Monthly Reporting Requirements

Agency Reporting Requirements for USASpending.Gov

Introduction

USAspending.gov is the official source for spending data for the United States Federal Government. Its mission is to show the American public what the federal government spends every year and how it spends the funding. Users can follow the funding from Congressional appropriations to spending by the federal agencies, down to local communities and businesses.

Section 6010—Scope and Applicability

This Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) chapter describes how agencies provide data to USAspending.gov using the Data Broker for both financial accounting data and financial assistance data. It also details information that the Data Broker obtains from other systems. Lastly, this chapter includes information on how agency data is validated and then displayed on USAspending.gov.

A core requirement of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) was the development of government-wide data standards to ensure the reporting of reliable, consistent federal spending data for public use. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of the Treasury (Treasury) finalized the data definition standards, and Treasury used the data definition standards to develop the DATA Act data exchange standard, or Schema, first published as the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS) in April 2016. Since then, Treasury has periodically published updates to reflect the inclusion of legislation and policies that go beyond the DATA Act. In November 2023, DAIMS was rebranded as the Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM) to reflect the inclusion of new legislation and policies. The latest version is provided on the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) Data Transparency website Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM) page. Federal agencies must provide amounts for budget authority appropriated, unobligated balances, and other budgetary resources; as well as provide obligations by program activity, object class, and linkages to awards in accordance with the GSDM. These data elements are reported monthly by agencies to provide transparency on spending as it relates to the annual budget of the United States Government. An obligation means a binding agreement that will result in outlays, immediately or in the future. The program activity provides the specific activity or project as listed in the program and financing schedules of the annual budget of the United States Government. The object class classifies the obligation by items or services purchased by the Federal Government. Together these data elements allow users to see who is awarded federal money, for what programs that award is for, and the category the item or service falls into.

Reporting requirements in this chapter are grouped as follows:

  • Section 6025, Reporting Requirements – Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM)
  • Section 6030, DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS) requirements
  • Section 6035, Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) requirements
  • Section 6040, Data Validation and Data Linkage
  • Section 6045, Senior Accountable Official (SAO) Certifications

This TFM chapter does not include all detailed reporting requirements for USAspending. Additional information can be found on the Fiscal Service GSDM website as an extension of this chapter.

Section 6015—Authority

The primary statutory authority for USAspending.gov reporting and related data collections is the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), as amended by the DATA Act of 2014 and the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021.

In addition to the statutory requirements and authorities in FFATA, several Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy publications have detailed how those requirements have been implemented and added additional reporting requirements not specified by FFATA itself. The following is a list, in order of publication, of commonly cited OMB memos related to FFATA/DATA Act submissions. Note that several of these publications include requirements unrelated to USAspending reporting. OMB policy memos that have been since rescinded are omitted.

  1. 2010 OMB Open Government Directive – Federal Spending Transparency and Subaward and Compensation Data Reporting 
    • This provides detailed technical guidance to prime recipients in their reporting subaward and subaward executive compensation information to FSRS.gov.
  2. OMB MPM 2016-03: Additional Guidance for DATA Act Implementation: Implementing Data-Centric Approach for Reporting Federal Spending Information
    • Establishes the File C/D linkage requirement via the Award ID, several requirements related to the FAIN, reporting requirements related to the federal hierarchy, and authoritative sources for purposes of DATA Act reporting, as well as explaining which TAS must be reported.
  3. OMB M-17-04: Additional Guidance for DATA Act Implementation: Further Requirements for Reporting and Assuring Data Reliability
    • Establishes IGT reporting requirements, requirements for reporting awards containing PII, and requirements that SAOs provide public assurance on a quarterly basis that their agency’s internal controls support the validity and reliability of data reported to USAspending.
  4. OMB M-18-16: OMB Circular A-123, Appendix A, Management of Reporting and Data Integrity Risk
    • Establishes a requirement that agencies create data quality plans governing their submission of data to USAspending.
  5. OMB M-20-21: Implementation Guidance for Supplemental Funding Provided in Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
    • Implements several CARES Act transparency reporting requirements via USAspending, in so doing requiring that agencies report the Disaster Emergency Fund Code (DEFC) in their USAspending data. Also sets out a requirement for award-level outlays in File C, for monthly financial data reporting to USAspending, and for program activity to be required in File C.
  6. OMB M-21-20: Promoting Public Trust in the Federal Government through Effective Implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act and Stewardship of the Taxpayer Resources
    • Outlines requirements for financial assistance award descriptions, including specific subcomponents that every award description should convey.
  7. OMB M-22-02: New Financial Assistance Transparency Reporting Requirements
    • Rescinded M-21-03 and outlined several financial assistance reporting requirements, including that new elements Funding Opportunity Number, Funding Opportunity Goals Text, and Indirect Cost Federal Share Amount be reported to USAspending for certain grants and cooperative agreements.
  8. OMB M-22-12: Advancing Effective Stewardship of Taxpayer Resources and Outcomes in the Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
    • Outlines requirements related to improving the quality of award descriptions and subaward data.

The Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM) lays out the technical requirements federal agencies must conform to when submitting data to USAspending. GSDM reflects all relevant requirements and deadlines in the OMB documents above and is consistent with the policies they lay out. The latest implemented version of GSDM can be found on the Fiscal Service GSDM website.  

Section 6025—Reporting Requirements - Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM)

Agencies must provide details about the following to Data Broker/USAspending:

  • Budgetary resources, 
  • Obligations, 
  • Outlays, and
  • De-obligations.

These details are provided at the following levels:

  • Treasury Account Symbol (TAS), 
  • Program Activity/Object Class, 
  • Award, and
  • Disaster Emergency Fund Code (DEFC). 

In addition, financial assistance award information is provided to the Data Broker/USAspending in accordance with the most recently implemented GSDM. The TAS is an identification code assigned by the Department of the Treasury to an individual appropriation, receipt, or other fund account. It is a concatenation of seven different components: 

  1. Allocation Transfer Agency Identifier, 
  2. Agency Identifier, 
  3. Beginning Period of Availability, 
  4. Ending Period of Availability,
  5. Availability Type Code, 
  6. Main Account Code, and 
  7. Sub Account Code. 

The Program Activity and Object Class provide details on the programs or categories money is being spent. DEFC distinguishes budgetary resources, obligations incurred, unobligated balances, and outlays as disaster, emergency, wildfire suppression or none of the three.

GSDM gives an overall view of the hundreds of distinct data elements used to tell the story of how federal dollars are spent. It includes artifacts that provide technical guidance for federal agencies about what data to report to Treasury, including the authoritative sources of the data elements and the submission format. The GSDM cuts through the inherent complexity of the data so that the public can better understand it.

GSDM includes:

  • Overview and Architecture – Describes the scope and value of the data standard and details the data standard conceptual model, specifications, and schema management. GSDM architecture is designed to meet the needs of the business users and technical systems. It serves as the foundation for the GSDM data standard. It is extensible through domain, component, element, and metadata. Additional descriptive content on the GSDM architecture is available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website.
  • Information Flow – Provides an overview of the reporting time frames and sources of the data included in the GSDM across the federal enterprise.
  • Reporting Submission Specification (RSS) – Includes a listing of the data elements that are directly submitted to the Data Broker, with specific instructions for federal agencies to submit content in the appropriate format. The RSS is a human-readable version of the data standard. It also includes the Terse Labels (shortened versions of the data element names), Domain Values (permissible values for a sub-set of the GSDM data elements), and GSDM Diagrams (visual representations of how the data elements from the RSS fit together in context). All USAspending agency submission files are described in the GSDM RSS. The RSS consists of Information tabs and four file tabs labeled: 
     
    • A - Appropriations Account,
    • B – Object Class Program Activity,
    • C – Award Financial, and
    • FABS (Financial Assistance Broker Submission).

Submission files A, B, and C are uploaded to the DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS) interface. Agencies use the FABS interface for financial assistance submissions. Please note that agency data reported to the Data Broker must be consistent with the agency Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance (GTAS) adjusted trial balance (ATB) submission.

  • Interface Definition Document (IDD) – The IDD provides an overview of the award specific data elements (Files D1, D2, E, and F) extracted by the Data Broker and explains how the data will be reported or collected. It includes a listing of the data elements that are pulled from government-wide systems for procurement and subawards and from the FABS submission. The IDD is a human-readable version of the data standard for the award related content. It also includes the Terse Labels (shortened versions of the data element names) and DAIMS Diagrams (visual representations of how the data elements from the IDD fit together in context).
  • GSDM Diagrams – Display visual representations of how the data elements from the RSS and IDD fit together in context.
  • Online Data Dictionary – Contains a comprehensive list of data elements with definitions and some associated metadata.
  • Validation Rules - Documents the business rules employed by the Data Broker for field and cross-file validations.
  • Practices and Procedures – Provides the general practices and procedures for submitting, validating, and understanding the reporting of DABS and FABS submissions to the Data Broker.

Additional descriptive content on the GSDM is available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website and should be considered an extension of this chapter.

Every agency has a Senior Accountable Official (SAO) who must attest and certify that the financial data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete. The agency’s financial data is published after monthly verification or quarterly certification. Refer to Section 6045 for additional information on SAO requirements.

The Data Broker ingests agency submissions of data, validates them against authoritative sources, and provides warning/error reports to agency users (see Section 6040 relating to validation rules). Upon certification or publication, the data is then loaded to and published on USAspending.gov in a variety of visualizations and downloadable methods.

Note: Files A, B, and C are submitted to and validated by the Data Broker. IDD D2-Award (Financial Assistance) items are validated upon submission to FABS and IDD D1-Award (Procurement) items are validated by GSA upon submission to the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The agency, by way of the Data Broker, will generate D1 content that is originally sourced from FPDS, D2 content that is originally sourced from FABS (see Section 6035 of this chapter), File E content that is originally sourced from the System of Award Management (SAM.gov), and File F content that is originally sourced from the FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS).

6025.10Reporting and Submission Dates

Financial Submissions – Agencies submit financial information to the Data Broker using the DABS interface. Please refer to the Resources for Federal Agencies and Data Analysts page for specific deadlines and reporting frequency.

Procurement Award Submissions – Agencies submit procurement award data to GSA's Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) in accordance with FAR 4.604.

Financial Assistance Award Submissions (Grants, Loans, Insurance, and Other Financial Assistance) – Agencies submit financial assistance awards to the Data Broker using the FABS site twice per month, using the GSDM compliant submission format specified by the FABS tab of the RSS. See Section 6035 for additional detail on financial assistance submissions.

Agencies will ensure their FABS data has been submitted, successfully validated, and published prior to certifying the Data Broker submission.

6025.20—Awardee or Recipient Information

Both the DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS) and the Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) include awardee or recipient information related to the awardee or recipient unique identifier. The following information is reported: 

  • Legal Entity – for U.S. based companies this is the name of the business used on information documents with individual states,
  • Legal Entity Country Code – the (ISO) 3166-1 Alpha-3 GENC Profile code for the country in which the awardee or recipient is located, and
  • Ultimate Parent Legal Entity Name - the name of the ultimate parent entity of the subaward recipient.

Note about Aggregate and PII-redacted Records: The word “aggregate” has a unique meaning when used in the context of financial assistance reporting. Aggregate records are used to avoid reporting the recipients’ personally identifiable information (PII) when an award is made to an individual. PII-redacted records provide an alternative to aggregation that accomplishes the same goal: redacting sensitive PII. FABS allows records to individual recipients to be reported like any other non-aggregate record (minus the PII, and with validation logic that expects and enforces the redacted PII). However, aggregate records should only be used to shield sensitive PII of individuals from publication. All other awards (including any award to an organization) should be fully reported in non- aggregate form. The Unique Record Identifier (URI) serves a similar function for aggregate records as the Financial Assistance Identification Number (FAIN) does for non-aggregate records. 
 

6025.30—DATA Act Broker Submissions (DABS) and Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) Access

Access to the Data Broker for DABS and FABS is controlled through the Common Approach to Identity Assurance (CAIA).

Users request roles in CAIA and the Agency Data Broker AppOwner approves the request. The AppOwners are gatekeepers for the agency, and control access to the Read-Only, Upload (DABS), Upload (FABS) and Certify (DABS) groups via CAIA. For more information see the Sailpoint IdentityIQ guide.

Section 6030—DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS)

Agencies must submit financial data originating from their agency financial systems into the Data Broker using the latest implemented RSS available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website. The agency SAO must review, verify, and/or certify the files. Refer to Section 6045 for additional information on SAO requirements.

The RSS specifications for Files A, B, and C correlate with OMB Circular A-11 and the United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL) crosswalk for SF-133. Agencies will submit Files A, B, and C and the Data Broker generates files D1, D2, E and F. All TAS (both unexpired and expired) reported in SF-133 by the agency should be included in Files A and B, except for Financing Accounts. The Allocation Agency identifies the department or agency that is receiving funds through an allocation (non-expenditure) transfer. Further guidance regarding TAS reporting for Allocation Transfers and Intra-governmental (IGT) Buy/Sell transactions is provided in OMB Memorandum M-17-04 and in the GSDM Practices and Procedures available to Federal Agencies by logging into the USA Spending Agency Resources community page. 

Agencies should compile their data and submit at the top-tier (i.e., Department) level. To submit and validate Files A, B, and C at the field-level, agencies will inspect the complete submission file set, verify that the data submitted in Files A, B, and C are correct at the field level, and upload it. The Data Broker will validate A, B, and C at the field level, and generate error and warning reports, as appropriate, for viewing and download; agencies should note any warnings and must correct validation errors detected by the Data Broker. After correcting validation errors, agencies will upload an updated submission file set. This error correction and re-upload process will continue until the files pass the Data Broker validations without any errors; warnings will not prevent the file from passing. 

Generate D1 and D2 Files: After passing validations for Files A, B, and C, the agency will generate Files D1 and D2 in the Data Broker, to complement A, B, and C and to be used for cross-validation. The agency may download the generated D1 and D2 files, then proceed to cross-validation.

Validate across the files: In this step, the Data Broker performs cross-file validations between Files A and B, B and C, C and D1, and C and D2 and generates error and warning reports, as appropriate, for viewing and download; agencies should note any warnings and must correct validation errors detected by the Data Broker. After correcting all validation errors, agencies will upload an updated submission file set. This error correction and re-upload process will continue until the files pass the Data Broker validations without any errors; warnings will not prevent the file from passing.

Generate E and F Files: To complement Files A, B, C, D1 and D2, the Data Broker will generate Files E and F. File E pulls in highly-compensated officer information associated with any Awardee/Recipient Unique Identifier present in an agency’s D1 and D2 files. File F pulls in all subawards associated with the prime awards that appear in an agency’s D1 and D2 files, regardless of when the subawards were awarded or reported. There are no field-level or cross-file validations for Files E and F.

Additional information on Files D1, D2, E, and F may be found on the Fiscal Service GSDM website. 

At this point, the files are ready for certification. Every agency’s SAO must officially certify quarterly that the data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete. The agency’s data is published on USAspending.gov after it has been certified.

Per OMB M 20-21, effective FY 2022 Q1, all agencies must report Files A, B, and C to USAspending.gov monthly.

Agency SAO’s must verify the completeness of their monthly submissions. Monthly agency data is published on USAspending.gov after it has been verified. Refer to Section 6045 for additional information on SAO requirements.

Note: DABS errors must be corrected before proceeding to the next step; in contrast, warnings will not prevent continuing because these messages may not indicate inaccuracies in the data. The warning messages serve to alert the agency to possible issues worth further review. For information on the Validation Rules employed by the Data Broker, see Section 6040 of this chapter.

Section 6035—Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS)

The specifications for FABS are outlined in the RSS of the GSDM, available at the Fiscal Service GSDM website.

Submitting Files – To facilitate the timeliness of the data available on USAspending.gov, agencies should publish any available data on an award within 30 days of the action date. Financial assistance data should be reported at least twice a month.

  • Per FFATA requirements, Financial Assistance awards or award modifications must be submitted within 30 days of the action date of the award or award modification.
  • For FABS, data should be submitted in a comma-separated values (CSV) or pipe-delimited (TXT) file format whose contents correspond to the FABS tab of the RSS.
  • Submission Process – To begin a submission, agencies identify their agency or agency component to the Data Broker and upload a file containing the financial assistance award actions they want to validate and publish. The Data Broker validates these award actions and generates error and warning reports, as appropriate, for viewing and download. Agencies should note any warnings and must correct validation errors detected by the Data Broker. At this point, the agency may publish the subset of award actions that already passed validations (see Section 6040). If the agency wants to publish the entire set of award actions in a submission file, it must correct all errors identified and upload the corrected file. This error correction and re-upload process continues until all award actions in the file pass Data Broker validations without any errors; warnings will not prevent the file from passing.
  • Publishing Your Data – Validations in FABS take place at the row level, not the file level. Any record is publishable as soon as it passes validations, regardless of the error status of the rest of the records in the file. Publication is the final step in the FABS submission process and must be selected by agencies; publication will not happen automatically just from records passing validations.
  • Reporting Award Modifications or Amendments – Award modifications or amendments should be reported as separate records from the original award record, not as corrections to the original award record. The ActionType element indicates the purpose of the modification or amendment record. Refer to the Domain Values tab of the RSS available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website for ActionType codes and their meanings.

Every grant, loan, direct payment, and other financial assistance record submitted to FABS must pass a series of validations before the data is published on USAspending.gov.

Several data elements are derived by FABS (during the publication step) to improve data quality and cannot be submitted directly by the agencies into the Data Broker. Because derived elements are not submitted directly, they appear in the IDD-D2 file (which is sourced from FABS) for agency review rather than the FABS file itself. Using the IDD-D2 file, agencies may determine whether any changes are needed in the original source system or file submission. Refer to the Fiscal Service GSDM website for additional detail regarding the IDD-D2 file or for FABS.

Section 6040—Data Validations and Data Linkages

The Data Broker validates TAS and financial elements that tie to SF-133 based on the latest information from Treasury’s Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS) and GTAS. Additionally, the Data Broker employs Program Activity Names and Program Activity Codes from the MAX Collect repository established by OMB Budget Data Request (BDR) 17-09 (requires MAX authentication; registration required), as the authoritative source for program activity, and Object Class Codes per OMB Circular A-11 in its validations. Note that the Program Activity process will be revamped by FY26, refer to the MAX Program Activity page for further details. The Data Broker also utilizes a variety of other external authoritative sources to derive or validate financial assistance data, such as from FPDS, SAM, FSRS, USPS, USGS, etc. See GSDM Practices and Procedures Appendix F for a complete list of various data sets used by the Data Broker to validate agency submissions, as well as how often these data sets are updated. 

Section 6040.10—DABS and FABS Validation Processes

Once a file is submitted for either DABS or FABS, the Data Broker first validates it at the file-level (checking that it has the correct extension and is in the required format). Second, it checks that all required headers are present. Third, it checks that each element holds the expected data type (e.g., a field that holds a number does not contain alpha characters) and does not exceed its maximum allowable length. Finally, it applies complex validations to each row of the submission file.

There are two levels of severity for validation rules, Fatal Errors, and Warnings. Fatal errors may prevent inaccurate values for fundamental data elements from being accepted into the Data Broker. The absence of this data could affect the completeness and accuracy of submitted data. These errors are required to be corrected before submissions can be completed for DABS data. FABS submissions may continue to be published with errors; however, rows containing errors will not be published until errors are corrected.

Warning messages may not be due to true inaccuracies in the data. The warning messages were created to alert the agency to issues which may indicate an issue worth further review. In some cases, there may be valid or legitimate reasons for the warnings, such as timing differences and micro purchases. Regardless of the reasons, it is recommended that any warnings accepted by the agency be documented within internal agency records.

Note: Data elements noted as “Optional” are validated if values are provided. Elements noted as “Conditionally Required” are also validated if values are provided; additionally, depending on the circumstances (as noted in the validation rules) specific to the element, they may be required, forced to be blank, or optional.

Please reference the Fiscal Service GSDM website for the business rules employed by the Data Broker for field and cross-file validations. The DABS and FABS validation rules are available for viewing and download there. The latest validation rules will always be posted on that page.

6040.20—Linkages between Financial and Award Data

A core policy underpinning the DATA Act is the requirement for agencies to track the Award Identifiers (aka Award IDs) in their financial systems so that financial data can be linked to the related award details managed in the agencies’ award systems. This is the key mechanism that allows for USAspending to display and follow the spending from the summary TAS appropriation levels down to the location, awardee/recipient, and other award details. The Award IDs include:

  • Procurement Instrument Identifier (PIID) - the unique identifier for a specific award being reported,
  • Parent Award ID (PAID) - the identifier of the procurement award under which the specific award is issued, such as a Federal Supply Schedule, 
  • Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN) - the unique ID within the Federal agency for each (non-aggregate) financial assistance award.
  • Unique Record Identifier (URI) – the unique record identifier is created by an agency and is unique for every financial assistance record reported to USAspending (the URI is used as the Award ID for aggregate records) 
     
Section 6045—Senior Accountable Official (SAO) Certifications

DABS Submission Assurance Statement: OMB Memorandum M-17-04 requires that an agency’s SAO assure that the alignment among Files A-F is valid and reliable, including the interconnectivity/linkages for DATA Act submissions, as described in the section above. 

In addition, M-17-04 requires SAOs to assure that the data submitted in Files A, B, and C is valid and reliable. To provide this assurance, the SAO will confirm that internal controls over data quality mechanisms are in place for the data submitted in the agency’s DATA Act files. Where there are legitimate differences between files, the SAO may provide categorical explanations for misalignments. These explanations can be entered into a separate comment box available for each file they are certifying. These comments will be available publicly along with the certified files on USAspending.gov. Existing data quality measures required by regulation and/or OMB guidance will be sufficient for SAO reliance on individual data files.

DABS reporting must be certified quarterly by the agency SAO after Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS) certification. Treasury has a reporting window schedule on the Resources for Federal Agencies and Data Analysts website. Certified agency data will be published on USAspending.gov within 24 hours as each agency certifies on the Data Broker.

Per OMB M-20-21, effective FY 2022 Q1, all agencies must also verify and provide a DABS statement for their monthly submissions. The monthly DABS statement is to ensure that the monthly data being submitted to Treasury in Files A, B, and C meet the reporting requirements under the DATA Act and OMB M-20-21, and that the reported data was produced following the agency’s normal practices and procedures, including the same systems and methods used to certify the agency’s last quarterly submission. Once the SAO verifies the monthly data, it data will be published on USAspending.gov within 24 hours.

At quarter’s end, these monthly submissions should be reviewed for any corrections needed prior to the SAO certification. If any corrections are needed, they should be applied to the appropriate individual month. There are no additional quarter-end data submissions required for agencies submitting monthly; only the quarter-end certification by the SAO.

Section 6050—Information Flow to USAspending.gov

The Information Flow diagram provides an overview of the sources of the data included in the GSDM, how the data is submitted to the Data Broker, and ultimately displayed on USAspending.gov. This model shows how the data flows from agencies’ financial and awards systems to the public website.

Section 6055—Other Systems Used for USAspending
  • Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) – FPDS is the system in which federal agencies report procurement award data. USAspending extracts data from FPDS for purposes of File D1 in Data Broker submissions and subsequent publishing on USAspending.gov.
  • System for Award Management (SAM.gov) – Recipients which are required to report information on their Highly Compensated Executives do so through SAM.gov. USAspending extracts this information for File E in the Data Broker and publishing on USAspending.gov.
  • FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) – FSRS is the reporting tool federal prime awardees (i.e., prime contractors and prime grant recipients) use to capture data regarding their first-tier subawards to meet the FFATA reporting requirements. USAspending extracts subaward data from FSRS for File F information for the Data Broker and subsequent publishing on USAspending.gov.
  • Central Accounting and Reporting System (CARS) – CARS provides authoritative data about Treasury Account Symbols, such as the TAS components, financial reporting entity, and related budget function.
  • Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS) – GTAS provides SF133 budgetary data for which File A is validated or provisionally created by the Data Broker.
Section 6060—Submission Metadata

Additionally, certain metadata surrounding DABS and FABS submissions is collected by the Data Broker for availability on USAspending, including:

  • reporting period,
  • reporting agency,
  • the last modified date of the submission,
  • the status of the submission, and
  • the date the submission was certified.

The reporting period is the 2-digit number designating the month for which the data is being submitted. This is based on the federal government’s fiscal year not the calendar year which runs from October 1 to September 30. The reporting agency is the federal entity that is responsible for the submission of data each month. Additional submission metadata is detailed in the Consumption-Focused Metadata documentation within the GSDM.

Contact Us

Detailed Contacts

Direct inquiries about items required by this chapter to: 
USAspending Project Management Office: datapmo@fiscal.treasury.gov

Direct technical inquiries about this chapter to: 
Help Desk: usaspending.help@fiscal.treasury.gov

Direct policy-related questions about this chapter to: 
Office of Management and Budget: spendingtransparency@omb.eop.gov

For access to GSDM documents: 
Current GSDM release: https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/data-transparency/GSDM-current.html

Subscribe for Updates

To receive periodic updates when USAspending.gov is updated, subscribe by sending an email to this mailing list: join-usaspending@lists.fiscal.treasury.gov

 

Fund Balance with Treasury

Section 5135—Budget Clearing Accounts

Agencies must reconcile budget clearing account balances on a monthly basis, as suspense and default account balances are subject to scorecard performance standards as outlined in this chapter’s Appendix 1. Direct questions regarding the proper use of suspense accounts to the Budget Reporting Branch (see Contacts). Direct questions regarding the reporting and reconciliation of suspense accounts to the Cash Accounting Branch (see Contacts).

 

  1. Accounting and Reporting Requirements

    1. Continuing Use of Suspense Accounts F3875 and F3885 for Reporting Suspense Account Activity

      In previous guidance, Fiscal Service discontinued the use of suspense accounts F3875 and F3885 unless an FPA obtained an approved waiver. However, because of new Fiscal Service business practices, and the need for FPAs to become CARS reporters, that previous guidance has been reversed. Thus, in certain circumstances, FPAs can once again use these suspense accounts, upon approval to do so by Fiscal Service, and using existing guidelines for CARS transaction reporting.

      Consistent with OMB A-11 guidance, FPAs can use clearing accounts to temporarily account for transactions that belong to the government until the transaction is matched to a specific receipt or expenditure account. FPAs should not use clearing/suspense accounts for outlays or payments, or to mask an over-obligation or over-expenditure of an expenditure account.

    2. Suspense Account Request

      FPAs with more than one TAS and a justifiable business need for suspense accounts may submit a request to Fiscal Service for the use and/or reopening of suspense account F3875 and/or F3885. In these instances, a justifiable business need can be the inability of FPAs to classify all transactions at the point of origin. If one transaction suspends during processing because the correct account is unidentifiable, then an FPA has a justifiable business need to request the use of suspense account F3875 and/or F3885. FPAs that want to obtain an “F” account per the new guidance outlined in this bulletin, must submit a request to Fiscal Service indicating the number of accounts required, based on the FPA's current needs.

      The request must:

      • Be submitted by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), or CFO designee, at the department level for the bureau(s) that has a justifiable business need,
      • Include a statement that the CFO agrees to annually certify (electronically) that the balance(s) in suspense account F3875 and/or F3885 for the preceding year-end does not include any items or transactions more than 60 business days old. If there are transactions more than 60 business days old, the FPA must clearly explain the reason in the annual electronic certification,
      • Provide an email address and contact information for the person who will be submitting the electronic certification referenced above, and
      • Be emailed to budget.reports@fiscal.treasury.gov.

      Note: If an FPA has only one TAS, a request to use suspense account F3875 and/or F3885 is not permitted.

      Fiscal Service will process each FPA's request, including the agreement to reclassify transactions/amounts temporarily placed in suspense accounts to the proper TAS, within 60 business days of the transaction. Fiscal Service will acknowledge receipt of the FPA requests by email. FPAs can expect to receive the email within 30 business days. Fiscal Service may reconsider requests at any time. Fiscal Service will accept only TAS that are valid and appropriate for use in IPAC. FPAs may review a list of the valid TAS/BETCs for IPAC on the CARS website.

      CFOs (or the CFO designees) must certify the balances in suspense accounts F3875 and F3885 to Fiscal Service annually, at year-end. Fiscal Service’s Year-end Closing bulletin, normally issued each year in July, provides information on submitting the certifications for the suspense accounts. See the Year-end Closing bulletin on the TFM Volume I Bulletin Page.

      Note: Fiscal Service may incorporate performance measures at a later date for the timely submission of CFO certifications.

    3. SAM Default Accounts F3500 and F3502

      Fiscal Service has established SAM default accounts F3500 and F3502 for each major agency department for payments and collections, and IPAC transactions. The accounts were specifically established to:

      • Facilitate systematic cash flows, and
      • Temporarily classify or hold unidentified general, revolving, special, or trust fund transactions that have system defaulted as a result of an incomplete or invalid TAS or missing classification keys submitted by CARS reporters through payment or collection feeder systems into CARS.

      CARS will automatically post the invalid or missing TAS to a SAM default account. FPAs must clear the SAM default accounts by the third business day following the close of the accounting month. They also must correctly reclassify all system defaulted transactions to a valid receipt or expenditure TAS by the third business day following the close of the accounting month.

      For payment and collection systems, the SAM default TAS is XXXF3500. In this instance, the standardized component TAS structure consists of a three-digit agency identifier (XXX), availability type code (F), and main account code (3500) — XXXF3500. The applicable BETCs for defaulted payment system transactions are DISBBCA [for debit transactions that decrease the TAS fund balance with Treasury (FBWT)] and DISBBCAJ (for credit transactions that increase the TAS FBWT). The applicable BETCs for default collection system transactions are COLLBCA (for credit transactions that increase the TAS FBWT) and COLLBCAJ (for debit transactions that decrease the TAS FBWT).

      For IPAC transactions, the SAM default TAS is XXXF3502. In this instance, the standardized component TAS structure consists of a three-digit agency identifier (XXX), availability type code (F), and main account code (3502) — XXXF3502. CARS reporters must use this TAS with the appropriate BETC to report reclassification transactions to Treasury. There are four applicable BETCs for IPAC. Reporters that only have typical collection and disbursement activity most likely will select DISBBCA as the default debit BETC and COLLBCA as the default credit BETC with TAS XXXF3502.

      If an FPA cannot classify the entire balance that has defaulted to the SAM account correctly, the FPA may reclassify the balance to the corresponding suspense account F3875 and/or F3885. It must clear these “F” account entries within 60 business days of the transaction, per current policy.

      Note: These SAM default accounts are to be used only on Statement of Transactions when CARS reporters are clearing/reclassifying SAM defaulted transactions in the Classification Transaction and Accountability Module of CARS.

    4. Performance Measures

      On a quarterly basis, Fiscal Service issues scorecard ratings and notifications to agency CFOs on the FPA's suspense and default accounts.

      Fiscal Service, based on performance, measures efforts by agencies to clear associated SAM default accounts F3500 and F3502 by the third business day of the month. Any amount in the default account after the third day of month end will result in a red score.

      Fiscal Service associates performance standards with an FPA's use of suspense accounts F3875 and F3885 based on percentages. Fiscal Service will base the performance scorecard rating on a percentage of the total offsetting collection or payment transaction volume as reported in the CARS for the same qualifying month. Fiscal Service will use the following performance measures in the notification:

      • 5 percent or less—Green,
      • 6 to 9 percent—Yellow, and
      • 10 percent or more—Red.

      Note: Fiscal Service rounds the percentage to the nearest whole number.

      For example:

      An FPA reports $10,000 in a single month. If the amount of transactions classified to suspense account F3875 for that month is:

      i. $500, then Fiscal Service will issue a green scorecard rating,
      ii. $700, then Fiscal Service will issue a yellow scorecard rating, and
      iii. $1,100, then Fiscal Service will issue a red scorecard rating.

      The calculations are performed monthly and the score for the quarter is based on the LOWEST of the individual months. Therefore, if an agency scores Red in the first month of a quarter and Green the next two months, the scorecard issued for the quarter will reflect a Red score.

      The implementation of performance measures for “F” account balances became effective January 1, 2012, measuring first-quarter fiscal 2012 reporting.

  2. Reference

     

    SAM website

Reimbursement Of Depositaries and Financial Agents

Introduction

This chapter prescribes instructions for designated depositaries that perform services for which they are reimbursed by Fiscal Service.

Section 3010—Scope and Applicability

Fiscal Service designates certain financial institutions to act as financial agents and depositaries of the United States (depositaries). This chapter applies to all depositaries that perform services for which they are reimbursed by Fiscal Service. The requirements of this chapter supersede all compensation, reimbursement, or bank management requirements in existing TFM chapters, bulletins, announcements, and supplements issued as of the date of this chapter, for depositaries whose reimbursement is covered by this chapter. Inquiries should be directed to the points of contact listed in the Contacts section.

Section 3015—Authority

See, inter alia, 12 U.S.C. §§ 90, 265-266, 1464(k), 1789a, 2013, 2122, 3101-3102; 31 U.S.C. §§ 3303 and 3336.

Section 3020—Background and Preliminary Steps

Bank management generally refers to the processes covering the monthly submission of expenses (and other related information as Fiscal Service may require) by depositaries and Financial Agents to Fiscal Service for subsequent review and reimbursement by Fiscal Service. The Bank Management Service (BMS) contains functionality that provides depositaries and Financial Agents the ability to report expenses every month. BMS is also a tool for Fiscal Service analysts and program managers to review those expenses every month and to approve those expenses online in order to compensate the depositaries and Financial Agents in an accurate and timely manner.

Before depositaries provide services to Fiscal Service, a formal agreement between each depositary and Fiscal Service is signed. As part of that agreement, a listing of the services or dedicated resources that will be provided by the depositaries is created and used to determine future compensation that Fiscal Service will pay to the depositaries. Those services or dedicated resources are assigned industry-standard product codes or given customized codes based on the industry model. Fiscal Service sets up those codes and the related pricing in BMS under individual accounts that have been created to reflect each agreement established with depositaries. Therefore, at a minimum, the depositaries are only required to report the activity volumes associated with each service or dedicated resource in order to be reimbursed for expenses incurred on behalf of Fiscal Service. Additional information may also be required by the Fiscal Service on a case-by-case basis.

Section 3025—Setting Up Users in BMS

Before depositaries can initially submit monthly expenses in BMS, they must designate specific employees to perform certain functions in BMS. Instructions for successfully completing this process are given to the depositaries after a Fiscal Service program manager has designated and authorized the depositary to provide services to Fiscal Service. This process includes issuing credentials to the users and assigning specific functions to these users.

Section 3030—Reporting Expenses in BMS

In order to be compensated for the expenses incurred while providing authorized services to Fiscal Service, depositaries must report their expenses to BMS every month. Between the first business day of the month and 9:00 p.m. ET on the seventh business day of the month, depositaries must report their expense information (as defined in section 3020) for the prior month. If there are no unresolved issues with expense information that is reported timely, the depositary may receive the appropriate compensation by the last business day of the month following the month in which the depositary provided service. A depositary is not compensated without monthly expense reporting to BMS. For specific instructions on expense reporting in BMS, depositaries should refer to the BMS User Guide that can be found under the “Help” menu option of BMS. Exceptions to the monthly reporting requirement may be granted for specific circumstances.

Detailed Contacts

Direct questions concerning this chapter to:

Department of the Treasury 
Bureau of the Fiscal Service 
Bank Policy and Oversight Division

3201 Pennsy Drive, Building E 
Landover, MD 20785


202-874-7018 

 

Direct questions concerning BMS to:

BMS Operations Team 
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1421 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive 
St. Louis, MO 63016-3716


Toll Free number: 866-771-1842, option 2

 

Agency Reporting Requirements for USASpending.Gov

Introduction

USAspending.gov is the official source for spending data for the United States Federal Government. Its mission is to show the American public what the federal government spends every year and how it spends the funding. Users can follow the funding from Congressional appropriations to spending by the federal agencies, down to local communities and businesses.

Section 6010—Scope and Applicability

This Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) chapter describes how agencies provide data to USAspending.gov using the Data Broker for both financial accounting data and financial assistance data. It also details information that the Data Broker obtains from other systems. Lastly, this chapter includes information on how agency data is validated and then displayed on USAspending.gov.

A core requirement of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) was the development of government-wide data standards to ensure the reporting of reliable, consistent federal spending data for public use. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of the Treasury (Treasury) finalized the data definition standards, and Treasury used the data definition standards to develop the DATA Act data exchange standard, or Schema, first published as the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS) in April 2016. Since then, Treasury has periodically published updates to reflect the inclusion of legislation and policies that go beyond the DATA Act. In November 2023, DAIMS was rebranded as the Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM) to reflect the inclusion of new legislation and policies. The latest version is provided on the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) Data Transparency website Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM) page. Federal agencies must provide amounts for budget authority appropriated, unobligated balances, and other budgetary resources; as well as provide obligations by program activity, object class, and linkages to awards in accordance with the GSDM. These data elements are reported monthly by agencies to provide transparency on spending as it relates to the annual budget of the United States Government. An obligation means a binding agreement that will result in outlays, immediately or in the future. The program activity provides the specific activity or project as listed in the program and financing schedules of the annual budget of the United States Government. The object class classifies the obligation by items or services purchased by the Federal Government. Together these data elements allow users to see who is awarded federal money, for what programs that award is for, and the category the item or service falls into.

Reporting requirements in this chapter are grouped as follows:

  • Section 6025, Reporting Requirements – Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM)
  • Section 6030, DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS) requirements
  • Section 6035, Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) requirements
  • Section 6040, Data Validation and Data Linkage
  • Section 6045, Senior Accountable Official (SAO) Certifications

This TFM chapter does not include all detailed reporting requirements for USAspending. Additional information can be found on the Fiscal Service GSDM website as an extension of this chapter.

Section 6015—Authority

The primary statutory authority for USAspending.gov reporting and related data collections is the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), as amended by the DATA Act of 2014 and the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021.

In addition to the statutory requirements and authorities in FFATA, several Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy publications have detailed how those requirements have been implemented and added additional reporting requirements not specified by FFATA itself. The following is a list, in order of publication, of commonly cited OMB memos related to FFATA/DATA Act submissions. Note that several of these publications include requirements unrelated to USAspending reporting. OMB policy memos that have been since rescinded are omitted.

  1. 2010 OMB Open Government Directive – Federal Spending Transparency and Subaward and Compensation Data Reporting 
    • This provides detailed technical guidance to prime recipients in their reporting subaward and subaward executive compensation information to FSRS.gov.
  2. OMB MPM 2016-03: Additional Guidance for DATA Act Implementation: Implementing Data-Centric Approach for Reporting Federal Spending Information
    • Establishes the File C/D linkage requirement via the Award ID, several requirements related to the FAIN, reporting requirements related to the federal hierarchy, and authoritative sources for purposes of DATA Act reporting, as well as explaining which TAS must be reported.
  3. OMB M-17-04: Additional Guidance for DATA Act Implementation: Further Requirements for Reporting and Assuring Data Reliability
    • Establishes IGT reporting requirements, requirements for reporting awards containing PII, and requirements that SAOs provide public assurance on a quarterly basis that their agency’s internal controls support the validity and reliability of data reported to USAspending.
  4. OMB M-18-16: OMB Circular A-123, Appendix A, Management of Reporting and Data Integrity Risk
    • Establishes a requirement that agencies create data quality plans governing their submission of data to USAspending.
  5. OMB M-20-21: Implementation Guidance for Supplemental Funding Provided in Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
    • Implements several CARES Act transparency reporting requirements via USAspending, in so doing requiring that agencies report the Disaster Emergency Fund Code (DEFC) in their USAspending data. Also sets out a requirement for award-level outlays in File C, for monthly financial data reporting to USAspending, and for program activity to be required in File C.
  6. OMB M-21-20: Promoting Public Trust in the Federal Government through Effective Implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act and Stewardship of the Taxpayer Resources
    • Outlines requirements for financial assistance award descriptions, including specific subcomponents that every award description should convey.
  7. OMB M-22-02: New Financial Assistance Transparency Reporting Requirements
    • Rescinded M-21-03 and outlined several financial assistance reporting requirements, including that new elements Funding Opportunity Number, Funding Opportunity Goals Text, and Indirect Cost Federal Share Amount be reported to USAspending for certain grants and cooperative agreements.
  8. OMB M-22-12: Advancing Effective Stewardship of Taxpayer Resources and Outcomes in the Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
    • Outlines requirements related to improving the quality of award descriptions and subaward data.

The Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM) lays out the technical requirements federal agencies must conform to when submitting data to USAspending. GSDM reflects all relevant requirements and deadlines in the OMB documents above and is consistent with the policies they lay out. The latest implemented version of GSDM can be found on the Fiscal Service GSDM website.  

Section 6025—Reporting Requirements - Governmentwide Spending Data Model (GSDM)

Agencies must provide details about the following to Data Broker/USAspending:

  • Budgetary resources, 
  • Obligations, 
  • Outlays, and
  • De-obligations.

These details are provided at the following levels:

  • Treasury Account Symbol (TAS), 
  • Program Activity/Object Class, 
  • Award, and
  • Disaster Emergency Fund Code (DEFC). 

In addition, financial assistance award information is provided to the Data Broker/USAspending in accordance with the most recently implemented GSDM. The TAS is an identification code assigned by the Department of the Treasury to an individual appropriation, receipt, or other fund account. It is a concatenation of seven different components: 

  1. Allocation Transfer Agency Identifier, 
  2. Agency Identifier, 
  3. Beginning Period of Availability, 
  4. Ending Period of Availability,
  5. Availability Type Code, 
  6. Main Account Code, and 
  7. Sub Account Code. 

The Program Activity and Object Class provide details on the programs or categories money is being spent. DEFC distinguishes budgetary resources, obligations incurred, unobligated balances, and outlays as disaster, emergency, wildfire suppression or none of the three.

GSDM gives an overall view of the hundreds of distinct data elements used to tell the story of how federal dollars are spent. It includes artifacts that provide technical guidance for federal agencies about what data to report to Treasury, including the authoritative sources of the data elements and the submission format. The GSDM cuts through the inherent complexity of the data so that the public can better understand it.

GSDM includes:

  • Overview and Architecture – Describes the scope and value of the data standard and details the data standard conceptual model, specifications, and schema management. GSDM architecture is designed to meet the needs of the business users and technical systems. It serves as the foundation for the GSDM data standard. It is extensible through domain, component, element, and metadata. Additional descriptive content on the GSDM architecture is available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website.
  • Information Flow – Provides an overview of the reporting time frames and sources of the data included in the GSDM across the federal enterprise.
  • Reporting Submission Specification (RSS) – Includes a listing of the data elements that are directly submitted to the Data Broker, with specific instructions for federal agencies to submit content in the appropriate format. The RSS is a human-readable version of the data standard. It also includes the Terse Labels (shortened versions of the data element names), Domain Values (permissible values for a sub-set of the GSDM data elements), and GSDM Diagrams (visual representations of how the data elements from the RSS fit together in context). All USAspending agency submission files are described in the GSDM RSS. The RSS consists of Information tabs and four file tabs labeled: 
     
    • A - Appropriations Account,
    • B – Object Class Program Activity,
    • C – Award Financial, and
    • FABS (Financial Assistance Broker Submission).

Submission files A, B, and C are uploaded to the DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS) interface. Agencies use the FABS interface for financial assistance submissions. Please note that agency data reported to the Data Broker must be consistent with the agency Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance (GTAS) adjusted trial balance (ATB) submission.

  • Interface Definition Document (IDD) – The IDD provides an overview of the award specific data elements (Files D1, D2, E, and F) extracted by the Data Broker and explains how the data will be reported or collected. It includes a listing of the data elements that are pulled from government-wide systems for procurement and subawards and from the FABS submission. The IDD is a human-readable version of the data standard for the award related content. It also includes the Terse Labels (shortened versions of the data element names) and DAIMS Diagrams (visual representations of how the data elements from the IDD fit together in context).
  • GSDM Diagrams – Display visual representations of how the data elements from the RSS and IDD fit together in context.
  • Online Data Dictionary – Contains a comprehensive list of data elements with definitions and some associated metadata.
  • Validation Rules - Documents the business rules employed by the Data Broker for field and cross-file validations.
  • Practices and Procedures – Provides the general practices and procedures for submitting, validating, and understanding the reporting of DABS and FABS submissions to the Data Broker.

Additional descriptive content on the GSDM is available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website and should be considered an extension of this chapter.

Every agency has a Senior Accountable Official (SAO) who must attest and certify that the financial data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete. The agency’s financial data is published after monthly verification or quarterly certification. Refer to Section 6045 for additional information on SAO requirements.

The Data Broker ingests agency submissions of data, validates them against authoritative sources, and provides warning/error reports to agency users (see Section 6040 relating to validation rules). Upon certification or publication, the data is then loaded to and published on USAspending.gov in a variety of visualizations and downloadable methods.

Note: Files A, B, and C are submitted to and validated by the Data Broker. IDD D2-Award (Financial Assistance) items are validated upon submission to FABS and IDD D1-Award (Procurement) items are validated by GSA upon submission to the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The agency, by way of the Data Broker, will generate D1 content that is originally sourced from FPDS, D2 content that is originally sourced from FABS (see Section 6035 of this chapter), File E content that is originally sourced from the System of Award Management (SAM.gov), and File F content that is originally sourced from the FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS).

6025.10Reporting and Submission Dates

Financial Submissions – Agencies submit financial information to the Data Broker using the DABS interface. Please refer to the Resources for Federal Agencies and Data Analysts page for specific deadlines and reporting frequency.

Procurement Award Submissions – Agencies submit procurement award data to GSA's Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) in accordance with FAR 4.604.

Financial Assistance Award Submissions (Grants, Loans, Insurance, and Other Financial Assistance) – Agencies submit financial assistance awards to the Data Broker using the FABS site twice per month, using the GSDM compliant submission format specified by the FABS tab of the RSS. See Section 6035 for additional detail on financial assistance submissions.

Agencies will ensure their FABS data has been submitted, successfully validated, and published prior to certifying the Data Broker submission.

6025.20—Awardee or Recipient Information

Both the DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS) and the Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) include awardee or recipient information related to the awardee or recipient unique identifier. The following information is reported: 

  • Legal Entity – for U.S. based companies this is the name of the business used on information documents with individual states,
  • Legal Entity Country Code – the (ISO) 3166-1 Alpha-3 GENC Profile code for the country in which the awardee or recipient is located, and
  • Ultimate Parent Legal Entity Name - the name of the ultimate parent entity of the subaward recipient.

Note about Aggregate and PII-redacted Records: The word “aggregate” has a unique meaning when used in the context of financial assistance reporting. Aggregate records are used to avoid reporting the recipients’ personally identifiable information (PII) when an award is made to an individual. PII-redacted records provide an alternative to aggregation that accomplishes the same goal: redacting sensitive PII. FABS allows records to individual recipients to be reported like any other non-aggregate record (minus the PII, and with validation logic that expects and enforces the redacted PII). However, aggregate records should only be used to shield sensitive PII of individuals from publication. All other awards (including any award to an organization) should be fully reported in non- aggregate form. The Unique Record Identifier (URI) serves a similar function for aggregate records as the Financial Assistance Identification Number (FAIN) does for non-aggregate records. 
 

6025.30—DATA Act Broker Submissions (DABS) and Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS) Access

Access to the Data Broker for DABS and FABS is controlled through the Common Approach to Identity Assurance (CAIA).

Users request roles in CAIA and the Agency Data Broker AppOwner approves the request. The AppOwners are gatekeepers for the agency, and control access to the Read-Only, Upload (DABS), Upload (FABS) and Certify (DABS) groups via CAIA. For more information see the Sailpoint IdentityIQ guide.

Section 6030—DATA Act Broker Submission (DABS)

Agencies must submit financial data originating from their agency financial systems into the Data Broker using the latest implemented RSS available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website. The agency SAO must review, verify, and/or certify the files. Refer to Section 6045 for additional information on SAO requirements.

The RSS specifications for Files A, B, and C correlate with OMB Circular A-11 and the United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL) crosswalk for SF-133. Agencies will submit Files A, B, and C and the Data Broker generates files D1, D2, E and F. All TAS (both unexpired and expired) reported in SF-133 by the agency should be included in Files A and B, except for Financing Accounts. The Allocation Agency identifies the department or agency that is receiving funds through an allocation (non-expenditure) transfer. Further guidance regarding TAS reporting for Allocation Transfers and Intra-governmental (IGT) Buy/Sell transactions is provided in OMB Memorandum M-17-04 and in the GSDM Practices and Procedures available to Federal Agencies by logging into the USA Spending Agency Resources community page. 

Agencies should compile their data and submit at the top-tier (i.e., Department) level. To submit and validate Files A, B, and C at the field-level, agencies will inspect the complete submission file set, verify that the data submitted in Files A, B, and C are correct at the field level, and upload it. The Data Broker will validate A, B, and C at the field level, and generate error and warning reports, as appropriate, for viewing and download; agencies should note any warnings and must correct validation errors detected by the Data Broker. After correcting validation errors, agencies will upload an updated submission file set. This error correction and re-upload process will continue until the files pass the Data Broker validations without any errors; warnings will not prevent the file from passing. 

Generate D1 and D2 Files: After passing validations for Files A, B, and C, the agency will generate Files D1 and D2 in the Data Broker, to complement A, B, and C and to be used for cross-validation. The agency may download the generated D1 and D2 files, then proceed to cross-validation.

Validate across the files: In this step, the Data Broker performs cross-file validations between Files A and B, B and C, C and D1, and C and D2 and generates error and warning reports, as appropriate, for viewing and download; agencies should note any warnings and must correct validation errors detected by the Data Broker. After correcting all validation errors, agencies will upload an updated submission file set. This error correction and re-upload process will continue until the files pass the Data Broker validations without any errors; warnings will not prevent the file from passing.

Generate E and F Files: To complement Files A, B, C, D1 and D2, the Data Broker will generate Files E and F. File E pulls in highly-compensated officer information associated with any Awardee/Recipient Unique Identifier present in an agency’s D1 and D2 files. File F pulls in all subawards associated with the prime awards that appear in an agency’s D1 and D2 files, regardless of when the subawards were awarded or reported. There are no field-level or cross-file validations for Files E and F.

Additional information on Files D1, D2, E, and F may be found on the Fiscal Service GSDM website. 

At this point, the files are ready for certification. Every agency’s SAO must officially certify quarterly that the data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete. The agency’s data is published on USAspending.gov after it has been certified.

Per OMB M 20-21, effective FY 2022 Q1, all agencies must report Files A, B, and C to USAspending.gov monthly.

Agency SAO’s must verify the completeness of their monthly submissions. Monthly agency data is published on USAspending.gov after it has been verified. Refer to Section 6045 for additional information on SAO requirements.

Note: DABS errors must be corrected before proceeding to the next step; in contrast, warnings will not prevent continuing because these messages may not indicate inaccuracies in the data. The warning messages serve to alert the agency to possible issues worth further review. For information on the Validation Rules employed by the Data Broker, see Section 6040 of this chapter.

Section 6035—Financial Assistance Broker Submission (FABS)

The specifications for FABS are outlined in the RSS of the GSDM, available at the Fiscal Service GSDM website.

Submitting Files – To facilitate the timeliness of the data available on USAspending.gov, agencies should publish any available data on an award within 30 days of the action date. Financial assistance data should be reported at least twice a month.

  • Per FFATA requirements, Financial Assistance awards or award modifications must be submitted within 30 days of the action date of the award or award modification.
  • For FABS, data should be submitted in a comma-separated values (CSV) or pipe-delimited (TXT) file format whose contents correspond to the FABS tab of the RSS.
  • Submission Process – To begin a submission, agencies identify their agency or agency component to the Data Broker and upload a file containing the financial assistance award actions they want to validate and publish. The Data Broker validates these award actions and generates error and warning reports, as appropriate, for viewing and download. Agencies should note any warnings and must correct validation errors detected by the Data Broker. At this point, the agency may publish the subset of award actions that already passed validations (see Section 6040). If the agency wants to publish the entire set of award actions in a submission file, it must correct all errors identified and upload the corrected file. This error correction and re-upload process continues until all award actions in the file pass Data Broker validations without any errors; warnings will not prevent the file from passing.
  • Publishing Your Data – Validations in FABS take place at the row level, not the file level. Any record is publishable as soon as it passes validations, regardless of the error status of the rest of the records in the file. Publication is the final step in the FABS submission process and must be selected by agencies; publication will not happen automatically just from records passing validations.
  • Reporting Award Modifications or Amendments – Award modifications or amendments should be reported as separate records from the original award record, not as corrections to the original award record. The ActionType element indicates the purpose of the modification or amendment record. Refer to the Domain Values tab of the RSS available on the Fiscal Service GSDM website for ActionType codes and their meanings.

Every grant, loan, direct payment, and other financial assistance record submitted to FABS must pass a series of validations before the data is published on USAspending.gov.

Several data elements are derived by FABS (during the publication step) to improve data quality and cannot be submitted directly by the agencies into the Data Broker. Because derived elements are not submitted directly, they appear in the IDD-D2 file (which is sourced from FABS) for agency review rather than the FABS file itself. Using the IDD-D2 file, agencies may determine whether any changes are needed in the original source system or file submission. Refer to the Fiscal Service GSDM website for additional detail regarding the IDD-D2 file or for FABS.

Section 6040—Data Validations and Data Linkages

The Data Broker validates TAS and financial elements that tie to SF-133 based on the latest information from Treasury’s Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS) and GTAS. Additionally, the Data Broker employs Program Activity Names and Program Activity Codes from the MAX Collect repository established by OMB Budget Data Request (BDR) 17-09 (requires MAX authentication; registration required), as the authoritative source for program activity, and Object Class Codes per OMB Circular A-11 in its validations. Note that the Program Activity process will be revamped by FY26, refer to the MAX Program Activity page for further details. The Data Broker also utilizes a variety of other external authoritative sources to derive or validate financial assistance data, such as from FPDS, SAM, FSRS, USPS, USGS, etc. See GSDM Practices and Procedures Appendix F for a complete list of various data sets used by the Data Broker to validate agency submissions, as well as how often these data sets are updated. 

Section 6040.10—DABS and FABS Validation Processes

Once a file is submitted for either DABS or FABS, the Data Broker first validates it at the file-level (checking that it has the correct extension and is in the required format). Second, it checks that all required headers are present. Third, it checks that each element holds the expected data type (e.g., a field that holds a number does not contain alpha characters) and does not exceed its maximum allowable length. Finally, it applies complex validations to each row of the submission file.

There are two levels of severity for validation rules, Fatal Errors, and Warnings. Fatal errors may prevent inaccurate values for fundamental data elements from being accepted into the Data Broker. The absence of this data could affect the completeness and accuracy of submitted data. These errors are required to be corrected before submissions can be completed for DABS data. FABS submissions may continue to be published with errors; however, rows containing errors will not be published until errors are corrected.

Warning messages may not be due to true inaccuracies in the data. The warning messages were created to alert the agency to issues which may indicate an issue worth further review. In some cases, there may be valid or legitimate reasons for the warnings, such as timing differences and micro purchases. Regardless of the reasons, it is recommended that any warnings accepted by the agency be documented within internal agency records.

Note: Data elements noted as “Optional” are validated if values are provided. Elements noted as “Conditionally Required” are also validated if values are provided; additionally, depending on the circumstances (as noted in the validation rules) specific to the element, they may be required, forced to be blank, or optional.

Please reference the Fiscal Service GSDM website for the business rules employed by the Data Broker for field and cross-file validations. The DABS and FABS validation rules are available for viewing and download there. The latest validation rules will always be posted on that page.

6040.20—Linkages between Financial and Award Data

A core policy underpinning the DATA Act is the requirement for agencies to track the Award Identifiers (aka Award IDs) in their financial systems so that financial data can be linked to the related award details managed in the agencies’ award systems. This is the key mechanism that allows for USAspending to display and follow the spending from the summary TAS appropriation levels down to the location, awardee/recipient, and other award details. The Award IDs include:

  • Procurement Instrument Identifier (PIID) - the unique identifier for a specific award being reported,
  • Parent Award ID (PAID) - the identifier of the procurement award under which the specific award is issued, such as a Federal Supply Schedule, 
  • Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN) - the unique ID within the Federal agency for each (non-aggregate) financial assistance award.
  • Unique Record Identifier (URI) – the unique record identifier is created by an agency and is unique for every financial assistance record reported to USAspending (the URI is used as the Award ID for aggregate records) 
     
Section 6045—Senior Accountable Official (SAO) Certifications

DABS Submission Assurance Statement: OMB Memorandum M-17-04 requires that an agency’s SAO assure that the alignment among Files A-F is valid and reliable, including the interconnectivity/linkages for DATA Act submissions, as described in the section above. 

In addition, M-17-04 requires SAOs to assure that the data submitted in Files A, B, and C is valid and reliable. To provide this assurance, the SAO will confirm that internal controls over data quality mechanisms are in place for the data submitted in the agency’s DATA Act files. Where there are legitimate differences between files, the SAO may provide categorical explanations for misalignments. These explanations can be entered into a separate comment box available for each file they are certifying. These comments will be available publicly along with the certified files on USAspending.gov. Existing data quality measures required by regulation and/or OMB guidance will be sufficient for SAO reliance on individual data files.

DABS reporting must be certified quarterly by the agency SAO after Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS) certification. Treasury has a reporting window schedule on the Resources for Federal Agencies and Data Analysts website. Certified agency data will be published on USAspending.gov within 24 hours as each agency certifies on the Data Broker.

Per OMB M-20-21, effective FY 2022 Q1, all agencies must also verify and provide a DABS statement for their monthly submissions. The monthly DABS statement is to ensure that the monthly data being submitted to Treasury in Files A, B, and C meet the reporting requirements under the DATA Act and OMB M-20-21, and that the reported data was produced following the agency’s normal practices and procedures, including the same systems and methods used to certify the agency’s last quarterly submission. Once the SAO verifies the monthly data, it data will be published on USAspending.gov within 24 hours.

At quarter’s end, these monthly submissions should be reviewed for any corrections needed prior to the SAO certification. If any corrections are needed, they should be applied to the appropriate individual month. There are no additional quarter-end data submissions required for agencies submitting monthly; only the quarter-end certification by the SAO.

Section 6050—Information Flow to USAspending.gov

The Information Flow diagram provides an overview of the sources of the data included in the GSDM, how the data is submitted to the Data Broker, and ultimately displayed on USAspending.gov. This model shows how the data flows from agencies’ financial and awards systems to the public website.

Section 6055—Other Systems Used for USAspending
  • Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) – FPDS is the system in which federal agencies report procurement award data. USAspending extracts data from FPDS for purposes of File D1 in Data Broker submissions and subsequent publishing on USAspending.gov.
  • System for Award Management (SAM.gov) – Recipients which are required to report information on their Highly Compensated Executives do so through SAM.gov. USAspending extracts this information for File E in the Data Broker and publishing on USAspending.gov.
  • FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) – FSRS is the reporting tool federal prime awardees (i.e., prime contractors and prime grant recipients) use to capture data regarding their first-tier subawards to meet the FFATA reporting requirements. USAspending extracts subaward data from FSRS for File F information for the Data Broker and subsequent publishing on USAspending.gov.
  • Central Accounting and Reporting System (CARS) – CARS provides authoritative data about Treasury Account Symbols, such as the TAS components, financial reporting entity, and related budget function.
  • Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS) – GTAS provides SF133 budgetary data for which File A is validated or provisionally created by the Data Broker.
Section 6060—Submission Metadata

Additionally, certain metadata surrounding DABS and FABS submissions is collected by the Data Broker for availability on USAspending, including:

  • reporting period,
  • reporting agency,
  • the last modified date of the submission,
  • the status of the submission, and
  • the date the submission was certified.

The reporting period is the 2-digit number designating the month for which the data is being submitted. This is based on the federal government’s fiscal year not the calendar year which runs from October 1 to September 30. The reporting agency is the federal entity that is responsible for the submission of data each month. Additional submission metadata is detailed in the Consumption-Focused Metadata documentation within the GSDM.

Contact Us

Detailed Contacts

Direct inquiries about items required by this chapter to: 
USAspending Project Management Office: datapmo@fiscal.treasury.gov

Direct technical inquiries about this chapter to: 
Help Desk: usaspending.help@fiscal.treasury.gov

Direct policy-related questions about this chapter to: 
Office of Management and Budget: spendingtransparency@omb.eop.gov

For access to GSDM documents: 
Current GSDM release: https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/data-transparency/GSDM-current.html

Subscribe for Updates

To receive periodic updates when USAspending.gov is updated, subscribe by sending an email to this mailing list: join-usaspending@lists.fiscal.treasury.gov

 

Fund Balance with Treasury

Section 5135—Budget Clearing Accounts

Agencies must reconcile budget clearing account balances on a monthly basis, as suspense and default account balances are subject to scorecard performance standards as outlined in this chapter’s Appendix 1. Direct questions regarding the proper use of suspense accounts to the Budget Reporting Branch (see Contacts). Direct questions regarding the reporting and reconciliation of suspense accounts to the Cash Accounting Branch (see Contacts).

 

  1. Accounting and Reporting Requirements

    1. Continuing Use of Suspense Accounts F3875 and F3885 for Reporting Suspense Account Activity

      In previous guidance, Fiscal Service discontinued the use of suspense accounts F3875 and F3885 unless an FPA obtained an approved waiver. However, because of new Fiscal Service business practices, and the need for FPAs to become CARS reporters, that previous guidance has been reversed. Thus, in certain circumstances, FPAs can once again use these suspense accounts, upon approval to do so by Fiscal Service, and using existing guidelines for CARS transaction reporting.

      Consistent with OMB A-11 guidance, FPAs can use clearing accounts to temporarily account for transactions that belong to the government until the transaction is matched to a specific receipt or expenditure account. FPAs should not use clearing/suspense accounts for outlays or payments, or to mask an over-obligation or over-expenditure of an expenditure account.

    2. Suspense Account Request

      FPAs with more than one TAS and a justifiable business need for suspense accounts may submit a request to Fiscal Service for the use and/or reopening of suspense account F3875 and/or F3885. In these instances, a justifiable business need can be the inability of FPAs to classify all transactions at the point of origin. If one transaction suspends during processing because the correct account is unidentifiable, then an FPA has a justifiable business need to request the use of suspense account F3875 and/or F3885. FPAs that want to obtain an “F” account per the new guidance outlined in this bulletin, must submit a request to Fiscal Service indicating the number of accounts required, based on the FPA's current needs.

      The request must:

      • Be submitted by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), or CFO designee, at the department level for the bureau(s) that has a justifiable business need,
      • Include a statement that the CFO agrees to annually certify (electronically) that the balance(s) in suspense account F3875 and/or F3885 for the preceding year-end does not include any items or transactions more than 60 business days old. If there are transactions more than 60 business days old, the FPA must clearly explain the reason in the annual electronic certification,
      • Provide an email address and contact information for the person who will be submitting the electronic certification referenced above, and
      • Be emailed to budget.reports@fiscal.treasury.gov.

      Note: If an FPA has only one TAS, a request to use suspense account F3875 and/or F3885 is not permitted.

      Fiscal Service will process each FPA's request, including the agreement to reclassify transactions/amounts temporarily placed in suspense accounts to the proper TAS, within 60 business days of the transaction. Fiscal Service will acknowledge receipt of the FPA requests by email. FPAs can expect to receive the email within 30 business days. Fiscal Service may reconsider requests at any time. Fiscal Service will accept only TAS that are valid and appropriate for use in IPAC. FPAs may review a list of the valid TAS/BETCs for IPAC on the CARS website.

      CFOs (or the CFO designees) must certify the balances in suspense accounts F3875 and F3885 to Fiscal Service annually, at year-end. Fiscal Service’s Year-end Closing bulletin, normally issued each year in July, provides information on submitting the certifications for the suspense accounts. See the Year-end Closing bulletin on the TFM Volume I Bulletin Page.

      Note: Fiscal Service may incorporate performance measures at a later date for the timely submission of CFO certifications.

    3. SAM Default Accounts F3500 and F3502

      Fiscal Service has established SAM default accounts F3500 and F3502 for each major agency department for payments and collections, and IPAC transactions. The accounts were specifically established to:

      • Facilitate systematic cash flows, and
      • Temporarily classify or hold unidentified general, revolving, special, or trust fund transactions that have system defaulted as a result of an incomplete or invalid TAS or missing classification keys submitted by CARS reporters through payment or collection feeder systems into CARS.

      CARS will automatically post the invalid or missing TAS to a SAM default account. FPAs must clear the SAM default accounts by the third business day following the close of the accounting month. They also must correctly reclassify all system defaulted transactions to a valid receipt or expenditure TAS by the third business day following the close of the accounting month.

      For payment and collection systems, the SAM default TAS is XXXF3500. In this instance, the standardized component TAS structure consists of a three-digit agency identifier (XXX), availability type code (F), and main account code (3500) — XXXF3500. The applicable BETCs for defaulted payment system transactions are DISBBCA [for debit transactions that decrease the TAS fund balance with Treasury (FBWT)] and DISBBCAJ (for credit transactions that increase the TAS FBWT). The applicable BETCs for default collection system transactions are COLLBCA (for credit transactions that increase the TAS FBWT) and COLLBCAJ (for debit transactions that decrease the TAS FBWT).

      For IPAC transactions, the SAM default TAS is XXXF3502. In this instance, the standardized component TAS structure consists of a three-digit agency identifier (XXX), availability type code (F), and main account code (3502) — XXXF3502. CARS reporters must use this TAS with the appropriate BETC to report reclassification transactions to Treasury. There are four applicable BETCs for IPAC. Reporters that only have typical collection and disbursement activity most likely will select DISBBCA as the default debit BETC and COLLBCA as the default credit BETC with TAS XXXF3502.

      If an FPA cannot classify the entire balance that has defaulted to the SAM account correctly, the FPA may reclassify the balance to the corresponding suspense account F3875 and/or F3885. It must clear these “F” account entries within 60 business days of the transaction, per current policy.

      Note: These SAM default accounts are to be used only on Statement of Transactions when CARS reporters are clearing/reclassifying SAM defaulted transactions in the Classification Transaction and Accountability Module of CARS.

    4. Performance Measures

      On a quarterly basis, Fiscal Service issues scorecard ratings and notifications to agency CFOs on the FPA's suspense and default accounts.

      Fiscal Service, based on performance, measures efforts by agencies to clear associated SAM default accounts F3500 and F3502 by the third business day of the month. Any amount in the default account after the third day of month end will result in a red score.

      Fiscal Service associates performance standards with an FPA's use of suspense accounts F3875 and F3885 based on percentages. Fiscal Service will base the performance scorecard rating on a percentage of the total offsetting collection or payment transaction volume as reported in the CARS for the same qualifying month. Fiscal Service will use the following performance measures in the notification:

      • 5 percent or less—Green,
      • 6 to 9 percent—Yellow, and
      • 10 percent or more—Red.

      Note: Fiscal Service rounds the percentage to the nearest whole number.

      For example:

      An FPA reports $10,000 in a single month. If the amount of transactions classified to suspense account F3875 for that month is:

      i. $500, then Fiscal Service will issue a green scorecard rating,
      ii. $700, then Fiscal Service will issue a yellow scorecard rating, and
      iii. $1,100, then Fiscal Service will issue a red scorecard rating.

      The calculations are performed monthly and the score for the quarter is based on the LOWEST of the individual months. Therefore, if an agency scores Red in the first month of a quarter and Green the next two months, the scorecard issued for the quarter will reflect a Red score.

      The implementation of performance measures for “F” account balances became effective January 1, 2012, measuring first-quarter fiscal 2012 reporting.

  2. Reference

     

    SAM website

Reimbursement Of Depositaries and Financial Agents

Introduction

This chapter prescribes instructions for designated depositaries that perform services for which they are reimbursed by Fiscal Service.

Section 3010—Scope and Applicability

Fiscal Service designates certain financial institutions to act as financial agents and depositaries of the United States (depositaries). This chapter applies to all depositaries that perform services for which they are reimbursed by Fiscal Service. The requirements of this chapter supersede all compensation, reimbursement, or bank management requirements in existing TFM chapters, bulletins, announcements, and supplements issued as of the date of this chapter, for depositaries whose reimbursement is covered by this chapter. Inquiries should be directed to the points of contact listed in the Contacts section.

Section 3015—Authority

See, inter alia, 12 U.S.C. §§ 90, 265-266, 1464(k), 1789a, 2013, 2122, 3101-3102; 31 U.S.C. §§ 3303 and 3336.

Section 3020—Background and Preliminary Steps

Bank management generally refers to the processes covering the monthly submission of expenses (and other related information as Fiscal Service may require) by depositaries and Financial Agents to Fiscal Service for subsequent review and reimbursement by Fiscal Service. The Bank Management Service (BMS) contains functionality that provides depositaries and Financial Agents the ability to report expenses every month. BMS is also a tool for Fiscal Service analysts and program managers to review those expenses every month and to approve those expenses online in order to compensate the depositaries and Financial Agents in an accurate and timely manner.

Before depositaries provide services to Fiscal Service, a formal agreement between each depositary and Fiscal Service is signed. As part of that agreement, a listing of the services or dedicated resources that will be provided by the depositaries is created and used to determine future compensation that Fiscal Service will pay to the depositaries. Those services or dedicated resources are assigned industry-standard product codes or given customized codes based on the industry model. Fiscal Service sets up those codes and the related pricing in BMS under individual accounts that have been created to reflect each agreement established with depositaries. Therefore, at a minimum, the depositaries are only required to report the activity volumes associated with each service or dedicated resource in order to be reimbursed for expenses incurred on behalf of Fiscal Service. Additional information may also be required by the Fiscal Service on a case-by-case basis.

Section 3025—Setting Up Users in BMS

Before depositaries can initially submit monthly expenses in BMS, they must designate specific employees to perform certain functions in BMS. Instructions for successfully completing this process are given to the depositaries after a Fiscal Service program manager has designated and authorized the depositary to provide services to Fiscal Service. This process includes issuing credentials to the users and assigning specific functions to these users.

Section 3030—Reporting Expenses in BMS

In order to be compensated for the expenses incurred while providing authorized services to Fiscal Service, depositaries must report their expenses to BMS every month. Between the first business day of the month and 9:00 p.m. ET on the seventh business day of the month, depositaries must report their expense information (as defined in section 3020) for the prior month. If there are no unresolved issues with expense information that is reported timely, the depositary may receive the appropriate compensation by the last business day of the month following the month in which the depositary provided service. A depositary is not compensated without monthly expense reporting to BMS. For specific instructions on expense reporting in BMS, depositaries should refer to the BMS User Guide that can be found under the “Help” menu option of BMS. Exceptions to the monthly reporting requirement may be granted for specific circumstances.

Detailed Contacts

Direct questions concerning this chapter to:

Department of the Treasury 
Bureau of the Fiscal Service 
Bank Policy and Oversight Division

3201 Pennsy Drive, Building E 
Landover, MD 20785


202-874-7018 

 

Direct questions concerning BMS to:

BMS Operations Team 
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1421 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive 
St. Louis, MO 63016-3716


Toll Free number: 866-771-1842, option 2