levels estimated to recover the cost of products or services to be provided. This stabilized rate policy protects appropriated fund customers from unforeseen cost changes, and also minimizes fluctuations in planned NWCF work levels, permitting a more effective use of NWCF resources. In conjunction with the stabilized rate policy, the NWCF uses a cost recovery, or breakeven policy. With stabilized rates, gains or losses in operations may occur as a result of variations in program execution. To maintain full cost recovery and thereby to break even over the long term, NWCF activities generally adjust their rates each year to reflect such realized gains and losses. NWCF requirements To be included in the NWCF financial structure, a proposed business area must meet four criteria: Outputs (i.e., goods produced and services provided) can be identified; An approved accounting system is available; Organizations (i.e., customers) that require and order products or services have been identified; Advantages and disadvantages of establishing a buyer/seller relationship have been evaluated. Revolving funds The funding of the NWCF is based on a revolving-fund concept of operations, under which the NWCF activities received their initial working capital through an appropriation or through a transfer of resources from existing appropriations of funds and used those resources to finance the initial cost of products and services. Financial resources to replenish the initial working capital and to permit continuing operations are generated by the acceptance of customer orders. Revolving funds operate in a fashion similar to a personal checking account. An individual deposits income into their account. In order to maintain themselves as a "continuing operation," necessary goods and services must be purchased, reducing the fund total. In order to keep the fund balanced, expenditures must not exceed income. By keeping a positive account balance, and by looking for ways to stretch capital further, revolving fund activities are exercising sound financial management. A revolving fund gets its name from the cyclic nature of the cash flow. Income from customer purchases is used to finance a service providers' continuing operations, i.e., the business areas in a working capital fund sell goods or services with the intent of recovering the total cost incurred in providing those goods and services. Income from sales is then used to buy or replace inventory and finance the production of future goods and services. NWCF funding process summary Congress provides a one-time cash corpus to begin operation and in