Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the federal financial-reporting jargon this app uses — for the newcomer who needs to understand why.
A trial balance (USSGL account balances with their attributes) that an agency submits to GTAS, adjusted so debits equal credits and the required attributes are present.
See also: GTAS Trial balance
An agency's internal subdivision of apportioned authority, authorizing subordinate units to incur obligations. See USSGL account 461000, Allotments - Realized Resources.
See also: Apportionment Obligation
OMB's distribution of budgetary resources by time period (Category A), program/project (Category B), or as exempt (Category E). Recorded via USSGL apportionment accounts.
See also: Allotment Appropriation
Budget authority provided by law that permits an agency to incur obligations and make payments from Treasury for specified purposes.
See also: Budget authority Apportionment
Additional information reported with a USSGL account for GTAS (e.g., Federal/Non-Federal, Fund Type, Begin/End). Section IV lists each account's required attributes and legal domain values.
See also: Domain value GTAS
The financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and net position at a point in time. Generated from the Section V Balance Sheet crosswalk.
See also: Statement of Net Cost Crosswalk
USSGL accounts (generally the 4000000 series) that track budget authority, its status, and use — appropriations, apportionments, allotments, commitments, obligations, and outlays.
See also: Proprietary accounts Budget authority
The numbered Treasury issuance that publishes each USSGL update. This app is loaded from Bulletin No. 2026-02 (revised by 2026-03), FY2026.
Section VII rules that map a prior-year account (with attributes) to the beginning-balance account it carries forward into the new fiscal year.
See also: Edit
The right side of an account. Increases liabilities, net position, and revenue; decreases assets and expenses.
See also: Debit Normal balance
A mapping from USSGL accounts (with attribute filters) to a line on an external or reclassified statement. Sections V and VI define the crosswalks the statement generator applies.
See also: Attribute
The left side of an account. Increases assets and expenses; decreases liabilities, net position, and revenue.
See also: Credit Normal balance
One of the permitted codes for an attribute (e.g., Fed/Non-Fed = F, N, G, E, or Z). Reporting a value outside the account's legal domain fails GTAS.
See also: Attribute
A Section VII balancing rule GTAS runs on the whole trial balance (e.g., left-side accounts must equal right-side accounts). Tie-point edits are evaluable from a trial balance alone.
See also: Tie-point Validation
A self-balancing set of accounts segregated for a specific purpose (e.g., general fund, special fund, trust fund, revolving fund). The Fund Type attribute classifies an account's fund.
USSGL account 101000 — the aggregate funds an agency has on deposit with Treasury available to make payments. Reported on the Balance Sheet.
See also: TAS
Treasury's system that collects agencies' adjusted trial balances and runs validations and edits on them. Passing GTAS is required for governmentwide financial reporting.
See also: ATB Validations Edits
The side (Debit or Credit) on which an account normally carries its balance. Assets and expenses are normal-debit; liabilities, net position, and revenue are normal-credit.
A legally binding commitment (e.g., an order, contract, or grant) that will require payment. Obligations reduce unobligated budgetary resources.
A payment that liquidates an obligation — cash (or its equivalent) leaving the Treasury.
See also: Obligation
USSGL accounts that track assets, liabilities, net position, revenues, and expenses on an accrual basis — the basis of the agency's financial statements.
See also: Budgetary accounts
Standardized versions of the agency statements (Section VI) used to compile the government-wide consolidated financial report, mapping USSGL accounts to reclassified lines.
See also: Crosswalk
The Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources — a periodic OMB report on the status of budgetary resources, sharing most lines with the SBR and Schedule P.
See also: SBR
The financial statement that presents total budgetary resources, their status, and outlays for the period. Generated from the Section V SBR crosswalk.
The financial statement reconciling beginning to ending net position, showing financing sources and net cost.
See also: Balance Sheet
The financial statement for entities that collect non-exchange revenue (e.g., taxes, duties) on behalf of the government, reporting collections and their disposition.
See also: Custodial
The financial statement presenting the net cost of an entity's programs (gross cost less earned revenue).
See also: Balance Sheet
A required relationship between budgetary and proprietary amounts (or between statement lines) that must reconcile. GTAS edits enforce tie-points; a break signals the trial balance is internally inconsistent.
See also: Edits Budgetary accounts Proprietary accounts
The identification code assigned by Treasury to each account (appropriation, receipt, or other fund). A TAS ties an agency's activity to a specific fund; many attributes in GTAS are reported at the TAS level.
A TAS that represents an appropriation or fund account, including the period of availability. Balances and edits are frequently evaluated per TAFS.
See also: TAS
Treasury's official guidance for federal agencies on central accounting, financial reporting, and fund control. USSGL Part 1 is a supplement to the TFM.
See also: USSGL
A listing of every account with its balance. It 'balances' when total debits equal total credits. The workbench validates a trial balance before GTAS submission.
See also: ATB
U.S. Standard General Ledger — the standardized federal chart of accounts and accounting framework published by Treasury in the Treasury Financial Manual (TFM). It defines the 6-digit accounts, their attributes, standard transactions, report crosswalks, and GTAS edits.