Third Edition

A Glossary Of

Terms Used In The

Federal Budget Process

And Related Accounting, Economic, and Tax Terms

A Glossary of terms used in the federal budget process and related accounting, economic, and tax terms.

"March 1981."

"PAD-81-27."

Previous ed. published in 1977 as: Terms used in the budgetary

process.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

1. Budget-United States-Dictionaries. 2. Finance, public-United States-Dictionaries. I. United States. General Accounting Office. II. Terms used in the budgetary process.

HJ2052.G6 1981

353.0072'2'0321

81-607987

The Federal budget amounts to about one-fifth of our nation's gross national product. As the basic planning document of the United States Government, it exerts a strong influence on our economy and represents countless decisions made by the American people through their elected representatives-decisions that affect present and future resources of all kinds. The budget is the principal policy statement of the President's fiscal priorities and proposals for allocating expenditures and taxes to promote a vigorous economy. The annual congressional review of the budget gives Congress the opportunity to endorse or modify the President's proposals and to judge the effectiveness of Federal programs.

Since the Federal budget process involves making decisions about social and economic issues that affect all Americans, a prerequisite to participating in those decisions is an understanding of how the budget process works. With this objective in mind, in 1974 Congress directed the Comptroller General of the United States to publish standard terminology, definitions, classifications, and codes for Federal fiscal, budgetary, and program-related data and information.'

This third edition of A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process is part of the General Accounting Office's (GAO) efforts to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. Our purpose is to provide a basic reference document of standardized definitions for use by Congress, Federal agencies, and all others interested in the process of Federal budgetmaking and to improve communication between the Government and the public. As in our previous editions,' the emphasis here is on budget terms, but relevant accounting, economic, and tax terms are also defined to help the user appreciate the dynamics of the process. For this edition, we have updated and expanded all the terms published in 1977 and have added 97 terms to the budget section. New features in this edition of the Glossary are an illustrated overview of the Federal budget process and four appendixes that supplement many of the definitions.

The Glossary is by no means an exhaustive list of all budget terms; our decision to include a term rested primarily on whether the term is frequently used. The Department of the Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) helped us choose and define the terms, and they thoroughly reviewed our first and second drafts for accuracy, precision, and clarity. Suggestions were also pro

'The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, as amended by Title VIII of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

'U.S. General Accounting Office, Budgetary Definitions, OPA-76-8, Nov. 1975; Terms Used in the Budgetary Process, PAD-77-9, July 1977.