Daryo Mar 30, 2013:

Another aspect of this is to find out if this "Réalisé disponible" is a running figure, changed daily, in which case "(still) available to spend" while not being necessarily the technical term (please note: confidence level 3) reflects well the reality of this calculation, or if this an "end of accounting period" calculation, in which case it would simply be "unspent amounts".
Sorry to make it more complicated, but the devil is in the details...

veratek (asker) Mar 30, 2013:

@Daryo Thanks.
I can't know that there isn't a corresponding term to the French, where there is simply "réalisé," and not "spent" OR "collected," until I ask.

Daryo Mar 30, 2013:

Maybe it doesn't say but you need to find out.
"Montant réalisé, Montant prévisionnel" is most likely to be about the "spending" side of the budget (as I assumed in my proposed answer), but there's also a small possibility that it's about forecast of and actual income. That would turn "Réalisé disponible" on its head, wouldn't it? Instead of "still avaible to spend", it would be "still not collected"?

veratek (asker) Mar 30, 2013:

@Daryo Rereading your question, I just realised you didn't say what "Montant réalisé / Montant prévisionnel" relates to: forecast of future income (from sales?) or of future spending? Couldn't that make a tiny bit of difference?
..............................
Daryo, it appears Tony is effectively misleading you. I didn't say because it doesn't say.

Ignoring what I write about the context is not going to help answer the question - which is why Tony's comments have been nothing but unhelpful.

veratek (asker) Mar 30, 2013:

@Tony This is exactly why Tony's complaints about imagined context are unhelpful and unprofessional.

In case you didn't notice, it's you who gave an example of "overspent." You're just fantasizing "overspent" was in the document, along with your other ludicrous claims. I merely responded to your hypothetical about the negative available amount. Having a negative number in a budget would not lack sense to me. Amounts in a budget "in the red" usually are signified through negative numbers. Only you seem to have a problem with it.

These are budget amounts and basic knowledge about budgets includes estimates and overspending. That is not unrevealed "context" that only I have, it's basic knowledge about budgets.

Daryo Mar 30, 2013:

getting the meaning of a term from a limited/partial context might be an interesting mind-game, but is not really going to help you - you might end up with a suggested translation that looks right (in the limited context you've given) but is in fact totally wrong.

Rereading your question, I just realised you didn't say what "Montant réalisé / Montant prévisionnel" relates to: forecast of future income (from sales?) or of future spending? Couldn't that make a tiny bit of difference?

Namely, in budget-speak "réalisé" can refer to BOTH spending and collecting money - that simply means the actual figure of collected taxes/collected receivables AS WELL AS as the actual amounts spent (on executing the budget / on buying raw materials etc...)

Even outside of rocket science precision can be useful.

Tony M Mar 29, 2013:

@ Vera This is exactly why it's so important for us to have the context that you so clearly have, but we don't: you now say 'overspent', so that clearly seems to indicate that you do know what these 'montants' are; if indeed they are amounts allocated TO a budget, rather than expenditure FROM the budget, it changes everything. Why won't you simply explain what the context is, properly?

If these 'montants' are revenue, then montant réalisé – montant prévisionnel could yield a positive figure for réalisé disponible (if business is good)
However, if the 'montants' are amounts allocated under the budget, then montant prévisionnel – montant réalisé could indicate a positive figure for réalisé disponible (if there was an underspend on the budget)

In fact, the real issue here is probably what needs to be understood by 'réalisé' — and that can only be determined properly from the wider context.

veratek (asker) Mar 29, 2013:

@Tony "in which case the 'disponible' will be negative?"

If it was overspent - it is not available. Why should it be positive?

"still does not say which is deducted from which"

Complaining about context that doesn't exist is neither helpful nor professional.

the meaning of "disponible" is not rocket science.

Tony M Mar 29, 2013:

@ Vera It's not a question of being "rocket science", but 'difference between' still does not say which is deducted from which — which in this instance makes all the difference in the world. If you fail to give us proper context to work with, then you cannot expect us to come up with meaningful answers.

veratek (asker) Mar 29, 2013:

@tony From the beginning when the question was posted, it was clearly stated that "Réalisé disponible- Différence entre le montant prévisionnel et le montant réalisé" right in the question. Not rocket science.

Tony M Mar 28, 2013:

Right! Now at last we know which way round it is! The problem is, they say it is the difference, but don't say which way round the sum goes.

So if it does indeed mean that the actual expenditure is less than the forecast expenditure, and hence there is budget left over that is 'disponible'.

It still sounds odd, inasmuch as what happens if there is a budget overspend, in which case the 'disponible' will be negative? — I suppose as a financial concept that's OK, though in everyday logic, 'negative availability' comes across as a bit odd!

veratek (asker) Mar 28, 2013:

My understanding is that, for ex., you estimated 100€ for computers. You spent 60€ (réalisé) - so your "réalisé disponible" is 40€. They say it's the difference....

the only two other budget mentioned are for orders and invoices, in addition to budget réalisé et budget prévisionnel,

Tony M Mar 28, 2013:

Yes, but... ...the key issue here is, are they INCOMING or OUTGOING amounts?

Since a budget is usually forward-looking, it's hard to see just where the past tense 'réalisé' comes in, which is why it's so important to have a proper explanation of the wider context.

veratek (asker) Mar 28, 2013:

The amounts as I understand it are all the amounts in a particular budget in the context of a company. You can have different budgets: estimated budget, actual budget, a budget for only one department, etc.

gail desautels Mar 28, 2013:

actuals vs forecast for lack of context, couldn't you just use actuals vs forecast - which applies no matter what the full context...

Tony M Mar 28, 2013:

Yes, but... "the BUDGETS" is a vast term (and which particular 'budgets' are these, then, since I see you have used the definite article to define them?)

What is vital here is to know what these 'montants' represent, as I thought I had explained clearly enough below. Just repeating 'budgets' doesn't add the additional explanation or clarification required to arrive at a correct translation solution.

Normally we have budget allocations and expenditure; here, with talk of 'projected amounts', it remains unclear whether this is projected INCOME or EXPENDITURE?

veratek (asker) Mar 28, 2013:

As mentioned, these are amounts entered/used in the BUDGETS

Tony M Mar 28, 2013:

Context? What is important here is to know what this 'montant' is referring to? Is this sales, revenue, expenditure, etc. etc.? This is bound to affect the translation required.