Section 200—Overview of Strategic Plans, Performance Budgets, and Performance and Accountability Reports

Section 200 of Circular A-11, Part 6, provides the framework for GPRA compliance. In addition to short discussions of each of the three GPRA requirements, it offers a short glossary of terms. Several of these terms are worth repeating here, as they are fundamental to understanding performance budgeting concepts.

Strategic Goal or Strategic Objective. A statement of aim or purpose included in a strategic plan (required under GPRA). In a performance budget/performance plan, strategic goals should be used to group multiple program outcome goals. Each program outcome goal should relate to and in the aggregate be sufficient to influence the strategic goals or objectives and their performance measures.

Performance Goal. A target level of performance over time expressed as a tangible, measurable objective, against which actual achievement can be compared. A performance goal is comprised of a performance measure with targets and timeframes.

Performance Measures. Indicators, statistics or metrics used to gauge program performance.

Target. Quantifiable or otherwise measurable characteristic that tells how well or at what level a program aspires to perform.

Outcome Measures. Outcomes describe the intended result of carrying out a program or activity. They define an event or condition that is external to the program or activity and that is of direct importance to the intended beneficiaries and/or the public. For a tornado warning system, outcomes could be the number of lives saved and property damage averted. While performance measures must distinguish between outcomes and outputs, there must be a reasonable connection between them, with outputs supporting (i.e., leading to) outcomes in a logical fashion.

Output Measures. Outputs describe the level of activity that will be provided over a period of time, including a description of the characteristics (e.g., timeliness) established as standards for the activity. Outputs refer to the internal activities of a program (i.e., the products and services delivered). For example, an output could be the percentage of warnings that occur more than 20 minutes before a tornado forms.

Efficiency Measures. Effective programs not only accomplish their outcome performance goals, they strive to improve their efficiency by achieving or accomplishing more benefits for a given amount of resources. Efficiency measures reflect the economical and effective acquisition, utilization, and management of resources to achieve program outcomes or produce program outputs. They may also reflect ingenuity in the improved design, creation, and delivery of services to the public, customers, or beneficiaries by capturing the effect of intended changes made to outputs aimed to reduce costs and/or improve productivity, such as the improved targeting of beneficiaries, redesign of goods or services for simplified customer processing, manufacturability, or delivery.

Performance Budget. A budget presentation that clearly links performance goals with costs for achieving a target level of performance. In general, a performance budget links strategic goals with related long-term and annual performance goals (outcomes) as well as with the costs of specific activities to influence these outcomes about which budget decisions are made.