accounts and Training Schedule
Effective January 1, 2012 the TD Bank emergency accounts (DYNACash accounts) will be closed.  All departments will be required to use the new Sovereign Bank contract to fund emergency payments.    

Prior to implementing the banking arrangement with Sovereign Bank, the Office of the Comptroller, in conjunction with Sovereign Bank, will provide the necessary training on the new system to all agency staff.   This training will be available via Webinar.   The Webinar schedule is as follows:

  • Wednesday, 12/21 at 10:00 A.M.
  • Wednesday, 12/21 at 2:00 P.M.
  • Thursday, 12/22 at 10:00 A.M.
  • Wednesday, 12/28 at 2:00 P.M.

Webinar login instructions will be provided in an upcoming memo.

CommBridge Interruption of Service Tuesday, December 13
CommBridge will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, December 13 from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.  Departments will not be able to transmit interface files to MMARS during this time.  Departments that use Interchange will not be impacted.

Fringe Benefit, Payroll Tax, Indirect Cost Charges for Accounting Period 5
The fringe benefit, payroll tax and indirect cost chargebacks for Accounting Period 5 (November) will be run this Saturday, December 10.  All eligible expenditures processed during Accounting Period 5 will be subject to these assessments.

Departments should ensure that the budget structure tables for appropriated (payroll tax only), federal grants, and other non-budgetary accounts are properly established for these charges to post without rejecting under object codes D09 (fringe benefits and payroll taxes) and E16 (indirect costs).

MMARS Unavailable Saturday 
Due to regularly scheduled system processing, MMARS will be unavailable all day on Saturday, December 10.

Purge of Rejected Documents over 75 Days Old
Rejected documents in the system accumulate in the document catalog and are removed in a regularly scheduled monthly purge of documents over 75 days old. The next purge will be on December 15 and will delete rejected documents entered before October 1. If you have documents entered before October 1 that you would like to save, please place them on "hold".

To place a document on "hold":

  • Locate the document in the Document Catalog.
  • Check the checkbox to the left of the document (in the Document Catalog).
  • Click "Action Menu", select "Scheduling Actions", select "Mark Document" and choose "Hold".

Weekly Fraud Awareness and Prevention Fact – Conduct a Fraud Risk Assessment
Conduct a Fraud Risk Assessment to identify areas where fraud may occur. A fraud risk assessment should consider relevant fraud schemes and scenarios and map them to mitigating controls. The assessment should include the likelihood and significance of a fraud scheme to help you prioritize high risk areas. Templates for conducting a Fraud Risk Assessment are available in the Institute of Internal Auditor’s Managing the Business Risk of Fraud.


Please visit the Fraud Prevention section of our Internal Controls Page for a link to the Toolkit for Departments to Combat Fraud, Waste and Abuse and the Combat Fraud, Waste and Abuse Brochure. 

If you have any questions regarding this or previous Fraud Awareness and Prevention Facts, please contact the Comptroller Help Desk at 617-973-2468 or via email Comptroller.Info@State.MA.US. To report Fraud, Waste, or Abuse, contact one of the Commonwealth’s Whistleblower Hotlines.

Upcoming Training Sessions and Meetings

  • CIW Report Building with MS Access – Tuesday, December 13, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intro to HR/CMS Payroll Warehouse – Thursday, December 15, 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Encumbrance Management – Monday, December 19, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Payment Management – Monday, December 19, 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intermediate MMARS Warehouse – Tuesday, December 20, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Fraud Awareness and Prevention – Tuesday, December 20, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Executive Conference Room
  • Appropriation Management – Wednesday, December 28, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Accounts Receivable – Thursday, December 29, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab

Register for these sessions via the Comptroller's Training/Meeting Schedule which lists classes scheduled for three months.

MMARS Hint of the Week - Zero Dollar Final Payment
Departments should not process any payments for zero dollars without guidance from the Office of the Comptroller. If your department is instructed to process a $0.00 payment to close out an outstanding balance on an encumbrance line that failed to be liquidated through the normal process, you must follow the following steps in order to prevent printing a $0.00 check or EFT:

  • Bring the zero dollar payment to Final status.
  • Go to the Disbursement Request Table (DISRQ).
  • Display the payment in the disbursement control section of the table.
  • Check "User Hold".
  • Select a "Hold Reason Code" of "42".
  • Save.

This will prevent a zero dollar payment from disbursing and creating a zero dollar check or EFT.

Note: Not all Accounts Payable users will be able to edit the DISRQ table. Only Fiscal Administrators (Security role = DFISC) and Accounts Payable users with the SIGENTRY role will be able to edit the DISRQ table. Users who cannot edit should request one of these staff members for assistance.