GAO Glossary of Terms and Definitions (September 2005)

Advance Funding

Budget authority provided in an appropriation act to obligate and disburse (outlay) in the current fiscal year funds from a succeeding year’s appropriation. Advance funding is a means to avoid making supplemental requests late in the fiscal year for certain entitlement programs in cases where the appropriations for the current year prove to be insufficient. When such budget authority is used (i.e., funds obligated), the budget records an increase in the budget authority for the fiscal year in which it is used and a reduction in the budget authority for the following fiscal year. (For a distinction, see Advance Appropriation; Multiple-Year Authority under Duration under Budget Authority; Forward Funding.)

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