Accrual Accounting |
|
System of accounting where items are
brought to account and included in the financial statement as they
are earned or incurred, rather than as they are received or paid. |
Accumulated Depreciation |
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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. Administered expenses include grants, subsidies
and benefits. In many cases, administered expenses fund the delivery
of third party outputs. |
Additional Estimates |
|
Where amounts appropriated at Budget time are
insufficient, Parliament may appropriate more funds to portfolios
through additional appropriations legislation. 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. |
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. Further Bills are introduced later
in the financial year as part of the additional estimates. Parliamentary
departments have a separate appropriation Bill. |
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. |
Capital Use Charge |
|
The Capital Use Charge is a dividend requirement levied on Commonwealth
General Government Sector agencies and authorities. The Capital Use
Charge payment is based on those agencies and authorities Departmental
net assets at financial year-end.
Funding for the Capital Use Charge is included in agencies and authorities
Departmental price of outputs appropriation.
The Government has discontinued the Capital Use Charge from
1 July 2003. |
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. |
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 |
|
An expense recognised systematically for the purpose
of allocating the depreciable amount of a depreciable asset over its
useful life. |
Effectiveness indicators |
|
Measures the joint or independent contribution
of outputs and administered items to the achievements of their outcome.
|
Efficiency indicators |
|
Measures the adequacy of an agency's management
of its outputs (and
where applicable, administered items). Includes Price, Quality and
Quantity
indicators. The interrelationship between the three efficiency indicators
of any one output should be considered when judging efficiency. |
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 arm's length transaction. The fair value
can be affected by the conditions of the sale, market conditions and
the intentions of the asset holder. |
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. |
Measure |
|
A decision by the Cabinet or Ministers that
has been finalised since the 2001-02 Budget and has resulted in
a change in expenditure in the years 2002-03 to 2005-06. |
Operating result |
|
Equals revenue less expense. |
Outcomes |
|
The Government's objectives in each portfolio
area. Outcomes are desired results, impacts or consequences for
the Australian community influenced by the actions of the Commonwealth.
Actual outcomes are the results or impacts actually achieved. |
Output Groups |
|
A logical aggregation of outputs, where useful,
based either on homogeneity, type of product or beneficiary target
group. Aggregation may also be needed for the provision of adequate
information for performance monitoring, or based on a materiality
test. |
Outputs |
|
The goods and services produced by agencies
on behalf of government for external organisations or individuals.
Outputs also include goods and services for other areas of government
external to the agency. |
Price |
|
The amount the government or the community
pays for the delivery of agreed outputs. |
Quality |
|
One of the three key efficiency indicators.
Relates to the characteristics by
which customers or stakeholders judge an organisation, product or
service.
Assessment of quality involves use of information gathered from
interested
parties to identify differences between user's expectations and
experiences. |
Quantity |
|
Size of an output. Count or volume measures. How
many or how much. |
Revenue |
|
Total value of resources earned or received
to cover the production of goods and services. |
Special Appropriations |
|
Moneys appropriated by Parliament in an Act separate
to an annual Appropriation Act, where the payment is for a specified
amount. Special appropriations are not subject to Parliaments annual
budget control, unlike the annual appropriations. |
Staff years |
|
An aggregate measure of employment based on
the hours worked over the period of one year. It is the unit of
measurement for staff resource use. |
