PCP
The budget covers one year
The FFA describes budget credits as authority to use resources for a specified purpose within a limit. Expense and investment credits differ; some accounting expenses do not trigger an immediate payment. Identify the type of entry first.
Approval does not require spending the entire amount. Delivery and rules still matter. Lower need, delay or project changes can explain unused funds, with different consequences for next year.
Commitment credits permit multi-year obligations
A contract beyond the budget year may require a commitment credit. This limits obligations the Federal Council can enter for the project, without itself authorising expenditure. Necessary annual budget credits still require application and approval.
Long procurement becomes possible without claiming immediate full payment. Future obligations also arise. Timetables, cost assumptions and financing need scrutiny alongside initial approval.
A fictional example connects the stages
Imagine a 100,000-franc contract over three years, with payments of 20,000, 50,000 and 30,000. A commitment credit permits the obligation within its conditions but does not replace annual spending authority. This is no real public project.
The second invoice must still match work and contract. Delay can separate commitment, delivery and payment. Accounts should explain this. Adding commitment authority to payments as two costs would double-count.
An expenditure ceiling is not a payment
A multi-year ceiling caps budget credits for particular tasks. Annual approval remains necessary. It coordinates policy without automatically guaranteeing every organisation its anticipated allocation.
A ceiling may cover several projects. Announcements should identify whether a figure concerns a ceiling, an obligation entered or actual spending. These answer different questions.
Supplementary and additional credits differ
A supplementary credit adds to the annual budget under the applicable conditions when funds are insufficient. An additional credit increases an insufficient commitment credit. The description must identify which authority changes and why.
Scope, prices or timing may explain the gap. Expected delivery and existing obligations should accompany it, including what remains possible without extra money.
Connect democratic scrutiny
Parliament authorises, administration executes within the framework, and accounts record operations. Payment alone does not establish an investment’s full usefulness; approval does not prove delivery.
The PCP wants open commitments, completed work and future expenditure made traceable. This prevents postponement being described as permanent savings, or an envelope as results already delivered.