Budget Authority

I. Formal Definition

The legal or procedural permission granted to a named office or role to commit the organisation to expenditure within defined limits and conditions. Budget authority is the governance counterpart to budget allocation: the dollars are not spendable until authority is conferred. The federation requires budget authority to be documented in a delegations matrix linked to the relevant operating cost center, with authority changes recorded in the governance log under UFMS-001:4.1. Authority exceedances are reported as conduct concerns under TGS-002:2.3.

II. Etymology

A term of public sector financial management; the construction stabilised in mid twentieth century federal budgeting practice and migrated to large enterprise governance.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members publish a delegations matrix linking budget authority to operating cost centers. Authority changes are recorded in the governance log. Exceedances are reported under TGS-002:2.3 and remediated through the close cycle under MEV-Annex:5.1.

IV. Related Terms

• budget
• committed-budget
• budget-freeze
• budget-thaw

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:4.1UFMS Article IV - Authority
• MEV-Annex:5.1MEV Annex V - Authority Reporting

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_budget_authority,
  title        = {{Budget Authority}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{budget-authority}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/budget-authority},
  note         = {Category: Budget & Forecast; key: BudgetAuthority}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.