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Glossary

Accrual accounting	System of accounting where items are brought to account and included in the financial statements as they are earned or incurred, rather than as they are received or paid.
Accumulated depreciation	The aggregate depreciation recorded for a particular depreciating asset.
Administered items	Expenses, revenues, assets or liabilities managed by agencies on behalf of the Commonwealth. Agencies do not control administered items, but administer them according to legislation or other directives of Government/Ministers. Administered expenses include grants, subsidies and benefits. Administered revenues include taxes and other levies collected by agencies on behalf of the Commonwealth but not available for use by those agencies.
Additional Estimates	Where amounts appropriated at Budget time are insufficient, Parliament may appropriate more funds to Portfolios through the Additional Estimates Acts. This is the Additional Estimates process.
Additional Estimates Bills or Acts	These are Appropriation Bills 3 and 4, and a separate Bill for the Parliamentary Departments Appropriations (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No 2). These Bills are introduced into Parliament after the Budget Bills. In 2005?06, the Budget was introduced in May 2006, and the Additional Estimates Bills was introduced in February 2007.
AEIFRS	Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards which were used by the Australian Accounting Standards Board in July 2004.
Appropriation	An authorisation by Parliament to spend moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Annual appropriation	Two appropriation Bills are introduced into Parliament in May and comprise the Budget for the financial year beginning 1 July. Further Bills are introduced later in the financial year as part of the additional estimates. Parliamentary departments have their own appropriations.
Assets	Future economic benefits controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or other past events.
Capital expenditure	Expenditure by an agency on capital projects, for example purchasing a building.
Consolidated Revenue Fund	Section 81 of the Constitution stipulates that all revenue raised or money received by the Commonwealth forms the one consolidated revenue fund (CRF). The CRF is not a bank account. The Official Public Account reflects most of the operations of the CRF.
Cost	The amount the government, community or other purchaser expects to pay for the delivery of administered items. A key indicator of efficiency.
Departmental items	Assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses which are controlled by the agency in providing its outputs. Departmental items would generally include computers, plant and equipment assets used by agencies in providing goods and services and most employee expenses, supplier costs and other administrative expenses incurred.
Depreciation	Apportionment of an assets capital value as an expense over its estimated useful life to take account of normal usage, obsolescence, or the passage of time.
Effectiveness indicators	Indicates how outputs and administered items contribute to the achievement of nominated outcomes, either jointly or independently.
Efficiency indicators	Measures of how adequately an agency manages its outputs and/or administered items. Includes quality, quantity and either price or cost (depending on whether the activity is an output or administered item). The interrelationship between these indicators should be considered when judging efficiency.
Deprival asset valuation	Values non-financial assets according to the current cost of their replacement. That is, non-financial assets are valued at the lowest cost of replacing the gross service potential of those assets.
Equity or net assets	Residual interest in the assets of an entity after deduction of its liabilities.
Expense	Total value of all of the resources consumed in producing goods and services or the loss of future economic benefits in the form of reductions in assets or increases in liabilities of an entity..
Fair value	Valuation methodology: The amount for which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability settled, between knowledgeable and willing parties in an arms length transaction. The fair value can be affected by the conditions of the sale, market conditions and the intentions of the asset holder.
General Government Sector	In accordance with international Government Finance Statistics conventions, the Commonwealth general government sector includes all departments and other administrative units, statutory authorities and other entities that are predominantly funded, directly or indirectly, by the Commonwealth Government.
Historical cost	The original cost of acquisition of an asset, including any costs associated with acquisition. Under Australian Accounting Standard 10 'Acquisition of Non Current Assets' assets need to be reported initially at acquisition (historical cost). The Commonwealth's financial reporting requirements issued under the Finance Minister's Orders require the subsequent revaluation of non current assets to their deprival value within every three years.
Liabilities	Future sacrifices of economic benefits that an entity is presently obliged to make to other entities as a result of past transactions or other past events.
Location	An indicator of where the impact of a Government directed activity occurs is used where an output or administered item is provided to specific locations.
Measure	A decision by the Cabinet or Ministers that has been finalised since the 2004?05 Budget and has resulted in a change in expenditure in the years 2004?05 to 2008?09.
New works	The construction of new items (assets).
Operating result (net surplus or deficit)	Equals revenue less expense.
Outcomes	The results, impacts or consequences of actions by the Australian Government on the Australian community.
Output groups	The aggregation of outputs.
Outputs	The goods and services produced by agencies for the government, external organisations or individuals. Outputs include goods and services for other areas of government external to the agency.
Price	The amount the government, community or other purchaser pays for the delivery of agreed outputs. A key indicator of efficiency.
Quality	Describes characteristics of an activity such as its performance against specifications or customer satisfaction. A key indicator of efficiency.
Quantity	Indicates the expected scale or volume of an activity how many or how much. A key indicator of efficiency.
Revenue	Total value of resources earned or received to cover the production of goods and services.
Special Account	Balances existing within the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), that are supported by standing appropriations (Financial Management and Accountability (FMA) Act 1997, ss.20 and 21). Special Accounts allow money in the CRF to be acknowledged as set?aside (hypothecated) for a particular purpose. Amounts credited to a Special Account may only be spent for the purposes of the Special Account. Special Accounts can only be established by a written determination of the Finance Minister (s.20 FMA Act) or through an Act of Parliament (referred to in s.21 of the FMA Act).
Special Appropriations (including Standing Appropriations)	An amount of money appropriated by a particular Act of Parliament for a specific purpose and number of years. For special appropriations the authority to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund does not generally cease at the end of the financial year. Standing appropriations are a sub-category consisting of ongoing special appropriations - the amount appropriated will depend on circumstances specified in the legislation.

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