Expenditures FAQ

The Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal Expenditures page provides information about state agency expenditures and program disbursements.

The financial data available on this site has been organized into four areas which include Agency, Expenditure Category, Contract Number, and Vendor Name. Drill-down features have been incorporated into the page such that total payments may be viewed at different levels of detail. Additional records can be obtained by making a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the appropriate records custodian(s) in the agency that possesses the documents in accordance with the law.

Using the drill-down capability of this page, you can start with a payment Category such as “CONTRACTUAL SERVICES”. Selecting “CONTRACTUAL SERVICES” will provide the next level of information, referred to as object details, displaying payments for specific service types and the vendors (or companies) the state has paid for each service. Choosing a specific Vendor Name will let you see payments to that company summarized by Contract Number, if applicable. Similar functionality is available using the Agency, Contract Number, and Vendor Name search areas.

Below are key terms associated with the Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal Expenditures page.

Agency:

The term Agency is the highest level of functional organization of Illinois state government. "State agency" means the offices of the constitutional officers identified in Article V of the Illinois Constitution, executive agencies, and departments, boards, commissions, and Authorities under the Governor.

Appropriation:

The term Appropriation means line-item detail of spending approved by the General Assembly and Governor, categorized by object of expenditure.

Category:

The term Category is used to describe the appropriation line item from which the expenditure is made.

Contract:

The term Contract means payment obligations with vendors on file with the Office of the Comptroller to purchase goods and services exceeding $10,000 in value (or, in the case of professional or artistic services, exceeding $5,000 in value).

Object:

The term Object is used to describe the particular type of good or service.

Vendor Name:

The term Vendor Name refers to the name of the business entity paid by the State. The names displayed correspond to the names on the warrants. Vendor Names may not be unique; therefore, an entity with multiple locations or FEINs may be displayed several times.

Financial transaction data is updated nightly. All expenditure information is based on the state's fiscal year cycle. Information is presented as originally processed.

All payments referencing a state contract on file with the Office of the Comptroller will display a Contract Number. Payment transactions not associated with a contract on file will indicate “Non-Contract Purchases.” Some expenditure transactions may contain confidential client/customer information protected by state and federal laws and regulatory restrictions. Many of these related statutes impose significant penalties for improper disclosure. For categories of expenditure which may include restricted client information, the client Vendor Name information is indicated as “Restricted,” both to protect the personal privacy of Illinois citizens and to ensure compliance with the law.

The Payments by Agency page displays total payment amounts by Agency for payments made for goods, services, and program disbursements during the fiscal year. To view more specific information about the payments for an Agency, click on the Agency name. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Agency Payments by Category page displays total payment amounts summarized by category for the fiscal year for the Agency selected on the Payments by Agency page. To view more specific information about the payments for a category, click on the category description. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Agency Payments by Category page displays summarized payment amounts for the detail items included in the Category selected on the Agency Payments by Category page for the fiscal year. Click on a detail description to see a list of vendors who received payment for the detail item. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Agency Payments for a Category Detail by Vendor page displays payment amounts summarized by vendor for the category detail selected on the Agency Payments by Category Object page for the fiscal year. Click on a Vendor Name to see if payments are associated with a Contract Number. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Agency Payments to a Vendor for a Category page displays payment amounts summarized by contract number for the vendor selected on the Agency Payments for a Category Object by Vendor page for the fiscal year. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments by Category page displays total payment amounts for all Categories of goods, services, and program disbursements that were made during the fiscal year. To view more specific information about the payments for a Category, click on the Category description. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments by Category page displays summarized payment amounts for the detail items included in the Category description selected on the Category page for the fiscal year. Click on a detail description to see a list of vendors who received payments for the detail item. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments for a Category by Vendor page displays summarized payment amounts by vendor for the category detail selected on the Category Object page for the fiscal year. Click on a vendor name to see if payments are associated with a contract. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to a Vendor for a Category page displays payment amounts summarized by contract number for the vendor selected on the Category Object by Vendor page for the fiscal year. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Search by Vendor page is the starting point for viewing payment information to a specific vendor for the fiscal year. Enter all or part of the vendor name you wish to find, and click “Search”. The search will return a listing on the Vendor Search Results page of all vendors for the fiscal year whose vendor name contains the exact phrase entered in the search box.

The Vendor Search Results page displays a listing of the vendors matching the search criteria entered on the Search by Vendor page for the desired fiscal year. Click on a vendor name to see a list of the goods, services, or program disbursements for the selected vendor during the fiscal year. If the desired vendor is not included in the search results listing, change the search criteria and click on the “Search” button to begin another search. The search results may return multiple records with the same vendor name because vendor names may not be unique. An entity with multiple locations may be displayed several times. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to Vendor by Category page displays a listing of summarized payments by goods, services, or program distribution category made during the fiscal year for the vendor selected on the Vendor Search Results page. Click on a category description to view detailed information about the payments made to this vendor for this category. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to a Vendor for a Category page displays summarized payment amounts for the detail items included in the Category description selected on the Payments to Vendor by Category page for the fiscal year. Click on a detail description to see payments summarized by contract when applicable. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to a Vendor for a Category Object page displays a listing of the contracts referenced when making payments to the vendor for the category detail selected on the Payments to a Vendor for a Category page. Payment totals displayed on this page are summarized by contract number. The payment amounts displayed for each contract reflect payments made during the fiscal year. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Search by Contract Number page is the starting point for viewing payment information based on contract numbers. Contract payments may be searched by fiscal year and contract number or by fiscal year and vendor.

If searching by Vendor Name, enter all or part of the vendor name you wish to find in the Vendor Name entry box and click the “Search” button next to the vendor name. If searching by Contract Number, enter all or part of the contract number you wish to find in the Contract Number entry box and then click the “Search” button next to the Contract Number entry box.

The Contract Vendor Search Results page displays vendors matching the search criteria entered in the vendor search area of the Search by Contract page. Only vendors with contract payments are included in the results. Click on a vendor to see a list of payment amounts summarized by contract for the selected vendor during the fiscal year. If the desired vendor is not included in the listing you may change your search criteria and click on the “Search” button to begin another search. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The search results may return multiple records with the same vendor name because vendor names may not be unique. An entity with multiple locations may be displayed several times.

The Contract Search Results page displays the contract numbers matching the search criteria entered on the Search by Contract page along with a summarized payment amount for each contract for the fiscal year. Click on a contract number to see a list payments summarized by vendor for the goods, services, or program distributions paid under the contract during the fiscal year. If the desired contract number is not included in the search results you may change your search criteria and click on the “Search” button to begin another search. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to Vendors Referencing a Contract page displays payment information summarized by vendor for the contract number selected on the Contract Search Results page during the fiscal year. Click on a vendor to see a list of categories the vendor received payment for under the selected contract. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to a Vendor Referencing a Contract by Category page displays a listing of the goods, services, and program distribution categories for the vendor selected on the Payments to Vendors Referencing a Contract page which received payments for the selected contract number for the fiscal year. A summarized payments total is displayed for each category. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.

The Payments to a Vendor Referencing a Contract by Category Object page displays summarized payment amounts for the detail items included in the Category selected on the Payments to a Vendor Referencing a Contract by Category page for the fiscal year. Click on any column header to re-sort the data.