Lead. Transform. Deliver Department of the Treasury • Bureau of the Fiscal Service • Washington, DC 20227 

 Collections Business Area 

Collections 

Cycle 

Memo 

Part I 

Published By: Revenue Collections Management 

Last Revised: June 2023
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Table of Contents 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6 

What Is the Collections Cycle Memo? ....................................................................................... 6 

Who Is Responsible for the Collections Business Area? ........................................................... 6 

What Is the Scope of the Collections Business Area? ................................................................ 6 

What Is Outside the Scope of the Collections Business Area? .................................................. 7 

What Are the Advantages of Having a Centralized Collections Business Area? ...................... 7 

What Are Business Lines, Collection Programs, Systems, and Services? ................................. 8 

For Whom Is This Document Intended? .................................................................................... 8 

How Is This Document Structured? ........................................................................................... 9 

What Requirements Does This Document Impose? ................................................................... 9 

Who Are the Stakeholders of the Collections Business Area? .................................................. 9 

How Is Revenue Collections Management Organized to Manage the Collections Business 

Area? ................................................................................................................................. 10 

What Are Revenue Collections Management’s Mission and Vision? ..................................... 11 

What Authority Does the Fiscal Service Have to Govern How Agencies Collect Public 

Money? ............................................................................................................................. 11 

What Authority Does the Fiscal Service Have to Designate Agents and Depositaries? .......... 12 

How Does an Agency Engage with the Fiscal Service to Process Collections? ...................... 12 

The Collections Business Area ..................................................................................................... 13 

What Functions Comprise the Collections Business Area? ..................................................... 13 

The remainder of this part primarily discusses the collection and reporting functions. The 

centralization function, as well as the support functions of managing collateral and 

managing banks, are addressed in Part 2. ......................................................................... 15 

Overview of Collection Activity .............................................................................................. 15 

How Are These Processes Organized into Business Lines and Programs, and Who Is 

Responsible for Them? ..................................................................................................... 16 

What Program Changes Have Occurred In FYs 2020 thru 2022? ........................................... 18 

What Programs Comprise the Over the Counter Channel? ...................................................... 19 

Treasury General Account Network ...................................................................................... 19 

Over the Counter Channel Application, Collections Information Repository, Debit Gateway, 

and Card Acquiring Service .................................................................................................. 19 

What Programs Comprise the Mail Channel? .......................................................................... 20 

General Lockbox Network .................................................................................................... 21

Internal Revenue Service Lockbox Network ......................................................................... 21 

Electronic Check Processing ................................................................................................. 21 

Specialty Lockboxes .............................................................................................................. 22 

Electronic Data Interchange Lockboxes ................................................................................ 22 

What Programs Comprise the Internet Channel? ..................................................................... 22 

Electronic Federal Tax Payment System ............................................................................... 22 

What Programs Comprise the Card Processing Business Line? .............................................. 23 

Card Acquiring Service ......................................................................................................... 23 

What Programs Comprise the Debit Processing Business Line? ............................................. 24 

Debit Gateway ....................................................................................................................... 24 
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What Programs Comprise the Credit Processing Business Line? ............................................ 24 

Credit Gateway ...................................................................................................................... 24 

What Programs Comprise the Transaction Reporting and Cash Concentration Business Line?

........................................................................................................................................... 25 

Collections Information Repository ...................................................................................... 25 

Treasury Cash Management System-Direct Voucher Submission ........................................ 26 

Image Archive ....................................................................................................................... 27 

Routing Transit Number Oversight ....................................................................................... 27 

What Programs Comprise the Bank Management Business Line? .......................................... 28 

Bank Management System .................................................................................................... 28 

What Programs Comprise the Collateral Management Business Line? ................................... 28 

Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring System .................................................... 28 

Other RCM Systems, Services, and Programs ......................................................................... 29 

Electronic Commerce (eCommerce) ..................................................................................... 29 

Cash Management Improvement Act Program (CMIA) ....................................................... 29 

Electronic Collections (eCollections) .................................................................................... 29 

Minority Bank Deposit Program (MBDP) ............................................................................ 30 

What Changes Are Expected in the Collections Business Area in Coming Years? ................ 30 
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ACRONYMS 

ACH Automated Clearing House 

ARM Agency Relationship Management Division 

BMF Business Master File 

BMS Bank Management System 

CARS Central Accounting & Reporting System 

CAN Central Accounting Reporting System Account Number 

CAS Card Acquiring Service 

CCC Customer Contact Center 

CDG Collections and Deposits Group 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

CIR Collections Information Repository 

CIS Citizenship and Immigration Services 

CMIA Cash Management Improvement Act 

CRG Compliance and Reporting Group 

DDM Debt and Disbursement Management 

DW Digital Wallets 

DVS Direct Voucher Submission 

eCollections Electronic Collections 

eCommerce Electronic Commerce 

ECP Electronic Check Processing 

EDI Electronic Data Interchange 

EFTPS Electronic Federal Tax Payment System 

ET Eastern Time 

FAM Financial Audit Manual 

FA Fiscal Accounting 

FedACH Federal Reserve Bank’s Automated Clearing House 

Fiscal Service Bureau of the Fiscal Service 

FIT Financial Innovation and Transformation 

FPA Federal Program Agency 

FRB Federal Reserve Bank 

FRIT Federal Reserve Information Technology 

FRS Federal Reserve System 

GLN General Lockbox Network 

GUI Graphical User Interface 

IMF Individual Master File 

IRS Internal Revenue Service 

ISS Information and Security Services 

MBDP Minority Bank Deposit Program 

MG Office of Management 

MICR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition 

MITGA Mail-In Treasury General Account 

NACHA National Automated Clearing House Association 

NSF Insufficient Funds 

NSS National Settlement Service 
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OAL Official Authorization List 

OCR Optical Character Recognition 

OFAS Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary 

OFP Office of Fiscal Projections 

OLBP Online Bill Payment 

OSS Office of Shared Services 

OTC Over the Counter 

OTCnet Over the Counter Channel Application 

PIR Payment Information Repository 

PMS Public Money Symbol 

RCM Revenue Collections Management 

RRM Revenue and Remittance Management Division 

RSS Retail Securities Services 

RTN Routing and Transit Number 

SCCN Seized Currency Collection Network 

SCMA Strategic Cash Management Agreement 

SF Standard Form 

SOD Statement of Difference 

SSD Settlement Services Division 

STP Straight-Through Processing 

TAS/BETC Treasury Account Symbol/Business Event Type Code 

TCD Tax Collection Division 

TCMS-DVS Treasury Cash Management System-Direct Voucher Submission 

TCMM Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring System 

TGA Treasury General Account 

TPI Third Party Interface 

TRSO Treasury Relations Support Office 

TWAI Treasury Web Application Infrastructure 

U.S.C. United States Code 

WSS Wholesale Securities Services 

 
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Introduction 

What Is the Collections Cycle Memo? 

The Collections Cycle Memo focuses on important programs and processes associated with the 

receipt and management of public monies, also referred to as the collections business area. 

In particular, and as set out in section 390.05 of the General Accountability Office’s Financial 

Audit Manual (FAM), a cycle memorandum should: 

(1) identify the cycle transactions, each significant accounting application, and each 

significant financial management system included in the cycle; 

(2) describe interfaces with other cycles; 

(3) identify financial statement line items, relevant assertions, and general ledger 

accounts included in the cycle; 

(4) describe the operating policies and procedures relating to the processing of cycle 

transactions (see FAM 320.03); and 

(5) identify major internal controls (overview only). 

Who Is Responsible for the Collections Business Area? 

The collections business area is the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal 

Service), a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Within the Fiscal Service, the 

programs described in this document are managed by the Revenue Collections Management 

(RCM) Assistant Commissioner area. Subject to oversight by RCM, much of the day-to-day 

work is performed by commercial financial institutions and Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs) 

designated by the Fiscal Service as financial agents, fiscal agents, or depositaries of the 

government. 

What Is the Scope of the Collections Business Area? 

Collecting the revenue is one of the core activities of the Fiscal Service in its role as the 

government’s money manager. On behalf of hundreds of Federal agency offices and programs, 

RCM annually processes more than 460 million transactions to collect over $5.7 trillion in 

revenue. RCM provides multiple options to receive transactions—referred to as collection 

channels—such as over the counter, mail, and internet. Our systems and services also accept 

multiple methods of payment—referred to as settlement mechanisms—such as cash, check, 

credit and debit card, Automated Clearing House (ACH), Fedwire settlements, and Digital 

Wallets. 

Collecting the revenue requires that RCM perform other functions as well. These include 

providing reports to agencies, centralizing funds in the Treasury General Account (the 
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government’s checking account), ensuring that banks holding public monies have provided 

sufficient collateral, and compensating the banks that help run these programs. 

Examples of revenue collections handled by RCM include over $4.8 trillion in tax collections, as 

well as passport fees, student loan repayments, customs duties, National Park entrance fees, 

commissary retail sales, and coin sales. In many instances, RCM programs handle not only the 

financial information associated with these transactions (such as the amount of the transaction), 

but also the agency-specific program information (such as the purpose of the transaction). 

What Is Outside the Scope of the Collections Business Area? 

As a rule, the collections business area does not address: 

 The collection for the recovery of delinquent debts. Debt collections are handled by the 

Fiscal Service’s Debt and Disbursement Management (DDM) Assistant Commissioner area. 

 The payment of public money by the government. Disbursements are handled by the Fiscal 

Service’s Debt and Disbursement Management (DDM) Assistant Commissioner area. 

 The accounting of the government’s financial funds, outside of collections of public monies. 

Fiscal accounting is handled by the Fiscal Service’s Fiscal Accounting Assistant 

Commissioner area. 

 The loaning of excess operating balances. Investments are currently not being made (due to 

low interest rates) and this responsibility was previously transferred to the Office of Fiscal 

Projections (OFP) within Treasury’s Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary (OFAS). 

 The borrowing of public monies. The issuance of securities is performed by the Wholesale 

Securities Services (WSS) and Retail Securities Services (RSS) Assistant Commissioner 

areas. 

There are exceptions to the above. Debt Management Services uses RCM’s collections 

programs to collect delinquent debt, similar to other agencies with collections. This is also the 

case with WSS and funds collected for some securities transactions. RCM programs provide 

information to Fiscal Accounting for its accounting responsibilities and provide forecasting 

information to Fiscal Accounting and OFP to help determine how much money the government 

should loan or borrow. 

What Are the Advantages of Having a Centralized Collections Business Area? 

As opposed to centralizing collections functionality with RCM, an alternative approach to the 

handling of collections functionality would be to leave this functionality with agencies to 

implement themselves. However, by centralizing the functionality within RCM, it is possible to 

build scalable, reusable solutions that multiple agencies can use. This allows for economies of 

scale and standard, consistent collection systems and practices across the federal government, 

saving time and money across government. Requesting a single agency to specialize in reusable 

government collections solutions should also make for better services generally. 
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Agencies have much to gain by using RCM’s collection services. Not only do these services 

spare agencies the hassle of coming up with solutions on their own, in many cases RCM offers 

its collection services to agencies free of charge. 

The Fiscal Service also has much to gain by offering these collection services. In addition to 

saving money for the government through the avoidance of redundant solutions by agencies, 

RCM’s services encourage the prompt deposit of funds and lead to the capture of information 

about transactions, which can be used to optimize the government’s daily cash position and 

provide reports to agencies and policy-makers about the government’s finances. 

What Are Business Lines, Collection Programs, Systems, and Services? 

The collections business area consists of several business lines. A business line is a high-level 

categorization of functionality, such as the “Internet Channel.” 

The business lines are served by one or more programs. A program consists of one or more 

systems or services managed together in an ongoing fashion. 

A system refers to information technology controlled by a program that creates, stores, or 

processes data. For instance, both RCM’s Pay.gov and Debit Gateway programs consist of 

systems because RCM has exclusive control over the information technology that handles data 

for these programs. 

A service refers to work performed by manual means (such as lockbox processing) or by 

information technology that is not controlled by an RCM program and processes information for 

other customers (such as credit and debit card processing). For instance, RCM categorizes the 

General Lockbox Network (GLN) a service because the work is primarily manual. Likewise, 

RCM considers the Credit Gateway and Card Acquiring Service to be services because the 

information technology is controlled by a financial agent bank (and which they use to serve 

many other customers outside of the government) or third-party processors used by the bank for 

the provision of commercial, largely off-the-shelf transaction processing services. 

The definitions of system and service can be confusing at times because they depend in part on 

the perspective of the program owner. For instance, RCM considers Pay.gov to be a system, as 

mentioned above, because RCM controls the information technology at the heart of this program. 

However, from an agency’s perspective, Pay.gov is a service, because it provides functionality 

for an agency through information technology that is not controlled by that agency. 

For Whom Is This Document Intended? 

The Collections Cycle Memo is primarily intended for auditors but can be used by anyone 

seeking to gain a better understanding of the collections business area. This includes those who 

are relatively unfamiliar with the collections business area as well as those who are familiar with 

the collections business area but are looking for additional information on specific topics. The 

audience can range from federal agency representatives to the Fiscal Service business architects. 
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How Is This Document Structured? 

This memorandum is divided into two parts. The first part provides introductory information on 

collections programs and processes associated with collections. This includes a discussion of 

collections channels, settlement mechanisms, and transaction reporting. 

The second part addresses these programs and processes at a more detailed level. The first part 

likely will be of the most use to those who are unfamiliar with the collections business area, 

while the second part is intended for an audience with more detailed knowledge of the 

collections business area. 

What Requirements Does This Document Impose? 

This document is designed to serve as a reference guide. It is intended to explain certain 

programs and processes. It is not intended to set out requirements to be met by agencies, agents, 

depositaries, or the public. Those requirements can be found elsewhere, such as in agency 

agreements with the Fiscal Service, other parts of the Treasury Financial Manual, and the Code 

of Federal Regulations. 

Who Are the Stakeholders of the Collections Business Area? 

Outside of RCM, the stakeholders of the collections business area include: 

o U.S. Treasury’s Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary (OFAS) and the Office of Fiscal 

Projections (OFP) (within OFAS). OFAS and OFP are interested in ensuring that funds are 

concentrated in the Treasury General Account as quickly as possible and that information 

regarding completed and in-process transactions is made available to Treasury’s cash 

forecasting systems. 

o The Fiscal Service’s Office of the Commissioner. The Office of the Commissioner has 

overall responsibility for the Fiscal Service’s role as the government’s financial manager, 

including the collections business area. 

o The Fiscal Service’s Debt and Disbursement Management (DDM) Assistant Commissioner 

area, Wholesale Securities Services (WSS) Assistant Commissioner area, Retail Securities 

Services (RSS) Assistant Commissioner area, and Fiscal Accounting (FA) Assistant 

Commissioner area receive information from collections programs, provide information to 

these programs, or have transactions processed by these programs. 

o The Fiscal Service’s Information and Security Services (ISS) Assistant Commissioner area. 

ISS is responsible for enterprise architecture and security generally within the Fiscal Service. 

They are also responsible for the hosting environment used by several RCM systems. 

o The Government Securities Regulations Executive Director area has responsibility over 

eligibility and valuation regulations for collateral; collateral is needed for collections that 

RCM oversees. 

o The Office of Management (MG) provides efficient and effective support to the Fiscal 

Service’s staff, customers, and programs. 

o The Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation (FIT) aims to be a catalyst for 

transformation in Federal financial management, by optimizing Federal financial 
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management and inspiring change through innovation and data transparency. 

o The Office of Shared Services (OSS) promotes government efficiency by delivering cost 

effective and quality administrative services through a shared service model. 

o Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs). FRBs serve as fiscal agents and depositaries in developing 

and operating collections programs. 

o Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Board leads the Federal Reserve System and is 

interested in the monetary policy implications of decisions about business processes 

implemented by collections programs. 

o Treasury Relations and Support Office (TRSO). The TRSO has a leadership role among the 

Federal Reserve Banks that serve as fiscal agents. 

o Federal Reserve Information Technology (FRIT). FRIT has a leadership role in providing 

technology support for Treasury applications involving Federal Reserve Banks. 

o Commercial banks. Commercial banks serve as financial agents and depositaries in 

developing and operating collections programs. 

o Agencies. Agencies use RCM’s systems and services to conduct their business. 

o Fiscal Service governing bodies 

How Is Revenue Collections Management Organized to Manage the 

Collections Business Area? 

Revenue Collections Management (RCM) is organized into multiple divisions that are 

responsible for both operational and developmental responsibilities for its programs. (RCM does 

not place operations and development into separate divisions, though it has done so in the past.) 

Some divisions have no operational or developmental responsibilities, but instead support the 

divisions that do. The divisions fall under two Deputy Assistant Commissioners, though two 

divisions report directly to RCM’s Assistant Commissioner. The three senior executives in RCM 

are its Assistant Commissioner and the two Deputy Assistant Commissioners. 

The Deputy Assistant Commissioner areas, divisions and programs are as follows: 

o Collections and Deposit Group (CDG) 

o Agency Relationship Management Division 

o Revenue and Remittance Management Division 

o Over the Counter Division 

o Settlement Services Division 

o Business Transformation Division 

o Data Management Reporting and Analysis Division 

o Tax and Compliance Group (TCG) 

o Tax Collection Division 

o Division Information Office Division 

o Assistant Commissioner Executive Area 

o Resource Management Division 

o Bank Policy and Oversight Division 
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What Are Revenue Collections Management’s Mission and Vision? 

The RCM mission is to collect the revenue and associated information that enable the federal 

government to operate and serve the public. 

The vision of RCM is to transform financial management, promote efficiency, and deliver 

exceptional revenue collection services for the federal government and the public. We will serve 

as the trusted stewards of public monies by bringing innovation, excellence, and security to the 

nation’s revenue collection services for current and future generations. 

To reach our vision, we plan to revolutionize by offering products and services widely used in 

the private sector, such as digital wallets, mobile applications, and online bill presentment and 

payment services. RCM will optimize by sustaining operational excellence, continually 

improving business processes, and maintaining the convenience, security, flexibility, as well as 

cost effectiveness with systems and programs. RCM will analyze data by finding patterns and 

relationships, understanding outcomes through statistical analysis, as well as forecasting 

collections through predictive modeling. Finally, we will digitize by moving from paper to 

electronic collections and remittance information through both tax and non-tax initiatives. 

What Authority Does the Fiscal Service Have to Govern How Agencies Collect 

Public Money? 

Exercising his authority under 31 U.S.C. § 321 to delegate duties and powers, the Secretary of 

the Treasury has delegated his authority over federal government collections, and cash 

management in general to the Fiscal Service. The functions generally encompass the authority to: 

 “prepare plans for improving and managing receipts of the United States Government,” 31 

U.S.C. § 321(a)(1); 

 “carry out services related to finances that the Secretary is required to perform,” 31 U.S.C. § 

321(a)(2); 

 “collect receipts” and “receive and keep public money,” 31 U.S.C. §§ 321(a)(6), 3301; and 

 “prescribe regulations to carry out the duties and powers of the Secretary.” 31 U.S.C. § 321. 

One of the authorities delegated to the Fiscal Service is the Secretary’s authority to enter banking 

relationships for the deposit or other handling of public money. Subject to a handful of very 

explicit and narrowly drawn exceptions, only the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to enter 

into such banking relationships: “The Secretary of the Treasury designates depositaries of money 

as provided in this section and under other law.” 31 U.S.C. § 3303(a). Agencies must deposit 

public money with only these depositaries: “A person having custody or possession of public 

money... shall deposit the money without delay... with a depositary designated by the Secretary 

of the Treasury under law.” 31 U.S.C. § 3302(c)(1). Aside from depositing the public money in 

a designated depositary, an official or agent of the Government may not “deposit the money in a 

bank.” 31 U.S.C. § 3302(a)(3). 

Another authority delegated to the Fiscal Service is the Secretary’s power to prescribe 

regulations “for the collection and timely deposit of sums owed to [agencies]....” 31 U.S.C. § 
12

3720. The statute sets forth examples of the types of collection and deposit mechanisms the 

Fiscal Service may prescribe (i.e., “procedures [such] as withdrawals and deposits by electronic 

transfer of funds, automatic withdrawals from accounts at financial institutions, and a system 

under which financial institutions receive and deposit, on behalf of the executive agency, 

payments transmitted to post office lockboxes”) but does not limit the authority to prescribing 

only those procedures. Moreover, the Fiscal Service may “collect from any agency not 

complying with the requirements ... a charge in an amount the Secretary determines to be the 

cost to the general fund caused by such noncompliance.” 31 U.S.C. § 3720. Under the 

Secretary’s delegated authority, therefore, the Fiscal Service may require agencies to use any

collection or deposit mechanisms that promotes the timely deposit of public money and may 

charge agencies for their failure to use those mechanisms. 

What Authority Does the Fiscal Service Have to Designate Agents and 

Depositaries? 

A large number of statutes authorize the Secretary to designate commercial financial institutions 

and Federal Reserve Banks as depositaries and financial agents of the government. The 

language of 12 U.S.C. § 90 is typical: 

All national banking associations, designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the 

Treasury, shall be depositaries of public money, under such regulations as may be 

prescribed by the Secretary; and they may also be employed as financial agents of the 

government; and they shall perform all such reasonable duties, as depositaries of public 

money and financial agents of the government, as may be required of them. 

In general, when it designates banks as agents, the Fiscal Service refers to commercial financial 

institutions as financial agents and depositaries and Federal Reserve Banks as fiscal agents and 

depositaries. However, the meanings of the terms “financial agent and fiscal agent” are 

generally interchangeable, and the Fiscal Service uses both commercial financial institutions and 

Federal Reserve Banks for various services. 

Because these activities are inherently governmental in that they are central to the government’s 

ability to carry out its functions, the designation of a depositary or agent is not a procurement 

subject to Federal Acquisition Regulations, See 12 U.S.C. § 90. Nor does a designation create a 

commercial, arms-length contract between the Fiscal Service and its depositary or agent. 

Instead, designations confer a particular status on the financial institution, U.S. v. Citizens & 

Southern National Bank, 889 F.2d 1067, 1070 (Fed. Cir. 1989). When acting with the status of 

an agent, the financial institution or Federal Reserve Bank must act in accordance with the 

fiduciary duties of an agent to its principal. 

How Does an Agency Engage with the Fiscal Service to Process Collections? 

To engage with the Fiscal Service to process collections, agencies are advised to first contact 

RCM’s Agency Relationship Management (ARM) division. ARM serves as RCM’s central 

point of contact for agencies. Using a "holistic approach," an ARM specialist considers statistics 
13

on the agency collections cash flows, as well as the agency’s operational needs, to recommend to 

the agency the best mix of RCM programs to improve the agency’s cash management practices. 

Once the agency is engaged with the Fiscal Service, the agency and the Fiscal Service enter into 

an agreement to improve the agency’s overall cash management practices. This agreement, 

called the “Strategic Cash Management Agreement” (SCMA), enables agencies to avoid 

receiving inefficiency charges by implementing electronic cash and collection improvements. 

These improvements enhance the processing of financial transactions between the agency and its 

customers, while at the same time expediting the flow of funds into the Treasury General 

Account (TGA). 

In addition to engaging with the ARM division, an agency will often work with representatives 

from individual programs to determine whether a given RCM program is the right fit for the 

agency’s needs. To avoid conflicting guidance between ARM and the representatives from the 

individual programs, RCM has made a concerted effort to coordinate across individual programs 

as part of its “One Voice” effort. In fact, this effort extends across the Fiscal Service so that an 

agency should hear a consistent and coordinated message from the Fiscal Service. 

In addition to meeting with ARM and representatives from individual programs, agencies can 

stay up-to-date on Fiscal Service’s collections and cash management programs, or even influence 

some of their changes, by attending training sessions and informational webinars. Agencies can 

also sign up on the Fiscal Service website to receive email updates from Fiscal Service, which 

will alert them to upcoming forums, webinars, and workgroup sessions. 

The Collections Business Area 

What Functions Comprise the Collections Business Area? 

At the heart of the collections business area is the need to collect public monies. However, a 

comprehensive picture requires discussion of additional functions. These functions are to report

to agencies and other systems the data concerning collections and to centralize cash collected by 

agents and depositaries. The information flow for these functions is shown below. 

Collect  Report  Centralize 

Collection Channels  Settlement Mechanisms 

- OTC 

- Mail 

- Internet 

- Bank 

- Phone 

- Cash 

- Credit Card 

- Debit Card 

- Paper Check/Check 21 

- Image 

- ACH Debit 

- ACH Credit 

- Fedwire 

- Digital Wallets 

Support Functions: Manage Collateral & Manage Banks 
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The collect function can be further divided into collection channels and settlement mechanisms. 

“Collection channels” refer to the ways in which the Fiscal Service or its agents and depositaries 

receive a transaction from the public or from agencies. The channel concept does not necessarily 

reflect how transactions are initiated by a member of the public, if the information goes through 

an agency before coming to the Fiscal Service. For instance, if a person mails credit card 

information to an agency customer service representative and the agency enters this on a Pay.gov 

web page for settlement, the channel is not “mail” but “Internet.” Below is the list of channels 

used in the collections business area. 

Channel Description 

Over the 

Counter 

(OTC) 

The OTC channel exists for collection information presented by the public or 

an agency to an agent or depositary in person or via an electronic terminal. 

Mail The mail channel exists for collection information presented by the public to an 

agent or depositary by mail. 

Internet 

The Internet channel exists for collection information presented by the public or 

an agency to an agent or depositary over the Internet. It includes online 

banking transactions initiated by the public through private third-party 

applications and received by an agent or depositary through a defined interface. 

Bank 

The bank channel exists for collection transactions presented by a member of 

the public to an agent or depositary through closed banking networks. It 

includes Automated Clearing House credit and Fedwire collection transactions. 

Phone 

The phone channel exists for collection transactions which are initiated by a 

customer call which are entered into an Interactive Voice Response system. 

Currently phone channel transactions are included in the Internet channel 

transactions as reported by the Collections Information Repository. 

If “settlement” refers to the accounting process recording the respective debit and credit 

positions of the two parties involved in a transfer of funds, “settlement mechanism” refers to the 

means by which settlement occurs. RCM utilizes settlement gateway systems and services to 

present or receive collection items. Settlement mechanisms include: 

 Cash 

 Credit Card 

 Debit Card 

 Paper check 

 ACH Debit 

 ACH Credit 

 Fedwire Funds Transfer 

 FedNow Instant Payments (beginning 7/2023) 

 Digital Wallet (PayPal and Amazon Pay) 

In most cases, collection channels and settlement mechanisms are separate concepts. However, 

this is not true of bank channel transactions. The bank channel refers to those transactions that 

come to the Fiscal Service directly through closed banking networks without use of any other 

medium, such as the postal service, the Internet, or human interaction at a point of sale. The 
15

same closed banking networks that provide the collection channel also provide the settlement 

mechanism. The bank channel is unusual among the channel applications because the channel 

cannot be separated from the settlement mechanism. These collection transactions consist of 

ACH credit and Fedwire transactions. There are also hybrids, including the Card Acquiring 

Service (CAS) and Credit Gateway, which are managed settlement mechanisms that, with 

respect to some aspect of their operations, also perform a collection channel function by 

receiving collection transactions directly. 

As funds are collected, Treasury needs to report the fact of these collections to agencies and to 

other Fiscal Service systems. Transaction reporting can be through many means, but especially 

via electronic files or viewing information online. Reporting can occur at various times during a 

transaction’s life cycle, from receipt of the transaction through settlement or re-presentment or 

reversal. Reporting can include both data and images (especially check images). 

If funds have been deposited at commercial financial institutions with various agents and 

depositaries, there is a need to centralize these funds into the government’s checking account at 

the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This is the central account out of which the Fiscal 

Service also makes disbursements. Fiscal Accounting manages this central account. 

These business functions are supported by two additional business functions. These functions 

are to manage collateral and to manage banks. Collateral management is needed when 

collateral and other security is posted, including when funds are collected by or invested with 

agents and depositaries. Collateral is used in these situations to ensure that public monies are 

properly secured. Bank management is necessary to ensure, among other things, that 

commercial financial institutions and Federal Reserve Banks are properly compensated for the 

services they provide to RCM. 

The remainder of this part primarily discusses the collection and reporting 

functions. The centralization function, as well as the support functions of 

managing collateral and managing banks, are addressed in Part 2. 

Overview of Collection Activity 

Table 1 gives a summary of collections activity by channel from Fiscal Year 2022. 

Table 1. The Fiscal Service Collections Transaction and Dollar Volumes, FY2022 

 Transaction 

Volume 

Dollar Volume Responsible RCM 

Division 

OTC Channel 114,093,775 $135,880,869,708 OTC 

Mail Channel 

 

76,300,190 $595,094,910,794 RRM, TCD 
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Internet Channel 263,685,778 $4,445,694,463,110 RRM,TCD 

Bank Channel 8,473,818 $581,975,546,107 SSD, TCD, OTC 

Totals 462,553,561 $5,758,645,789,719 

How Are These Processes Organized into Business Lines and Programs, and 

Who Is Responsible for Them? 

Revenue Collections Management (RCM) has organized the processes described above into a 

series of business lines. In some cases, related processes are brought together under one business 

line. For instance, under the business line of “Credit Processing” is functionality for processing 

the receipt of both ACH credit and Fedwire transactions; these are highly related processes, and 

it is advantageous to treat them together. The implementation of functionality within a business 

line tends to be the responsibility of a single RCM division. To assist in this regard, each 

business line has a lead fiscal or financial agent associated with it. 

Each business area may have multiple programs, but ideally each business line will be served by 

a single system or service for each program specific mission. Most business area programs are 

supported by settlement mechanisms managed by the Settlement Services Division (SSD). 

Interfaces with SSD systems and services facilitate the settlement and reporting of program area 

collections. The lead agent is responsible for building and operating the system or service, 

according to requirements and direction given by RCM. 

Exceptions to this exist for IRS tax functionality in the mail channel and Internet channel. In 

these cases, the tax functionality is managed by one division, while the non-tax functionality is 

managed by another. Furthermore, in the case of the Internet Channel, there are separate lead 

agents and systems for tax and non-tax purposes. 

The list of business lines, divisions, agents, and programs is as follows: 

 OTC Channel. This is managed by the Over the Counter Division, with the assistance of a 

financial agent (Citibank). (Note: There are multiple banks involved with this channel, but 

Citibank has responsibility for the business line.) The programs that primarily serve this 

business line are: 

o Treasury General Account (TGA) Network (including (Domestic) TGA Network, 

IRS TGA Network, and Seized Currency Collection Network) 

o OTCnet 

 Mail Channel. This is managed by the Revenue and Remittance Management Division and 

the Tax Collection Division, with the assistance of multiple banks including separate 

networks of banks for tax and non-tax purposes, and a separate financial agent responsible 
17

for the ECP business line.) The programs that primarily serve this business line are: 

o General Lockbox Network (GLN) 

o Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Lockbox Network 

o Electronic Check Processing (ECP) 

o Specialty Lockboxes 

o EDI Lockbox 

 Internet Channel. This is managed by the Revenue and Remittance Management Division 

with the assistance of a fiscal agent (FRB Cleveland) and the Tax Collection Division with 

the assistance of a financial agent (Bank of America). The programs that primarily serve this 

business line are: 

o Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) 

o Pay.gov 

 Card Processing (credit, debit, branded stored value, and electronic benefit transfer (EBT) 

cards tendered at agency points-of-sale and card-not-present authorization via the internet 

(Pay.gov), telephone and mail at the lockbox via of Pay.gov). This is managed by the 

Settlement Services Division with the assistance of a financial agent (Comerica Bank) and 

the financial agent’s acquirer/processor (WorldPay from FIS). The program that primarily 

serves this business line is: 

o Card Acquiring Service (CAS) 

 Debit Processing (non-tax ACH debit origination & electronic check transactions received 

from the collection channels). This is managed by the Settlement Services Division with the 

assistance of a fiscal agent (FRB Cleveland). The program that primarily serves this business 

line is: 

o Debit Gateway 

 Credit Processing (non-tax ACH credit and FedNow receipt; tax and non-tax Fedwire Funds 

Transfer receipt). This is managed by the Settlement Services Division with the assistance of 

a financial agent (U.S. Bank). (Note: The funds will settle through an FRB payment 

settlement service; the financial agent processes the information about the settlements.) The 

program that serves this business line is: 

o Credit Gateway (including online bill payment – OLBP -- via ACH credit) 

o Electronic Data Interchange 

 Transaction Reporting and Cash Concentration. This is managed by the Data Management 

Reporting and Analysis Division, with the assistance of fiscal agents (FRB Kansas City and 

Cleveland). The programs that serve this business line are: 

o Collections Information Repository (CIR) 

o Treasury Cash Management System – Direct Voucher Submission (TCMS-DVS) 

o Image Archive 

 Bank Management. This is managed by the Bank Policy and Oversight Division, with the 

assistance of a fiscal agent (FRB St. Louis). The program that serves this business line is: 

o Bank Management System (BMS) 
18

 Collateral Management. This is managed by the Bank Policy and Oversight Division, with 

the assistance of a fiscal agent (FRB St. Louis). The program that serves this business line is: 

o Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring (TCMM) system 

Some of the programs above currently overlap more than one business line. This is true of the 

Electronic Lockboxes, Debit Gateway, Credit Gateway, CAS, and CIR. The extent of this 

overlap is discussed in the sections that follow. Eventually, these areas of overlap will be 

eliminated. 

What Program Changes Have Occurred In FYs 2020 thru 2022? 

 Launched several Financial Agent Selection Processes across RCM. 

 Issued final regulation 31 CFR Part 210 – Federal Government Participation in the 

Automated Clearing House, accepting Nacha ACH Network operating rules in place as of 

2019. 

 Implemented Financial Agent Oversight Program 

 EFTPS integrated Application Programming Interface payment functionality into the IRS’s 

Online Account website. Taxpayers can now see current tax liability as they make individual 

tax payments on the IRS website. 

 EFTPS implemented Account Verification Services for all ‘web debit’ origination. 

 EFTPS implemented Fraud monitoring tools into production and has worked with IRS to 

mitigate refund fraud. 

 Implemented new agreement for the EDI Lockbox. 

 The Debit Gateway purged over 1.2 billion records/over 200 million transactions older than 7 

years excluding DOI (Department of Interior). 

 The Debit Gateway updated return reason codes R10 and R11 per 31 CFR Part 210/Nacha 

rule changes. 

 Credit Gateway began FedNow receipt capability (for completion by 7/2023) 

 Consolidating the GLN to a single provider. 

 Implemented new agreement for the Credit Gateway 

 Implemented the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act specifying the 

collection of user fees, with remittance to the Treasury, for the use of credit and debit cards 

by an expanded patronage group at Defense Commissaries. 

 Implemented soft rollout of Salesforce CRM Card Acquiring Service Application pilot for 

agency onboarding. 

 Established program benchmarking validation and cost reduction strategy development for 

card network advocacy. 

 Updated TCMS and DVS User Interface framework. 

 Implemented new agreement for the Passport Lockbox. 

 Implemented new agreement for the Immigration Lockbox 
19

What Programs Comprise the Over the Counter Channel? 

Treasury General Account Network 

While RCM encourages and promotes electronic collection solutions, it provides solutions for 

agencies that need to deposit cash and checks. The Treasury General Account (TGA) Network 

facilitates cash and paper check deposits made by agency representatives at financial institutions. 

These are depositaries that the Fiscal Service has designated throughout the United States and 

internationally to accept these deposits. It consists of several component services. 

The TGA Network consists of commercial financial institutions that receive deposits throughout 

the United States and United States based or foreign depositaries. Most of the depositaries that 

receive deposits are part of this network. The Fiscal Service establishes a depositary based on a 

request from a Federal agency and an evaluation of the efficiencies offered by such a 

relationship. If there is an existing TGA Network depositary located near the agency, the agency 

can be added to that arrangement. A financial institution interested in accepting deposits must 

meet certain eligibility requirements and, if designated as a depositary, may market its services to 

other agencies in its area. 

The Seized Currency Collection Network (SCCN) consists of commercial financial institutions 

that specialize in receiving deposits of funds seized by law enforcement agencies. 

The Mail-In TGA (MITGA), which is part of the TGA Network, is a commercial depositary that 

receives only mailed deposits from agencies. This is an exception to the usual rule that deposits 

are presented over the counter at a depositary. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis assists RCM staff in providing oversight of commercial 

depositaries. 

Over the Counter Channel Application, Collections Information Repository, Debit 

Gateway, and Card Acquiring Service 

The Over the Counter Channel Application (OTCnet) is a web-based application that automates 

the over-the-counter deposit process, captures detailed accounting information, and facilitates the 

classification of Treasury collections. It is operated by Citibank. Agency users report receipts 

through a secure web-based application, rather than by using paper-based credit vouchers (i.e., 

deposit tickets). In addition to the summary deposit information currently required on the paperbased credit voucher, OTCnet collects sub-total accounting information that is required by the 

agency’s administrative accounting systems as well as the Fiscal Service’s Fiscal Accounting 

systems. Because OTCnet stores the data entered by the agency deposit preparer, depositaries no 

longer have to re-key this data into other systems. OTCnet automatically provides this 

information to these systems instead. (Based on received credit voucher information, the 

Treasury Cash Management System (TCMS) transfers funds from accounts at commercial 

depositaries to the TGA. This is described in greater detail in part II. OTCnet has an automated 

connection of information to the CIR for agency and Fiscal Service reporting purposes. 

It is also possible for depositaries to bypass OTCnet and enter deposits directly into CIR and 

DVS. CIR is operated by FRBs Kansas City and Cleveland, and DVS is operated by FRB 

Cleveland. To do so, agencies prepare paper-based credit vouchers, which are then confirmed by 
20

the depositaries. There are multiple copies of the credit vouchers that are created in this process, 

for sharing with the agency, the Fiscal Service, and retention by the depositary. The CIR is used 

by commercial depositaries, while DVS is used by FRBs. There are two types of credit 

vouchers: The SF 215 is used for most deposits, while the SF 215A is used IRS tax deposits. 

OTCnet also facilitates the electronic deposit of checks by agencies. These transactions are 

initiated when an agency representative processes a check through a check reader that captures 

the information about the scanned check and subsequently sends the information for 

to OTCnet electronically. From there, OTCnet sends the information to RCM’s Debit Gateway 

for settlement. Whenever possible (i.e., when the agency has disclosed to the checkwriter and 

consistent with NACHA ACH Network Rules), Debit Gateway converts check images received 

from OTCnet to less expensive and more efficient ACH debits. Agencies that receive cash can 

convert the cash to a counter check from a local bank and then capture the check information 

electronically, thus allowing for an all-electronic solution for both cash and paper checks. 

Agencies are encouraged to use the electronic check functionality in OTCnet, as opposed to 

physically presenting cash and checks to a TGA Network depositary. 

In a handful of scenarios and due to special requirements, four agencies interact directly with the 

Debit Gateway for electronic check processing instead of sending those transactions to OTCnet 

or Electronic Check Processing (ECP) (See Debit Gateway). The component of the Debit 

Gateway that handles this functionality is known as Agency Direct. Eventually, this 

functionality will be eliminated and electronic check information from these agencies will flow 

through OTCnet or ECP. 

Lastly, RCM’s Card Acquiring Service (CAS) facilitates the electronic collection of credit and 

debit card transactions that originate with standalone agency point-of-sale card terminals and 

card readers integrated with agency-specific electronic cash register systems. 

What Programs Comprise the Mail Channel? 

A lockbox is represented by a post office box established by a financial agent for receipt of 

payments to an agency. By having funds come into a lockbox directly rather than from an 

agency, the process accelerates the deposit of funds into the Treasury's account, improves the 

accuracy and efficiency of the data capture, establishes better internal controls, and provides an 

interest savings to the federal government. Lockbox sites are selected for locations that will 

minimize mail time or “float.” 

Lockbox processing includes the mail collection, opening envelopes, extracting and sorting 

contents, scanning or key-entering of check and form information, capturing of electronic images 

of checks and forms and data transmission. Data created can include document locator numbers, 

check encoding with magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) lines, and check endorsements 

and tracking information (placed on the back of checks for legal and research purposes). Data 

capture is performed by key entry or by utilizing Optical Character Recognition Software (OCR) 

or Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR). Quality reviews are performed on each transaction 

the level of which is established based on the criticality of the data captured. 
21

General Lockbox Network 

The sole General Lockbox Network (GLN) financial agent is US Bank. Remitters send their 

payment instruments and remittance documents by mail to the specified post office box 

maintained by US Bank on behalf of federal agencies. The bank opens the envelopes, extracts 

the contents, processes and images the checks, and captures required data from remittance 

documents. Then the required accounting data is reported to agencies and other Fiscal Service 

systems. The vast majority of transactions involve the receipt of paper checks, although a small 

percentage of the transactions include forms authorizing credit or debit card payments. These 

card payments are entered into Pay.gov and processed by the Card Acquiring Service (CAS). 

There are two main types of paper GLN lockboxes: retail and wholesale. A retail lockbox uses 

optical character recognition (OCR) and machine-readable coupon-type documents for 

automated processing. This type of lockbox is best suited for low-dollar, high annual item 

volume payments. A wholesale lockbox involves the manual processing of traditional invoice 

documents and is best suited for high-dollar, low annual item volume payments. A wholesale 

lockbox requires more manual effort and detailed processing than a retail lockbox. Once 

received at the lockbox processing facility, these payment documents are processed using key 

entry to capture accounting information. 

In addition to checks, the paper lockboxes also accept some credit card transactions. These are 

entered at the lockbox processing facility to RCM’s Pay.gov application for processing, using the 

same services that Pay.gov offers directly to agencies. Pay.gov invokes CAS to settle these 

transactions. 

Internal Revenue Service Lockbox Network 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Lockbox Network consists of two financial agents (currently 

JP Morgan Chase, and U.S. Bank), that serve as collection points for various IRS taxes. The IRS 

Lockbox Network handles business master file (BMF) and individual master file (IMF) tax 

transactions. The financial agents process the tax receipts and transmit information to IRS 

service centers. The financial agents also send the IRS the original tax forms that accompany the 

transactions. 

Electronic Check Processing 

Because the vast majority of mail transactions involve paper checks, the Electronic Check 

Processing (ECP) system helps the GLN and IRS Lockbox Network automate deposits through 

the capture and conversion or truncation of checks. ECP is operated by Citibank. 

Under the ECP process, lockbox banks receive mail on behalf of the federal agencies, open the 

envelopes, digitally scan checks to capture the electronic image of checks (and forms) and 

associated data, and send image and data files to ECP. After receiving information from the 

lockbox financial agents, ECP forwards the payment file and check images (if necessary) to 

RCM’s Debit Gateway application, which settles the transactions electronically. Whenever 

possible (i.e., when the agency has disclosed to the checkwriter and consistent with NACHA 

ACH Network Rules), Debit Gateway converts check images received from OTCnet to less 

expensive and more efficient ACH debits. If for any reason ECP or the Debit Gateway is 

unavailable, the lockbox agents may settle checks themselves. ECP has an automated 
22

connection of information to the CIR for agency and Fiscal Service reporting purposes; however, 

for tax transactions, ECP sends only summary data without taxpayer information. 

Specialty Lockboxes 

The mail channel also includes two specialty (wholesale) lockboxes that provide complex 

remittance processing services for the State Department (passports) and Citizenship and 

Immigration Services (immigration benefits). These lockboxes are deemed specialty due to the 

significant number of business rules and processes needed to capture and process complex 

remittances and accompanying identification documents. Two financial agents (Citibank and 

JPMC), one for each specialty lockbox, provide these specialty services. 

Electronic Data Interchange Lockboxes 

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is a program that accepts both checks and ACH credits from 

health care insurance companies along with information formatted in a standardized format PNC 

Bank is the current designated financial agent. Key functions performed by PNC include 

enrolling the insurance companies, matching the payments with the EDI transaction sets, and 

reporting the deposit and accompanying data. The EDI program supports Veterans Affairs and 

Indian Health Services. 

What Programs Comprise the Internet Channel? 

Electronic Federal Tax Payment System 

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) is a system that allows businesses, 

individuals, and federal agency taxpayers to pay taxes electronically. This can be through 

payments authorized via the Internet (web pages and files) and by phone. also allows for certain 

online banking transactions, most notably through an interface called the Third-Party Interface 

(TPI), as well as batch filer and bulk filer solutions. It is primarily operated by Bank of America, 

though the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta plays a role by holding routing and transit numbers 

(RTNs) used for receipt of ACH credits and debits. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis also 

plays a role in handling the assessment of interest upon financial institutions in limited cases. 

EFTPS has automated connections to the CASH TRACK application for daily cash management 

purposes and to the CIR for agency and Fiscal Service reporting. Both data feeds are limited to 

summary information; no taxpayer information is transmitted. 

ACH debits and credits for EFTPS work as follows. For ACH debits, the taxpayer initiates the 

tax payment by asking EFTPS to originate a debit entry to the taxpayer's bank account and 

crediting the Treasury. The taxpayer supplies the tax payment information to EFTPS. EFTPS 

validates reported data in accordance with IRS instructions and provides the taxpayer with an 

acknowledgment number. EFTPS provides the tax payment details electronically to IRS. 

On the day before the tax payment date, or in some cases same day, EFTPS originates an ACH 

debit file for the tax payments to settle the next day or same day. The EFTPS ACH debit file is 

automatically transmitted by Bank of America to the FedACH system. FRB Atlanta is 

responsible for settling the funds in addition to recording and reporting ACH collections and 

deposits processed by EFTPS. 
23

For ACH credits, the taxpayer requests its bank to originate an ACH credit (crediting the 

Treasury and debiting the taxpayer’s bank account). The taxpayer’s bank delivers the ACH 

credit file entries to the FRB ACH Operator by 4:45 p.m. ET on the tax due date (for same day 

eligible transactions) to initiate the ACH credit. The FedACH file, with the taxpayer detail, is 

transmitted electronically to EFTPS. EFTPS verifies the taxpayer transaction detail, assigns an 

EFT reference number to the transaction in its own records and reports this number and payment 

information to IRS. FRB Atlanta is responsible for settling the funds in addition to recording 

and reporting ACH collections and deposits processed by EFTPS. 

Pay.gov 

Pay.gov is a secure, web-based government-wide collections portal. It allows users to 

electronically fill out and submit forms, view bills, and make payments by ACH debit and credit, 

credit card, PayPal, or Amazon Pay. It also provides reporting to agencies. Pay.gov accepts 

payments over the Internet via web pages submitted by users on Pay.gov. It also accepts 

electronic payments files forwarded by agencies on behalf of their users. It is run by the Federal 

Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It uses the Debit Gateway to process ACH debit transactions, the 

Card Acquiring Service (CAS) to process credit and debit card transactions, and has interfaces 

with Digital Wallet providers PayPal and Amazon Pay, and with the Credit Gateway for ACH 

credits. Pay.gov has an automated connection of information to the CIR for agency and Fiscal 

Service reporting purposes. 

What Programs Comprise the Card Processing Business Line? 

Card Acquiring Service 

The Card Acquiring Service (CAS) is the sole collections solution for settling Federal agency 

credit and debit card (both “signature debit” transaction over credit card networks, and “PIN 

debit” over debit card networks) collection transactions. CAS converted to a new financial 

agent, Comerica Bank in 2017. Comerica is supported in the card acquiring/processing role by 

WorldPay from FIS. CAS receives card transactions from (a) agency point-of-sale terminals, 

(standalone terminals and card readers integrated with agency-specific integrated electronic cash 

register systems commonly known as “VARs” or “integrated POS” (iPOS) systems, (b) from 

agency software (such as servers processing transactions received from the public over the 

Internet) and from (c) Pay.gov and mobile terminals. Pay.gov card transactions can include 

transactions with credit and debit card information included on forms sent to the GLN and the 

specialty lockboxes. Funds typically settle on a next-day basis. CAS provides information to the 

CIR and to Pay.gov via WorldPay. 

Card transactions, in particular credit card transactions, tend to be a very expensive form of 

payment to process relative to other payment settlement systems like the ACH Network and even 

checks. As a result, a maximum per-day, per-cardholder limit is set by the Bureau for credit card 

transactions. That limit is currently set at $24,999.99. Certain types of collections – in particular 

loan repayment and other debt-related payment obligations – are also not eligible for payment by 

credit card (though debit cards are acceptable since a debit card transaction does not represent an 

extension of credit to the cardholder). 
24

What Programs Comprise the Debit Processing Business Line? 

Debit Gateway 

The Debit Gateway is used to originate ACH debit entries, and for converted and truncated check 

transactions. The Debit Gateway is operated by FRB Cleveland. The gateway receives 

transactions from the collection channels (ECP/lockboxes, OTCnet, Pay.gov, determines the best 

clearing method (ACH vs. Check21), settles, and then reports the transactions (along with a 

credit voucher number) to the collection channel that provided the transaction. Converted check 

transactions involve the process of taking information from a check and settling the check as an 

ACH debit entry. Check truncation is the process of using an electronic image of the check for 

settlement, rather than a paper version as enabled by the Check21 Act. The Debit Gateway 

contains business logic to determine whether to use conversion or truncation for a given check. 

Settlement typically occurs in the morning on the next banking day. 

The Debit Gateway performs this functionality for OTCnet, ECP, and Pay.gov. The Debit 

Gateway also receives check transactions directly from some agencies—the Social Security 

Administration, United States Postal Service, Veterans Affairs Debt Management, and Justice’s 

Federal Bureau of Prisons—but in the long run these agencies will interact with an RCM 

collection channel. 

The Debit Gateway uses a transit account for each collection channel to remove some accounting 

complexity from agencies. The transit account is linked to the TGA and is associated directly 

with the Fiscal Service, rather than any particular agency. In some cases, when ACH debit and 

check transactions fail to settle initially and are returned, the transactions can successfully settle 

if they are later re-presented. For instance, this is often the case for transactions returned for 

insufficient funds (NSF). In these cases, when the transaction fails and can be re-presented, the 

Debit Gateway debits the transit account, rather than the affected agency. If the re-presentment 

is successful, the transit account is then credited. This way, the agency does not have to process 

multiple vouchers caused by transactions failing and then being re-presented. Instead, only if the 

re-presentment(s) fails will the transaction be retired, and funds previously credited to the agency 

taken away through a debit. 

What Programs Comprise the Credit Processing Business Line? 

Credit Gateway 

The Credit Gateway is a program used for the receipt of ACH credit, FedNow Instant Payments 

and Fedwire Funds Transfer transactions. It is operated by U.S. Bank, but the Federal Reserve 

Banks of Minneapolis, New York, and Atlanta also play roles through the provision of Federal 

Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) payment settlement mechanisms. U.S. Bank has operational 

responsibility for the program and captures all information about the transactions, but the 

transactions themselves settle at Treasury Routing Numbers at FRBs. 

The transactions are initiated by individuals and businesses through their financial institutions. 

Both ACH credits and Fedwire transactions involve funds that are “pushed” to the Credit 

Gateway by payers. The Credit Gateway takes no action to collect these funds; the transfers are 

initiated by payers through their financial institutions. However, there are differences between 
25

these settlement mechanisms. ACH is a low-cost, batch-driven mechanism that typically 

requires overnight processing, while Fedwire is a high-cost, transaction-driven mechanism that 

provides final settlement in real time. With the adoption of new payments system industry rules 

(through 31 CFR Part 210), the Credit Gateway began supporting the receipt of same-day ACH 

credits, in addition to existing next-day ACH credits. An interface between the Credit Gateway 

and Pay.gov facilitates the exchange of transaction data in support of Pay.gov customers that 

choose to use the Pay.gov ACH credit option. All settlement and deposit reporting to CIR for 

Pay.gov ACH credits is performed by the Credit Gateway. 

When dealing with taxpayers making Fedwire tax payments, the Credit Gateway is referred to as 

the Federal Tax Collection Service. 

There are differences between non-tax and tax transactions regarding how information is 

reported to the CIR. For non-tax transactions, the Credit Gateway transmits detail transaction 

data to the CIR on a near real-time basis for wire transfers, and at the end of each day, the Credit 

Gateway sends all wire transfer and ACH credit transaction data to the CIR with voucher 

information included. For Fedwire tax transactions, the Credit Gateway sends all information to 

EFTPS. In turn, EFTPS sends only summary data to CIR; no taxpayer information is delivered. 

EFTPS also is responsible for sending the information to CASH TRACK for cash forecasting 

purposes and detailed information directly to IRS. 

What Programs Comprise the Transaction Reporting and Cash 

Concentration Business Line? 

Collections Information Repository 

The Collections Information Repository (CIR) is a reporting system that consolidates detailed 

and summary-level information on collections transactions and reports this information to federal 

agencies and other Fiscal Service and Treasury systems. It is currently operated by FRBs Kansas 

City and Cleveland. It is intended to generally be the single touch point for information on 

collections transactions. Programs that capture information on individual transactions are 

expected to provide this information to the CIR, with the exception of certain tax information 

from ECP and EFTPS that (due to tax privacy reasons) is limited to summary-only data. 

The CIR provides transactional activity and summary information from the majority of the 

Collections Channels. The CIR captures Treasury Account Symbol and Business Event Type 

Code (TAS/BETC) information and makes this information available to Fiscal Accounting’s 

(FA) Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS). The CIR provides certain reporting to FA 

systems that is done at the Public Money Symbol (PMS) level, which FA uses to reconcile dollar 

totals reported from the collections programs to dollar amounts separately reported by systems 

that manage the actual accounts into which the collection programs deposit funds. CIR provides 

certain reporting to the Fiscal Service’s and Treasury’s forecasting system, CASH TRACK. 

CASH TRACK uses this information to reconcile the TGA and to produce the Daily Treasury 

Statement. 

The CIR generally uses a standard, published XML file format for its information exchanges. 

This is designed to eliminate the many proprietary file formats that have been developed over the 

years for sharing information, especially with agencies. 
26

The CIR has greatly improved the way federal agencies collect, analyze, and redistribute 

financial transaction information, and has eliminated some redundancies that agencies faced in 

the past. 

Treasury Cash Management System-Direct Voucher Submission 

Almost all of the government’s funds are centralized in a single account known as the Treasury 

General Account (TGA), which exists on the books of the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of New 

York. Although agencies have responsibility for the accounting and use of the funds in the TGA, 

the TGA itself is controlled by Treasury. Funds move between the TGA and accounts of 

depositaries and agents of the government. As depositaries and agents receive monies on behalf 

of the government, funds move from the accounts maintained by the depositaries to the TGA, 

and as they make payments (issuing electronic disbursements or clearing checks) on behalf of the 

government, funds move from the TGA to these accounts. At the end of the day, the transfers are 

designed to zero out all available funds from the relevant accounts at the depositaries and agents. 

The TGA is at the heart of the Fiscal Service’s financial manager responsibilities. Through its 

agents and depositaries, the Fiscal Service moves trillions of dollars into and out of the TGA 

each year. The financial manager responsibilities go beyond just transferring funds into and out 

of the TGA; information about these transfers must be reported on a timely basis to various 

entities, as described below. The use of the single TGA yields significant advantages, including 

reduced operational costs, improved control over funds, and better control over the government’s 

daily and long-term financial position. 

Revenue Collections Management provides systems to move funds to and from the TGA and 

provide reports about the transfers. Collections made via FRB payment systems concentrate 

funds directly into the TGA, but collections made via commercial banks use the Treasury Cash 

Management System (TCMS), currently run by FRB Cleveland. 

Treasury Cash Management System (TCMS) is an application which performs the daily 

movement of government deposits from the Treasury’s accounts at commercial Depository 

Financial Institutions (DFIs) to the Treasury General Account (TGA) at FRB New York. 

TCMS receives notifications of funds that have been deposited by agencies into Treasury’s 

network of commercial banks and transfers these funds into the Treasury General Account 

(TGA), the Treasury’s main operating account. OTCnet, Pay.gov, Digital Wallet, Card 

Acquiring Service and Navy Cash report deposits to the CIR. The CIR passes any commercial 

deposit activity to TCMS on a flow basis, as voucher files are received. With each voucher file 

received from CIR, TCMS examines the content and combines like vouchers by Commercial 

Account Number (CAN) and deposit dates in order to determine whether these records will be 

settled on the current business day (expedited) or the next business day (next banking day). 

Settlement of combined records happens three times per day (Monday thru Friday: 8:30a.m., 

12:00 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. ET) through the National Settlement Service (NSS). 

 Non-Expedited – Transfers for non-expedited CANs are held and then released the next 

banking day, typically at 8:30 a.m. ET. If a bank is late by one or more days in reporting 

a deposit, TCMS may transfer the funds on an expedited basis even though it is normally 

a non-expedited CAN. 
27

 Expedited – When voucher information is received for an expedited CAN prior to 5:15 

p.m. ET, the NSS transfer of funds occur that banking day. The standard transfer times 

are 8:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. ET. Otherwise, the transfer occurs at 8:30 a.m. 

the next banking day. 

The NSS processes settlement instructions from TCMS and forwards them to the Federal 

Reserve accounting system, where the reserve accounts of the Depository Institutions are debited 

and the TGA is credited. While the TGA is typically credited because of TCMS entries, it is also 

possible for the TGA to be debited when the amounts of the reported debit vouchers for a 

particular CAN exceed the amount of the credit vouchers in a given file received by the CIR. 

Direct Voucher Submission (DVS) is a module within TCMS that facilitates the reporting of 

book view deposit activity by FRB business lines, whose activities on behalf of the Treasury 

result in deposits to or withdrawals from the TGA. The vouchers entered into DVS facilitate the 

reporting of information into the Collections Information Repository (CIR) and/or the Payments 

Information Repository (PIR). This is considered miscellaneous voucher activity since these 

transactions are not processed through any of the Treasury’s core systems. Without DVS, there 

would be no vouchers reported into the CIR and PIR for the dollars settled to the TGA by these 

FRB activities. Currently, access to TCMS-DVS is limited to the FRB and does not directly 

impact federal agency users. 

DVS is also used to process manual voucher entry of Adjustments, Corrections, and Rescissions 

(ACRs) to upload commercial voucher information from trading partners. DVS includes a 

mechanism to upload commercial voucher information from trading partners for the review, 

approval and submission to the CIR. 

Image Archive 

The Image Archive stores all images, including scanned checks and remittance documents. The 

Image Archive is a service provided by the Treasury Web Application Infrastructure (TWAI). 

The users of the Image Archive are OTCnet, ECP and the Debit Gateway. 

Routing Transit Number Oversight 

As part of the Treasury’s Straight-Through Processing (STP) initiative, most of the government’s 

routing transit numbers (RTNs) on file with the Federal Reserve System (FRS) were rearranged 

to reside within the TGA structure. The TGA RTN 0210-3600-8 serves as the master level RTN 

on file with FRB New York. The remaining Treasury and other government agency RTNs 

accounted for by Treasury are listed as second and third tier RTNs within the TGA structure. 

The FRS manages account settings and financial services through their Official Authorization 

List (OAL) process. Some examples of when an OAL signature is required include: 

 RTN setups and maintenance 

 FRB Services setups and maintenance 

o FedLine Access Solutions 

o FedACH Services 
28

o Account Services 

Before the consolidation of RTNs under the TGA structure, government agencies maintained 

their own OAL on file with the FRS for account related setups and maintenance. After the 

transition to STP and the new TGA structure, second and third tier RTN changes require the 

signature of someone on the TGA Master RTN. 

When agencies need to perform RTN related maintenance and FedLine Access requests, they 

should complete all sections of the form (available at frbservices.org) and submit them to the 

TreasuryOAL@fiscal.treasury.gov group e-mail box. Treasury OAL personnel will verify the 

request, complete the form with their OAL signature, and submit the original form to the Federal 

Reserve Customer Contact Center (CCC) on the agency’s behalf. Fiscal Accounting handles this 

responsibility. 

What Programs Comprise the Bank Management Business Line? 

Bank Management System 

The Bank Management System (BMS) is responsible for documenting the expenses owed to 

agents and depositaries providing services on behalf of the federal government. BMS is operated 

by FRB St Louis. Each month, by the seventh business day following the billing month, agents 

and depositaries report expense volumes to BMS, either manually through the BMS website or 

by automated file upload. BMS uses these expense volumes to calculate the totals owed to each 

bank and flags those that are in significant variance of recent averages or other established 

parameters. Personnel from the various business areas in RCM, Payment Management, and Debt 

Management Services then approve the expense totals through BMS. BMS sends payment 

instructions to the Office of Administrative Services to make payment through ACH Credits 

from the Fiscal Service Regional Financial Centers. 

BMS also produces the Agency Collections Expenses (ACES) report. The ACES process 

compiles collection expenses by agency and produces a report detailing each agency’s share of 

the total cost of collections. 

What Programs Comprise the Collateral Management Business Line? 

Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring System 

The Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring System (TCMM) provides collateral 

management for securing public funds on deposit with a commercial financial institution for 

collateral pledged in lieu of a surety bond and as assets to secure an individual surety. TCMM 

also supports government agencies accepting assets by individual sureties to secure contracts or 

contract bids. 

Federal agencies can establish a collateral account or add new users to an existing collateral 

account by filling out the TCMM Agency Access form available on the Fiscal Service website 

and submitting it to FRB St. Louis. For new collateral accounts, the TCMM operations staff will 

assist the Federal agencies and the financial institution in getting the initial amount to be 

collateralized and entered in TCMM, and the securities pledged via the Federal Reserve System. 
29

If the value of the securities is insufficient to meet the Federal agency’s collateral requirement, 

the TCMM operations staff will work with the financial institution to resolve the deficiency. 

FPAs should access TCMM on a regular basis to ensure that the collateral requirement is correct 

and current, and to view or download reports. 

Other RCM Systems, Services, and Programs 

Electronic Commerce (eCommerce) 

RCM’s electronic commerce (eCommerce) vision is to provide a suite of electronic payment 

options aligned with industry standards to achieve the long-standing goal of an all-electronic 

Treasury by offering citizens online options to make payments to the government. The 

eCommerce strategy has three pillars: Digital Wallets (DW), Online Bill Payment (OLBP), and 

the Mobile Program. 

A Digital Wallet processes payment on behalf of an institution or person. RCM has 

implemented Digital Wallets with PayPal and Amazon Pay as payment mechanisms on Pay.gov. 

Online Bill Payment is a convenient way for consumers to pay federal government bills through 

their banks’ online websites. RCM’s Credit Gateway program area helps agencies set up their 

biller profiles on the Online Payment network. Consumers can then include agencies in their list 

of valid billers on their banks’ bill payment websites. They can pay these bills online from their 

bank account in the same way they pay other bills online. 

Mobile is one of the quickest changing areas of eCommerce. RCM has implemented an agency 

facing app and a public facing app, through which federal agencies and the public, respectively, 

can use a mobile device for federal government collections. 

Cash Management Improvement Act Program (CMIA) 

The Cash Management Improvement Act Program carries out the provisions of the Cash 

Management Improvement Act, which ensures the timely flow of Federal financial assistance 

between the Federal government and the 56 US States and Territories. The objectives of the 

Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990 include: (1) efficiency - minimizing the time 

between the transfer of funds to States and the payout of those funds for program purposes; (2) 

effectiveness - to ensure that Federal funds are available when requested; and (3) equity - to 

assess an interest penalty to the Federal government or States to compensate for the lost value of 

funds. 

Electronic Collections (eCollections) 

The eCollections initiative emerged out of the all-electronic Treasury vision and is focused on 

increasing electronic collections volume throughout the entire government. This is accomplished 

by partnering with federal government agencies to find ways to implement tools to increase 

electronic non-tax collections and remittances and reduce paper-based transactions. 

 

Using electronic channels such as Pay.gov and other private-sector technologies, including 

online bill pay (OLBP), digital wallet tools, and mobile solutions, eCollections is a critical 

element in the next step toward transforming government financial management. Reducing the 
30

number of paper-based transactions, which are inefficient for federal agencies and taxpayers, 

means improved accuracy and increased security for all parties involved. 

Minority Bank Deposit Program (MBDP) 

Through the MBDP, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service supports the strengthening and preservation 

of minority-owned banks, women-owned banks, and low-income credit unions. Participating 

financial institutions meet ownership criteria, which they self-certify on an annual basis. Banks 

must be at least 50% owned by minority individuals or women. Low-income credit unions are 

given that designation by the National Credit Union Association (NCUA). 

The goals of the MBDP program include: expanding Financial Institution (FI) capacity and 

accelerating growth; developing expertise in working with the Department of the Treasury; 

participating as a depository or financial agent at the federal, state, or local government level; 

learning from financial market leaders about capital management, compliance, risk management, 

technology, and more; and becoming eligible for the Treasury Bank Mentor-Protégé Program 

The role of Fiscal Service in the MBDP program includes: ensuring that an FI is eligible to 

participate; maintaining a list of participating FIs and publishing the list on its website; 

distributing the list periodically to federal agencies, interested state and local government 

agencies, and private sector companies; networking with other agencies and associations to 

promote the program and program participants; and matching eligible participants with available 

mentors upon application to the Treasury Bank Mentor-Protégé Program. As of June 2023, 73 

banks and credit unions in 29 states and territories are part of the program. 

What Changes Are Expected in the Collections Business Area in Coming 

Years? 

Some of the changes that are expected to the collections business line in coming years include: 

 Transition of agency cash flows from paper to electronic processing (ongoing) 

 Implement new payment options for the public (ongoing) 

 Engage with customer agencies to sign Strategic Cash Management Agreements. (ongoing) 

 Digitize paper tax returns received at the lockbox and electronically transmit to IRS (pilot 

ongoing) 

 Reduce the lockbox footprint and digitize paper processes (transform the Passport Services 

and CIS lockbox operations) 

 Designate a new Financial Agent to develop and modernize EFTPS 

 Implement releases for BMS which support Financial Agent Oversight. 

 Implement Credit Gateway resiliency enhancement recommendations with the financial 

agent. 

 Separate TCMS and DVS application and move to the Cloud. 

 Implement next phases of the Data Movement Strategy to standardize technologies, reduce 

architectural complexity, and enhance data processing within the CIR. 

 Develop and implement the RCM Single Touch Point vision for agency reporting. 
31

 Partner with DDM as an enterprise approach to increase adoption of the Centralized 

Receivables Service program across government. 

 Participate as a key stakeholder in developing the framework for the enterprise hub 

architecture for the Bureau. 

 Implement FedNow Instant Payments receipt and board federal agencies to the service 

through the Credit Gateway. 

 Implement the Translation Hub as an enterprise-wide utility to consume payment system 

message formats (e.g., FedNow and Fedwire ISO20022) and translate to Bureau XML-based 

schema formatting for, e.g., the Collections Information Repository (CIR). 
Lead. Transform. Deliver Department of the Treasury • Bureau of the Fiscal Service • Washington, DC 20227 

Collections Business Area 

Collections 

Cycle 

Memo 

Part II 

Published By: Revenue Collections Management 

Last Revised: June 2023
1

Table of Contents 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 

What Is the Collections Cycle Memo? ....................................................................................... 4 

How Is This Document Structured? ........................................................................................... 4 

The Collections Business Area ....................................................................................................... 4 

What Are Business Lines, Collection Programs, Systems, and Services? ................................. 4 

What Are the Major Controls Over Collections? ....................................................................... 5 

Debit Gateway ......................................................................................................................... 6 

Electronic Federal Tax Payment System ................................................................................. 7 

Credit Gateway ........................................................................................................................ 7 

Treasury Cash Management System ....................................................................................... 9 

Which Fiscal Service Offices Perform Reconciliation for Central Accounting? ....................... 9 

Responsibilities of the Data Management Reporting and Analysis Division ....................... 10 

Responsibilities of the Collections and Deposits Group ....................................................... 10 

Responsibilities of the Budget Reports Branch ..................................................................... 10 

Responsibilities of the Cash Reporting Branch ..................................................................... 10 

Responsibilities of the Cash Accounting Branch .................................................................. 11 

How Do the Fiscal Service Offices Perform Reconciliation for Central Accounting? ............ 11 

Daily Recording of Collections ............................................................................................. 11

System Controls ..................................................................................................................... 14 

Reconciliations with the Federal Reserve Bank .................................................................... 15 

Reconciliation and Confirmation of Cash Account Balances ............................................... 15 

Reconciliations of Deposits in Transit................................................................................... 15 

Reconciliation of Automated Clearing House Credit and Fedwire Transactions ................. 16 

Monthly Reconciliation of Treasury General Account Balances .......................................... 16 
2

ACRONYMS 

ACH Automated Clearing House 

ALC Agency Location Code 

AMI Account Management Information 

BRB Budget Reports Branch 

BTM Bank Transaction Module 

CAB Cash Accounting Branch 

CARD Central Accounting and Reporting Division 

CARS Central Accounting and Reporting System 

CDG Collections and Deposits Group 

CIR Collections Information Repository 

CRB Cash Reporting Branch 

CSGL Central Summary General Ledger 

DDA Demand Deposit Account 

DMD Data Management Reporting and Analysis Division 

DVS Direct Voucher Submission 

EASy Enterprise Accounting System 

ECP Electronic Check Processing 

EFTPS Electronic Federal Tax Payment System 

ET Eastern Time 

FAM Financial Audit Manual 

FA Fiscal Accounting 

FBWT Funds Balance With Treasury 

FedACH Federal Reserve Bank’s Automated Clearing House 

FI Financial Institution 

FIRD Financial Institution Reconcilement Data File 

Fiscal Service Bureau of the Fiscal Service 

FPA Federal Program Agency 

FRB Federal Reserve Bank 

GL General Ledger 

GLN General Lockbox Network 

IRS Internal Revenue Service 

NAF Non- Appropriated Funds 

NSS National Settlement Service 

OFAC Office of Foreign Assets Control 

OFAS Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary 

OTC Over the Counter 

OTCnet Over the Counter Channel Application 

PIR Payment Information Repository 

PMS Public Money Symbol 

RCM Revenue Collections Management 

RTN Routing and Transit Number 

SOD Statement of Difference 

SSD Settlement Services Division 

STP Straight-Through Processing 
3

TAMMI Treasury Account Management and Maintenance Initiative 

TCIRP Treasury Cash Integrated Reconciliation Process 

TCIS Treasury Check Information System 

TCMS Treasury Cash Management System 

TGA Treasury General Account 

 
4

Introduction 

What Is the Collections Cycle Memo? 

The Collections Cycle Memo focuses on important programs and processes associated with the 

receipt and management of public monies, also referred to as the collections business area. 

In particular, and as set out in section 390.05 of the General Accountability Office’s Financial 

Audit Manual (FAM), a cycle memorandum should include the following items: 

(1) identifies the cycle transactions, each significant accounting application, and each 

significant financial management system included in the cycle; 

(2) describes interfaces with other cycles; 

(3) identifies financial statement line items, relevant assertions, and general ledger 

accounts included in the cycle; 

(4) describes the operating policies and procedures relating to the processing of cycle 

transactions (see FAM 320.03); and 

(5) identifies major internal controls (overview only). 

How Is This Document Structured? 

This memorandum is divided into two parts. The first part provides information on the programs 

and processes most prominently associated with collections. This includes a discussion of 

collections channels, settlement mechanisms, and transaction reporting. 

The second part addresses programs and processes associated with cash management. This 

includes central account processing (i.e., the management of the Treasury General Account), 

collateral monitoring and management, and bank management. 

The first part likely will be of the most use to those who are unfamiliar with the collections 

business area, while the second part is intended for an audience with more advanced knowledge 

of the collections business area.

The Collections Business Area 

What Are Business Lines, Collection Programs, Systems, and Services? 

The collections business area consists of several business lines. A business line is a high-level 

categorization of functionality, such as the “Internet Channel.” 

The business lines are served by one or more programs. A program consists of one or more 

systems or services managed together in an ongoing fashion. 
5

A system refers to information technology controlled by a program that creates, stores, or 

processes data. For instance, both Revenue Collections Management’s Pay.gov and Debit 

Gateway programs consist of systems, because Revenue Collections Management (RCM) has 

exclusive control over the information technology that handles data for these programs. 

A service refers to work done by manual means (such as lockbox processing) or by information 

technology that is not controlled by an RCM program and processes information for other 

customers (such as credit and debit card processing). For instance, RCM categorizes the 

Treasury General Account (TGA) Network and General Lockbox Network (GLN) as services 

because the work is primarily manual. Likewise, RCM considers the Credit Gateway to be a 

service because the information technology is controlled by a bank (and is used to serve many 

other customers outside of the government). 

The definitions of system and service can be confusing at times because it depends in part on the 

perspective of the program owner. For instance, RCM considers Pay.gov to be a system, 

because RCM controls the information technology at the heart of this program. However, from 

an agency’s perspective, Pay.gov is a service, because it provides functionality for an agency 

through information technology that is not controlled by that agency. 

*Reconciliation and Controls 

What Are the Major Controls Over Collections? 

There are two key controls over the government’s cash receipts: Federal agencies’ monthly 

reconciliation of their funds balance with Treasury and the Treasury Cash Integrated 

Reconciliation Process (TCIRP). 

For the Federal agencies’ monthly reconciliation of their funds balance with Treasury (FBWT), 

Fiscal Service compares monthly cash collection data reported by agencies to those reported by 

the Federal Reserve and commercial banks. When the Fiscal Service identifies discrepancies, it 

notifies the agencies. Agencies are responsible for investigating and resolving differences and 

reporting to the Fiscal Service any necessary adjustments to their FBWT accounts. 

In the Straight-Through Processing (STP) and TCIRP environments, bank cash information is 

obtained from the source system, the Federal Reserve’s Enterprise Accounting System (EASy). 

The book cash information sources are the Collections Information Repository (CIR), Payment 

Information Repository (PIR), and the Treasury Check Information System (TCIS) transcript. 

There are two key sets of data that are reconciled: Book View and Bank View. 

The Book View is defined as the cash reported by government entities or Treasury programs 

reflecting the dollars paid out or collected affected the TGA. The book data is received via the 

CIR, PIR, DVS, and TCIS. 

The TCIRP process is managed by Fiscal Accounting and oversight is provided by the Treasury 

Account Monitoring and Management Initiative (TAMMI). 
6

TCIRP compares the Bank View and the Book View of the TGA and has four main components, 

Balance, Match, Reconcile, and Verify. Each process plays an integral role in ensuring the 

accuracy of the TGA Cash Balance. 

Balance 

 Balance is a FRB process that compares transactions both detail and summary, against 

the TGA balances in EASy prior to the end of the business day. FRB business areas, in 

support of collection business lines, use FRB payment systems to process transactions. 

Federal Reserve business areas balance their daily work, which debits/credits the TGA, in 

EASy. This process is performed intraday and at the end of the day. All balances and 

transactions processed by business lines are sent to the TGA. FRB business areas will 

continue to support inquires by the collection programs and investigate exceptions 

identifies by Treasury once business line post transactions. 

Match 

 Match is the process by which Book View transaction data, reported by collection 

programs, and Bank View transaction data reported on the FIRD file from EASy are 

compared. Matching is performed by CIR at the end of the day, wherein, the CIR 

matches the Book View subtotal versus Bank View subtotal. The CIR notifies Collection 

programs if an exception arising through the matching process.

Reconcile 

 Reconcile is the analysis of data, identification of errors and the correction of those 

errors. Collection programs reconcile the Book View transactions versus Bank View 

transactions intraday and at the end of the day. The desired result is that the Book View 

transactions equal the Bank View transactions. If there is an exception, the collection 

program notifies Fiscal Accounting by the next business day and provides a plan of 

correction. 

Verify 

 Verify is to confirm the accuracy of data on identified parameters to ascertain a level of 

certainty of the data. CASH TRACK verifies the TGA Balance, Forecasting and Daily 

Treasury Statement (DTS) data. Verifying is performed the next day with the expectant 

result that the Bank versus Book and Totals versus Details are equal. If a difference 

occurs, collection programs are contacted to resolve the issue. 

How Do Collection Programs Support the Cash Reconciliation Process? 

Debit Gateway 

Debit Gateway uses Straight-Through Processing (STP) which streamlines the origination 

settlement process. Funds are settled directly to the TGA. 

 Payment Mechanisms settle directly to TGA Sub Account routing numbers. These are the 

routing numbers that the Debit Gateway uses for Payment Mechanism files. These routing 

numbers are configured to accept these funds. 
7

 Channels exclusively provide voucher information to the CIR for Debit Gateway origination 

activity. The Agency Direct Channel represents an exception because there is no central 

Channel system to receive collection settlement status. Debit Gateway updates the 

settlement status for this channel via Direct Voucher Submission (DVS). 

 

 FRB Cleveland’s reconcilement process changed slightly in the move to STP, but the basic 

reconcilement tools did not change. 

 Debit Gateway staff balances Channel Reports to Debit Gateway Reports to ensure 

transactions between both systems have been reconciled. 

 Debit Gateway staff balances between Debit Gateway output and Payment Settlement 

Systems to ensure all Channel files are successfully processed. 

 Debit Gateway staff reviews credits/debits from Payment Settlement Systems in Account 

Management Information (AMI). 

Electronic Federal Tax Payment System 

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) uses ACH debits to pull funds from 

payers’ financial institutions. The debits are initiated through FedACH by the commercial bank 

agent, Bank of America, though the funds settle with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. FRB 

Atlanta receives ACH credits, as well. 

Bank of America receives information about these ACH transactions through FedACH. The 

FedACH system generates a summary ACH Advice Holder Report to Bank of America detailing 

the ACH collections that have occurred. Bank of America uses this information to perform an 

automated, detailed comparison of the FedACH information to EFTPS’s own records of the 

ACH debits and credits. 

Likewise, FRB Atlanta has access through EASy to the amounts that have settled. FRB Atlanta 

also receives a voucher report from Bank of America that FRB Atlanta uses to confirm that the 

amounts it has received (as reported by EASy) match those of Bank of America. 

Credit Gateway 

Another collection program involving the Federal Reserve is the Credit Gateway. As with 

EFTPS, the program is run by a commercial bank agent, U.S. Bank, while the funds settle at an 

FRB. The collections consist of ACH credit and Fedwire transactions. In the case of tax 

Fedwire transactions, EFTPS and its agent, Bank of America, is involved as well. The Credit 

Gateway and EFTPS communicate with one another and check Federal Reserve systems to 

ensure that the programs’ databases are in line with settled amounts and properly reported. 

The Fiscal Service does not have direct involvement in collecting or handling ACH credits or 

Fedwire receipts. Credit Gateway staff at U.S. Bank are responsible for monitoring Fedwire 

transactions to ensure that collections are credited to the correct Agency Location Code (ALC) 

and that all Fedwire deposit information is sent to the CIR by the end of the day. 
8

When a wire is sent to Treasury in error, the bank initiating the Fedwire will request a reversal 

wire. There are two types of reversal requests, same day and prior day. The type of request 

determines which procedure is followed. 

Same day reversals are processed immediately and the only support necessary is the Fedwire 

type code 1001 sent from the bank. When wires are reversed before the daily settlement (same 

day) the funds have not yet been received by the agency. 

Prior day reversals require approval from the agency that received the money. Unlike the same 

day reversals, the agency has already received the money. Therefore, Credit Gateway Customer 

Care must contact the agency and obtain authorization to return the funds to the sender. If the 

financial institution (FI) has sent a Fedwire message type code 1007 (Request for Reversal of a 

Prior Day Transfer), Customer Care can accept an email from the agency authorizing the return 

of the Fedwire. If the FI has not sent a Fedwire message type code 1007, the agency must 

complete a Fedwire Return Form and email it to Customer Care. Processing of reversals in the 

Credit Gateway is performed by Credit Gateway Operations staff. Execution of a reversal within 

the gateway requires two operators to complete the transfer. The Credit Gateway transmits all 

Fedwire receipts and reversals to the CIR. 

The CIR maintains a record of all reversal messages. This information can be retrieved through 

an online query in the CIR. 

When wire messages are missing Agency Location Code (ALC) information or contain invalid 

ALC numbers, they are automatically transferred to the Credit Gateway suspense account, Public 

Money Symbol 20880001. To clear suspense items each day, the Credit Gateway operations 

staff reviews Fedwire messages to determine if sufficient information on the Fedwire can be 

obtained to manually apply the message to a valid account. If a valid account cannot be 

identified, the Fedwire is returned to the originating financial institution. Consequently, the 

suspense account is cleared of the Fedwire transaction. The suspense account should be zero at 

the close of each business day. All transactions received and returned in the suspense account 

are transmitted from the Credit Gateway to the CIR. Suspense items can be retrieved through an 

online query in the CIR. 

If a Fedwire is credited to the wrong ALC, the agency contacts the Credit Gateway Customer 

Care unit at U.S. Bank via phone or email. The agency completes a Gateway Account 

Correction Form and emails it to Customer Care. Customer Care makes the correction in the 

Credit Gateway and the correction is transmitted to the CIR. Correction information can be 

retrieved through a query in the CIR. 

Each day Credit Gateway Operations at U.S. Bank reconciles all Fedwire receipts with reports 

provided by the FRBs that receive the funds. Credit Gateway Operations compares FRB account 

statements to U.S. Bank deposit system reports as well as the Credit Gateway end of day voucher 

files. If a difference is identified, Credit Gateway Operations will research the discrepancy with 

the FRB and U.S. Bank technical staff. Credit Gateway Operations will notify the Fiscal Service 

and downstream stakeholders (CIR and EFTPS) if any corrective action is required. 
9

Treasury Cash Management System 

Transactions that settle to accounts at commercial bank depositaries and financial agents are 

centralized differently than transactions that settle to accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank 

(FRB) depositaries and fiscal agents. For the transactions that settle to accounts at commercial 

banks, the banks report transaction amounts to the CIR, either directly or through collection 

programs that provide information to the CIR, which, in turn, passes the information to the 

Treasury Cash Management System (TCMS). Using their internal accounting systems, these 

banks need to confirm that the amounts deposited to or withdrawn from these accounts match 

what they report to the CIR and other relevant collection programs. 

For instance, the most common method used for commercial banks to report vouchers into the 

CIR is through the Over the Counter Channel Application (OTCnet). OTCnet is used to (among 

other things) record deposits of cash and checks presented to commercial bank depositaries 

across the country and around the world. These banks can access OTCnet to view, update, 

confirm, and submit vouchers. OTCnet sends this information to the CIR, which passes it to 

TCMS. 

TCMS uses the National Settlement Service (NSS) to transfer funds between the depositary’s 

FRB reserve account and the TGA. After the transfers occur, the depositary can access reports 

within the CIR to ensure that the proper amounts were transferred, or access more summarylevel Federal Reserve reporting systems to confirm the transfers. TCMS also sends an end of 

day report to the commercial banks via FedMail. These reports provide voucher level detail for 

the NSS transfers that TCMS made that day. This report helps the bank make the subsequent 

movement of funds from the correct Treasury Demand Deposit Account (DDA) to offset the 

movement of funds from their main reserve account. Information on the vouchers also remains 

in OTCnet. In addition to reconciliation accomplished by the commercial banks in these cases, 

Federal agencies can alert the Fiscal Service to any discrepancies between what they believed 

they deposited and the amount that was actually deposited and reported through OTCnet, CIR, 

and TCMS. 

TCMS sends three concentration files per day to the NSS (8:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. 

ET); NSS checks to ensure that the banks have funds to cover debits to their FRB reserve 

accounts and then passes the files to EASy. 

Which Fiscal Service Offices Perform Reconciliation for Central Accounting? 

The Fiscal Service is responsible for the federal government's systems for collections, central 

accounting and reporting and cash management. There are several organizations within the 

Fiscal Service that receive and use cash collection information. 

 In RCM, these include the Data Management Reporting and Analysis Division (DMD) and 

the Collections and Deposits Group (CDG). 

 In the Fiscal Accounting Assistant Commissioner area, Fiscal Accounting Operations, 

Central Accounting and Reporting Division which includes the Budget Reports Branch 

(BRB), Cash Reporting Branch (CRB), and Cash Accounting Branch (CAB). 
10

Responsibilities of the Data Management Reporting and Analysis Division 

The Data Management Reporting and Analysis Division (DMD) verifies that collections reported 

in the CIR have been credited to the TGA, helps users navigate the CIR, sets up new accounts for 

users, and performs database management. To help ensure that collections are properly credited 

to the TGA, DMD staff monitors the differences identified through automated comparisons of 

TGA collection data and CIR reported collections. 

The following describes DMD’s control procedures: 

 Reconciliation of ALC 20181874 – the CIR submits data settled by NSS to FA, using PMS 

20801874. 

Responsibilities of the Collections and Deposits Group 

The Collections and Deposits Group (CDG), which includes the Settlement Services Division, 

maintains a number of transit accounts for specific purposes that are primarily used by the Debit 

Gateway (A general description is provided in part I.). The Cash Accounting Branch (CAB) 

provides CDG with an electronic copy of transit entry details once a week. These records should 

be in agreement. The reports provide information by the following Public Money Symbols: 

a) Reconciliation of PMS 20801870 – Transit Account – Check Conversions – POS 

[OTC NET] 

b) Reconciliation of PMS 20801871 – Transit Account – Pay.gov 

c) Reconciliation of PMS 20801872 – Transit Account – Check Conversions – Lockbox 

[ECP] 

d) Reconciliation of PMS 20801873 – Transit Account – Check Conversions – OTC 

e) Reconciliation of PMS 20801875 – Transit Account – PAYPAL 

f) Reconciliation of PMS 20801876 – Transit Account – DG-OTCnet NAF 

g) Reconciliation of PMS 20801878 – Transit Account – Check Conversions – Agency 

Direct [Debit Gateway] 

Responsibilities of the Budget Reports Branch 

The Budget Reports Branch (BRB) prepares the Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and 

Outlays of the United States Government (MTS) and the Combined Statement of Receipts, 

Outlays and Balances of the United States Government that reports governmentwide cash 

collections to the citizens of the United States of America. 

Responsibilities of the Cash Reporting Branch 

The Cash Reporting Branch (CRB) collects and analyzes cash collection information daily from 

reports received from the FRBs, FPAs, IRS Service Centers, DVS, CIR, FIRD and EFTPS. The 

division provides the receipt and disbursement information to the Office of Fiscal Projections at 

Treasury’s Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary (OFAS). These offices use the information to 

make daily cash management decisions concerning the investment of excess operating balances. 
11

Book and bank information reported to the CASH TRACK system is used for the authoritative 

reconciliation of the TGA to confirm the actual balance in the TGA account held at FRB New 

York. CRB also prepares the Daily Treasury Statement.

Responsibilities of the Cash Accounting Branch 

The Cash Accounting Branch (CAB) is responsible for maintaining and monitoring the 

collection of data and accounting for all public monies reporting as well as monitoring the 

receipts and disbursements between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, financial 

institutions, and the Treasury. The division also maintains the Central Summary General Ledger 

(CSGL), thereby reflecting the receipt, custody, and expenditure of all public monies. The 

division maintains the CSGL for all cash assets and liabilities of the government and maintains 

the various control accounts used to monitor the movement of cash and certain other major U.S. 

monetary assets. 

How Do the Fiscal Service Offices Perform Reconciliation for Central 

Accounting? 

Daily Recording of Collections 

The Fiscal Service records the federal government’s cash balances in its central accounting and 

reporting system on the basis of public money symbols and account balances maintained at the 

Federal Reserve Banks. 

CARS receives the FIRD File which provides bank information of activity impacting the TGA. 

The FIRD file is also sent to CIR and Payment Information Repository (PIR). 

CARS is the system of record for the U.S. Government’s central accounting and reporting 

activities developed by Fiscal Service. CARS consists of several integrated modules/systems. 

The Bank Transaction Module (BTM) is the primary staging area for bank and book data being 

reported by the Federal Reserve Bank, CIR, PIR, and TCIS. CARS has the capability to accept 

summary reporting at the PMS as well as the RTN level. CARS accepts the FIRD file from the 

Federal Reserve Bank as a single entity. RTN transactions reported on the FIRD file are mapped 

to PMS’s in BTM, PIR, CIR, and TCIS. They will continue to report at the PMS level until each 

determines that they are ready to report the transaction data for posting to the General Ledger 

(GL) system that supports both CSGL and the General Fund. In addition, the BTM is the central 

location to monitor the TGA balance, manage the Reporting Entities (Federal Reserve Bank, 

CIR, PIR, TCIS, and others as needed), and manage RTN/PMS mapping. 

The CIR and PIR consolidate information reported on the FIRD file (Bank View) and voucher 

information submitted by Treasury Programs/Channels by PMS and report to CARS. PMS’ are 

used as system controls that allow CARD to reconcile and accurately account for 

Governmentwide Cash. This is done within CARS/BTM, which performs a matching process 

each business day of activity received from the Bank View (FIRD file) with activity received 

from the Book View (CIR, PIR, and TCIS). The following PMS’ identify a specific collection or 

payment activity under the Treasury Cash Integrated Reconciliation Process (TCIRP) of the 

Treasury General Account (TGA), including PMS’ that may fall outside TCIRP. 
12

20801870 

11900006/

81790001 

(20A1870) 

TRANSIT ACCOUNT, CHECK 

CONVERSION-POS Collection

20801871 

11900006/

81790001 

(20A1870) TRANSIT ACCOUNT, PAY.GOV Collection

20801872 

11900006/

8179001 

(20A1870) 

TRANSIT ACCT,CHECK CONVERSION 

LOCKBOX Collection

20801873 

11900006/

81790001 

(20A1870) 

TRANSIT ACCOUNT, CHECK 

CONVERSION-OTC Collection

20801874 

11900008/

81810001 

(20A1874) Commercial Cash Transfers (TCMS) Collection

20801875 

11900006/

81790001 

(20A1870) Transit Account, PayPal Collection

20801876 

11900006/

81790001 

(20A1870) Transit Account, DG-OTCNET NAF Collection

20801878 

11900006/

81790001 

(20A1870) 

TRANSIT ACCOUNT, CHECK 

CONVERSION-SSA Collection

20808084 

11900012/

82660001 

(20A8084) SUSPENSE ITEMS, INVALID ALC'S Payment/Collection

20808116 

11900013/

82690001 

(20A8116) CASH-LINK Miscellaneous Transfers Collection

20808118 

11900015/

82710001 

(20A8118) CASH LINK ACH TRANSFERS Collections 

20808119 

11900016/

82720001 

(20A8119) 

CIR, FRB BOOK TRANSFERS (Collection 

Information Repository) Collections 

20808120 

11900020/

82730001 

(20A8120) 

Federal Reserve – Electronic Tax Application 

Settlement Collection

20808121 

119000022

/82870001 

(20A8121) Payment Information Repository(PIR) Payment 

20808122 

11900023/

82880001 

(20A8122) 

Unclassified FRB Transactions (For future 

processing under STP) 

Collection/Payment 
13

20808130 

11900024/

82890001 

(20A8130) 

IRS-Online Bill Payment ACH Collection 

20808131 

11900017 

/82740001 

(20A8131) 

ACH Credits (Credit Gateway) Collection 

20808132 

11900018/

82750001 

(20A8132) 

CASH-LINK ACH Receiver Suspense Collection 

20808133 

11900019 

/82760001 

(20A8133) 

CASH-LINK ACH Receiver PAD (PreAuthorized Debits) Collection 

20808134 

11900025/

82900001 

(20A8134) Treasury Retail Investment Manager 

20880001 

29900012 

/81780001 

(20A1869) DEPOSITS IN SUSPENSE, EFT Collection

02880002 

29900011 

/81770001 

(20A1868) DEPOSIT IN SUSPENSE, EFT (OFAC) Collection

20880202 

11900007/

81800001 

(20A1871) 

T A-UNCLAS RECPTS ELEC FUND 

TRANSFER Collection

20880208 

11900009/

82590001 

(20A8060) 

T A-UNCLAS CHARGES, ELEC FUND 

TRANSFER Collection

20808011 

11090008/

82440001 

(20A8015) 

DO'S CHKS OUTSTD UNFND ACCT 4 

DGT SYMB Payment 

20808016 

29900006/

82450001 

(20A8016) 

T A-PYMT US TREAS CHKS ACHIVE 

RETRV Payment 

20808017 

11090002/

82460001 

(20A8017) 

T A-ADJ US TREAS CHK PYMT FED 

RES BK Payment 

20808021 

11090003/

82500001 

(20A8021) 

T A - U.S. TREASURY CHECK 

DISCREPANCIE Payment 

20808073 

11090006/

82630001 

(20A8073) TRANSFER OF US TREAS CHK DATA Payment 
14

The following PMS’ are strictly for cash related transactions and the movement of cash: 

00017222 

11010003/

81070001 

(20A1009) Short-Term Cash Investments Investment 

20801006 

11030003 

/81030001 

(20A1006) 

SUPPLEMENTARY FINANCING 

PROGRAM Cash Asset 

20801007 

11010004 

/81050007 

(20A1007) REPURCHASE AGREEMENT ACCOUNT Investment 

20801008 

11010005 

/81060001 

(20A1008) TERM INVESTMENT ACCOUNT Investment 

20801011 

81220001 

(20A1011) OTHER US TREAS MONETARY ASSETS Monetary Asset 

20801012 

81600001 

(20A1012) 

U.S. TREASURY MISCELLANEOUS 

ASSETS Monetary Asset 

20801021 

81240001 

(20A1021) 

T A-OTHER US TREASURY MONETARY 

ASSETS Transit 

20801043 

81660001 

(20A1043) T A-US TREASURY OWNED GOLD Monetary Asset 

20801053 

81670001 

(20A1053) US TREASURY - OWNED GOLD Monetary Asset 

20808056 

11090004/

82580001 

(20A8056) 

TRANSFER UNPROCESSED TREAS CHKUNCLAS Transit 

20808063 

11090005 

/82610001 

(20A8063) 

T A-CHKS ON US TREAS 

CASHED,UNCLAS Transit 

System Controls 

CARS has certain programmed checks and balances to ensure the integrity of the accounting data 

received through the Transcripts and FIRD file and other data maintained in CARS. The 

following are some of the systems edit checks programmed into CARS: 

 Data element edits check for invalid PMS/ALC numbers; 

 Edit checks to identify duplicate transcripts and FIRD files; 

 Edit checks to identify missing transcripts and transcripts and FIRD files as well as 

those in out of date sequence; and 

 Balancing edits which show that total daily debits and credits are equal. 

When errors are identified, the system flags the error. The system also stores a status report that 

can be run at any time to identify if any transcripts or FIRD files are missing. CARD staff 
15

monitors the system for error indicators daily and resolves any problems identified. In addition, 

the system creates a log that identifies error messages for transcripts received and the status. 

Reconciliations with the Federal Reserve Bank 

Monthly, the Cash Accounting Branch (CAB) reconciles Account 11010003/8107001 

(20A1009) - Short-Term Cash Investments and, whenever applicable, Accounts 

11010004/81050001 (20A1007) - Repurchase Agreement, 11010005/81060001 (20A1008) - 

Term Investment, and 11030003/81030001 (20A1006) - Supplementary Financing Program 

Account to the main account balance reported in CASH TRACK as of the last day of the 

month. Differences between the CASH TRACK amounts and GL balances are generally timing 

differences. The CAB also reconciles Accounts 11010002/81010001 (20A1010) - Federal 

Reserve Account/TGA, 11010006/81020001 (20A1019) - FRB NY Special Purpose Account 

and 11900002/81620001 (20A1016) - FRB Deferred Items to the Daily CASH TRACK 

Transmittal balance at month-end. Accounts 11010004/81050001 (20A1007), 

11010005/81060001 (20A1008), and 11010003/81070001 (20A1009) are not processing 

transactions at the current time because interest rates are too low for investment purposes. 

CAB also confirms account balances with the FRB. Each month, CARD sends a confirmation 

letter to FRB New York reporting the TGA balance, and any PMS/RTN balances only reported 

via the FIRD file. 

Reconciliation and Confirmation of Cash Account Balances 

Reconciliation of PMS 20808119 – Collection Information Repository (CIR): This PMS account 

is one of several PMS’ used for deposits at FRBs. It is credited for the deposits reported to 

CARS on the FIRD file. PMS 20808119 is debited for the deposits reported to CARS by the 

CIR. CAB monitors any balances in this PMS account. Differences in this account often are a 

result of timing issues. 

CAB confirms account balances with the Fiscal Service offices responsible for monitoring the 

daily activity in certain cash accounts. For example, to confirm the balances in the accounts 

related to collections, CAB sends a confirmation letter to RCM/Data Management Division 

(DMD) to verify the balance in account 11900016/82720001 (20A8119) - CIR FRB Bank 

Transfers. 

Reconciliations of Deposits in Transit 

CAB performs reconciliations (called “Deposits in Transit” audits) to ensure that agencies are 

notified of differences revealed from these audits. The Fiscal Service uses the term "Deposits-inTransit" to refer to a component of CARS. This component provides an automated monthly 

comparison of net deposits reported by agencies on its Statement of Transactions, FMS 1218s 

and FMS 1219s, Statement of Accountability (by ALC) with the net deposit data CARS receives 

daily from the CIR. The difference between these two sets of reports often is due to over or 

under reporting to the source system by the agency. 

CARS receives deposit information daily from depository banks using the CIR system. The 

source documents for the CIR system are Credit Vouchers and Debit Vouchers. At the 

beginning of the month, the agencies prepare and certify the Statement of Transactions, Form 

1219/1220 or Form 1218/1221 (Statement of Accountability and Transactions) via the– Agency 
16

Transaction Module (ATM) or transmit the data directly to CARS using Connect: Direct for the 

prior month’s activity. The agency reports show the total net deposits, disbursements, and 

interagency transactions by ALC by month. 

Every day, CARS compares the information it has collected through the CIR with the agency 

reported deposit information. When CARS identifies differences between the daily bank data 

received and the agency reported amounts, CARS generates a Statement of Differences. 

Agencies can access the Statement of Difference in the CARS Statement of Difference (SOD) 

Module. 

Differences occur because incorrect deposit information (such as incorrect ALCs or amounts) 

was entered into the CIR or via agencies’ monthly reporting. Timing differences occur often 

when agencies report deposit data for a different month than do the banks, which can sometimes 

happen at the end of the month. A large portion of these timing differences are corrected by the 

end of the second month. 

Agencies, not the Cash Accounting Branch, are responsible for researching and resolving the 

differences. Agencies should report to Treasury any resulting adjustments to their general 

ledgers on their monthly Statement of Transactions, FMS1219s, or FMS1218s, Statement of 

Accountability. 

Reconciliation of Automated Clearing House Credit and Fedwire Transactions 

After month end, RCM’s Settlement Services Division (SSD) reviews the CIR Financial 

Transaction Summary report for the Fedwire suspense account 20880001 and the Fedwire Office 

of Foreign Assets Compliance (OFAC) suspense account 20880002. SSD verifies that the net 

monthly balance is zero for both accounts. If an account is not zero, SSD will work with Credit 

Gateway Operations to resolve the discrepancy. ACH processing and reconciliation in the Credit 

Gateway follows the same path as Fedwires. The ACH suspense account is 20180049001 and 

the ACH OFAC suspense account is 820180049002. 

Following month end, CAB sends SSD an email requesting the balance for suspense accounts 

20880001 and 20880002. SSD sends CAB an email with the balance as reflected in the CIR. If 

there are any discrepancies, an explanation is provided to CAB. Then the CAB sends a letter to 

RCM’s SSD to verify the balances in 29900012/81780001 (20A1869) – Deposit in Suspense 

Electronic Funds Transfers, 29900011/81770001 (20A1868) - Deposit in Suspense EFT 

(OFAC), 11900007/81800001 (20A1871) - Transit Account for Unclassified Receipts, 

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), and 11900009/825900001 (20A8060) – Transit Account 

Unclassified Charges. 

CAB reconciles Fedwire collections reported to the FA’s CARS/Bank Transaction Module 

(BTM) system by the RCM’s CIR file (book data) and FRB’s FIRD file (bank data). The data 

used in the reconciliation is reported to CARS/BTM by the CIR as net debits/credits to PMS’ 

20880202 and the FRB New York FIRD file as net credits/debits by RTNs to PMS 20880202. 

CAB notifies SSD if the CIR and FRB file totals do not match if FA had not been previously 

notified by RCM of an out of balance condition for the RTN mapped to PMS 20880202. 

Monthly Reconciliation of Treasury General Account Balances 

The FRB New York receives a monthly confirmation from CAB that includes two major items 

(1) Confirmation of the TGA balance, and (2) Confirmation of PMS accounts 20801872, 

20801870, 20801878, 20801871, 20801876, and 20808063.