Encumbrances (commitments for the procurement of goods or services which have not yet been received by the state) are accrued as expenditures by departments at year-end and included in the expenditure totals of individual budget displays. This treatment is in accordance with the budgetary/legal basis of accounting.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) require that encumbrances be reflected as a reserve against the General Fund balance and not as an expenditure, as in budgetary/legal basis accounting. More.....