activity-based costing (ABC)
a cost accounting system that identifies specific factors (cost drivers) that drive the costs of service or production activities and tracks the consumption of cost drivers in producing outputs of goods or services.
allowable costs
costs that meet specific criteria determined by the resource provider, generally used in the context of feral financial assistance
balanced scorecard
an integrated set of performance targets, both financial and nonfinancial, that are derived from an organization's strategies about how to achieve its goals
budget calendar
a schedule of certain steps to be followed in the budgeting process and the dates by which each step must be completed
budget officer
a person, usually in the central administrative office, designated to ensure that administrative policies are actually used in budget preparation and that the budget calendar and other legal requirements are met
cost objective
in federal terminology, an organization unit, function, activity, project, cost center, or pool established for the accumulation of costs
customer relationship management (CRM)
systems that create an integrated view of a customer to coordinate services from all channels of the organization with the intent to improve long-term relationships
direct costs
costs incurred because of some definite action by or for an organization unit, function, activity, project, cost center, or pool; costs identified specifically with a cost objective (q.v.)
effectiveness measures
measures that relate cost to outcomes
efficiency measures
measures that relate quantity or cost of resources used to unit of output
entrepreneurial budgeting
a budgeting approach that positions budgeting at the highest level and merges strategic plans, incentives, and accountability into the budget to communicate to citizens as a package
incremental budgeting
a budgeting approach that is simply derived from the current-year's budget by multiplying by a factor (i.e., an incremental increase equal to inflation) or by adding amounts expected to be required by salary and other cost increases and deducting expenses
indirect costs
costs incurred that cannon be identified specifically with a cost objective (q.v.) but benefit multiple cost objective (e.g., a hospital cafeteria, central data processing department, and general management costs)
input measures
measures of service efforts, or financial and non-financial resources used in a program or process
outcome measures
accomplishments, or the results of services provided
output measures
quantity measures reflecting either the total quantity of service provided or the quantity of service provided that meets a specified quality requirement
performance budgeting
budget format that relates the input of resources and the output of services for each organizational unit individually. sometimes used synonymously with program budget (q.v.)
planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS)
a budgeting approach that integrates planning, programming, and budgeting into one system; most popular in the federal government during the 1960s
program budgeting
a budget wherein inputs of resources and outputs of services are identified by programs without regard to the number of organizational units involved in performing various aspects of the program. see also performance budgeting.
service efforts and accomplishments (SEA)
a conceptualization of the resources consumed (inputs), tasks performed (outputs), goals attained (outcomes), and the relationship among these items in providing services in selected areas (e.g., police protection, solid waste garbage collection, and elem
sweep accounts
arrangements in which a bank automatically "sweeps" cash that exceeds the target balance into short-term cash investments
tax anticipation notes (TANs)
notes (sometimes called warrants) issued in anticipation of collection of taxes usually retirable only from tax collections and frequently only from the proceeds of the tax levy whose collection they anticipate
total quality management (TQM)
a management approach in which an organization seeks to continuously improve its ability to meet or exceed customer demands, where customer, in government or nonprofit organization usage, may be broadly defined to include such parties as taxpayers, servic
zero-based budgeting (ZBB)
a budget based on the concept that the very existence of each activity; as well as the amounts of resources requested to be allocated to each activity, must be justified each year