Home → Glossary
Glossary of Terms
Clicking onto the alpha group below will take you to that area.
To return to the top select "back" in the
menu bar.
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
A
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Accounting | The communication of financial information to assist in the evaluation of prior performance and current financial position and to plan future action. |
| Accrual | Accrual refers to charges incurred during a given period requiring the provision of funds for: (1) goods and other tangible property received; (2) services performed by employees, contractors, subrecipients, and other payees; and, (3) other amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performance is required. |
| Activity Code | A three digit code that identifies the function being performed – for example: Claims Processing (200), Appeals (240) |
| AdvantageME | System used by Maine State Government for financial and procurement processing. |
| All Other (AO) | Expenditure category not related to personal services and benefits or capital. |
| Allocation | The total amount of estimated expenditures authorized by the Legislature from resources legally restricted or otherwise designated for specific operating purposes. All non-General Fund sources are "allocated" including: Highway Funds, Other Special Revenue, Federal Expenditures Funds, Federal Block Grant Funds, Enterprise Funds, Internal Service Funds, etc., the Legislature allocates to "programs" and to "line categories" within programs. (the designation of a department's and/or agency's estimated expenditures in the annual work program.) |
| Allotment | The quarterly distribution by the Executive Branch of all appropriations (and allocations), revenues, transfers and other funds made available to a department or agency for expenditures. |
| Allotment Reserve | The balance, or accumulated balance, of uncommitted allotment by line category which is retained in a reserve status at the close of each quarter. |
| Appropriation | The total amount of estimated expenditures authorized by the Legislature from unrestricted or undesignated resources of a current nature (i.e., the General Fund). the Legislature appropriates to "programs" (e.g., General Purpose Aid for Local Schools) and to "line categories" within programs (e.g., Personal services, All Other, Capital Expenditures, Unallocated). |
| Appropriation Account (ORG) | the first level of the department and/or agency organizational unit in the State's chart of accounts to which appropriations or allocations are made by the Legislature and to which budgetary control is assigned by law. |
| Awards | Means financial assistance that provides support or stimulation to accomplish a public purpose. Awards include grants and other agreements in the form of money or property in lieu of money, by the Federal Government to an eligible recipient. the term does not include: technical assistance, which provides services instead of money; other assistance in the form of loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, or insurance; direct payments of any kind to individuals; and, contracts which are required to be entered into and administered under procurement laws and regulations. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
B
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Biennium | The two fiscal years beginning in an even-numbered fiscal year which represents the period covered by the biennial budget of the State. |
| Biennial Budget Document | The two year financial plan which shows the estimated expenditures of the various departments and agencies of Maine State Government and the resources available (or proposed to be made available) to fund them. |
| Budget | A financial plan over a specified period of time which shows the estimated expenditures of an organization and the resources available to finance them and how these financial resources will be specifically obtained and used to accomplish operational goals and objectives. |
| Budget Bill | Legislative Documents, almost always submitted by the Governor, that seek appropriations, deappropriations, allocations, deallocations and/or revenue adjustments to finance Maine State Government and other public purposes and may seek statutory or unallocated language changes to implement fiscal policy. |
| Budget Order (BO) | A document form used by a department and/or agency to request the reallotment in a current quarter of uncommitted or accumulated allotment reserve in a prior quarter or quarters. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
C
| Categories | Definition | CFDA # | the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance # (CFDA) is a government-wide short detailed summary of all Federal programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance or benefits to the American public. It contains information on all financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by the departments and establishments of the Federal Government. |
|---|---|
| Character and Object (C & O) |
The four digit numeric code assigned to revenues and expenditures for the purpose of accumulating and reporting these financial transactions in groups of similar type and purpose. |
| Closeout | the process by which a Federal awarding agency determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of the award have been completed by the recipient and Federal awarding agency. |
| CMIA | Cash Management Improvement Act. CMIA provides the general rules and procedures for the efficient transfer of Federal financial assistance between the Federal Government and the States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Territories of American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands). |
| Continuing Resolution | Enacted legislation for agencies to continue in operation until the regular appropriation is enacted. Continuing resolutions usually specify a maximum rate for obligations during a specified period of time. |
| Contract | A procurement contract under an award or subaward, and a procurement subcontract under a recipient's or subrecipient's contract. |
A B C D D F G I L M N O P R S T U W
D
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Dedicated Revenue | Revenue which accrues to an agency appropriation account for use toward designated or legally restricted operational purposes. |
| Departmental Overhead Expenses (DOH) | Personal Services, Personal Benefits, and Nonpersonal Services expenditures that benefit the entire agency and are not applicable to any one funding source. |
| Direct Costs | Costs that can be identified specifically with a particular cost objective. |
| Direct Personal Services | Salaries, wages and overtime paid or accrued to individuals on the payroll of the state agency for services which can be directly associated with the performance of particular activities. |
| Disallowed Costs | Those charges to an award, that the Federal awarding agency determines to be unallowable, in accordance with the applicable Federal cost principles or other terms and conditions contained in the award. |
| Disbursements | Payments made using cash, checks, or electronic transfers. Disbursements include advances to others as well as payments for goods and services received and other types of payments made. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
E
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Emergency Bill | Generally, this is a measure which, due to some exigency, is passed to take effect immediately upon signing by the Governor or some other date specified in the bill which is earlier than 90 days following adjournment. Emergency bills require an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the elected members in each house to be enacted. |
| Encumbrance | A commitment against allotment for legally binding purchase orders and contracts. |
| Encumbered Balance Forward | the balance of funds in an appropriation account which are reserved for the future liquidation of encumbered purchase orders and contracts and which carry forward from one fiscal year to the next. |
| Expenditure | Outflows of resources to parties external to the organization which result in a decrease in fund balance or a reduction in available resources from the recognition of a liability to an outside entity. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
F
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Federal Grants | A federal grant may be defined as a form of assistance authorized by statute in which a federal agency (the grantor) transfers something of value to a party (the grantee) ususally, but not always, outside of the federal govenment, for a purpose, undertaking, or activity of the grantee which the government has chosen to assist, to be carried out without substantial involvement on the part of the federal government. Grants received from the federal government are indicated by the 013 or 020 Funds in the State MFASIS system. Federal Grants must be tracked individually by funding source and fiscal year. For initial departmental budgeting purposes, reporting should be done at the roll-up level. (Roll-up is one account that combines the activity of several subsets.) At the bureau/division office level, tracking mechanisms (i.e., fund ledger activity, function code) are organized consistent with federal grant or legislative requirements and managerial needs. |
| Financial Orders (FO) |
Used primarily to implement the budget or to make changes to the enacted budget. A legal document used by a department and/or agency to establish allotment, revise allotment, increase allotment, transfer funds between appropriation accounts within the same department and/or agency and fund type, transfer funds between line categories in the same appropriation account, or to accomplish any other related legal action upon the approval of the Governor. |
| Fiscal Impact Statement | Fiscal impact statements are prepared by departments or agencies at the request of the State Budget Officer in response to legislative documents and must include revenue and expenditure forecasts for each fiscal year of the current fiscal biennium and the following fiscal biennium in a form and method prescribed by the State Budget Officer. |
| Fiscal Year | Any yearly accounting period, regardless of its relationship to a calendar year, representing an accounting period of 12 successive months, or of 52 successive weeks. A fiscal year is the year in which state or federal funds are appropriated or in which special revenue funds are received. It is essential to know the fiscal year in order to track and monitor activity accurately. You can not incur expenditures before the date of the fiscal year and you have a predetermined number of days after the end date to fully expend. FY is from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. It is the year in which it ends. Example: If it ends Sept. 30, 2002, it is FY2002. SY is July 1 through June 30. It is the year in which it ends the same as FY. PY is one year less than the year it ends. Example: If it ends 2002, it is PY2001. |
| Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) | In the State Budget, Full Time Equivalent Positions are postions that are budgeted at less than 52 weeks per year. In the Federal Budget One FTE is 2,080 hours of paid employment. the number of FTE's is derived by summing the total number of hours (for which included categories of employees) are paid by the appropriate categories of employees and dividing by 2,080 hours (one work-year). Appropriate categories include, but are not limited to, overtime hours, hours for full-time permanent employees, temporary employees, and intermittent employees who may not have been paid for an entire reporting period. the number of full-time employees it would take to work the total number of hours worked by all employees during a specific reporting period, regardless of schedules. |
| Fund | A fiscal and accounting entity with self-balancing set of accounts showing cash and other financial resources, together with all related liabilities and residual equities or balances. |
| Fund Balance | the difference between the total outflows and inflows of a fund measured during the course of the accounting cycle. |
| Funding Source | the stream of money received to perform a specified activity. When developing departmental budget, each Fiscal Year and Funding Source must be identified separately. |
| Funding Period | The period of time when funds are available for expenditure, usually identified in the grant agreement, MOU, or MOA. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
G
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| GASB |
Governmental Accounting Standards Board. the mission of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports. |
| General Fund (GF) |
Refers to State Funds. Monies appropriated by the State Legislature. State funds must be tracked at a minimum at the appropriation level. However, if an appropriation contains programs with carry-forward language, each program must be tracked individually. the State Fund Code for MFASIS is 010 |
| General Ledger (GL) |
The accounting record that provides the summary and balance detail by fund type of the effects of State financial transactions on individual asset, liability, equity, revenue, and expenditure or budgetary control accounts. |
| Grant | An award of financial assistance. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
I
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Indirect Costs | Costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefiting more than one cost objective, and are not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefited without effort disproportionate to the results achieved. |
| Interfund transfer | The transfer of money or other asset or of a liability from one Bureau/Division to another. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
L
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Lapsed Funds | Uncommitted funds remaining in an appropriation account at the close of a fiscal year which are returned or lapsed to the fund from which they were originally appropriated or allocated by the Legislature. |
| Legislative Document (L.D.) |
Legislative measure (bill, resolve, etc.) in its printed form, where it is given a number and referred to as "L.D. XXX". Some measures, such as orders, do not become "legislative documents" in this sense. there are several types of L.D., based on the types of laws which they will create, if enacted. Types of L.D. include those which would enact "Public Laws"; "Private and Special Laws"; and "Resolve Laws". A "constitutional resolution is a form of L.D. which is not enacted by the Legislature to become law, but rather is subject to referendum. |
| Legislative Head Count | The number of permanent full-time and part-time positions authorized by the Legislature for a specific appropriation account. |
| Line Category (State) | the four expenditure groups to which the Legislature appropriates and allocates funds: Personal Services-state employee salaries and benefits; All Other- operational support, grants, etc.; Capital Expenditures-capital asset purchases, construction and certain repairs; Unallocated- undesignated expenditures. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
M
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) |
A formal agreement between two State Departments or internal Bureaus/Divisions, designed 1) to articulate a mutually- beneficial goal and 2) to define the steps each party agrees to undertake in order to attain that goal. Generally, these agreements would include a purpose statement, the scope of work to be performed, performance measures, cost, and reporting requirements, if applicable. | Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) |
A formal agreement between two State Departments or internal Bureaus/Divisions, designed 1) to articulate a mutually- beneficial goal and 2) to define the steps each party agrees to undertake in order to attain that goal. Generally, these agreements would include a purpose statement, the scope of work to be performed, performance measures, cost, and reporting requirements, if applicable. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
N
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Notice Obligational Authority (NOA) Also see OA |
the amount of funds that the state agency is authorized to obligate against a specific appropriation, fund, or project. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
O
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Object Code | A two digit code that defines the category of expenditure.(e.g. 10 = Personal Services, 20 = Personal Benefits, 60 = Premises Expenditures.) |
| Obligations | An amount corresponding to an order placed, contract awarded, services received, and similar transaction for bona fide needs existing during a given period that will require payment during the same or future period and that complies with applicable laws and regulations. |
| Obligational Authority (OA) |
the amount of funds that the state agency is authorized to obligate against a specific appropriation, fund, or project. the sum of (1) Budget authority provided for a given fiscal year, (2) Unobligated Balances of amounts brought forward from prior years, (3) amounts of offsetting collections to be credited to specific funds or accounts during that year, and (4) transfers between funds or accounts.(See Notice of Obligational Authority) |
| Office of Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR) (OA) |
the Office of Fiscal and Program Review provides non-partisan financial information to the Legislature, legislative committees, legislators, other legislative staff, department representatives and the public. |
| OMB Circular (OMB) |
Official Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rules. |
| OMB Circular A-76 (OMB) |
this Circular establishes Federal policy regarding the performance of commercial activities and implements the statutory requirements of the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998, Public Law 105-270. the Supplement to this Circular sets forth the procedures for determining whether commercial activities should be performed under contract with commercial sources or in-house using Government facilities and personnel. |
| OMB Circular
A-87 (OMB) |
this Circular establishes principles and standards for determining costs for Federal awards carried out through grants, cost reimbursement contracts, and other agreements with State and local governments and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments (governmental units). |
| OMB Circular A-102 (OMB) |
Official Office of Management and Budget rule prescribing policies for Federal Departments and agencies to follow in establishing and maintaining controls in program and administrative activities. ( OMB Circular No. A-102 Revised, dated March 3, 1988 supersedes OMB Circular A-102). this Circular establishes consistency and uniformity among Federal agencies in the management of grants and cooperative agreements with State, local, and federally- recognized Indian tribal governments. |
| OMB Circular A-123 (OMB) |
Official Office of Management and Budget rule prescribing policies for Federal Departments and agencies to follow in establishing and maintaining internal controls in program and administrative activities. |
| OMB Circular A-133 (OMB) |
this Circular is issued pursuant to the Single Audit Act of 1984, P.L. 98-502, and the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996, P.L. 104-156. It sets forth standards for obtaining consistency and uniformity among Federal agencies for the audit of States, local governments, and non-profit organizations expending Federal awards. |
| Other Special Revenue | Money received from any other source. Other Special Revenues must be tracked individually by funding source and fiscal year. For initial departmental budgeting purposes, reporting should be done at the roll-up level. At the bureau/division office level, tracking mechanisms (i.e., fund ledger activity, function code) are organized consistent with non-federal grant or legislative requirements and managerial needs. the State Fund Code for this is 014. |
| Outlays | the measure of government spending for budget purposes. Payments to liquidate Obligations (other than the repayment of debt). Except where outlay figures are labeled as gross, they are stated net of any related refunds and offsetting collections. Outlays generally are equal to cash Disbursements. |
| Overhead Indirect | Personal Services, Personnel Benefits, and Nonpersonal Services expenditures that benefit the entire department and are not applicable to any one funding source. (See Departmental Overhead Expenses) |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
P
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Part I Budget | Proposals in the First Regular Session to resolve budget issues for the upcoming biennium to maintain expenditures as authorized under current law (also called "Current Services"). |
| Part II Budget | Proposals in the First Regular Session to resolve budget issues of a new initiative, supplementary or organizational nature for the upcoming biennium (also called "New and Expanded Services"). |
| Participant | An individual who has been determined to be eligible to participate in, and who is receiving services under an authorized program. |
| Pass through Funding | Grant revenues received by MDOL, that are administered by another State agency. Under state guidelines, these are considered pass through funds. |
| Penalties and Interest Account(P&I) | Bureau of Unemployment Compensation (BUC) Penalites and Interest collected. Use limited by statute. |
| Personnel Benefits (PB) |
the state agency's share of payroll taxes and fringe benefit charges directly related to employee's gross payrolls. This includes state agency contributions for retirement, FICA, unemployment compensation, child care reimbursements and group insurance. |
| Personal Services (PS) |
Salaries and wages paid or accrued for services provided and leave taken by individuals on the payroll of the state agency. The sum of direct personal services and paid leave. |
| Policy Area | the broad functional category in the budget management system to which departments and agencies are assigned according to the principle nature and purpose of the organization. |
| Positions Paid | Positions paid are payroll expenses that include leave taken, holiday and other paid time off. |
| Positions Worked | Positions worked are payroll expenses less leave, holiday and any other paid time off. |
| Program | the functional entity of a department and/or agency in the budget management system to which appropriations and allocations are authorized by the Legislature. |
| Program Income | Gross income earned by the recipient that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the award. Program income includes, but is not limited to, income from fees for services performed, the use or rental of real or personal property acquired under federally-funded projects, the sale of commodities or items fabricated under an award, license fees and royalties on patents and copyrights, and interest on loans made with award funds. Interest earned on advances of Federal funds is not program income. Except as otherwise provided in Federal awarding agency regulations or the terms and conditions of the award, program income does not include the receipt of principal on loans, rebates, credits, discounts, etc., or interest earned on any of them. |
| Purchase Order (PO) |
A document which authorizes delivery of specified merchandise or rendering of certain services and creating a charge for them. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
R
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Recipient | An organization receiving financial assistance directly from Federal awarding agencies to carry out a project or program. the term includes public and private institutions of higher education, public and private hospitals, and other quasi- public and private non- profit organizations such as, but not limited to, community action agencies, research institutes, educational associations, and health centers. the term may include commercial organizations, foreign or international organizations (such as agencies of the United Nations) which are recipients, subrecipients, or contractors or subcontractors of recipients or subrecipients at the discretion of the Federal awarding agency. the term does not include government-owned contractor-operated facilities or research centers providing continued support for mission-oriented, large-scale programs that are government-owned or controlled, or are designated as federally-funded research and development centers. |
| Reconciliation | Determination of the items necessary to bring the balances of two or more related accounts or statements into agreement. |
| Report Org | Report Orgs are defined by each agency and are used to track expenditures and revenues by specified cost centers, business units or functions. they are hierarchical in nature Level 7 Org reports to Level 6 Org which reports to Level 5 Org, etc. |
|
Resource Justification Module (RJM) |
the Resource Justification Model (RJM) is a budget formulation and allocation system that will allow state agencies to request the administrative resources they need to operate their respective Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs. the RJM software will assist states in compiling information needed as input for the model. the system will also provide the National and Regional Offices a compatible automated process to review and analyze the states information in order to formulate the annual budget request. Finally, the RJM will provide the National Office with a rational capability to allocate the funds appropriated by Congress. |
| Revenues | Inflows of resources from parties external to the reporting organization. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
S
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Salary Plan | Appropriation accounts to which funds are appropriated or allocated by the Legislature to meet the economic costs of state collective bargaining agreements. |
| Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) | Identifies the federal grant awards that the State of Maine administers by state agency. |
| Service Level Agreement | A mutually agreed upon document that contains a narrative of the mission, services provided, general roles and responsibilities, and identifies specific deliverables, measurements, estimated cost and necessary resources to provide the desired/required level of service. |
| Service Provider | A public agency, private nonprofit organization, or private for-profit entity that delivers educational, training, employment or supportive services. |
| Sta Cap | A charge to federal fund, other special revenue fund, or other fund appropriation accounts using a percentage assessment against the aggregate of monthly actual expenditures for each character and object from 3110 through 5999. |
| Stand-In Costs | Acceptance of stand-in costs (i.e. General Fund costs) as a substitute for disallowed federal costs in audit resolution. Appropriate name |
| State Funds (GF) | Monies appropriated by the State Legislature. State funds must be tracked at a minimum at the appropriation level. However, if an appropriation contains programs with carry-forward language, each program must be tracked individually. the State Fund Code for MFASIS is 010 | Statutes | the general term for acts of legislation; distingquished from other bodies of laws, such as department rules and regulations, constitutional provisions, or "common law", as determined by the courts. Also may refer to the bound volumes, or Maine Revised Statutes Annotated (MRSA). |
| Strategic Plan | A long range, policy-oriented document that maps an explicit path between the present and a vision of the future. A strategic plan is derived from an assessment, goal-setting, and decision-making process that relies on careful consideration of an agency's capabilities and environment. A strategic plan identifies a state agency's mission, goals, measurable objectives, and strategies and leads to priority-based resource allocation and other decisions (see 5 MRSA c.151-C). |
| Sub0object Code | A two digit code combined with the Object Code that further defines the type of expenditure. (i.e., Object 10 (Personal Services) sub-object 11 (Regular Time) sub-object 14 (overtime). |
| Supplemental Budget | Proposals in the Second Regular Session or a Special Session to resolve budget for the balance of the current biennium. |
| Supplemental Budget Request | States may submit form SF424 for additional funds for certain types of administratvie costs that are not funded within the states' base and above-base grants. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
T
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Task Order | A responsibility center in which the manager has the authority to incur costs and is evaluated on the basis of how well costs are controlled. In State Accounting System (Advantage), it is represented by a five digit numeric code. |
| third Party in-kind Contributions | the value of non-cash contributions provided by non-Federal third parties. third party in-kind contributions may be in the form of real property, equipment, supplies and other expendable property, and the value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the project or program. |
| Time and Attendance Management System (TAMS) |
the State's new time and attendance system will be an added support to performance budgeting, allowing agencies to track individual and cumulative staff time for specific projects or activities for which they are measuring performance |
| trust Fund | Money received from employers to pay non-federal unemployment benefits. this activity should be reported at the summary level. State Fund Code for MFASIS is 070. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
U
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Umbrella | A two digit numeric code in the budget management system which is assigned to each department and agency as a unique source of identification. |
| Unallotted Reserve | The balance of funds in a department and/or agency appropriation account which are within available appropriations or allocations but are not alloted in the initial fiscal year work program. |
| Undedicated Revenue | Revenue collected by an agency but which accrues to the general ledger account for use toward undesignated or unrestricted operational purposes. |
| Unencumbered Balance Forward | the balance of funds in an appropriation account which are not restricted or reserved for future use and which carry forward from one fiscal year to the next by line category. |
| Unit | A three digit numeric code and up to one digit alpha code in the budget management system which identifies those department and/or agency organizational units established by law. |
| Unliquidated Obligations | For financial reports prepared on a cash basis, this means the amount of obligations incurred by the recipient that have not been paid. For reports prepared on an accrued expenditure basis, they represent the amount of obligations incurred by the recipient for which an outlay (expenditure) has not been recorded. |
| Unobligated Balance | the portion of the funds authorized by the Federal awarding agency that has not been obligated by the recipient and is determined by deducting the cumulative obligations from the cumulative funds authorized. |
A B C D E F G I L M N O P R S T U W
W
| Categories | Definition |
|---|---|
| Work Program (WP) |
A work program is a fiscal year financial plan or budget plan of a department and/or agency showing all revenues or other resources along with estimated expenditures by appropriation account, line category, quarter, and character and/or object. |
