Budgets: Glossary of terms
A quick reference for the words you'll come across when working with Budgets in Lookout.
This glossary explains the terms you'll see when working with budgets in Lookout. For step-by-step guidance, see Budgets: An overview and Creating and managing budgets. For answers to common questions, see Budgets: FAQs.
Budget basics
Budget (Budget Plan)
A plan for how a Member's funding will be used over a set period. It brings together the funding available (income), the services and expenses planned against it, and what's left to spend.
Budget Period
The start and end dates a Budget covers. All the income and planned spending in a Budget relate to this window of time.
Funding Type (Funding Scheme)
The kind of funding arrangement the Budget is based on, for example Support at Home, Home Care Package, NDIS or private funding. The funding type sets the rules and structure of the Budget.
Service Plan
The services a Member plans to use their funding for, set out within the Budget.
Draft
A Budget that has been created but not yet approved. Drafts can be edited freely and aren't yet in effect.
Approved
A Budget that has been finalised and put into effect. Once a Budget is approved, you can compare live spending against it and send it for signing. A Budget showing an error can't be approved until the error is fixed or dismissed with a note.
Signing Request
A request sent to have a Budget formally agreed or signed off, giving a documented record of acceptance.
Interim Budget
For Support at Home, a Budget set up for a Member who is waitlisted for their full funding. It uses an interim allocation of 60% of their ongoing budget. Once full funding is approved, you add an expiry date to the interim Budget and create a new ongoing Budget for the full amount.
Income and contributions
Income
The money coming in to fund the Member's care over the period. This can include government subsidies, supplements and contributions.
Subsidy
Government funding contributed towards the Member's care, forming part of the Budget's income.
Client Contribution
The amount a Member is expected to contribute towards the cost of their own care, depending on their funding arrangement.
Income-Tested Fee
A contribution some Members pay towards their care based on their financial situation. It forms part of the funding picture on relevant Budgets.
Care Management Amount
The portion of funding set aside for coordinating and managing the Member's care. For Support at Home, this is 10% of the ongoing subsidy, and it sits separately from the service budget.
Funding sources and balances
Funding Source
A specific pool of funding a Member can draw from, as reported by Services Australia. Each funding source is tracked separately, so you can see exactly which pool is being used.
Funding Source Categories
The types of funding source a Member may have: Ongoing, Restorative Care, End-of-Life, Assistive Technology, Home Modifications and Unspent Funds. Home support is shown as separate Ongoing, Restorative Care and End-of-Life cards, and each one draws down separately.
Available Funds
The total funds available for a period, according to Services Australia. This may differ from the amount originally calculated in the Budget Plan.
Opening Balance
The Services Australia opening amount for a funding source, before any adjustments or rollovers.
Adjustments & Rollovers
Changes to a funding source's balance after the Opening Balance, including funds rolled over from a previous period. These are shown in their own tile, separate from the Opening Balance.
Unspent Funds
Funding carried over from a Member's previous arrangement that can be used before other funding. When a Member is projected to overspend, unspent funds may cover some or all of the difference.
Left to Spend
What remains after planned services and expenses are subtracted from the available funding. In other words, the funding still available.
Remaining in Budget
The approved Budget Plan minus what's been spent so far. This can differ from the Projected Balance, which is based on the funds Services Australia reports as available.
Projected Balance
What a funding source is expected to have left at the end of the period, based on what's been spent and what's forecast.
Expenses and spending
Expense
A cost recorded against a Budget that draws down on the available funding. An expense can be forecast, invoiced, claimed or excluded from claiming.
Forecast Spend
Spending that's expected but hasn't been invoiced or claimed yet, such as upcoming rostered visits.
Excluded from Claiming
An expense that has been deliberately left out of claiming, so it won't be claimed from the Member's funding.
Rate Variant
A version of a service rate that applies in certain circumstances, such as weekends. When you build a Budget from a Member's roster, each rate variant appears as its own line.
Utilisation and alerts
Utilisation
How much of a Member's available funding is being used, compared with what's available for the period. It's tracked separately for each funding source.
Overspend
When a Member is on track to spend more than a funding source makes available this quarter.
Underspend
When a Member is projected to use less than 80% of a funding source's funds this quarter. Assistive Technology and Home Modifications aren't flagged for underspend, as these funds are usually spent in larger amounts over longer periods.
No Funding Source
When a Member has services this quarter under a funding source that holds no funds, for example one that has ended or was never allocated. This is counted as an overspend.
Alert Severity
How serious an overspend or underspend alert is, graded high, medium or low depending on how far projected spending is from the available funds. Alerts can be dismissed for the current quarter.
Budget Plan Warnings
Flags on a Budget that may need a second look:
- Empty: No services have been planned.
- Over-allocated: Planned services cost more than the funding available.
- Under-allocated: Less than 80% of the available funding has been allocated.
A warning can be dismissed if the Budget is deliberate, and it stays dismissed for that Budget even if the Budget is edited later.
Actions and tools
Budgets Bulk Actions
Actions for changing many services at once from a Member's expense tracking view:
- Edit services
- Change service date
- Switch funding source
- Switch funder
- Exclude from claiming
- Include in claiming
- Cancel services
Using them requires the Budgets bulk actions permission, which is separate from finance edit access. All bulk actions flow through to claiming and billing.
Switch Funding Source
A bulk action that moves services between funding sources within a Member's current funding, for example, onto unspent funds.
Switch Funder
A bulk action that moves a visit to another funding arrangement the Member has, such as private. It applies to the whole visit, including travel and visit fees, and a suitable rate is applied under the new funder.
Funding analyser
A Lookout Assist feature that reviews a Member's Support at Home budget, one funding source at a time. It explains why spending is running over or under and suggests actions for you to review. It only runs when you ask, never makes changes on its own, and can create a funding assessment ticket for follow-up.