accounting is a mixture of the cash and accrual basis. The modified accrual basis should be used for governmental funds. To be recognized as a revenue or expenditurethe actual receipt or disbursal of cash must occur soon enough after a transaction or event has occurred to have an impact on current spendable resources. In other wordsrevenues must be both measurable and available to pay for the current period's liabilities. Revenues are considered available when collectible either during the current period or after the end of the current period but in time to pay year-end liabilities. Expenditures are recognized when a transaction or event is expected to draw upon current spendable resources rather than future resources.

This definition is in context to Accounting. See more contextual defintions for Modified Accrual Basis.