Indicates the current phase of an overall budget.

The following budget statuses can be assigned to an overall budget:

• Proposed - used to define the overall budget (planning phase)
• Fixed - used to monitor the budget and also used when the overall budget is being negotiated
• Released - phase when the budget is allocated

• Locked - used to indicate that the overall budget is locked (frozen)
• Completed - used once the financial year of the overall budget has expired

The following statuses are also available to cover the period in time between the start of the financial year and the date on which the overall budget is approved:

• Released provisionally - until the overall budget is authorized
• Being revised - the provisionally released overall budget is brought into line with the approved overall budget

If you change the budget status, this action affects the entire budget hierarchy. In other words, if you change the budget status of a lower-level budget structure element, this change will also affect the top-level budget structure element.

It is October 1999, and you are planning your overall budget for the year 2000. Therefore, you create a new overall budget for the year 2000, or carry forward the current overall budget to the year 2000. The overall budget for the year 2000 has the status Proposed. This means that you can change the budget hierarchy, assign budgets to budget structure elements, and define budgeting rules, reclassification rules, and earmarkings.

You change the status of the budget to Fixed once you have completed planning of the overall budget and passed this draft overall budget on to the appropriate authority for authorization. You cannot make any changes to an overall budget that has the status Fixed. The authority in question rejects your draft overall budget. Since you need to make changes to your overall budget, you change the status of the budget to Proposed, and make the appropriate changes. Then, when you have resubmitted the new overall budget to the appropriate authority, you change the status to Fixed.

Once the overall budget has been authorized by the authority in question, and the financial year begins, you change the status of the budget to Released. If an overall budget has the status Released, you can use it to finance persons and positions, create earmarkings, define and activate budgeting rules and reclassification rules, carry out budget updates, and make transfer postings.

For example, the overall budget is frozen in November 1999 due to a reduction in funds received. In this case, you would change the budget status to Locked. If the budget status is Locked, you cannot use the overall budget to finance any new persons or positions.

Once the financial year expires, you change the budget status to Completed. You cannot make any changes to an overall budget that has this status.

You have executed your 1999 overall budget, and start planning your overall budget for the year 2000. You create a year 2000 overall budget, or carry forward the current overall budget to the year 2000. The status of your year 2000 overall budget is Proposed, and you can carry out your planning activities.

You change the status of the year 2000 overall budget to Fixed once you have completed your planning activities, and passed on your draft overall budget to the appropriate authority for approval. You cannot make any changes to an overall budget that has the status Fixed.

If the new financial year starts before the overall budget is approved, you change the status of the overall budget to Released provisionally. This status is almost the same as the status Released. However, you cannot make any transfer postings, activate any reclassification rules, or create new budgets.

Once the overall budget has been authorized by the authority in question, you change the status of the overall budget to Being revised. This allows you to incorporate any changes that were passed when the overall budget was being negotiated (changes to the original budget amount, for example). When you have incorporated all of these changes, you change the status to Released so that you can execute the overall budget.

Now that the overall budget has the status Released, you can use it to finance persons and positions, create earmarkings, define and activate budgeting rules and reclassification rules, carry out budget updates, and make transfer postings.

The functions you can use and the information you can display in HR Funds and Position Management are determined by the budget status.

The following table shows you what functionality is available for each of the budget statuses.