Comptroller General of South Carolina

FINANCIAL CONTROLS

Internal Control Structure

The Statewide Accounting and Reporting System (STARS) is the State's budgetary-basis operating accounting system. This double-entry system, installed in 1981-82, processes cash and budgetary transactions and maintains records for all budgeted funds and some unbudgeted funds. The State's higher education institutions and most of the enterprise entities maintain separate accrual-basis accounting systems.

An automated system in the Comptroller General's Office designed to allow reporting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) converts budgetary-basis STARS data into the format presented in this report. State agencies that use STARS complete forms at year-end to adjust the budgetary-basis balances to conform with GAAP. The Comptroller General's Office enters data into the GAAP reporting system from these forms as well as from audited financial statements for the higher education institutions, component units, and most State enterprise entities.

The State's internal control structure provides reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that:

Assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or disposition,
Transactions are executed in accordance with management's authorization, and
Transactions are r