Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
comptroller, controller (nn.)
This officer (comptroller is simply a variant spelling of controller) is the chief accountant of an enterprise or organization. Comptroller seems to be used chiefly of governments, controller chiefly in private businesses and corporations. The pronunciation of both words is most frequently kuhn-TRO-luhr, but spelling pronunciations that pronounce the medial -mp- or -m- in comptroller or that sometimes stress the first syllable (KAHM(P)-) rather than the second are also Standard.
