FACTS I Process

FACTS I Process

The Department of Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS) established the Federal Agencies’ Centralized Trial-Balance System (FACTS) that requires Federal agencies to submit a preclosing adjusted trial balance, including balances for all revenues earned and all expenses incurred during the reporting period, at the end of each fiscal year. The preparation and submission of timely and reliably adjusted trial balances (ATBs) are the responsibility of the heads of each federal agency. The ATBs are prepared using the U. S. Standard General Ledger (US SGL).

The Department of Treasury developed a FACTS I internet system. The system requires a modified FACTS I Bulk Transfer format that is effective for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 reporting. Transmittal Letter (T/L) S2-01-01 details the FY 2001 SGL Account Attributes required for FACTS I reporting. This is an update to Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) Release S2-00-01.

FACTS I replaces these Federal Agency Financial reports:

To meet external reporting requirements, agencies need data at a level below the four-digit SGL account. Agencies’ systems must capture this information at the transaction level.

The FACTS I attributes have been effective for agencies’ financial statements since the release of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin 97-01, Form and Content of Agency Financial Statements, dated November 28, 1998. However, attributes collected in FACTS I are used in preparation of the Financial Report of the United States Government and do not include all of the attributes used to prepare agency financial statements required by OMB Bulletin 97-01.

FACTS I requires an agency to prepare the following data files to be transmitted to Treasury:

Users can submit the ATB file using bulk data transfers that is host to host. The MAF and Notes files must be generated and submitted using a FACTS Gateway application.

For information on FACTS I requirements, see the Department of Treasury’s website at:

http://www.fms.treas.gov/cfs/dev/index.html

The FACTS I process includes these components:

FACTS I Process Steps Diagram

The following diagram lists the steps for the FACTS I process.

the picture is described in the document text

FACTS I Process Steps

The FACTS I process consists of these steps.

  1. Enter the agency name and address in the Define Federal Options window.

  2. Enter the agency treasury account codes in the Define Treasury Account Codes window. The treasury account code is used as the agency’s main account code in the Define Federal Account Symbol window. Account balances are reported by Treasury Account Code. The FACTS I rollup accounts are setup, if necessary.

  3. Enter the agency’s Budget Subfunction values in the Lookups window.

  4. Enter the agency’s federal account symbols in the Define Federal Account Symbols window. The treasury symbol is built dynamically in the Define Federal Account Symbols window, but users further describe the treasury symbol in the Define Appropriation Parameters window.

  5. In the Define Appropriation Parameters window, users identify fund values that are associated with each treasury symbol.

  6. Users define the Customer Trading Partner, Supplier Trading Partner, and Journal Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfields and assign the attributes for these descriptive flexfields in the Federal System Parameters window.

  7. Users define the Customer Class and Supplier Type as FEDERAL and the corresponding Trading Partner value for Federal Customers and Suppliers.

  8. Users initiate the US SGL table setup process to populate the Define US SGL Accounts window. This window captures all valid US SGL accounts as defined by the Department of Treasury.

  9. Users initiate the FACTS Attributes table setup process to populate the Define FACTS Attributes window. Once the table setup procedure is completed, users can add, modify, or delete records from the windows as necessary.

    Note: Agencies must comply with the US SGL to take full advantage of the FACTS I enhancement. Agencies that expand their numbering system to accommodate agency-specific requirements must designate a parent account that is a four-digit US SGL account. The FACTS Attributes window requires manual update to accommodate the SGL accounts before generating the FACTS I process if individual accounts are defined to specifically capture an attribute that further describes the parent SGL account.

    The following table shows an examples of alternate GL account numbering schemas, structure using six-digit GL account.

    Alternate GL Account Numbering Schemas, Example Structure Using Six-Digit GL Account
    GL Account Name Parent US SGL Account or Name
    101012 Disbursement Transactions - Direct Deposits 1010 - Fund Balance with Department of Treasury
    101013 Disbursement Transactions - OPAC  
    101014 Direct Deposit Receipts - US Department of Treasury  

    The following table shows an examples of alternate GL account numbering schemas, structure using four-digit GL account.

    Alternate GL Account Numbering Schemas, Example Structure Using Four-Digit GL Account
    GL Account Name Parent US SGL Account or Name
    5311 Interest Revenue - Exchange 5310 – Interest Revenue
    5312 Interest Revenue – Non-exchange  

    Account 5310 is reported on FACTS I according to the Exchange/Non-Exchange attribute and 5310 is defined on FACTS Attributes with the Exchange/Non-Exchange attribute of either. The user is required to add the accounts in the examples and define the correct Exchange/Non-Exchange attribute value (Exchange for 531001 and 5311, or Non-Exchange for 531002 and 5312) along with any other attributes that should be reported for 5310. If 5310 was defined on FACTS Attributes with the Exchange/Non-Exchange attribute value as Exchange, then 531001 and 5311 in the examples do not need to be added to FACTS Attributes. They will report the Exchange/Non-Exchange as Exchange since these accounts are child accounts of 5310 and 5310 is defined as Exchange.

  10. Once setup is complete, users process transactions throughout the year, posting transactions to General Ledger.

  11. You must run FACTS I Federal Accounts Creation to identify the accounts that is required to determine the FACTS I Federal/Non-Federal and trading partner attributes. You can optionally run FACTS I Customer Class Code update and FACTS I Vendor Type update when changes to customer class and vendor type is made for customers or vendors. You can separately run FACTS I Journal Creation process or as part of FACTS I Interface process to determine the Federal/Non-Federal and trading partner attributes for the accounts identified by the FACTS I Federal Accounts Creation process.

  12. You should complete the FACTS I Interface annually. You must select all applicable SGL accounts, account balances, and attributes.

    The following table describes how the FACTS I attributes are derived.

    FACTS I Attribute Matrix
    Attribute Derived From
    Custodial/Non-Custodial Custodial/Non-Custodial field in the Define Appropriation Parameter window
    Budget Subfunction Budget Subfunction Lookup code of the Subfunction Description field in the Define Appropriation Parameters window
    Exchange/Non-Exchange FACTS attributes window. Different attribute values can be associated to subaccounts of a parent US SGL.
    Federal/Non-Federal FACTS Attributes window in conjunction with the Customer Class, Supplier Type, and Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield
    If FACTS Attributes is defined as Non-Federal, Federal, or Not Applicable, then the attribute is set as N, F, or blank respectively for FACTS reporting.
    If FACTS Attributes is defined as Either Federal or Non-Federal, the attribute is set as F when the Customer Class or Supplier Type is set as Federal or the Journal Line Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield has a value. Otherwise, the attribute is set as N for FACTS reporting.
    Trading Partner Customer Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield, Supplier Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield, or Journal Line Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield.
    Reported when the Federal/Non-Federal attribute is set as F for FACTS reporting, which is determined by rules defined for Federal/Non-Federal attribute.
    This comes from the Customer Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield for the journals associated to a customer, the Supplier Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield for the journals associated to a supplier, or the Journal Line Trading Partner Descriptive Flexfield for the journals not associated to a customer or supplier.

    If discrepancies exist for any SGL account balance, the account and the balance are printed on the FACTS I Exception Report.

  13. The FACTS I edit check process is executed after the FACTS I interface procedure summarizes the account balances. The edit check process certifies that debit and credit entries are equal. The required edit must be successfully completed before a FACTS I bulk file is produced.

  14. The FACTS I Detail Report prints automatically.

  15. Agencies reconcile reported amounts on the FACTS I Exception Report, the Edit Check Report, and the Detail Report against general ledger reports. Agencies can run the following reports to review and reconcile FACTS I output to SGL balances:

    • FACTS I Trial Balance

    • FACTS I Transaction Register

  16. Once the FACTS I bulk file procedure is completed with an acceptable edit check, a bulk file is produced and a FACTS I ATB Report is generated.