U.S. Government Standard General Ledger
Issues Resolution Committee (IRC) Meeting Minutes
March 8, 2012
GENERAL ITEMS:
The meeting was held on March 8, 2012, at the Government Accounting Office, 441 G Street, NW., Room 2N30, Washington DC.
Ava Lun (FMS) opened the meeting and said that there would be discussions on the Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance (GTAS) data edits and validations. GTAS will replace the Federal Agencies' Centralized Trial-Balance System (FACTS I), FACTS II, the Intragovernmental Fiduciary Confirmation System (IFCS), and the Intragovernmental Reporting and Analysis System (IRAS) reporting systems as the primary means of reporting agency trial balances. The IRC will continue to discuss the U.S.Government Standard General Ledger (USSGL) GTAS process in the coming weeks and the requirements for agencies when GTAS is implemented. Representatives from the GTAS project team plan to be available at each of the IRC meetings to assist in understanding and clarifying the requirements. GTAS will go live on December of 2013. It is hope that the presentations will identify and help resolve agency concerns before that date.
Note: The meeting minutes reflect the six-digit USSGL account number code structure. This is used in anticipation of the March TFM release, which will include the six-digit account code for fiscal 2013 reporting. The six digits include the original four-digit USSGL account number code with two zero's added to the end. Additional information on the implementation of the six-digit number code can be found in TFM Volume I, Bulletin No. 2010-08 (see the USSGL Web site at https://fiscal.treasury.gov/ussgl/index.html).
HANDOUTS:
- USSGL Account Attribute Table for Fiscal 2013 Reporting
- USSGL Crosswalk – Budget Program and Financing (P&F) Schedule for Fiscal 2013 Reporting
- USSGL Crosswalk – SF 133: Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources for Fiscal 2013 Reporting
- USSGL Closing Edits – Detail Report
- USSGL Data Edits – Detail Report
- USSGL Data Edits – Summary Report – Updated
- USSGL Data Validations – Detail
- USSGL Data Validations – Summary
AGENDA ITEMS:
Rita Cronley (FMS) began by discussing the USSGL Data Validations – Summary Report. The data validations verify that all data submitted is in accordance with the USSGL attributes, domain value rules, and exceptions. The data validation edits are always fatal. It is important to note that if the validations fail and an error message occurs then the corrections will need to be made to the agency's submitted bulk file offline by the preparer. GTAS does not have an online data entry module to make the corrections. After the data validations have passed all edits, the GTAS system will automatically begin running the accounting edits against the bulk file.
Michele Crisman (FMS) noted that the data validation information currently on the USSGL Web site is different from the data validations generated from the GTAS. The USSGL Advisory Division will correct the differences and will publish the valid information in the TFM.
Rita said that there are some limited exceptions to the validations listed on the USSGL Data Validations – Summary Report. The agency must be on the exceptions list and use the authorized code, otherwise, the data will not pass the edits. Michele noted that an example of one of the exceptions is that you cannot have current year authority in an expired Treasury Account Symbol (TAS). She also said that the USSGL goal is to publish all exceptions in the TFM during the March or June release.
Karen Hunter (SSA) asked how the miscellaneous receipts will be reflected in GTAS. The miscellaneous receipts that are reported with the agency's two-digit department code will reflect a total balance of all receipts in USSGL account 101000, "Fund Balance With Treasury" at the end of the fiscal year. When the accounts are swept by the Treasury's Central Accounting and Reporting System at the yearend, they will reflect a zero balance.
One of the attendees stated that the 6000 series deposit funds were reporting their fund balance using USSGL account 101000, "Fund Balance With Treasury." Eileen Parlow (FASAB) asked why the deposit funds are reported using USSGL account 101000. She noted that deposit funds should not have USSGL account 101000 fund balances and if the USSGL account 101000 balances are reported they may contribute to inaccurate reporting on the Financial Report of the United States Government (FR).
Although a complete answer was not forthcoming at the meeting, members of the USSGL Advisory Division noted that they do not believe that the USSGL account 101000 balance is included in the FR.
Post Meeting Information
After the meeting, the Financial Management Service's (FMS's) Financial Reports Division (FRD), which prepares the FR, staff members had the following response concerning the series 6000 deposit funds:
The agency deposit funds use USSGL account 101000, "Fund Balance With Treasury." When a deposit fund receives money it is recorded in the operating cash of the Government and that amount also is included in the operating cash balance used to prepare the FR.
Nonfiduciary deposit funds record equal and corresponding non-Federal liabilities, the "N" cash asset (within operating cash) and corresponding "N" liability (within other liabilities), are included in the FR without requiring a top-level Journal Voucher (JV) adjustment. To avoid double counting of cash in the deposit fund, the fund balance is eliminated during the FR consolidation process.
In contrast, while the cash asset is in operating cash with regard to fiduciary deposit funds, similar to the above, the corresponding liability is included in the FR only via top level JV adjustment - the amount must be disclosed and is found in the FR fiduciary funds note disclosure.
USSGL DATA EDITS - SUMMARY REPORT
Rita continued to discuss the USSGL Data Edits-Summary Report. GTAS includes both proprietary and budgetary accounting transactions. System edits are performed at both the USSGL level and at the TAS level, therefore, it is imperative that the agencies be aware of all edit requirements that affect the agency transactions when the GTAS goes live in 2013. For example, a TAS level edit would be the dollar amount reported by an agency as investments in Treasury securities. This amount would be validated with the amount of investments in Treasury securities made by the agency and recorded in the records of Treasury's Central Accounting and Reporting System.
Line 21. Closing Validation GTAS Year 1 ensures that the current period beginning USSGL account balance is equal to the prior year preclosing account balance. Rita noted that FMS will work with the agency to get the edit passed, within limited parameters, but only if both FMS and OMB are in agreement. In addition, the name: "Closing Validation GTAS Year 1," will be revised to clarify the requirements of the items on the line.
Rita said that lines 27 thru 29 of the USSGL Data Edits – Summary Report have been changed from proposed analytical to fatal edits in FACTS II effective June 2012.
Teresa Tancre (OMB) said that USSGL account 411400, "Appropriated Trust or Special Fund Receipts," should equal the balance in the agency's corresponding receipt accounts. However, this does not happen in some agency reports.
Michele noted that March 15, 2012, is the deadline for changes to the TFM. After March 15, 2012, the GTAS documents will be published with the current available information. Any additional changes and corrections will be made in the next TFM publication, scheduled for June 2012.
Michele also said that the IRC agenda for next week (March 15, 2012) will include a review of the USSGL crosswalks that are produced from OMB Circular No. A-136 guidance.
ATTENDEES:
Melanie White, FMS
Karl Foltz, FMS
Mark Graham, SSA
Karen Hunter, SSA
Maryla Engleking, DOD
Jerry Shea, VA
Rita Cronley, FMS
Michele Crisman, FMS
Stepahanie Pickerill, FMS
Eileen Parlow, FASAB
Jonathan Diaz Olivo, FMS
Cindy Sharf, LOC
Marilyn Evans, Treasury
Vicky Lin, Treasury
Joseph Henry, SBA
Steve Ramey, SBA
Harold Blitz, FMS
Cassandra Holman, GSA
Rebekah Poirier, DHS
Michael Ward, GSA
Shannon Redding, FMS
Yong Sun, HUD
Diane Washington, DOI
Christine Chang, FMS
Sherry Pontell, FMS
Mark Garland, USPTO
Loren Phillips, NASA
Edwin Walker, FMS
Jerri Jones, DOJ
April Mitchell, DOJ
Bruce Henshel, Commerce
Jerome Commander, NASA
Abdelaziz, Hesham, USDA
Jenny Smith, HHS
Alana DuBois, HHS
Drena McDaniel, DOT
Susan Stengel, NRC
Janice Alexander, NSF
Gerald Davenport, DFAS
Kim Klein, DOE
Ana Labador, SSA
Briana Yaho, SSA
Keith Lewis, SSA
Letha Holiday, SSA
Judy Sheppard, BPD
Carol Berg, BPD
Terri Rollins, BPD
Jill Hearn, BPD