1.2.1. Establishment of Comptroller Organization.
Requests for establishment of Comptroller organizations and changes to existing Comptroller organizations must be forwarded through the chain of command to BUMED, (Comptroller) for review and approval. Commanding Officers may not change the established Comptroller organization without prior approval from BUMED. The controlling regulation, SECNAVINST 7000.27 provides the flexibility to establish an organization in the manner deemed most productive to maintain integrity of operations to accomplish the mission. The approval process provides assurance that the grades, series, and numbers of personnel proposed for the organization are adequate to provide the services required. The process also ensures that prescribed reporting relationships are identified within the proposed organizational structure.The comptroller and his or her staff will be clearly identified on activity organizational charts and in billet or position descriptions.

The comptroller will report directly to the activity Commanding Officer since the Commanding Officer is ultimately responsible for proper execution of funds. Comptrollers may report via vice commanders, deputies, chiefs of staff, or executive officers, for administrative purposes, if all other command organizations report through that position. However, the comptroller must have direct, unfettered access to the Commanding Officer for financial matters. All fiduciary decisions must be made with full command authority. Practices regarding placement of comptroller functions, for example, subordinating the comptroller to a business or corporate operations manager, which may be acceptable in the private sector, are not applicable to the DoN and are prohibited. While the industry model may function effectively for businesses, our comptrollers have broader responsibilities, many of which are prescribed by statue or regulation, than their counterparts in industry.

The following paragraphs, excerpted from SECNAVINST 7000.27, contain additional information relative to the establishment and maintenance of comptroller organizations. This information is provided because over the years some BUMED activities have been found to be noncompliant.

“Assignment of Other Responsibilities. Other functions may be assigned to the comptroller organization. These functions may include the internal management control program, external audit coordination, administration, contracting, facilities management, etc. If additional functions are assigned to the comptroller, care needs to be taken to avoid potential conflicts of interest to ensure proper separation of duties, and to ensure adequate staff time is available for the comptroller’s primary responsibility to the head of the activity for financial management expertise. In cases where the department includes non-comptroller functions, the comptroller must be the department head.”