Accounting

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'.

Term	Category	Definition
Allotment		An agency's plan of estimated expenditures, revenues, cash disbursements, and cash receipts for each month of the biennium.
Allowable Moving Costs		Except as noted in WAAM section 150.20.120 and within certain limitations, allowable moving costs include the costs to move household goods, personal effects, property used in a dwelling, and normal equipment and supplies used to maintain the dwelling from the former residence to the new official station/residence.
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.
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.
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.
Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments		A specific type of electronic fund transfers from a state bank account to a payee's account at their designated financial institution using a nationwide payment and collection system, the Automated Clearing House.
Belated Claims		Obligations for goods and services which were received on or before June 30 but were not accrued in the concluding appropriation period. Shortages in estimated accrued expenditures/expenses are also treated as belated claims of the prior appropriation period.
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
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.
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.
Budget Oversight Analyst		Perform budget oversight and reporting functions for all companies. Examples include reporting on company budgets, position budgets, amendments, and exceptions. No approval authority.
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.
Budgetary control		The establishment of budgets and the continuous comparison between actual and budgeted results.
Budgeted accounts		Accounts that are subject to the appropriation and/or allotment process.
Business Asset Tracking Specialist		Performs business asset management functions for assigned companies. Ability to register, edit, adjust, impair, transfer, reclassify, dispose, remove and report on asset records. Permission to submit or cancel business asset business processes. No Approval Authority and is restricted from the Asset Share Task.
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.
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.
Buyer		Perform sourcing functions for assigned companies. For example purchase orders. Approval authority for procurement business processes.
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.
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.
Capital Projects Fund		Used to account for financial resources that are restricted, committed, or assigned to expenditures for the acquisition and construction of major capital facilities and other capital assets (other than those financed by proprietary funds or in trust funds for individuals, private organizations, or other governments).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Collections Manager		Perform accounts receivable collections management related functions for assigned customers. Examples include creating and approving write-offs, managing customer invoices for dispute/collection, and processing refunds. Approval authority for customer accounts write-off business process.
Communities of Practice (CoPs)		Collaborative hubs led by OneWA, where agencies come together to share best practices, seek advice, and collectively navigate Workday implementation.
Company-Specific Worktags		Company-Specific worktags are customizable at the company level. They include the following: Appropriation, Budget Activity, Program, Cost Center, Grant, Project, Business Unit, Location, Allocation Pool, and Agency Use Code.

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