Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Open Checkbook
Q. What is the information source
for the Open Checkbook?
A. Spending details are based on transactions recorded by the MWRA's Human Resources and Accounting system, Lawson.
Q. How often is the Checkbook updated?
A. Payroll data is updated every Wednesday morning.
Q. How does the Export link work?
A. After clicking the Export link, the user will be able to download up to 10,000 rows of data in the tab delimited format. The download format should match what’ is seen on the screen except for hover-over text.
Q. Does the Payroll list reflect all current MWRA Employees?
A. Yes, but it also includes contract employees and individuals who were on the payroll earlier in the year, but are no longer an active employee. This tool cannot be used to determine the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) MWRA employees. Rather, the tool focuses on payroll spending.
Q. Why are there differences between the Annual Rate and Earnings?
A. The Annual Rate is the calculated annual rate for an employee, while earnings are the year-to-date actual payments received. Earnings may be lower than Annual Rate if the final payroll has not been paid or if the employee was on unpaid leave during the year. Earnings that are higher than Annual Rate reflect payments from a number of possible sources such as overtime; additional pay for working overnight, on weekends or holidays; or some recognitions for length of service.
Q. Why are some employee annual rates $0?
A. Both salaried employees and contract employees are reflected on the payroll list. Some contract employees have regular schedules, but many work intermittently, and do not have an annual salary”. Rather than display an incorrect value, no amount is shown.
Q. Are employee reimbursements reflected?
A. No, employee reimbursements are not shown by the individual employee.
Q. Which browsers are supported by the Open Checkbook?
A. The Open Checkbook is compatible with the following browsers: Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Firefox 3.5 and above, and Safari 4 and 5. If you are using Internet Explorer 9, the features might not work unless Compatibility Mode has been turned on.
Q. How do I turn on Compatibility Mode for Internet Explorer 9?
A. Click the Compatibility View button 
on the
address bar. The icon will change from an outline to a solid color. If that icon is not visible, press the
[Alt] key on your keyboard, go to “Tools”, and click “Compatibility View”. At the
bottom of the window, click “Compatibility all websites”, then click OK.
Q. How can I tell which browser I am using?
A. There is usually an About feature under a browser’s Help menu and it will display the name of the browser and the version.
Q. Why has my session ended prematurely?
A. The Open Checkbook will end a user'’s session after 20 minutes of inactivity. To regain access, go to – www.mwra.com/opencheckbook
Q. Search results show no records found. Why?
A. The Open Checkbook is designed to allow visitors to easily find the information that they need with a series of searches that narrow the results displayed. For example, if you've searched on criteria that is very specific (e.g., employee name and job title), there may not be any data that matches that particular request combination. Remove some of the filters, and search again. It is better to start reviewing at a high level and narrow the results from there.