Resources

As distinct from cash accounting which counts income when it is received and expenses when they are paid, the accrual system of accounting records income when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred.

Amounts given in the budget to cover any additional expenses for statutory pay increases, contingencies, and other requirements.

Authority to incur obligations that evades the normal congressional appropriations process because it is provided in legislation other than appropriation acts.

How much money Congress allows a federal agency to commit to spend.

Consists of a set of numbers stating how much Congress is supposed to spend in each broad spending category (also known as budget “function”) and how much total revenue the government will need to collect for the near future. The Congressional Budget Act requires that the resolution cover a minimum of five years, though Congress sometimes chooses a longer period. The difference between the spending ceiling and the revenue floor represents the deficit (or surplus) expected for each year.

The method of accounting used by Congress, and which is illegal for publicly held corporations to use, in which income is recognized when it is received and expenditures are recognized when they are paid.

A congressional support agency created to provide nonpartisan budgetary information and analysis to Congress and its committees.

The limit to how much the federal government can borrow. This is decided through Congressional legislation.

Amounts paid by federal agencies, by cash or cash equivalent, during the fiscal year to liquidate government obligations.

Either of the following: (1) dedicating collections by law for a specific purpose or program (trust fund receipts, special fund receipts, intragovernmental receipts, and offsetting collections credited to appropriation accounts); (2) designating any portion of a lump-sum amount for particular purposes by means of legislative language.

A government corporation created by the Federal Financing Bank Act of 1973 to (1) finance federal and federally assisted borrowings in ways that least disrupt private markets, (2) coordinate such borrowing programs with the government’s overall fiscal policy, and (3) reduce the costs of such borrowing from the public.

The application of common sense accounting standards, professionally and independently promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for the private sector, the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) for the federal government, and the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) for the state and local governments. The goal is to tell owners, investors, taxpayers, and tax collectors how an entity is doing and how well it may be expected to perform in the future.

The value of all final goods and services produced by labor and capital supplied by residents of a country such as the United States in a given period, whether or not the residents are located within the country.

A privately owned and operated financial service corporations created by federal charter to improve access to capital by select groups. The activities of GSEs are not included in the federal budget’s totals because they are classified as private entities, and are intended to be self-sufficient.

Any of several legislative mechanisms that attempt to “lock away” funds of the federal government for purposes such as reducing federal spending, preserving surpluses, or protecting the solvency of trust funds.

How much money actually flows out of the federal treasury in a given year

A single piece of legislation that typically includes multiple provisions (generally developed by several committees) all of which affect the federal budget — whether on the mandatory spending side, the tax side, or both. A reconciliation bill, like the budget resolution, cannot be filibustered on the Senate floor, so it only requires a majority vote to pass.

The process of estimating the budgetary effects of pending legislation and comparing them to a baseline, such as a budget resolution, or to any limits that may be set in law. Scorekeeping tracks data such as budget authority, receipts, outlays, the surplus or deficit, and the public debt limit.

A payment or benefit made by the federal government where the benefit exceeds the cost to the beneficiary. They may also refer to (1) provisions in the tax laws for certain tax expenditures and (2) the provision of loans, goods, and services to the public at prices lower than market value. Under credit reform, subsidy means the estimated long-term cost to the government of a direct loan or loan guarantee, calculated on a net value basis over the life of the loan, excluding administrative costs and any incidental effects on governmental receipts or outlays.

Legislation that prevents the incurring of obligations or the making of expenditures (outlays) in excess of the amount available in funds; this prevents the federal government from entering a contract not “fully funded.”