Eight months. Twelve people. €110 billion.
Austria's federal budget is not written in parliament. By the time MPs vote on it in late November, almost every important number has already been settled — in cabinet meetings, ministerial bilaterals and a strategy paper most citizens have never heard of. Here's how it actually works.
The cycle, at a glance
Fig. 1 — annual timelineStage by stage
What gets decided, by whom, when- 01January – MarchMinistry of Finance
The strategy paper
Each January the Finance Minister writes a Budget Strategy Report (BFRG) covering the next four years. It sets ceilings — the maximum each ministry is allowed to ask for. This is the single most consequential document of the year, and almost no one reads it.
What's decidedCeilings per ministry, four years ahead - 02April – MayLine ministries
Ministries file their wishlists
Health, Defence, Education, Climate and the rest each submit detailed bids for the following year. They almost always ask for more than the ceiling. The Finance Ministry pushes back. This is where most of the real fighting happens — behind closed doors, in spreadsheets.
What's decidedPer-line requests by every ministry - 03June – SeptemberCabinet (Ministerrat)
The political deal
The governing coalition meets to settle disputes the civil servants couldn't. Tax measures, new programmes and politically sensitive cuts are agreed at this stage. The output is a draft budget the Council of Ministers signs off on.
What's decidedCoalition trade-offs and headline policy - 04Mid-OctoberFinance Minister
The budget speech
The Bundesvoranschlag (BVA) is tabled in the Nationalrat with a televised speech. From this moment the numbers are public. Journalists and opposition MPs get roughly six weeks to read several thousand pages.
What's decidedPublic draft budget for the coming year - 05NovemberBudget Committee
Committee scrutiny
The Budgetausschuss interrogates each ministry line by line. The independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) publishes analyses. Amendments are usually small — the political bargain in step 03 is hard to undo here.
What's decidedTechnical amendments, rarely structural - 06Late NovemberNationalrat
The vote
Parliament votes the budget into law (Bundesfinanzgesetz). A simple majority is enough. By convention the vote happens before December so the new fiscal year can start cleanly on 1 January.
What's decidedBinding spending authority for next year - 07January – DecemberMinistries & agencies
Spending happens
Money flows out through ministries, then to agencies, regions, contractors and recipients. Live execution data is published monthly by the Bundesrechenzentrum. This is the layer FollowTheFunds reads from.
What's decidedActual euros leaving the federal account - 08The following springCourt of Audit
The reckoning
The Rechnungshof publishes the final account (Bundesrechnungsabschluss), comparing what was promised to what was spent. Discrepancies become next year's headlines — and next year's flagged anomalies on this site.
What's decidedPlan vs. actual, on the public record
Who actually has power?
Fig. 2 — influence mapFinance Minister
Sets ceilings, drafts the budget, defends it in parliament.
Line ministries
Bid for funds, run programmes, spend the money.
Coalition cabinet
Resolves political fights between ministries.
Nationalrat
Votes the budget into law. Can amend, rarely does deeply.
Parliamentary Budget Office
Independent analysis for MPs and the public.
Court of Audit
Audits the result a year later.
Where the money actually goes
Fig. 3 — flow of funds- Tax revenue
- Borrowing
- EU transfers
- Ministry of Finance
- Health
- Education
- Defence
- Climate
- Social
- Agencies
- Bundesländer
- Districts
- Contractors
- Hospitals
- Schools
- Households
- Infrastructure
Most federal money never reaches the public directly. It is passed through ministries to agencies, then to the nine Bundesländer and their districts, and only then to schools, hospitals, contractors and households. Each handover is a chance for the original intent to be reshaped — and a chance for FollowTheFunds to lose the trail.