AGA Today
Federal Accounting Corner
Two Types of Budgetary
Accounts
Budgetary Account
Structure
In order to account for
budgets in a double-entry system, the Standard General Ledger (SGL)
splits them into two types: sources (generally a debit balance) and
status (generally a credit). Budgetary entries thus fall into three main
categories: reclassifying a source, reclassifying a status, or change in
budget authority (increasing or decreasing both source and status). A
typical example of each of these follows.
Reclassifying a
Source—Collecting a Reimbursement Receivable [C186]
Debit 4252 Reimbursements and Other Income Earned—Collected
Credit 4251 Reimbursements and Other
Income Earned—Receivable
Reclassifying a
Status—Accruing an Invoice which Liquidates an Obligation [B302]
Debit 4801 Undelivered Orders—Obligations, Unpaid
Credit 4901 Delivered
Orders—Obligations, Unpaid
Change in Budget
Authority—Appropriation [A104]
Debit 4119 Other Appropriations Realized (source)
Credit 4450 Unapportioned Authority
(status)
Reporting on the
Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) and SF-133
In general, sources are
listed in lines 1-7 of the Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR)/SF-133
and are numbered between 4000 and 4399, and status accounts are in lines
8-11 and are numbered from 4400 to 4999.
There are exceptions to this
rule, of course. Line 1 of the SBR (1A of the SF-133) transfers in last
year's unobligated balances (status) as a resource for the current year.
The original mapping used all of the available status accounts (4450
through 4650). The current mapping uses primarily resource accounts, but
then has to back out obligations and unpaid expenditures (4801, 4802,
4901 and 4908).
Anticipated resources (4210
Anticipated Reimbursements, 4060 and 4070 Anticipated Collections, and
4310 Anticipated Recoveries) can turn into a status if what was
collected exceeds the anticipation. These accounts are reported on lines
2 (2B) or 3D3 when they have debit balances, but on line 10 (10C) if
they have a credit. Similarly, account 4391 Adjustments to Indefinite
No-Year Authority is reported on line 3A (3A1) if a debit and 6 (6D) if
a credit. See my column in the December 2004 edition of Federal
Accounting Corner for a more thorough description of this anomaly.
Reductions in prior-year
obligations or expenditures (a change in status) are also treated as a
resource. The reduction or cancellation of an unpaid obligation or
expenditure (accounts 4871 and 4971) increase line 2 (2A) and 16
Recoveries of Prior-Year Unpaid Obligations, while their paid
counterparts (4872 and 4972) increase line 3D1a Spending Authority from
Offsetting Collections—Earned and Collected.
Double-Duty Accounts
This latter definition
causes some confusion, as accounts 4871 and 4971 sometimes act like
modifications to status and sometimes act like a resource. On the SBR,
they are reported in lines 2 in the resource section, but they are also
reported on line 18A with the status accounts. Although line 8 is called
Obligations Incurred, it includes all obligation and expenditure
activity except downward adjustments. And while most resources close to
account 4201 Total Actual Resources—Collected (which is itself a
resource account), most of the downward adjustment accounts (4871, 4872
and 4971) close to their respective status accounts (4801, 4802 and
4901). Of course, 4902 Delivered Orders—Obligations, Paid and its
associated adjustment accounts (4972 and 4982) close to 4201 in order to
recognize that the authority has finally been used up (both expended and
disbursed). —Simcha Kuritsky, CGFM, CPA
This column is provided
as part of a free exchange of ideas in federal accounting, and is not
reviewed substantively before publication. Please send all comments,
queries, or corrections to
Simcha.Kuritsky@cgi.com.
