Budget management rules in the public sector follow precise principles which structure the use of allocated funds. One of these principles, budgetary annuality, imposes a strict time frame for the consumption of credits. This constraint has concrete consequences on the organization and practices of services at the end of the financial year.
The budget of a public enterprise is not a reserve of money that can be kept from one year to the next. The State votes for an annual envelope, intended to cover current expenses, projects and purchases. This principle, called budgetary annuality, means that the budget is valid for a single year. Each service must therefore use its credits between January and December. But one question often comes up and remains unclear for many: what happens if, at the end of the year, part of the budget has not been spent?
The official texts answer clearly: unused credits are not automatically carried over. The Senate recalls that the budget voted for one year does not create any rights for the following year. Only a small part can sometimes be postponed, within the limit of 3 to 5%, and only if a financial decision authorizes it. In the majority of cases, unspent money “falls out” at the December close. Public services know this: an underutilized budget can weigh on decisions and lead to a reduction in credits the following year. To avoid this scenario, many therefore seek to use their entire budget before the deadline. This is what official documents call “end of management expenses”.
An employee of a public establishment whose budget allocated by the government represents millions of euros confided to us the remaining astronomical sums which could not be spent during the year. Result : “We arrive at the end of the year and we don’t know how to spend the state’s money.”she tells us. To avoid being penalized the following year, employees still take the opportunity to implement stand-bye projects which could not be carried out due to lack of time and budget in previous years. But she also admits to making unthinkable expenses such as “a handmade decorative object for 15,000 euros or the purchase of floor lamps for 2,000 euros each”, allowing her to bring a little light to the living space… When he was an employee of a company specializing in furniture, Jean, now retired, remembers having invoiced him for a huge batch of chairs…”About ten years ago, I received a call from someone working in the military who needed to spend the remaining budget. He asked me to provide him with lots of chairs.” he confirms to us.
These situations are not isolated: at the end of each year, many public services accelerate their orders to avoid under-consumption which could weigh on their future budget. Official reports speak of a real “end-of-management expenditure peak”, where the challenge is no longer just to finance needs, but to avoid losing credits. This system raises questions: it guarantees that public money is used during the year, but sometimes pushes for low-priority spending. Many agents are therefore hoping for a development that would allow them to plan over a longer period of time, without waiting for December to quickly use up the last euros.
