No official deadline has been set in talks with Westminster, but Number 10 is due to publish its budget on October 28, so some Stormont sources expect any financial settlement will have to be agreed before then.
Alliance Assembly Member (MLA) Kate Nicholl said her party had called on the government to make reform of Stormont institutions a condition of any overall budget agreement.
Ulster Unionist leader John Burrows said the leader had discussed “significant” amounts of money, but also declined to give an exact figure.
He said there is a desire to agree on a budget soon, but it needs to be done correctly.
SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole, Leader of the Stormont Opposition, said that with every day that goes by without a budget, public services are suffering in Northern Ireland.