U.S. Standard General Ledger (USSGL)

Issues Resolution Committee (IRC) Meeting Minutes

July 20, 2017

LOCATION: 1722 I Street, NW, Washington D.C.

TIME: 9:30 am to 12:00 pm

HANDOUTS:

• Summary of Changes

• Part 1, Section III, Fiscal Year 2017:

Transactions

• Part 1, Section V, Fiscal Year 2017 and Part 2, Section V, Fiscal Year 2018:

SF 133 & Schedule P Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources & Budget Program and 

Financing Schedule

• Part 1, Section VII, Fiscal Year 2017:

Validations Detail

Edits Detail

• Part 2, Section VII, Fiscal Year 2018:

Edits Detail

• OMB Circular No. A-11 Schedule F “Budget Balance Sheet” Guide

• Budget Accrual Reconciliation (BAR) Guidance Draft

• Approved Bylaws and the role of IRC Members

GENERAL ITEMS:

Manager, Chris Beck (Fiscal Service) welcomed everyone to the IRC Meeting and conducted roll call. 

AGENDA ITEMS:

Marlana White (Fiscal Service) presented changes and updates to Part 1, 2017, Section III: Transactions. 

Transaction Code A145 was added based on OMB guidance; this transaction is to record offsetting collections 

permanently reduced and canceled by legislative action in revolving Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbols. 

Transaction Code B110 was modified to add a note about non-fiduciary deposit funds. Transaction Code D405 was 

added to record the estimated allowance for bad debts in a non-fiduciary deposit fund. Transaction Code F317 was 

added to record the closing of unobligated balances of appropriations derived from special or trust fund receipts as 

temporarily precluded from obligation. Transaction Code G110 description was modified to provide clarity for 

Credit Reform. Eileen Parlow (SEC) asked if the USSGL Advisory Division could find a way to document the 

details of Section III TC changes so that agencies could research them in a systematic way. Chris responded that 

USSGLAD would look into possible solutions.
Michele Crosco (Fiscal Service) presented changes and updates to Part 1, 2017 and Part 2, 2018, Section V: SF

133 & Schedule P Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources & Budget Program and Financing

Schedule. A header, “Outlays, gross,” was added. Lines 0910 and 0911 were also added. Lines 0910 and 0911 are 

for Schedule P only and will not be supported by the USSGL. The majority of Part 2 changes are changes to the 

Debit/Credit Attribute Domain Value for several USSGL accounts (See the SOC handout on the USSGL Website 

for a list of accounts.) These changes will help with negative lines in MAX. Teresa Tancre (OMB) explained that,

if an agency has reported an abnormal balance in GTAS for one of the USSGL accounts discussed, the agency will 

receive an email from OMB soon. 

Dan Adams (Fiscal Service) presented changes and updates to Part I, 2017 and Part 2, 2018, Section VII: 

Validations and Edits. There is a change to Part 1 Validation 32E. Edits 49 and 50 will become fatal in Period 10. 

Edit 994, which is the proposed Edit 4 replacement, will become fatal in Period 11. 

Dan then reported Edit 4 (2108) has generated a lot of questions. Chris explained that Edit 4 (2108) has not been 

supported by the USSGL TFM Supplement since Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. Current 994 will replace Edit 4. Dan

asked that IRC Members pass along the Edit and Validation Information to GTAS Preparers within their agency. 

A representative from the Library of Congress (LOC) asked if the GTAS Website has a listing showing when Edits 

and Validations will become fatal. Dan answered that this type of list is not currently available in GTAS. Luke 

Sheppard (Fiscal Service) then stated that he understood that a list would be helpful to agencies and that his group 

would look into providing one to the agencies. 

Teresa asked what Fiscal Service planned for Edits pertaining to USSGL accounts 411300, “Appropriated Receipts 

Derived from Unavailable Trust or Special Fund Receipts” and 411400, “Appropriated Receipts Derived from 

Available Trust or Special Fund Receipts.” Dan responded that Edits related to these accounts were proposed 

analytical edits and would become fatal in FY 2018.

Michele presented OMB Circular No. A-11 Schedule F “Budget Balance Sheet” Guide. Michele explained this 

schedule is currently not a crosswalk in the USSGL TFM Supplement, but will be in the future. The Schedule F is 

not a new schedule and is required for Credit Reform activity only. USSGLAD will indicate on the guide that it is 

for Credit Reform activity only. Teresa thanked Nicole Martinez Moore (OMB) for her work on the Special 

Schedule F. 

Chris presented Budget Accrual Reconciliation (BAR) Guidance Draft. The BAR Reconciliation will replace the 

Statement of Financing Note in the proposed Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) Guidance. It 

will become effective for FY 19 and will tie Net Cost to Net Outlays. The BAR Reconciliation will not be 

published in the USSGL TFM Supplement, but instead will be published on the USSGL Website as a guide. The 

reconciliation will help to improve consistency across agencies and help remediate an audit finding related to budget 

statements on the Financial Report of the U.S. Government (FR.) Agencies that are interested in participating in a 

working group should email Chris or Steve Riley (Fiscal Service.) Chris explained that this guide is not allinclusive; agencies need to use their professional and discretionary judgement to decide what needs included in the 

report, but the guide should be used as a starting point. Chris also stated that agencies have experienced problems 

with transfer accounts and USSGL account 680000, “Future Funded Expenses.” Chris thanked agencies for their 

comments, and Steve for his work on the BAR Reconciliation. 

Teresa questioned the meaning of the "+/-" column of the BAR Reconciliation and why it does not tie to an attribute 

domain on other crosswalks. Chris explained that agencies working with the BAR Reconciliation had questions 
about which amounts needed to be added and which needed to be subtracted. This column was the solution to that 

problem. Michele suggested the use of the “debit-credit +/-” attribute. Chris said this would be investigated. 

A meeting attendee asked if the BAR Reconciliation would be maintained, because the Statement of Financing had 

not been maintained by Treasury. Chris stated that the BAR Reconciliation would be maintained by Fiscal Service. 

David Surti (DHS) asked whether the report could be moved to Required Supplementary Information (RSI) 

because it would get less audit scrutiny than a note. Chris stated that OMB Circular No. A-136 would determine 

this, but suggested that agencies send comments like this to FASAB for consideration. 

Chris presented Approved Bylaws and the role of IRC Members. These bylaws were already approved at the May 

Board Meeting. The intent of the update was to get the bylaws in line with procedures for meetings and Board 

Member responsibilities. One of the most important roles of an IRC Member is to be active and participate in 

meetings and working groups. Voting Board Members vote on changes to Section I and II only. Outside of that, 

Fiscal Service and IRC Members can review and make changes to Section III through Section VII without Board 

approval. Chris noted that the USSGL TFM Supplement Section III does not cover every possible transaction. If 

auditors question a transaction, agencies should reference the cover page of Section III, which explains this. 

Agencies can also refer auditors to the Bylaws section in which the USSGL Board states what it means to be 

USSGL compliant according to the Board. Eileen requested that “small agency council” be deleted from the list of 

Board Members. Chris agreed to this request. 

MEETING ROUNDTABLE:

Chris stated that the USSGL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Document was currently being updated. The

USSGL Attribute Table will be amended so that the Trading Partner Main and ID attribute will be removed from 

USSGL account 579000, “Other Financing Sources.” Current USSGL Projects include Custodial Activity

Guidance, C-TAS Guidance related to Receivables, Upward/Downward Guidance, and Repayable Advance 

Guidance. Michele explained that agency input is needed with the Accounts Receivable in a C-TAS Guidance 

because this is the first time it has been documented. Any agencies that have experience with this should contact 

Michele. Chris encouraged agencies to attend the Financial Management Conference on August 14 through August 

16. 

Meeting Wrap-Up:

Chris concluded the meeting.

Attendees:

Chris Beck, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Kathy Wages, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Marlana White, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Melanie White, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Michele Crosco, Bureau of the Fiscal Service
Steve Riley, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Kim Klein, Department of Energy

Webster Coleman, Department of Labor

Brian McConkey, Department of the Treasury

Fui-Chin Liu, Department of the Treasury

Alex Lopez, Department of Veterans Affairs

Simranjeet Jassal, Environmental Protection Agency

Vickie Massey, Federal Communications Commission

Teresa Tancre, Office of Management and Budget

Valeria Spinner, Office of Management and Budget

Rachel Beasley, Small Business Administration

Agencies via Conference Call:

Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense

Department of Energy

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of Interior

Department of Justice

Department of Labor

Department of State
Department of Transportation

Department of the Treasury

Department of Veterans Affairs

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Government Accountability Office

General Services Administration

Library of Congress

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Science Foundation

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Management and Budget

Railroad Retirement Board

Securities and Exchange Commission

Social Security Administration

U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office