menoerää

Menoerä is a term used in Finnish accounting and budgeting to denote an individual expense item within a budget or ledger. It refers to a specific cost category or line item that is planned and tracked separately from other expenses. A menoerä typically has attributes such as a code or account number, a descriptive name, an amount, a date or period, and an association to a cost center, project, or department.

Purpose: It enables detailed control and reporting by allowing organizations to monitor spending against budgeted limits for each category, department, or project. In bookkeeping, actual costs are posted to the corresponding menoerä, and variances can be calculated against the budgeted amount.

Usage: In practice, budget documents are structured with many menoerät; during transactions, the expense is recorded against the relevant menoerä. In public sector accounting, budgets are often divided into tuloerä (income items) and menoerä, with each item having defined lines for transparency and accountability.

Example: A municipal budget might include a menoerä "Office supplies" with code 5010, budgeted 15,000 euros for the year; actual spending of 2,500 euros posted to this menoerä; the remaining balance can be tracked.

Relation to accounts: Menoerä is part of the chart of accounts and can be linked to cost centers, projects, or functions. It is distinct from individual invoices or payments, which are transactions; the menoerä is the budgeting and reporting unit for cost control.

See also: Tuloerä, Budjetointi, Kirjanpito, Tiliöinti.