The Office of the Comptroller Statewide Payments Team oversees all payments made through MMARS. Resources on this page include department job aids to manage payments issued through MMARS, information about the Procurement Card (P-Card) and how departments can enroll, and the Prompt Pay Discount program.
The resources listed below seek to assist and educate Commonwealth of Massachusetts departments with managing all payments issued through MMARS.
Through a legislatively authorized account, the Office of the Comptroller processes payments on behalf of all state agencies for outstanding vendor bills, employee reimbursements, and employee payrolls from prior fiscal years.
The Payment Card is a payment method available to Commonwealth of Massachusetts departments. It provides all the features of a credit card, plus enhanced functionality and superior security controls.
Departments that are now negotiating new contracts should take advantage of the MMARS feature of automatically calculating prompt pay discounts. This valuable cost-saving enhancement in MMARS stores the vendor’s discount terms on the encumbrance document, which will copy forward to the payment document and automate the calculation and payment process. This feature provides the departments the means to monitor their bill-paying practices and take full advantage of discount opportunities. The Commonwealth’s goal of consistent, timely bill paying via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) should give you leverage in negotiating discounts.
MMARS gives departments the ability to enter discount-pricing terms (percentages) that will automatically calculate discounted payment programs. The system also maintains discount history and can identify missed discount opportunities. Please review your existing policies and procedures related to vendor discounts and look for ways to leverage the MMARS functionality. For more information on Prompt Pay Discounts, please consult the Applying Discounts Job Aid for how to set this up in MMARS.
Please also see the Prompt Payment Discounts Policy for more information.
The late penalty interest rate is applicable to invoices which are not paid by the Payment Due Date (which is normally 45 days after receipt of an invoice, unless the usual and customary time for payment is shorter or longer by statute or regulation.)
The interest rates for calculating late payment interest to vendors in compliance with the Office of the Comptroller's regulations governing late penalty interest, 815 CMR 4.00 are set on January 1 and July 1
