ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY - An application is economically feasible when, over a reasonable period of time, the application's cumulative benefits outweigh or are equivalent to the application's cumulative costs.

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY (EFS) - A cost/benefit analysis of a state agency’s proposed electronic payment and/or disbursement project that should demonstrate the economic feasibility (net benefit) of the proposed project. Refer to Section 40.40.

ECONOMIC RESOURCES MEASUREMENT FOCUS - Considers all of the assets available for the purpose of providing goods and services and reports all inflows, outflows, and balances affecting or reflecting an entity’s net assets. The economic resources measurement focus is used for proprietary and fiduciary funds, as well as for government-wide financial reporting. Refer to MEASUREMENT FOCUS.

ECONOMICAL - Direct financial, work-related costs that occur at the least cost to the state and which the state is responsible to pay.

EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE - The rate of earning on a bond investment based on the actual price paid for the bond, the coupon rate, the maturity date and the length of time between interest dates, in contrast with the nominal interest rate.

ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER (EBT) - The electronic transfer of government benefit funds to individuals through the use of automated card technology, automated teller machines (ATM) and point of sale (POS) terminals.

ELECTRONIC CHECK - An electronic version or representation of a paper check. The account holder writes an e-check using a computer or other type of electronic device and transmits the e-check to the payee electronically. Like paper checks, e-checks are signed by the payer and endorsed by the payee. Rather than handwritten or machine-stamped signatures, however, e-checks are affixed with digital signatures. The payee deposits the e-check, receives credit, and the payee’s bank clears the e-check to the paying bank. The paying bank validates the e-check and then charges the check writer’s account for the check.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE/E-COMMERCE - The commercial transaction of services in an electronic format.

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI) - A computer-to-computer exchange of information that is both computer-readable and computer-processable.

ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING (EDP) - Data processing by means of high-speed electronic equipment.

ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER (EFT) - Any transfer of funds, other than a transaction originated by check, draft, or similar paper instrument, which is initiated through an electronic terminal, telephone instrument, or computer or magnetic tape to authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account.

EMERGENCY - A set of unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of an agency that either: (a) presents a real, immediate threat to the proper performance of essential functions; or (b) may result in material loss or damage to property, bodily injury, or loss of life if immediate action is not taken.

EMINENT DOMAIN - The power of a government to acquire private property for public purposes. It is frequently used to obtain real property that cannot be purchased from owners in a voluntary transaction. Where the power of eminent domain is exercised, owners are compensated by the state in an amount determined by the courts.

ENCUMBRANCE - An obligation in the form of purchase orders or contracts that are chargeable to an allotment or appropriation and for which a part of the allotment or appropriation is thereby reserved. Encumbrances are not considered elements of expenditures for reporting of allotments, budgets or statewide financial activities.

ENDOWMENT - Refer to PERMANENT FUNDS.

ENTERPRISE FUNDS - Used to account for any activity for which a fee is charged to external users for goods or services. Activities are required to be reported as enterprise funds, in the context of the activity's principal revenue sources, if any one of the following criteria is met: a) the activity is financed with debt that is secured solely by pledge of the net revenues from fees and charges of the activity; 2) laws or regulations require that the activity's costs of providing services, including capital costs (such as depreciation or debt service), be recovered with fees and charges, rather than with taxes or similar revenues. Refer to PROPRIETARY FUNDS.

ENTITLEMENT - A service or grant that, under federal law, must be provided to all eligible applicants.

ENTITY - The basic unit upon which accounting and/or financial reporting activities are focused.

ENTRY - The record of a financial transaction in the appropriate books of account.

EQUIPMENT - Tangible property other than land, buildings, improvements other than buildings, or infrastructure, which is used in operations and with a useful life of more than one year. Examples are furnishings, equipment, and software. Equipment may be attached to a structure for purposes of securing the item, but unless it is permanently attached to, or an integral part of, the building or structure, it is to be classified as equipment and not buildings.

EQUITY INVESTMENTS - Equity investments include, but are not limited to, any instruments representing ownership shares in an enterprise (e.g., common, preferred, and other capital stock).

EQUITY TRANSFERS - Nonrecurring or nonroutine transfers of equity between funds. An example of an equity transfers is the transfer of residual equity from a discontinued fund. Refer to INTERFUND TRANSFERS.

ESTIMATED REVENUE - This is a budgetary term that identifies revenues expected to be received or accrued during a given period.

EVIDENCE OF COMPETITION - Documentation demonstrating that an agency has solicited responses from multiple firms in selecting a consultant.

EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS - Transaction in which each party receives and gives up essentially equal values.

EXCHANGE-LIKE TRANSACTIONS - Transaction in which there is an identifiable exchange between the state and another party, but the values exchanged may not be quite equal or the direct benefits of the exchange may not be exclusively for the parties to the exchange.

EXHAUSTIBLE CAPITAL ASSETS - Refer to DEPRECIABLE CAPITAL ASSETS and MODIFIED APPROACH TO DEPRECIATION.

EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY - Permission for agencies to disburse moneys or accrue liabilities during specific fiscal periods, up to specified amounts, from specific accounts. Authority is provided by the Legislature through appropriations or inclusion of nonappropriated account moneys in the legislative budget; by the executive through allocations, approval of unanticipated receipts, or across-the-board spending reductions.

EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY CODE - The three-character code assigned by the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to identify each legislative or executive authorization to incur expenditures. Agencies are to use only those expenditure authority codes that have been authorized in writing by OFM. The assigned codes are valid only for the biennium for which they are established. Refer to EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY, APPROPRIATION, UNANTICIPATED RECEIPT, and ALLOCATION.

EXPENDITURES - Decreases in net current financial resources. Expenditures include disbursements and accruals of the current period. Expenditures do not include encumbrances.

EXPENSES - Decreases in net total assets. Expenses represent the cost of operations incurred during the current period regardless of the timing of the related disbursements.

Accounting Terms Glossary and Definitions
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