Committed Budget

I. Formal Definition

The portion of an approved budget that is bound by contract, purchase order, or other irrevocable commitment, distinct from the discretionary balance that can still be reallocated. Committed budget is the operative measure of inflexibility in the cost base and is the relevant figure for liquidity stress testing. The federation requires committed budget to be reported alongside total budget at the cost center and program level under UFMS-001:4.1, with the commitment instruments traceable to the procurement register and contract management system.

II. Etymology

A standard term of public sector and large enterprise budgeting; the construction stabilised in the post-war federal accounting practice.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members publish committed budget alongside total budget at cost center and program level. Commitments are reconciled to procurement register and contract management. The committed-to-total ratio feeds liquidity stress testing under MEV-Annex:5.1.

IV. Related Terms

• budget
• capex-budget
• opex-budget
• budget-authority

V. Authoritative Citations

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

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_committed_budget,
  title        = {{Committed Budget}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{committed-budget}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/committed-budget},
  note         = {Category: Budget & Forecast; key: CommittedBudget}
}

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.