Please find definitions for various budget and financial terms below. Many items include links to other sites or sources for more information.
Contact the Budget Office if you have a question about what you see, or if you have a suggested addition.
Jump to terms related to: Budgets | Financial Statements | Workday | Other
Budgets
Capital — A budget specifically for the purchase or maintenance of assets such as land, buildings, and equipment.
Carryover — Some departments at Carleton are allowed to “save” positive year-end budget balances to carry forward into the next fiscal year; more information can be found in the budget management guidelines.
Compensation — Employee salaries and benefits expense (health insurance, social security, retirement, etc.).
Comprehensive Fee — The cost to students for tuition, housing, food, and activity fee; sometimes called the “sticker price”.
Department Budget — An allowance for a fiscal year with which a department can fulfill its mission at the College.
Discount Rate — Scholarships divided by gross student fees, this ratio represents the percentage of student income Carleton does NOT collect due to scholarships.
Endowment — A pool of funds set up to provide long-term support for Carleton. Gifts are often restricted by donors for a specific use; according to the law, these gifts must be invested and only the income may be used for operations. See a video for more information.
Fiscal Year — The calendar used for financial reporting; abbreviated “FY”; Carleton’s fiscal year is July 1 – June 30; fiscal years are named for the year in which they end (FY2025 = July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025).
Gross Student Fees (Income) — Comprehensive fee multiplied by the number of students enrolled; also called “comprehensive fee income”.
Net Income — Total income minus total expenses; a balanced budget has equal income and expense, or zero net income.
Net Student Fees (Income) — Gross student fees minus financial aid (scholarships); Carleton’s largest source of income.
Operating Budget — An estimate of income and expenses for Carleton’s fiscal year; a plan for how to use Carleton’s dollars to fulfill its mission. View information for current year budget and process.
Operating Budget Results — Actual income and expense for a fiscal year; often expressed as net income or as a comparison to the budget (planned income and expense).
Financial Statements
Financial Statements — A set of documents that show Carleton’s financial status at a specific point in time (Balance Sheet, Statement of Activities, Statement of Cash Flow); compiled, reported, and shared by the Business Office in compliance with reporting regulations.
Reconciling Items — List of reasons why the operating budget and the statement of activities report different year-end results; operating budget results, a subset of the financials of the college, are meant to capture annual operating activity and are not subject to outside reporting regulations.
Statement of Activities — The financial statement that most closely resembles the operating budget results, but with several reconciling items.
Workday
Actual Expense (or Actuals) — A payment Carleton made to someone outside of Carleton (via credit card or by paying an invoice); this includes payments to employees.
Available Balance — How much is left to spend from a budget or gift.
Encumbrance — A commitment to pay someone outside of Carleton, usually in the form of a purchase order; typically only used for large purchases. When Carleton fulfills the commitment, the encumbrance turns into an Actual Expense and the encumbrance is zeroed out.
Pre-Encumbrance — A request to reserve funds before a purchase order is approved (requisition) or a commitment to pay someone inside of Carleton (ex: pre-approval of expenses funded by the Provost’s Office to help pay for a conference).
Utilization — The percentage of budget used (actual expense divided by budget).
Variance — The difference between budget and actual expense.
Workday Help Center — A guide for topics and questions related to the Workday platform.
Other
Carleton Acronyms Glossary — Glossary of terms that details Carleton’s many abbreviations and acronyms.
Fiduciary — A person or group that is legally responsible for the financial well-being of an institution; the Board of Trustees are Carleton’s fiduciaries.
Financial Aid Terminology — A glossary of financial aid terms.
Trustees — A group of individuals that are elected to serve on Carleton’s Board. The Board of Trustees are responsible for policy-making and resource management of the College. The Board of Trustees also determines the general, educational, and financial policies of the College.