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By Luz Davila, Governmentwide Accounting Modernization Program (GWAMP)
What is the difference between a GWA pilot, player and Reporter?
A Governmentwide Accounting (GWA) Pilot Agency Location Code (ALC) is one that participates in the parallel reporting phase or testing phase. These ALCs are classifying transactions on a daily basis, reviewing their data for any discrepancies and still reporting the transactions on their Partial 224. On the other hand, we refer to ALCs that have completed the implementation phase as, GWA players or Reporters. These ALCs are reporting the “GWA way” and the Financial Management Service (FMS) is reporting transactions for them.
What do we mean by reporting the “GWA way”?
Agencies that report the “GWA way” are those agencies that are including the Treasury Account Symbol (TAS)/Business Event Type Code (BETC) information on the transactions at the point of initiation. These agencies no longer need to report their transactions on the Partial 224; instead FMS reports those transactions for them at the end of the month.
Is my ALC a good candidate to become a GWA Reporter and how can we determine that?
One of the simple questions you can ask yourself is, is our agency/ALC able to provide TAS/BETC information, as well as your trading partners? If the answer is yes, you might be a good candidate to become a GWA Reporter for the processing of Intra-Governmental Payment and Collection (IPAC) transactions. Other scenarios can be discussed on the initial meetings and during the preparation phase.
Does an ALC have to transition all of the systems types (IPAC, Payments, and Collections) to report the “GWA way” at the same time?
No, we transition ALCs by system type. For example, if your ALC is willing to become a GWA reporter for IPAC only, we will transition that system type only. The agency will continue to report other system types the normal way.
What are the different phases involved in the transition process?
The three phases involved in the transition process are: preparation, parallel reporting, and implementation. In the preparation phase, we analyze the agency’s reporting process and discuss the possibility of becoming a GWA Reporter. In the parallel reporting phase we start to receive TAS/BETC information on each transaction affecting the ALC in transition (for testing purposes only, not live data) to perform data analysis on these transactions. During this time the GWA data analysis team conducts meetings to discuss the data and any discrepancies. These discrepancies need to be resolved before moving to the next phase which is the implementation phase. Lastly, the implementation phase is when FMS starts to report transactions for the agency and the agency only needs to report any reclassifications on Section I of the Partial 224.
How will I be affected if an ALC I do business with becomes a GWA Reporter? Does that mean that I need to become a GWA Reporter too?
If an ALC that you do business with becomes a GWA Reporter that means that you will need to start providing TAS/BETC information every time you submit a transaction to this ALC. You don’t need to become a GWA Reporter to provide this information to your trading partners, but you will need to make sure that you provide the correct TAS/BETC information.
If we decide that after going through the different phases we don’t want to become a GWA Reporter, can we go back?
No, as soon as an agency starts the parallel reporting phase there is no way back. In order to avoid this from happening, we spend as much time as needed on initial meetings and the preparation phase. After these meetings, agencies are not forced to transition, but after the parallel reporting and implementation phase, we do need to continue moving forward.
Is there any mandate date to become a GWA Reporter?
Not at the moment. GWA is working on drafting a letter that will provide guidance to federal program agencies.
What are the benefits of becoming a GWA Reporter?
Some of the benefits of becoming a GWA Reporter are: eliminates your Statement of Difference; eliminates reporting any transactions reported the GWA way; use of the Partial 224 just for reclassification purposes; and access to your data via use of Provisional Account Statement (daily updates of Fund Balance with Treasury [FBWT]).
What do I need to do to get ready to become a GWA Reporter?
In order to get ready to become a GWA Reporter an agency must: (1) identify how moving from monthly reconciliation to daily reconciliation will impact their agency’s reconciliation processes; (2) communicate the need to provide TAS/BETC codes on all IPAC transactions to their trading partners; (3) establish trading partner agreements detailing the correct TAS/BETC reporting requirements; (4) modify accounting packages and/or systems to be able to identify, provide, and accept TAS/BETCs on IPAC transactions for both the sender and receiver; (5) have a zero balance Statement of Difference for the type of transactions (IPAC, payments, and/or collections) being reported the “GWA way”; (6) submit access requests to the required GWA applications (Account Statement, Authority Transaction Module (ATM), IPAC, etc.); (7) set up profiles and default validation rules with the Shared Accounting Module (SAM); (8) create your special requirements to mandate the TAS/BETC for IPAC transactions and (9) provide points of contact to FMS.
What is a full Reporter?
A full Reporter is an ALC that is reporting all of its system types the “GWA way”. For example, if an ALC reports only IPAC and they are reporting those IPAC transactions the “GWA way”, this ALC is considered a full GWA Reporter.
What are the benefits of becoming a full GWA Reporter?
In addition to the benefits mentioned previously, one of the great advantages of becoming a full GWA Reporter is the capability of using the new reclassification module. This module will be available at the end of calendar year 2009 and only full GWA Reporters will see the advantages. These users will no longer use Section I of Partial 224 to do their reclassification; instead they will use the reclassification module which will be part of the GWA system. A reclassification icon will appear next to the transactions that can be reclassified and with a single click, you will be able to reclassify to the correct TAS.
How can I know the current GWA Reporters and Parallel Reporters?
Every month GWA publishes a list of all of their current GWA Reporters and Parallel Reporters. To see the current list, please visit the GWA website at http://fms.treas.gov/gwa/ref_guidance.html.
Whom should I contact if I want to become a GWA Reporter?
If your agency is considering becoming a GWA Reporter, please contact Luz Davila at: luz.davila.lopez@fms.treas.gov or 202-874-8599 or, Michael Norman at michael.norman@fms.treas.gov or 202-874-8788. We can schedule a meeting to discuss your agency’s reporting process, identify any changes, and system type you want to transition (IPAC, Payments, or Collections).
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