FMS and BPD to Consolidate as Fiscal Service, Transforming Government's Financial Management and Shared Services
FMS Commissioner David Lebryk discusses the benefits and reasons behind the current proposal in the President's Fiscal Year (FY)2013 Budget to consolidate the Financial Management Service and the Bureau of the Public Debt into a single organization this fall. More

Government-wide Accounting Continues to Deliver Operational Excellence, While Implementing Revolutionary Change
Assistant Commissioner, David Rebich, reflects back on GWA accomplishments from this year, as well as provides an update on new initiatives underway that will modernize the government's Central Accounting and Reporting System (CARS), release the new Government-wide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance (GTAS), General Fund/General Ledger, and Intragovernmental Transformation Project (IGTP). More

From STAR to CARS: GWA Replaces the Current Central Accounting System
As GWA replaces its legacy system STAR in October 2013, agencies will need to modify their current reporting process to move toward daily classification reporting. Learn more about the important accounting classification information, e.g., Treasury Account Symbol (TAS) and Business Event Type Codes (BETC) that will now need to be included. More

Implementing GWA's CARS System Requirements in the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP)
Effective Oct. 1, 2014 all federal agencies making payments through ASAP will be required to have TAS/BETC information defined on all their accounts. ASAP changes will also include providing several new and enhanced reports/inquiries to support this implementation. More

CCMM: On Track for a 2012 Finish
The Collections and Cash Management Modernization (CCMM) initiative is nearing completion on Dec. 31, 2012. Follow CCMM updates on the 2012 milestones accomplished this year with the Bank Management Service, Treasury Collateral Management and Monitoring system, Treasury Tax and Loan (TT&L;) Plus and Treasury Investment Program application. More

OTCnet Develops Release 1.3 to Support GWA's Central Accounting Reporting System
The OTCnet Release 1.3 was developed to support the GWA CARS objectives. Currently, OTCnet captures classification information for transactions processed through the deposit reporting function. With Release 1.3, it will extend this capability to the check capture function and enable data sharing with TRS, that will provide the reporting summary and detailed data for both. More

The Financial Information Repository: An Integrated View of Government Financial Information
Did you know FMS has plans to create a Financial Information Repository (FIR), which will consolidate federal government financial information from its various business line information repositories and provide an integrated view of the information to the general public, federal agencies, other governmental institutions, and other partners? More

The Payment Information Repository: FMS's Centralized Repository for Federal Payment Data
The Payment Information Repository (PIR) is a multi-year initiative, starting mid-Calendar Year 2012, that will create a centralized information repository for federal payment related data. Aimed at improving and increasing the transparency of government payments, the PIR will also streamline the reporting of accounting classification information from Non-Treasury Disbursing Offices. More

Moving Forward with TRS: CA$HLINK II Shutdown — Dec. 31, 2012
If you use collections reporting in CA$HLINK II, it is now time for you to use TRS. By Aug. 31, 2012, all agencies must complete their TRS enrollment and reactivate inactive users. CA$HLINK II's shutdown is coming . . . is your agency ready? More

Debt Management Services Creates New Business Analytics Division
DMS has created a new Analytics Division whose long-term goals are to forecast delinquencies and collections, develop customized collection strategies, provide insight to other federal agencies to prevent delinquencies, and to deliver clear, transparent information to stakeholders. This new division will also support the development of data systems and tools, as well as a Debt Information Repository. More

DMS and the Office of Chief Counsel Host a "Debt Legislative Development Workshop" for Federal Agencies
As part of the FMS effort to develop legislative initiatives, a workshop for federal agencies was hosted recently where Debt Management Services' (DMS's) representatives met with program and legal experts from federal agencies to present, solicit, and discuss possible legislative initiatives to increase the collection of non-tax debts owed to the United States. More

DMS and Department of Labor Partner with State Employment Agencies to Recover Unemployment Insurance Compensation Debts
With assistance from the Department of Labor (DoL), DMS's Treasury Offset Program (TOP) has developed a new state partnership debt program - Unemployment Insurance Compensation (UIC). This program allows states to submit their UIC debt portfolio to TOP for debts due to fraud or a person's failure to report earnings for offset against federal tax payments. Read how the state of New York used this program recently to recover $51.2 million in fraudulent UIC payments. More

IPP Announces New Name: "Invoice Processing Platform" and the Support of Intragovernmental Buy/Sell Transfers
With strong support from Treasury, and designed to increase government efficiency and reduce cost for taxpayers, FMS's Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) is now moving forward with an accelerated product development cycle to offer an easy-to-use e-invoicing portal at no charge to all federal agencies and their vendors. IPP, additionally, has a pilot underway (through September 2012) with select agency trading partners for their new intragovernmental module that enables automating the intragovernmental buy/sell process. More

Are You Doing the Most for Your Business Customers?
Financial institutions play an important role in implementing Treasury's Electronic Payment rule for vendors. As the deadline for Treasury's final rule (issued on Dec. 22, 2012, that requires all federal recipients to receive payments by electronic funds transfer) moves closer, waivers exist for individual federal government recipients in unique, limited circumstances. However, there are no waivers available for vendors. Learn how your financial institution can ensure vendors receive the necessary payment information in a timely manner to comply with the new rule. More

FMS Launches New "One Voice" Customer-Centric Model to Benefit Federal Agencies
In 2012, FMS launched "One Voice," a new integrated, agency-focused approach to communicate unified guidance. Considered an absolute necessity, FMS's new "One Voice" is intended to better support the delivery of central payment services, collections and deposit systems, government-wide accounting and reporting services, and the collection of non-tax delinquent debt, in addition to building stronger agency relationships. More

FMS Hosts Payments Functional & Technical Sessions for Agencies
Payments functional and technical sessions are being held from July through November 2012 to provide FMS's agency customers with information on how the GWA/CARS TAS/BETC reporting mandate will impact their payment processing. Check out upcoming sessions and dates in Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; and Washington, DC. More

Direct Express Debit Card Provides Cardholder Education to Keep Pace with Latest Innovations
Born out of the All Electronic Treasury initiative, the Direct Express^® pre-paid debit card was developed to provide an electronic payment solution for unbanked federal benefit recipients. Since its inception four years ago, more than three million beneficiaries have signed up to access their benefits using the card. With the rapid increase in Direct Express^® pre-paid debit cards issued, FMS and Comerica Bank believe ongoing education is important and necessary to ensure cardholders know how to take advantage of the card's features, without incurring fees. More

Check out the latest edition of FMS' 2012 Contact Directory, used by agencies year-round. (134 kb)

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