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Periodic Allotment
On or about Monday, March 18, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance will process the eighth periodic allotment of FY2013 to increase the expenditure ceiling in budgetary accounts to 83.33% (a one-month allotment).

The next scheduled periodic allotment will be on or about April 16. Agencies are asked to make ANF budget analysts aware of any requested ad hoc allotments as soon as possible to ensure that it can be reviewed by ANF staff in a timely fashion.

MMARS Chargeback
The 4th FY13 billing for the Office of the Comptroller's MMARS chargeback to support the operation of the Financial Accounting and Reporting System for the Commonwealth has been entered.  Billings are sent bi-monthly. This billing is for actual usage based on transaction lines posted to the general ledger for the months of January and February. The document ID will be: 

                  CTRMMARS13CHARJANFEB.

If you have any questions, please contact Susana Peck at 617-973-2401 or Fred Russo at 617-973-2610.

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 occur on March 15 and will delete rejected documents entered before January 1. If you have documents entered before January 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".

Interfacing Departments with System Changes
The Office of the Comptroller allows departments with programmatic systems to interface data to MMARS rather than re-keying the financial transactions and information (for criteria and process to request an interface, see Comptroller Interface Policies).  CTR supports several hundred interfaces with more than 50 departments. If your department is updating and/or changing your system, your interface must be tested before it goes live.  Advance notice from you allows us to plan the work.  Please notify OSC-DL-ESS Intake as soon as possible (at least a month in advance) so we can support your endeavor.  

MMARS Saturday Hours
MMARS and LCM will be available Saturday, March 16, from 9:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. The Help Desk will not be staffed and any Saturday Help Desk calls will be returned on Monday, March 18.

Annual Department Security Officer Briefing Friday, March 22 
The Annual Department Security Officer Briefing is scheduled for Friday, March 22nd from 9:30 A.M. -12:00 P.M. in the 21st Floor Conference Room at One Ashburton Place Boston. This meeting will include representatives from ITD and CTR. For those who can't attend in person, this session will be webcast. Please register for this session (live meeting or webcast) via the Comptroller's Training and Meeting Schedule.

Annual Close/Open Meeting Dates
The Comptroller of the Commonwealth Annual Close/Open meetings have been scheduled for:

  • Thursday, April 25 from 9:30 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston
  • Thursday, May 2 from 9:30 A.M. to 11:30 P.M. at the annual MASSbuys Conference at the DCU Center in Worcester. This session will also be webcast for those who cannot attend in person.

Chief Fiscal Officers (CFO) and staff with fiscal responsibilities are encouraged to attend the annual Close/Open meeting.  Please register for the in person meetings or webcast on the Comptroller's Training and Meeting Schedule. If you plan on attending the Close / Open session May 2, you must also register for the MASSbuys Conference.

The MASSbuys EXPO Thursday, May 2
Register now for the 15th Annual MASSbuys EXPO on May 2nd at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA

Have you registered yet for the MASSbuys EXPO?  If not you might want to watch the Attendee Video to see what you will miss if you don’t!  At the MASSbuys EXPO you get a chance to network with your peers, meet over 350 vendors on Statewide Contracts, attend morning and afternoon workshops, and visit the eProcurement University to learn about upcoming updates. 

Enjoy an event packed day that will help improve job performance and increase professional growth.  We’ll be serving a FREE continental breakfast and hot buffet lunch in the arena!  The exhibit hall is open from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, and parking is free.  Register here. We look forward to seeing you on May 2nd!

For questions about MASSbuys, email: massbuysadmin@state.ma.us.

Weekly Fraud Awareness and Prevention Fact – Red Flags
Red flag indicators are activities that may  signal trouble in any process.  These are best described as clues or hints that something outside the norm is occurring or has occurred and that a closer look at an area or activity is required. 

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 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

  • Payment Management – Tuesday, March 19, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intermediate MMARS Warehouse – Wednesday, March 20, 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Establishing a Federal Grant in MMARS – Thursday, March 21, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Security Officers Briefing – Friday, March 22, 9:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 21st Floor Conference Room
  • Webcast Security Officers Briefing – Friday, March 22, 9:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M., Online Training
  • CIW Report Building with MS Excel – Wednesday, March 27, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Vendor Management – Tuesday, April 2, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intro to State Finance MMARS Navigation – Wednesday, April 3, 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 and Meeting Schedule which lists classes scheduled for the next three months and Payroll User Groups through December 2013.

MMARS Hint of the Week – Document Reference 
Document referencing in MMARS is used to view either the previous document or the next document in the receivables or payables processing cycle.

  1. Make sure you are in a document. On the left side of the screen, in the secondary navigation channel, click on the Document Reference link.
  2. The Document Reference Query will open. Click on either the Forward Reference or Backward Reference link.
  3. The results will display both the original document being referenced from and the next reference step, either forward or backward, that occurred in series with the original selected document. Click on the document link to view the document.