GTAS ... What’s New! August 12, 2013 

Volume 3, Issue 2 

Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Governmentwide Accounting 

Agency Testing 

 

Useful Resources 

We would like to extend 

our thanks to those who 

diligently worked to get 

their active TASs 

submitted into GTAS 

during the official test 

window. To say this was 

no small task is quite an 

understatement. The 

following statistics speak 

to the level of effort that 

has been put forth over 

the past year: 12,800 

total active TASs; 8,619 

submitted; 6,614 Passing 

Required Edits. 

On July 3, 2013, 

Treasury announced that 

GTAS will go live 

December 2013 for 

November 2013 balances. 

If your agency is not 

prepared to move to 

GTAS by December 2013, 

it is urgent that you 

notify Treasury of your 

issues by August 16. 

Although the official test 

period ended June 30, we 

have extended period 3 – 

March 2013 testing 

through August 2013 as 

an optional test period. 

Stay in tune with the 

latest GTAS information 

by subscribing to the 

GTAS program located at 

https://www.fms.treas.go

v/fmsweb/EmailSubscribe

Action.do 

Updates will also be 

communicated via 

Newsletters, Webinars 

and GTAS Homepage 

messages. 

Many have expressed 

interest in utilizing the 

summer months to 

continue working with 

GTAS. 

Below are links to 

resources that are always 

helpful: 

GTAS Contacts:

http://www.fms.treas.gov/

gtas/contacts.html

Bulk File Format, Edits 

and Validations: 

http://www.fms.treas.gov/

ussgl/tfm_releases/12-

03/2014/part3_current.ht

ml

GTAS Enrollment 

Process:

http://www.fms.treas.gov/

gtas/forms.html

In This Issue: 

 Agency Testing 

 Useful Resources 

 Changes 

 OMB Codes 

 TAS Removal 

 GTAS Issues 

Individual Highlights 

Agency Testing Tidbits 1 

Useful Websites 1 

GTAS Changes 2 

OMB Involvment 2 

TAS Removal 3 

GTAS Issues 3 
2 TYPE TITLE HERE

Changes 

 

 OMB Codes

 

 

 

Life is full of changes, and 

GTAS is no exception to 

this fact. An ever 

changing economy and 

reporting requirements 

necessitate system 

enhancements from time 

to time. The following 

items will become effective 

in GTAS after the June 30 

test window closes: 

1) Reduction Type 

Attribute – This will be 

an additional 3 characters 

added to the end of each 

bulk file line, increasing 

the count from 89 to 92 

characters per row. Noncompliance with this 

change will result in the 

bulk file not making it to 

the validation checks. 

Domain values can be 

found on the USSGL 

Attribute Table. If a value 

is not required, blank 

spaces should be used as 

place markers. This 

change became effective 

in GTAS July 22, 2013. 

2) Z Domain Value – A 

new domain value of ‘Z’ 

was added to the USSGL 

Attribute Table for 

Fed/NonFed Code. This 

value is defined as 

Federal activity that does 

not have a trading 

partner. Please refer to 

the Attribute Table to see 

which USSGLs this value 

pertains to. This change 

became effective in GTAS 

July 22, 2013. 

3) Trading Partners – 

New Trading Partner 

Agency Identifier (TP 

AID) codes will be 

created to facilitate 

intragovernmental 

eliminations with the 

following agencies (if no

Trading Partner Main 

Account Code is 

reported): 

 916 = Pension Benefit 

Guaranty Corporation 

 933 = Smithsonian 

Institution 

 960 = National Railroad 

Retirement Investment 

Trust 

 978 = Farm Credit System 

Insurance Corporation 

 999 = Classified & 

Unknown Trading 

Partners 

In FY 2019, when the 

Trading Partner Main 

Account code is required 

on all TAS, the above TP 

AIDs will be discontinued 

(except TP AID 999). 

Within GTAS there are 

certain codes provided by 

the Office of Management 

and Budget. One code in 

particular that has been 

questioned on numerous 

occasions is the Budget 

Enforcement Act (BEA) 

Category Code. 

If discrepancies are 

discovered between the 

agencies SF 132 versus 

GTAS, you may notify 

your GTAS contact. If it is 

determined that the 

domain value on the 

SMAF reflects what is in 

the Central Accounting 

and Reporting 

System (CARS), you will 

be notified to contact 

someone in the Budget 

Review Division at OMB 

to resolve this issue. If 

OMB determines that the 

domain value is correct, 

no action can be taken to 

make a change on the 

SMAF. 

If OMB determines that 

the value is incorrect, they 

must change the daily file 

they make available to be 

loaded into CARS. Once 

the file has been loaded 

into CARS, it will reflect 

the correct value. This 

however does not 

automatically update 

GTAS. It’s not until the 

scheduler runs the 

following day that GTAS 

is updated with CARS 

data. 

Since this is not an 

instant process, it is very 

important to keep an open 

line of communication 

with your budget 

examiner so that items 

like this can be resolved in 

a timely manner. 

Look for the 

publication of TFM 

Bulletin No. 2013-01 

coming this summer. 

This bulletin 

contains GTAS 

guidance and 

reporting 

requirements. 
3 

TAS Removal 

 

GTAS Issues 

As GTAS testing has 

progressed, there have 

been several requests 

submitted to the Budget 

Analysis and 

Appropriations Team 

(BAAT) to have Treasury 

Account Symbols (TAS) 

discontinued from Central 

Accounting. In light of 

receiving these requests, a 

few clarifying points 

should be made: 

1) If you see TAS in your 

GTAS SMAF file that 

your agency is not 

responsible for reporting 

(due to another agency 

holding that 

responsibility), please 

contact the Treasury 

Support Center at 877-

440-9476 or at 

GTAS@stls.frb.org to 

have the TAS removed 

from your GTAS SMAF 

view. 

2) If you have a TAS with 

a $0 balance, and has had 

no activity for two 

consecutive years, please 

refer to the TFM Part 2 

Chapter 2000, Section 

2025 for instructions on 

how to have these TAS 

discontinued. 

Throughout the official 

testing period, GTAS 

system issues have been 

detected. The Bureau of 

the Fiscal Service is 

committed to resolving 

those items which remain 

outstanding as quickly as 

possible. As part of that 

commitment, weekly 

progress updates will be 

provided on the GTAS 

homepage for the 

following items: 

1) FBWT for Unavailable 

Receipt Accounts – 

Correct balances should 

be loaded into GTAS midAugust. 

2) Edit 2 and 20 – Some 

USSGLs are not mapping 

to the proper lines in 

these edits due to domain 

values that are required 

to be excluded from the 

agency bulk file. A 

resolution is being 

discussed. 

3) Edit 21 – Some 

FACTSII ending FY2012 

period 12 post-close 

balances didn’t get loaded 

properly into GTAS to 

establish proper 

beginning balances for 

this check. A resolution 

is being discussed. 

4) SF133 Report – Line 

items are not being 

included and there are 

some calculation issues 

that are currently being 

researched for resolution.