IFO4
Loading...A budgeting methodology in which every expense is justified from a zero baseline at each cycle, rather than from the previous period's spend level. Zero-based budgeting is intended to remove inertial spend from the cost base by forcing each line owner to justify continued investment. The federation accepts zero-based budgeting as a recognised methodology under UFMS-001:4.1 with the cycle frequency, justification template, and review cadence documented. Pure zero-based regimes are rare; most adoptions are partial, applied to a subset of cost categories.
A coinage of Peter Pyhrr at Texas Instruments in 1969; the technique was popularised by the Carter administration's federal government adoption in the late 1970s.
Federation members on zero-based budgeting document scope, frequency, and justification template. Partial adoptions are explicitly scoped. The methodology is reviewed at the steward tier accreditation cycle as part of the planning maturity assessment under MEV-Annex:5.1.
@misc{ifo4_glossary_zero_based_budgeting,
title = {{Zero-Based Budgeting}},
author = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{zero-based-budgeting}}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/zero-based-budgeting},
note = {Category: Budget & Forecast; key: ZeroBasedBudgeting}
}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.