The Public Service newbie guide

The Government financial year running from 1 April to 31 March of the following calendar year.

Also heard as: fiscal year, FY2026, FY26

Formal approval that establishes and authorises a procurement requirement.

The internal authority or governance arrangement responsible for approving specified expenditure or procurement matters within an agency.

Also heard as: internal approval authority

Context: The exact authority, committee or team depends on the agency’s delegation framework.

An internal request to start a purchase, route it for approval and, where applicable, convert it into a purchase order.

Context: The exact workflow and terminology vary by agency and procurement system.

The formal order issued to a supplier after the required procurement and expenditure approvals have been obtained.

Also heard as: purchase order

Singapore’s government electronic procurement portal for publishing opportunities and conducting procurement transactions.

Also heard as: Government e-Business, GeBIZ portal

The government procurement approach for purchases within the prevailing small-value threshold, subject to price-reasonableness requirements.

Also heard as: Small Value Purchases

A sourcing document inviting suppliers to submit quotations for a government procurement.

Also heard as: invite to quote, quotation exercise

Also heard as: announcement driven development

Context: The expression is critical rather than a recognised delivery methodology.

Formal approval to incur expenditure, obtained from the authorised approving authority before a commitment or purchase is made.

Also heard as: approval for expenditure

Also heard as: block budgeting, budget block

Also heard as: budget exercise, annual budget call

Context: The detailed process and labels differ across agencies and financial years.

A decision-support method comparing the costs and benefits of an option, including wider effects on society where relevant.

Also heard as: Cost Benefit Analysis

The annual parliamentary process for scrutinising ministries' proposed spending.

A common performance-evaluation framework that assigns consultants an aggregated score for use in public-sector project tender evaluation.

Government expenditure on projects or assets that create longer-term capacity or benefits, as classified in the Estimates.

Also heard as: development spending

Example: Let’s de-risk the launch with 20 users before emailing all 150,000 of them.

Also heard as: derisk, de-risking, derisking

Context: De-risking reduces risk; it does not eliminate it. State which risk is being reduced and by what action.

Context: Government-contract debarment is separate from court proceedings and primarily affects eligibility for new contracts.

A collaborative procurement approach in which contractors are engaged during the design stage to contribute construction expertise before designs are finalised.

Context: ECI is highly ambiguous. In this entry it refers to the built-environment procurement approach.

An invitation for interested firms to indicate interest and provide information, often for market sounding, pre-qualification or an early procurement stage.

Also heard as: Expressions of Interest

Context: The procedural effect of an EOI depends on the exercise; shortlisted firms may later be invited to a quotation or tender.

The government budget category covering spending on public officers and other manpower costs.

Also heard as: Expenditure of Manpower

Context: Research-grant documents often expand EOM as “Expenditure of Manpower”; central Government Estimates use “Expenditure on Manpower”.

A formal finance circular used to communicate public-sector financial policy, controls or guidance to agencies.

Also heard as: Finance Circular Minutes, finance circular

Example: The spreadsheet is fit for purpose until six agencies edit row 37 at the same time.

Also heard as: fit-for-purpose, not fit for purpose

Context: The intended purpose, users, operating conditions and minimum acceptable standard should be explicit.

Also heard as: follow the dollar audit

The World Trade Organization agreement that opens covered government procurement markets among participating economies under common rules.

Also heard as: Government Procurement Agreement, WTO-GPA, WTO GPA, World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement, World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement

Context: Singapore Government procurement material commonly refers to the agreement as the WTO-GPA. The previous dataset expansion inverted the formal title.

The GeBIZ support centre for enquiries and assistance relating to the Government electronic procurement portal.

A supplier or organisation registered to transact through GeBIZ.

Also heard as: GeBIZ Trading Partners

A sourcing document inviting suppliers to submit tenders for a government procurement.

Also heard as: invite to tender, tender exercise

An SAF arrangement that integrates contractor personnel with military teams to deliver functions through shared ownership and operating frameworks.

Context: Implementations vary by function; an official RSAF example covers A330 MRTT maintenance with ST Engineering Aerospace.

Also heard as: limited ITQ

Context: Use is subject to the applicable procurement rules, justification and approval requirements.

Also heard as: limited ITT

Context: Selection of this approach remains subject to the applicable rules, justification and approvals.

Also heard as: audit management letter

Expenditure incurred to maintain government operations and regular activities, including manpower, other operating expenditure and specified grants or transfers.

Also heard as: operating expenses

The operating-expenditure category covering running costs other than expenditure on manpower and specified grants or transfers.

Also heard as: Other Operating Expenses, Other Operating Expenditures

Also heard as: open ITQ

Context: MOF listed quotation procurements as not exceeding S$90,000 on 5 August 2026; thresholds may change.

Also heard as: open ITT

Context: MOF listed tender procurements as above S$90,000 on 5 August 2026; thresholds may change.

A two-year development initiative for procurement professionals in the Singapore public sector.

Also heard as: P³

Context: MOF styles the programme as P³. P3 is the plain-text form used here for easier typing, search and copying.

A procurement arrangement that appoints a panel of pre-evaluated suppliers from which agencies can procure covered services more efficiently.

Also heard as: WoG PCFA, PCFAs, Period Contracts and Framework Agreements

Context: A PCFA may be Whole-of-Government or limited to a particular procuring organisation or service category.

Also heard as: pilot status, product pilot

Context: A pilot is not the same as a fully supported General Availability service.

A tender-evaluation method that combines price and quality factors instead of assessing bids on price alone.

Also heard as: Price-Quality Method, PQM Framework

Context: The criteria and weightages depend on the procurement. BCA maintains a specific PQM framework for public-sector construction tenders.

Also heard as: procure to pay

Context: AGO distinguishes persistence in evidence-gathering from personal distrust of the audited agency.

The listing of consultancy firms eligible to tender for consultancy services for public-sector construction projects in Singapore.

The standardised contract forms used for public-sector construction projects in Singapore.

Context: Different PSSCOC forms and option modules apply to different project and contracting arrangements.

Also heard as: PSSCOC Lite

Also heard as: public monies

Context: The Financial Procedure Act uses the spelling 'moneys'.

Context: In the Financial Procedure Act, 'stores' covers government chattels rather than retail premises.

AGO's systems, structures, policies and procedures for providing reasonable assurance that its audits meet recognised professional standards.

A committee that evaluates quotation submissions against the stated criteria and records its assessment for the approving authority.

Context: The committee evaluates and recommends; the applicable approving authority makes the award decision.

A structured framework for evaluating the quality and fee proposals of consultancy firms in public-sector construction-related tenders.

Also heard as: QFM Framework

A BCA evaluation framework for procuring accredited checking services using quality, submission-quality and fee components.

Also heard as: QFM (AC)

Context: BCA styles the framework as QFM for Accredited Checking (AC) services.

Context: MOF documented reverse auctions being combined with demand aggregation after suppliers were shortlisted through an open tender.

A central funding mechanism that supports new initiatives aligned with whole-of-government strategic outcomes, collaboration and innovation.

Also heard as: Reinvestment Fund proposal

Context: RF is highly ambiguous; the funding context should be clear.

The standardised agreement for public-sector construction-related consultancy services in Singapore.

Also heard as: Public Sector SCA

Context: SCA is highly ambiguous. In this entry it refers to BCA’s public-sector consultancy contract form.

The Ministry of Finance committee handling government-contract debarment matters involving supplier default, misconduct or harm to government interests.

Also heard as: Standing Committee of Debarment

Context: Official sources use both “on” and “of”; the MOF parliamentary reply uses “Standing Committee on Debarment”, while the GeBIZ FAQ uses “Standing Committee of Debarment”.

Also heard as: pre-qualified tender

Context: The pre-qualification criteria and subsequent tender criteria should be stated and applied consistently.

A protocol for proactively managing differences and disputes in large infrastructure projects through a project dispute board and tailored resolution processes.

Also heard as: Singapore Infrastructure Dispute Management Protocol

An internal-control principle that separates incompatible roles or transaction steps among different people.

Also heard as: separation of duties

Context: Used mainly in audit, finance, procurement, enterprise systems and access-control contexts. It is not necessarily common service-wide shorthand.

A description of the work, boundaries, deliverables and exclusions covered by a project or engagement.

Also heard as: Scope of Works

Example: The steering committee steers; it should not personally row every workstream.

Also heard as: SteerCo, steer co, steering comm

Context: Its decision rights depend on its Terms of Reference.

Also heard as: budget sub-head, sub-head

Also heard as: subventions, operating grant

Also heard as: sunset status, sunsetting, product sunset

Context: A sunset service may continue operating during migration; it does not necessarily switch off immediately.

Also heard as: supp estimates, supplementary budget

Context: The process follows referral by the Minister where no satisfactory explanation is furnished for the specified loss, deficiency or improper payment.

A committee that evaluates tender submissions against the stated criteria and records its assessment for the Tender Approving Authority.

Also heard as: tender evaluation panel

Context: The committee evaluates and recommends; it is not itself necessarily the authority that approves the tender award.

Also heard as: TenderLite

The report documenting the evaluation of tender submissions and the recommendation put forward for approval.

Context: The required format, signatories and approval route depend on the procurement and agency.

An explicit account of how activities and outputs are expected to lead to intended outcomes and impact.

Also heard as: two-envelope tender

The principle of achieving the best feasible public outcome from the resources used, considering cost, quality, risk and fitness for purpose.

Also heard as: value-for-money

Also heard as: budget vote

Context: It differs from a Vote on Account and requires the President's concurrence.

Context: The sums must later be included under the appropriate heads in the Supply Bill, and the President must concur.

Context: The statutory power covers losses, deficiencies, obsolete stores, revenue, debts and overpayments.