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Article I, section 9, of the Constitution of the United States provides that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by law .... From this basic provision, a body of laws and regulations has evolved to govern the Federal budget process and prescribe generally uniform procedures for obtaining, expending, administering, and controlling resources. Federal appropriations law, U.S. Comptroller General Decisions, and OMB Circular A-11, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget, constitute authoritative guidance and set government wide policy for budgetary resource management.
To comply with OMB Circular A-11, each agency of the Federal Government is responsible for preparing an agency budget estimate to request funding and for establishing a system for ensuring that it does not obligate or disburse funds in excess of those appropriated or authorized. The Budgetary Resource Management function of the Core financial system is an agency's primary tool for carrying out this responsibility. In addition to supporting the government wide policies, the Budgetary Resource Management function must support agency policies on internal funds allocation methods and controls.
An agency will likely have many other systems in addition to the Core financial system that affect budgetary resources. For example, procurement and travel systems generate documents that commit and obligate funds. These and other systems that affect funds availability should access data in and use processes of the Core financial system to verify that funds are available and to update balances. These systems typically access the funds availability editing activity before allowing an obligation to be incurred, such as when entering into a contract. However, in some cases, such as payroll, this may not be practical. |