By Mitchell Schmidt, includes “… Under cash modified accrual accounting, the method used by the state for balancing the budget, a credit card purchase in December wouldn't be logged as an expense until January, when the bill is due to be paid. … Wisconsin’s budget must be balanced by law, but the state uses the cash accounting method. Past governors and Legislatures have done things like pushing payments to municipalities past the June 30 end of the state's fiscal year to balance the current biennial budget.”