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U.S. Government Standard General Ledger
Issues Resolution Committee (IRC) Meeting Minutes

June 16, 2011

GENERAL ITEMS:

The meeting was held at 9 a.m., at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), 441 G Street, NW., Room 7C13 ) (Staats Room), Washington, DC.

Kathy Winchester (FMS) opened the meeting with a review of the agenda. She noted that some changes were made to crosswalks after reviewing the final draft of I TFM 2-4700, Agency Reporting Requirements for the Financial Report of the United States Government scheduled to be published on June 16, 2011. The changes will be made to the crosswalks to agree with the final version of the TFM. All crosswalk changes will be reflected in the forthcoming USSGL TFM publication. Introductions were made.

HANDOUTS:

  • FACTS II - Attribute Definition Report — Fiscal 2011 Reporting
  • Fiscal 2011 USSGL Account Attributes Required for FACTS II Reporting - Easy Reference
  • Fiscal 2011 USSGL Account Attributes Required for FACTS II Reporting
  • Fiscal 2012 USSGL Account Attributes Required for FACTS II Reporting - Easy Reference
  • USSGL Crosswalk - FMS 2108: Yearend Closing Statement - Unexpended Balances, Investments, and Imprest Funds for Fiscal 2011 Reporting
  • USSGL Crosswalk - FMS 2108: Yearend Closing Statement - Unexpended Balances, Investments, and Imprest Funds for Fiscal 2012 Reporting
  • USSGL Crosswalk - Statement of Budgetary Resources for Fiscal 2011 Reporting
  • USSGL Crosswalk - Statement of Budgetary Resources for Fiscal 2012 Reporting
  • USSGL Crosswalks for Fiscal 2011 Reporting: SF 133: Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources Budget Program and Financing (P&F) Schedule Prior Year Actual Column
  • USSGL Crosswalks for Fiscal 2012 Reporting: SF 133: Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources Budget Program and Financing (P&F) Schedule Prior Year Actual Column
  • SF 133: Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources, and Budget Program and Financing (P&F) Schedule — Summary of Changes
  • U.S. Government Standard General Ledger — Summary of Changes (Consolidated)

AGENDA ITEMS:

Karen Metler(FMS) presented the changes to FACTS II data as listed in the handouts. No changes were made to the information presented in the handouts.

Sherry Pontell (FMS) presented the FMS 2108: Yearend Closing Statement crosswalks for fiscal 2011 and 2012. No changes were made to the handouts.

Kathy then opened the meeting to discuss concerns or issues that agencies may be having. Teresa Lampkin (DOT) began by asking the group what their agencies were doing to prepare for the future reporting requirements of Governmentwide Treasury Account System Trial Balance (GTAS), which is scheduled to go live in fiscal 2013. Bruce Henshel (Commerce) noted that the new reporting requirements for reporting of the Treasury main account and the partner codes will be a problem for Commerce. The Treasury main account is the four-digit part of the Treasury account symbol that identifies to Treasury what program is being reported. The trading partner code is a three-digit code that identifies the agency. Marilyn Evans (Treasury) noted that the Treasury Department would be able to capture the main accounts and trading partner information from the Treasury bureaus at the time GTAS becomes operational. However, Treasury would have a problem obtaining the main account information for prior years. She noted that Treasury has asked FMS if a cost benefit analysis has been done to determine whether the benefit is worth the high cost of capturing the data. At that time she asked FMS to reconsider their request for capturing the main account partner code information.

Kathy noted that FMS will be hosting a presentation at the FMS conference in August on GTAS. In addition, she will ask GTAS representatives to come to an IRC meeting for a presentation on what is expected in GTAS. This session will be designed to help the agencies gain a better understanding of what they may need to do to meet the new requirements and the transition from the current attribute requirements to the new attribute requirements of GTAS, which includes the reporting of the main account and the partner codes. Kathy noted that FMS is asking for the main account data and the partner code information in order to reconcile the agency reporting differences of the intragovernmental transactions. FMS believes that the reconciliation of these differences will help resolve some of the major reporting imbalances that occur when producing the Financial Report of the U.S. Government (FR). The new reporting requirements are intended to move FMS toward receiving a clean audit opinion on the FR.

Eileen Parlow (FASAB) reported that FASAB has completed a study of how the FASAB Web site is used and found that the structure of the site may have produced some unintended results. They found that the users were accessing the original FASAB standards and not focusing on the amendments (Pronouncements) to the Standards as intended. The Pronouncements are the amendments to the FASAB Standards and must be referred to for any changes to the original Standards. The original Standards are never changed so the user must refer to the Pronouncements to get the latest updated information. To help users access the latest information, the Web site will be reorganized and information will be provided to clarify the importance of the Pronouncements and how they should be used. The accounting Standards and Pronouncements will be available on the FASAB Web site under the title: FASAB Handbook of Federal Accounting Standards and Other Pronouncements, as Amended. In addition, it was announced that FASAB is now accessible on Twitter.

Kathy noted that the scenario presentation on the General Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) will be modified as the result of a closer review of the FASAB requirements. The new proposed USSGL account 1760, “General Property, Plant, and Equipment That Is Permanently Removed But Not Yet Disposed,” which was on the voting ballot in June will not be included in the upcoming TFM publication. This account is not likely to be presented again this year for consideration. During the discussion it was noted that it is important and desirable to comply with the FASAB requirements but not to require agencies to provide information that FASAB did not include in the requirements.

Sherry presented the Statement of Budgetary Resources for fiscal 2011 and 2012. No changes were made to the crosswalk portion of the original handouts. Fiscal 2011 is an update to the current published fiscal 2011 crosswalk. The fiscal 2012 crosswalk, however, has been realigned to match the SF 133 crosswalk, in accordance with guidance in OMB Circular No. A-136: Financial Reporting Requirements (9/29/10). During the discussion it was noted that new SBR adjustment lines 1020, “Adjustment to unobligated balance, brought forward, October 1”; and 3016, “Adjustment to obligated balance, start of year (+ or -)” may not agree to the corresponding lines on the SF 133/P&F. This difference is due to the different materiality thresholds between budgetary reporting and financial statement reporting.

After some discussion a decision was made to develop a footnote that would address the possible reporting differences. The following footnotes will be added to the SBR and included in the next TFM publication in June:

Footnote for line 1020:
5/ This line corresponds with SF 133/P&F line 1020. However, budgetary and financial statement requirements for reporting adjustments differ from one another. For budgetary reporting, materiality thresholds do not apply, whereas for financial statement reporting, materiality thresholds do apply. Therefore, the balance of this line will not always tie with the balance of SF 133/P&F line 1020.

Footnote for line 3016:
6/ This line corresponds with SF 133/P&F line 3016. However, budgetary and financial statement requirements for reporting adjustments differ from one another. For budgetary reporting, materiality thresholds do not apply, whereas for financial statement reporting, materiality thresholds do apply. Therefore the balance of this line will not always tie with the balance of SF 133/P&F line 3016.

Karen presented the SF 133/P&F crosswalks for fiscal 2011 and 2012. She noted that line 0900 is a new line on the P&F that has been added to support the P&F section. Minor changes were made to the crosswalks, and the changes will be reflected in the next TFM scheduled for publication on June 30, 2011.

The handouts located on the USSGL Web site provide additional detailed information discussed in the meeting minutes.

ATTENDEES:

Kathy Winchester, FMS
Sherry Pontell, FMS
Karl Foltz, FMS
Gwen Marshman, FMS
Karen Metler, FMS
Melinda Pope, FMS
Marilyn Evans, Treasury
Alana DuBois, HHS
Jenny Smith, HHS
Cynthia Wilbur, OPM
Dan Smith, PTO
Barbara Harbel, DOE
Bethany Williams, DOE
Boris Lyubovitsky, USDA
Drena McDaniel, DOT
Cindy Scharf, LOC
Kim Klein, DOE
Joe Seong, FCC
Vicky Massey, FCC
Ping K. Wa, DOJ
Michael Ward, GSA
Sharon Wagner,VA
David Surti, DHS
Webster Coleman. DOL
Amy Chen, VA
Nancy Durhan, State
Leon Fleischer, SBA
Yong Sun, HUD
Bruce Henshel, Commerce
Teresa Lampkin, DOT
Carol Gower, State
Jerry Shea, VA
Micky Chopra, DOD
Ping Wu, DOJ
Souleymane Dosso, DOJ
Maurice Gibbs, DOJ
Eileen Parlow,GAO
Teresa Tancre, OMB
Kate Valentine, OMB
Yu Chen Yeh, NASA
Debbie Huck, BPD
Terri Rollins, BPD

Last modified 07/05/19