The Commonwealth government’s Budget includes two measures of the budget outcome, which are the results of differing accounting methods:
- The underlying cash outcome is calculated as total revenue less total outlays plus net advances. Net advances are one-off items such as purchases and sales of assets and debt transfers between Commonwealth and State governments. The underlying figure removes the effect of ‘one-off’ factors from the budget outcome. The underlying cash surplus or deficit gives the best indicator of the impact of fiscal policy on the level of economic activity in the year.
- The fiscal outcome is calculated in the same way as the underlying cash outcome, except that it is calculated using the ‘accrual accounting method’, which is more accurate. It includes the superannuation owed by the government to its workers, even if they are not actually paid out until their retirement. The fiscal outcome is regarded as the most accurate long-term indicator of fiscal policy.