FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGERS’

YEAR-END EVENT

Achieving More Together

September 1, 2020
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FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGERS’ YEAR-END EVENT | ACHIEVING MORE TOGETHER

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM / 90 minutes

Working Together to 

Reach an Opinion

on the

Financial Report of the 

U.S. Government

1. Reaching an Opinion on the 

Financial Report of the U.S. 

Government

2. Ready for Fiscal Year End? A 

Panel Discussion

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM / 90 minutes

Communication, 

Collaboration, and 

G-Invoicing:

Three Tools to Reduce 

IGT Differences

1. IGT Differences and Your Controls

2. G-Invoicing Update: You Asked. 

We Delivered. Now’s Let’s 

Collaborate!

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / 90 minutes

Auditability of Data –

Starts with

BETCs and

Ends with

GTAS

1. What are Business Event Type 

Codes (BETCs), and What’s the 

best way to use them?

2. The GTAS API -- How it Can Help 

You!

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/
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FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGERS’ YEAR-END EVENT | ACHIEVING MORE TOGETHER

Housekeeping

• This presentation is available as a “Handout” 

through your GoToWebinar panel. 

• Please send questions, comments, and 

suggestions through the “Questions” tab on 

the GoToWebinar panel.

• Please complete the evaluation at the end of 

this session.

• Session recordings will be available at 

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/videos.html

• Thank you for your patience.

Carol Lambert

Director,

Engagement and 

Onboarding
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2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / 90 minutes

Auditability of Data – Starts with BETCs and Ends with GTAS

What are Business Event Type Codes (BETCs), and What is the best way to use them?

FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGERS’ YEAR-END EVENT | ACHIEVING MORE TOGETHER

Joe Gossett

Accountant, Cash Accounting Branch, 

Central Accounting and Reporting 

Division

Joel Erb

Supervisory Accountant, General 

Fund Accounting Branch, General 

Fund Division

Abby Flaherty

Supervisory Accountant, 

Consolidated Financial Reporting 

Branch, Financial Reports and 

Advisory Division
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• BETC and BETC Guidance

• General Fund Disbursement BETCs

• Loan BETC Updates 

Agenda
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• A BETC is a code that the Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS) uses 

for the type of activity you are reporting, such as payments, collections, 

investments, funds held outside treasury, etc.

• The BETC, along with the Treasury Account Symbol (TAS), and amounts are 

used to report the type of activity, and the affect that activity has against 

the agency’s Fund Balance with Treasury (FBwT) for the identified TAS.

• BETCs replace the transaction codes and standard sub-classes that have 

been used in the past.

• BETCs provide more intuitive breakdown of events (when you use string 

TAS, nearly all transactions are classified as either a DISB/COLL).

BETC Guidance....What is a BETC?
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• Created in response to findings related to the audit of the General Fund 

(CAP18-06)

• Created through a collaborative effort utilizing various program areas, 

BETC “owners” and SME’s within GWA

• Comprehensive Listing of all active BETCs

• TFM References

• GTAS edit information

• Adjusting BETCs

BETC Guidance Document
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• Review existing BETCs to identify potential areas where uniformity can be 

obtained through deactivation etc.

• Continue to update with new BETCs as they are established.

• Look for ways to improve overall functionality to assist FPAs with their 

questions related to BETCs.

BETC Guidance....A Look Ahead
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Located on the Fiscal Service website 

under the CARS Application FAQ’s:

https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/files/

cars/betc-guidance.xlsx

BETC Guidance & Where to Find It
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Have you seen or used the new Business Event 

Type Code guidance since it was released?

A. Yes B. No
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• Responsible for recording and reporting the assets and liabilities 

associated with financing government operations.

• Required reporting to complete the government’s accounting model and 

provide balanced governmentwide financial statements for law makers 

and taxpayers.

General Fund of the U.S. Government
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• Audited by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

• Limitations on the scope of GAO’s work for FY 2018 resulted in:

• Disclaimer of opinion on the Schedules

• Disclaimer of opinion on internal control over financial 

reporting

• Limited tests of compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, 

and grant agreements

Inaugural Audit – FY 2018
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Reasons for the Disclaimer

• Identifying and tracing transactions in the Schedules

general ledger (underlying significant deficiency).

• Evaluating and resolving differences reported in the 

Schedules (underlying significant deficiency).

• Supporting the beginning balance for the Liability for 

Fund Balance with Treasury (LFBWT).

Inaugural Audit – FY 2018
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Separating Disbursements (Phase 1)

• Requires the necessary new Business Event Type Codes (BETCs) to report the specific funding sources 

used in gross disbursements. 

• Current lack of detail leads to an increased risk of reporting incorrect data on the Schedules of the 

General Fund of the United States (The Schedules). 

• New BETCs provide necessary classifications of disbursement transactions to differentiate between gross 

disbursements of appropriations derived from the General Fund of the U.S. Government (General Fund) 

versus gross disbursements of appropriations and other budget authorities not derived from the General 

Fund.
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• The general ledger of the General Fund is derived from The 

Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS) (i.e. TAS/BETC = 

USSGL).

Does DISGF = a USSGL ? 

• Currently if accounts payable is recorded, or a disbursement is 

made BETC = DISB and USSGL = 310700. 

• In order to ensure that DISGF in CARS agrees with USSGL usage, 

the current 310700 must break down:

• 310700 –Unexpended Appropriations Used – Accrued

• 310710 –Unexpended Appropriations Used - Disbursed

Validating Proper BETC Usage (Phase 2)
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• Breaking out USSGL 310700 allows certain appropriations used information to be fed to 

the General Fund through CARS:

• 310700 – Unexpended Appropriations Used – Accrued

o Used when BETCs are not being reported in CARS (No BETC)

o General Fund will receive these balances via quarterly entity submission form

• 310710 – Unexpended Appropriations Used – Disbursed

o Used when DISGF BETC is being reported in CARS

o Entities will no longer have to provide this information separately when using the DISGF BETC

• Result: tie point between BETC and USSGL validating traceability required for General 

Fund auditability

DISGF = 310710

Breaking out the USSGL
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• The same logic applies to USSGL 570000 Expended Appropriations:

• 570000 – Expended Appropriations – Accrued

• 570010 – Expended Appropriations – Disbursed 

• Reciprocal USSGLs (GF USSGLs) broken out as well.

• Impact on Reciprocal Categories?

Completing the USSGL Entry

RC 38

Entity 570000

Entity 570010

GF 570005

GF 570006

RC 39

Entity 310700 

Entity 310710

GF 320700

GF 320710
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Over the last 12-15 months, how many times 

have you heard about the breakout of DISB to 

DISGF and DISNGF?

A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3+
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Over the last 6 months, how many times have you 

heard about the new 310710 and 570010 for 

appropriations disbursed?

A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3+
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• Schedule of Changes in Cash Balance

• For use in the Schedules of the General Fund – Schedule 2

• Statements of Changes in Cash Balance

• For use in the U.S Financial Report – Budgetary Statements

Schedule of Changes in Cash Balance Vs. the Statements of Changes in Cash Balance
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Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities
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Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities
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Loan BETC Updates
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When will the GTAS edits for the new Loan 

BETCs go fatal?

A. 4Q FY2020 B. 1Q FY2021 C. 3Q FY2021 D. 4Q FY 2021
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Abby Flaherty

Senior Accountant, 

Consolidated Financial 

Reporting Branch

(304) 480-5249

Abigail.Flaherty@fiscal.treasury.gov

Contact Information 

Final webinar recordings will be posted at 

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/videos.html.

Joel Erb

Supervisory Accountant, 

General Fund 

(304) 480-5279

Joel.Erb@fiscal.treasury.gov

GeneralFund@fiscal.treasury.gov

Joe Gossett

Accountant, Cash 

Accounting Branch, Central 

Accounting and Reporting 

Division

(304) 480-5381

Joseph.Gossett@fiscal.treasury.gov
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Any 

Questions?
GTAS TFM API

How it Can Help You!

September 2020
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2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / 90 minutes

Auditability of Data – Starts with BETCs and Ends with GTAS

The GTAS API -- How it Can Help You!

FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGERS’ YEAR-END EVENT | ACHIEVING MORE TOGETHER

Alex Abshire

Senior Accountant, General Ledger and 

Advisory Branch, Financial Reports and 

Advisory Division

Dan Adams

Senior Accountant, General Ledger and 

Advisory Branch, Financial Reports and 

Advisory Division
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• What is the GTAS TFM API? 

• Current obstacles for entities

• Benefits of utilizing the GTAS TFM API 

• Phase 1 vs Phase 2 

• Data-Readable Share File

o Example of Share File

• API

• GTAS Updates

Agenda
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Q: Have you ever utilized an API in the past?

A. Yes B. No
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• An API is an Application Programming Interface

• Gives entities the ability to update their financial system for GTAS TFM 

policy changes almost instantly

• New USSGL Accounts

• New Edits or changes to existing Edits

• New Validations or changes to existing Validations

• Minimizes entity burden for capturing these updates 

What is the GTAS TFM API? 
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• Currently entities refer to the “human-readable” USSGL TFM Supplement 

for any changes 

• Additional USSGLs or modifications to USSGLs

• Changes/additions to Edits or Validations within GTAS

• Can be a very labor-intensive process to update internal financial systems 

manually

• Some entities currently convert USSGL TFM Guidance to a usable data 

format to update internal financial systems

Current Obstacles for Entities
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Save Time

• Minimize time 

spent on 

manual 

updates and 

analyzing what 

changes need 

to be made

Automate

• Eliminate 

manual 

converting of 

the TFM 

USSGL 

Supplement 

for 

consumption

Synchronize

• Allows for 

more timely 

updates, thus 

allowing entity 

financial 

systems to 

stay in sync 

with the most 

current GTAS 

release

Update

• Detecting 

edit/validation 

failures prior 

to GTAS 

submission 

due to having 

internal 

systems 

updated more 

frequently

Report

• Entities can 

add 

functionality 

into their 

internal 

system to 

search the 

data and build 

customized 

reports

What Types of Benefits does the GTAS TFM API provide? 
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Phase 1 Approach

Data-Readable Share File 

This will be a manual process where 

agencies can pull the file from the 

Fiscal Service website and upload 

into their financial system

Phase 2 Approach

More of a true API 

Still currently in the development 

phase

Would allow entity systems to pull 

the USSGL TFM file automatically 

through the API

Phase 1 vs Phase 2
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• This will be generated in a .JSON format for agency consumption

• File can be accessed on the Fiscal Service website at the links below:

• GTAS Website 

o https://fiscal.treasury.gov/gtas/

• USSGL Website 

o https://fiscal.treasury.gov/ussgl/

• The file will be updated on a regular basis to stay in sequence with GTAS 

publishes

GTAS TFM API Data-Readable Share File (Phase 1)
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Example of GTAS TFM API Data-Readable Share File
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• Will offer the availability of a true API 

• Minimizes human interaction

• This functionality is still currently in the development process

• Plan to collaborate with entities for building out specific requirements

• Entities would have the ability to choose whether to utilize the DataReadable Share file or the API

• Both options would be available

GTAS TFM API Long Term Vision (Phase 2)
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Q: Which API format would work 

better for you?

A. Data-Readable 

Share File B. True API
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• SF133 CSV Format is now available for use

• Ability to run a SF133 by FR Entity report parameter

• Removed Reclassified Statement and Reclassified Reconciliation Statement reports

• These are replaced by the Reclassified Financial Statement report that provides 

additional functionality to users. 

GTAS Recent Updates
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• Added Report Name 

Customization functionality

• Save off your favorite reports 

that have specific parameters 

with customized names to 

differentiate between similar 

report types

GTAS Recent Updates
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Alex Abshire, Supervisory Accountant 

General Ledger & Advisory Branch 

Financial Reports and Advisory Division

(304) 480-8383

Alexander.Abshire@fiscal.treasury.gov

Contact Information

Final webinar recordings will be posted at 

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/videos.html.

GTAS Questions

GTAS.Team@fiscal.treasury.gov

Daniel Adams, Senior Accountant

General Ledger & Advisory Branch

Financial Reports and Advisory Division

(304) 480-5152

Daniel.Adams@fiscal.treasury.gov
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Any 

Questions?
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FEDERAL FINANCIAL MANAGERS’ YEAR-END EVENT | ACHIEVING MORE TOGETHER

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM / 90 minutes

Working Together to 

Reach an Opinion

on the

Financial Report of the 

U.S. Government

1. Reaching an Opinion on the 

Financial Report of the U.S. 

Government

2. Ready for Fiscal Year End? Ask us 

Anything!

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM / 90 minutes

Communication, 

Collaboration, and 

G-Invoicing:

Three Tools to Reduce 

IGT Differences

1. IGT Differences and Your Controls

2. G-Invoicing Update: You Asked. 

We Delivered. Now’s Let’s 

Collaborate!

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / 90 minutes

Auditability of Data –

Starts with

BETCs and

Ends with

GTAS

1. What are Business Event Type 

Codes (BETCs), and What’s the 

best way to use them?

2. The GTAS API -- How it Can Help 

You!

https://fiscal.treasury.gov/training/