Responsibility center is a command designated to receive and administer an operating budget. A type commander is classified as a responsibility center. Supplies and Equipage (S&E) is a traditional phrase used to describe the purpose of OPTARs for the operating, organizational maintenance, and administrative requirements of a ship, staff, or other unit of the operating forces. Threshold is the designated administrative money value ceiling. Threshold charge is the process whereby the accounting office charges the unmatched expenditure documents of a value below the threshold without matching obligations (unfilled orders). This procedure is conducted only if the research failed to match the expenditure to an obligation on file. Unmatched expenditure refers to the expenditure document that has not been matched with an unfilled order and has not been threshold charged nor direct charged in the reconciliation process by the accounting Office. BUDGET AUTHORIZATION A budget authorization is granted after the appropriation bill is signed by the President. The following paragraphs describe the making of a budget authorization. STEPS IN BUDGET PREPARATION The annual budget of the Navy is prepared in several steps. It starts when the director of the Office of Management and Budget requests the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) to submit the DOD budget estimate. The SECDEF provides the guidelines for budget preparation and directs the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) to prepare the budgetary requirements for the Navy. The SECNAV determines the Department of the Navy (DON) policies, directs the preparation of and reviews and approves the Navy program objectives. With the assistance of the Comptroller of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), and Commandant of the Marine Corps, the SECNAV prepares the Navy program objectives. The Navy program objectives are issued to offices, commands, bureaus, and Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. The Comptroller of the Navy requests these organizations to submit their requirements and estimated costs. After the Comptroller of the Navy reviews the estimates, they are forwarded to the SECNAV. After review, the SECNAV transmits the Navy budget estimates to the SECDEF. The Comptroller of the DOD reviews and make recommendations to the SECDEF to submit the budget estimates to the Office of Management and Budget. The director of the Office of Management and Budget reviews the estimates, make revisions to show the President’s policy, and prepares the President’s budget estimate for submission to the Congress by the President. CONGRESS The House and Senate review the budget presented by the President. An appropriation bill, containing the budget figures as modified by changes agreed upon by both the House and Senate, is forwarded to the President for signature. PRESIDENT When the President signs the appropriation bill, it becomes a law and an appropriation act. TREASURY DEPARTMENT AND GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) Upon receipt of a copy of the appropriation act, the Treasury Department draws an appropriation warrant and forwards it to GAO for countersignature. The GAO analyzes, countersigns, and returns the warrant to the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department provides a copy of the warrant to the DON as a notification that the appropriation is available for obligations and expenditures. MAJOR CLAIMANT/SUBCLAIMANTS The operating funds identified by the subhead are allocated by the CNO to the major claimants (for example, fleet commanders). The fleet commanders issue expense limitations to themselves for fleet level functions and to the type commanders. The type commanders, in turn, issue operating budgets to shore activities designated as responsibility centers. Type and fleet commanders also issue operating budgets to themselves as responsibility centers for the following expenses l Centrally managed programs overhaul) . Expenses for their own staffs (such as ship 6-4