Statewide Accounting glossary
This is a list of terms used within the Washington Administrative and Accounting Manual (WAAM) and within Workday. To find a term, enter it in in the search box, and select 'Apply'.
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Category | Definition | |
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Account |
A fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of general ledger codes in which cash and other financial resources, together with all related liabilities and residual equities or balances, and changes therein, are recorded and segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations. For reporting purposes, the state identifies major accounts, and administratively combines all remaining accounts into roll-up funds. Most accounts are set up in state law to isolate specific activities. |
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Account code |
The three-character alpha/numeric code assigned by OFM to identify each account. (See the Fund Reference Manual.) |
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Accounting Financial Reporting System (AFRS) |
The state's current general ledger accounting system, which will be replaced by the new, cloud-based Workday ERP system. |
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Accrual basis |
The basis of accounting whereby revenues are recognized when they are earned and measurable regardless of when collected, and expenses are recorded on a matching basis when incurred. All proprietary and fiduciary funds use the accrual basis of accounting. |
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Accrued expenditures |
Expenditures that meet the appropriate recognition criteria of the account type involved but have not been paid. Accrued expenditures are expected to be paid in a subsequent accounting period. |
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Accrued liabilities |
Liabilities reflecting the obligation to pay for goods or services that have been incurred or received but not paid for by the end of the accounting period. Accrued liabilities related to refunds of revenue are offset to the revenue originally recorded. |
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Accrued revenues |
Revenues that meet the appropriate recognition criteria of the fund type involved, but are not realized until a subsequent accounting period. Also refers to Accrual Basis and Modified Accrual Basis. |
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Agency |
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Allocation |
Spending authority assigned to an agency from a lump-sum appropriation that is designated for expenditure by specific governmental units and/or for specific purposes, activities, or objects. For example, the Legislature may provide a lump-sum appropriation to OFM for allocation to agencies on an as-needed basis, or according to specified criteria. |
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Allotment |
An agency's plan of estimated expenditures, revenues, cash disbursements, and cash receipts for each month of the biennium. |
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Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) |
The ACFR differs from a standard financial report by offering a more comprehensive, transparent, and contextually rich financial narrative that goes beyond basic financial reporting requirements. |
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Appropriation |
A legal authorization to make expenditures and incur obligations for specific purposes from a specific account over a specific time period. Appropriations typically limit expenditures to a specific amount and purpose within a fiscal year or biennial timeframe. Only the Legislature can make appropriations in Washington State. |
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Automated Clearing House (ACH) |
Electronic payments commonly referred to as direct deposit and automatic debit. ACH is a low cost, safe and green payment method utilized by most state agencies to take advantage of economies of scale by processing transactions in batches rather than sending each payment separately. |
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Biennium |
A two-year fiscal period. The Washington state biennium runs from July 1 of an odd-numbered year to June 30 of the next oddnumbered year |
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Bond |
A debt instrument issued through a formal legal procedure and secured either by the pledge of specific properties or revenues or by the general credit of the state. Examples include bid bond, performance and payment bond. See: Form C-100 (2014) Section G. |
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Budget |
A plan of financial operation embodying an estimate of proposed expenditures for a given period of time or purpose and the proposed means of financing them. |
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Budget Structure | Financial |
Criteria for building budget or forecast budgets. Types of budget structures include financial, staffing and position. Budget structures can be configured to require approval, organized by dimension type (such as cost center or region), and updated with amendments. |
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Budgetary control |
The establishment of budgets and the continuous comparison between actual and budgeted results. |
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Budgeted accounts |
Accounts that are subject to the appropriation and/or allotment process. |
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Business Object | Cross Application |
Workday stores your data as business objects—organizations, workers, positions, and so on—which can be thought of as database tables or worksheets in Excel. Just as a database table or worksheet has columns and rows, a Workday business object has fields and instances. A business object is composed of a set of related fields, similar to how a table or spreadsheet is composed of a set of related columns. Instances of a business object in Workday are like rows in a table or spreadsheet, with each instance representing a unique occurrence of that type of object such as an organization or worker. A business object can have no instances, one instance, or many instances. Workday automatically links related business objects together. For example, purchase order lines are linked to a purchase order header, the purchase order header is linked to a supplier, the supplier is linked to a company, and so on. |
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Business Process Security Policy | Cross Application |
A business process security policy secures the initiation step, step actions and process-wide actions including view, rescind, cancel and correct. It specifies which security groups that have access to each action. |
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Capital assets |
Tangible or intangible assets held and used in state operations which have a service life of more than one year and meet the state's capitalization policy. Capital assets of the state include land, infrastructure, improvements to land, buildings, leasehold improvements, vehicles, furnishings, equipment, collections and all other tangible and intangible assets that are used in state operations. |
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Capital outlays |
Expenditures for the acquisition of, addition to, or major repair of fixed assets intended to benefit future periods. In the operating budget, this label typically refers to equipment. |
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Cash disbursements |
Cash disbursements are any moneys (e.g., checks, cash, warrants, credit or debit card amounts, or Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs)) paid by the state during a period regardless of when the related obligations are incurred. |
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Cash receipts |
Cash receipts are any moneys (e.g., checks, cash, warrants, credit or debit card amounts, or EFTs) received by the state during a period regardless of when the moneys are earned. |
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Certificate of Participation (COP) |
Alternative financing method authorized by the Legislature and administered by the State Treasurer. (COPs for equipment do not require legislative authorization.) A COP typically has a revenue stream to pay the debt service for the capital project. |
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Change Request (CR) |
A request for change to the program scope, schedule, and/or budget. All change requests must be managed by way of the OneWA governance process. |
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Chart of Accounts (COA) |
The Chart of Accounts is a financial organizational tool providing a complete listing of every account in an accounting system. It is a structured list of all of the codes used to catergorize financial transactions and create financial reports. The Foundation Data Model (FDM) in Workday is the state's chart of accounts. |
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Client services (purchases) |
Client Service Contracts are for services provided directly to agency clients by contractors, including but not limited to, medical and dental services, employment and training programs, residential care, education and subsidized housing. Clients are those individuals whom the agency has statutory responsibility to serve, protect or oversee. Clients are the targeted individuals in the public that an agency is responsible to serve. |
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Communities of Practice (CoPs) |
Collaborative hubs led by OneWA, where agencies come together to share best practices, seek advice, and collectively navigate Workday implementation. |