Functions of municipal comptroller offices: a study among city halls from Pernambuco State

The research aimed to investigate the functions performed by the comptroller offices in Pernambuco’s municipalities. Additionally, it investigated the existence of a relationship between these functions and some characteristics of the municipalities, such as current revenue, population size, area of the territorial unit and HDI. The methodology was configured as exploratory and descriptive. Regarding its techniques, direct documentation (extensive direct observation with the application of a questionnaire) and indirect documentation (bibliographic and documentary research) were used. As a result, it was observed that 79.07% of the municipalities stated that they perform the accounting function, 81.40% for the managerial function, 46.51% for the tax function, 32.56% for the protection and control of assets function, 100% the internal control function and 81.40% the risk control function. In addition, the study found that only 23.26% of them perform all functions of comptrollership, and that there are no statistically significant differences between the variables current revenue, population size, area of the territorial unit and HDI of the municipality in relation to whether control functions are exerted. The study also failed to verify any statistically significant association with respect to the mesoregion in which the research respondent municipalities are inserted and to the amounts of comptrollership functions exerted. And, although municipalities with up to two control functions, in relation to the number of functions, presented lower averages of current income, population size, area of territorial unit and HDI, these were not statistically significant.