DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20227 

January 14, 2011 

The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Management Service provides payment, 

collections, and financial reporting services to your agency. In an effort to improve, 

strengthen and reduce the cost of these services while increasing efficiencies to your 

agency -- something that we know is becoming increasingly important to you -- FMS has 

undertaken a number of modernization efforts in each of these areas. Consistent with our 

responsibilities and authorities related to payments, collections, and central accounting and 

reporting, this letter outlines upcoming requirements and timelines for each of these areas. 

Agencies will need to comply with the stated requirements by the dates indicated. We are 

providing this information now so that your agency can begin planning well in advance. 

In some cases, the changes will be invisible to the agencies. Where the change will have 

an impact on your agency, we are interested in working with you to ensure a smooth 

transition. We have included points of contact in each section to assist in that process. I 

would also encourage personnel from your agency to attend the Governmentwide 

Accounting Conference we are holding on January 26 and 27 at the GSA auditorium in 

Washington, D.C. More information on the conference and other outreach efforts can be 

found in the attachment. 

Payments

FMS is modernizing payment operations through the Payment Application Modernization 

(PAM) project, which will consolidate more than 30 legacy applications into a single 

application that will process agency payment requests in a more efficient and cost effective 

manner. 

Effective October 1, 2014, all Federal agencies using Treasury disbursing services will be 

required to submit payment data in a newly developed standard input format. Using the 

new PAM standard format, your agency will provide Treasury Account Symbol/Business 

Event Type Code (TAS/BETC) information along with your payment files, satisfying new 

Governmentwide Accounting (GWA) reporting requirements. 

Much of the information associated with making a payment is uniform and lends itself to 

using a standard input format. We expect agencies to use the standard format to prepare 

and submit both check and electronic payments (ACH/Wire) to their servicing 

Treasury/FMS Regional Financial Center (RFC). 
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Agencies may begin using the new PAM standard format as early as mid-2012, when they 

will be able to process payments with the TAS/BETC. Payment certifications through the 

Secure Payment System (SPS) will also accommodate the TAS/BETC beginning mid2012. In the coming months, we will contact you to discuss conversion implications and a 

transition timeline. The current version of the PAM standard format can be found at 

fms.treas.gov/pam/formats. 

Agencies making payments through the Automated Standard Application for Payments 

(ASAP.gov) and International Treasury Services (ITS.gov) are also required to begin 

reporting TAS/BETC information by October 1, 2014. If agencies are prepared to report 

earlier, ASAP.gov can be used effective the end of 2012, and ITS.gov effective mid-2012. 

Agencies that disburse their own payments will have additional reporting requirements and 

FMS will be contacting those agencies directly.

Collections

To improve our revenue collections services, FMS continues to advance the Collections 

and Cash Management Modernization (CCMM) initiative. This will ultimately save the 

government money by eliminating duplicative functions and simplifying systems, and will 

provide better service by implementing a streamlined enterprise architecture that focuses 

on efficient ways to meet our customers' business needs. In addition, the collections 

channels and the Transaction Reporting System (TRS) will facilitate the data capture and 

reporting of classification information for the GWA initiative discussed later in this letter. 

All agencies are required to convert from legacy systems to the new end state systems and 

enterprise architecture for collections by December 31, 2012, the date for full CCMM 

implementation. To meet this deadline, it is imperative that all Federal agencies adhere to 

the following transition timeline: 

 Transition from Treasury General Account Network (TGAnet) to the Over The 

Counter-Network (OTCnet) by June 30, 2011. 

 Transition from using Treasury Tax and Loan (TT&L) Plus for collateral 

monitoring to the new Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring System by 

December 31, 2011. 

 Enroll in the Transaction Reporting System, the one stop centralized revenue 

collection data repository, to view detailed and summarized collection data 

(replacing data provided through CA$HLINK II) by December 31, 2012.

 Recognize that FMS will complete all steps to break apart and decommission 

CA$HLINK II by December 31, 2012. 

 Convert all over the counter deposits entered into CA$HLINK II to OTCnet, the 

new web-based system for electronic check capture and deposit reporting, by 

December 31, 2012. 

 Transition from Paper Check Conversion Over-The-Counter (PCC OTC) to 

OTCnet by December 31, 2012.

 Convert Fedwire and Automated Clearing House (ACH) credit electronic lockbox 

transactions to the Credit Gateway by December 31, 2012.
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As the CCMM effort progresses toward full implementation, we will continue to reach out 

to agencies to provide information about upcoming requirements. We will also provide 

ample time to prepare for the transitions. We held two webinars in 2010 to inform 

agencies about CCMM. Additional webinars are scheduled for February 3 and June 30. 

These presentations are on the FMS website, along with other CCMM information 

including commonly asked questions. 

FMS has the structure in place (such as customer service support, various training models, 

automated conversion tools, etc.) to support agencies in achieving the conversions and 

implementations of CCMM end state systems in accordance with the transition timeline 

highlighted above. For more information, please visit our website at fms.treas.gov/ccmm,

or contact the CCMM team at ccmm@fms.treas.gov. 

Governmentwide Accounting and Reporting 

The Governmentwide Accounting Modernization Program (GWAMP) laid the foundation 

to modernize the Federal government’s central accounting and reporting system, 

transforming current governmentwide central accounting into real-time, event-driven 

processes and enabling better financial management across government. With the 

December implementation of Parallel Agency Transaction Support (PATS) 3, FMS has 

successfully enhanced the capability in the central accounting system to classify 

transactions in real time and eliminate the need for two tier classification/reconciliation, 

thereby completing the GWA Modernization Project (GWAMP). 

In order to achieve governmentwide benefits and efficiencies, all Federal agencies will be 

required by October 1, 2014, to submit TAS/BETC information on all transaction types 

(IPAC, Payments, Collections). Currently, 80 Agency Location Codes (ALCs) have 

transitioned to classifying transactions at initiation, many eliminating their end-of-month 

reporting. Though most activity is IPAC-related, collection and payment transactions are 

also being classified daily. 

To meet the October 1, 2014 deadline, agencies should: 

 Reference and adhere to Intragovernmental Business Rules at 

http://www.fms.treas.gov/tfm/vol1/bull.html. 

 Review standardization updates, such as CGAC data implementation dates, at our 

Financial Management and Budget Standardization website at 

http://www.fms.treas.gov/finstandard/index.html. 

 Minimize the use of clearing accounts. 

 Incorporate the requirement to provide the TAS/BETC at the time of transaction. 

FMS will complete modifications to these systems to capture the TAS/BETC at the 

transaction level by December 31, 2012. We will meet with each CFO agency to discuss 

the agency’s transition plan and to identify specific dates when your systems will be ready 

to capture and report TAS/BETC information by transaction type. 

Finally, by early 2013, FMS plans to have replaced several legacy systems with a trialbalance reporting system, the Financial Information Reporting and Standardization 

(FIRST) initiative. This will require quarterly Adjusted Trial Balance (ATB) submissions 
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for all Treasury Account Symbols and replace the existing requirements for input into 

Federal Agencies' Centralized Trial-Balance Systems (FACTS I and FACTS II), 

Intragovernmental Reporting and Analysis System (IRAS), and the Intragovernmental 

Fiduciary Confirmation System (IFCS) submissions. FIRST will completely integrate the 

GWAMP data, and reduce the number of central reporting systems agencies must use, 

ensuring consistency of the data. 

For more information, please visit our website at www.fms.treas.gov/gwa or contact us at 

gwa.project@fms.treas.gov. 

Treasury Financial Manual

Concurrent with the implementation of the initiatives described above, FMS is reviewing 

The Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) to ensure that agencies have the necessary 

requirements and guidance to carry out their responsibilities with respect to these and other 

initiatives over the next 18 – 24 months. We will be working with agencies to determine 

possible changes to the TFM to make it as accessible and informative as possible. 

End Results

Implementing these initiatives will greatly facilitate the ongoing effort to modernize the 

Federal government’s payments, collections and central accounting and reporting systems. 

The end result will be greater efficiency, cost savings, and data quality improvements 

throughout government. 

Collaboration is key to a successful, smooth and seamless transition to these new systems, 

and crucial to maintaining continued excellence in providing financial management 

operations and support. An example of this collaboration will be a two-day GWA 

Conference that will be held on January 26 and 27 at the GSA auditorium. The conference 

will provide up-to-date information on future and on-going FMS initiatives allowing 

attendees to raise issues and have questions addressed. In addition, you have my 

commitment to continue our one-on-one meetings to discuss important initiatives and how 

we can work together to resolve issues. 

Attached is a chart outlining upcoming FMS conferences, webinars and training classes 

regarding implementation of these modernization initiatives. Please do not hesitate to 

contact FMS the e-mail addresses listed above or at CFOletter@FMS.treas.gov if you 

would like to schedule a similar type of meeting. We look forward to working with you on 

these critical transitions in the coming months. 

Attachment 

cc: Daniel Werfel 

Richard Gregg