Plain-language reference
Financial planning glossary.
A few terms that help keep source records, management choices and forecasts distinct.
Actuals
Financial results recorded from supported source information for a defined period. The source, coverage and accounting basis still matter.
Adopted budget
A management plan revision explicitly adopted as the target for comparison. A forecast update does not rewrite it.
Forecast
The current outlook calculated from supported actuals and explicit assumptions. It is an expectation, not a promise that results will occur.
Scenario
A separate version of assumptions used to examine a possible change. It remains distinct from the baseline until management chooses to adopt a plan.
Source coverage
The periods, records and categories present in a source snapshot. Coverage is not the same as completeness, reconciliation or source freshness.
Mapping
A versioned customer choice that assigns source accounts to financial categories or departments for supported calculations.
Reconciliation
A check that defined source totals or categories agree under the selected scope and rules. A successful check does not prove the source is closed or complete for every use.
Cash outlook
A dated view of projected opening cash, receipts and payments over the supported horizon. It depends on timing evidence and is not a direct bank connection or complete balance-sheet forecast.
Published revision
An immutable financial output tied to the source and assumption versions used when it was published. A correction creates a new revision rather than altering the old one.