This chapter describes procedures Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs) use for processing credits and debits to Treasury's General Account (TGA).

This chapter provides the procedures that the federal departments and entities must follow in transacting with the TGA.

The Secretary of the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) under Section 15 of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 391), is authorized to require the FRBs to act as depositaries and fiscal agents of the United States.

For terms and definitions related to this chapter, please view the TFX Glossary.

Credit vouchers and debit vouchers trigger the movement of funds by RTN into and out of the TGA. Debits and credits from transactions processed post directly to the TGA and update the TGA balance throughout the day. Specifically, credit vouchers add to the TGA, and debit vouchers subtract from the TGA. Treasury has access to immediately available funds intraday by allowing for the immediate recording of transactions and near real-time information for reconciliation and management of the TGA.

Bank Data is defined as the official cash balance reported by the FRBs that reflect amounts settled into the TGA. Bank cash will be reported by Routing and Transit Number (RTN) via the Financial Institution Reconcilement Data (FIRD) file created by the Federal Reserve’s Enterprise Accounting System (EASy).

Business lines request to move funds (debit or credit the TGA) on an “as needed” basis. The frequency and volume of transactions depend on the business and can vary from several thousand daily, a few daily, or even one quarterly. These transactions are posted directly to the TGA based on established posting rules.

Fedwire Funds, Fedwire Securities, FedNow, and National Settlement Service (NSS) settle in final funds when processed throughout the business day. Other transactions, such as FedACH, check, cash, and direct entries into EASy settle after they are processed. TGA can originate or receive transactions between the hours of 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and 7:00 p.m. ET (coinciding with the operating hours for the Fedwire Funds Service).

Treasury collection and payment transactions flow through the Federal Reserve System (FRS) payment systems, or in some cases, post directly to EASy. 

The FIRD File is created and delivered after all transactions have posted and the application has closed for the business day. This file is delivered after the close of EASy. The file is delivered to entities such as the Collections Information Repository (CIR), Payment Information Repository (PIR), CASH TRACK, and Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS) to help support the matching and verifying process. Information on the FIRD file includes the opening and closing balance of the TGA and information on transactions at the sub-account RTN level.

Direct inquiries concerning this chapter to:

Department of the Treasury 
Bureau of the Fiscal Service
Central Accounting and Reporting Division
Cash Reporting Branch
202-874-9789 
CashReporting@fiscal.treasury.gov