December, 2020
General Fund of the U.S. Government ‐ DISGF/DISNGF BETC Update
The General Fund of the U.S. Government (General Fund) began messaging the switch from DISB/DISBAJ, Disbursement BETCs, to DISGF/DISGFAJ and DISNGF/DISNGFAJ government-wide in August 2019, via multiple venues (IRC, CRT and Government‐Wide Financial Management Conference).
In January of 2020 we began meeting with individual entities to discuss these changes and continue to meet with entities to this day. When the discussion around the new BETCs began in late 2019, the General Fund was messaging an implementation date of no earlier than October 1, 2020. As meetings with individual entities continued it became apparent that while some of the federal government might meet that original date, there were entities that would need extra time and so the 'no earlier than' date was moved to October 1, 2021. This change in date allows for those entities who were already moving to the new BETCs to continue with their progress and as of today there are hundreds of TAS using these new BETCs successfully. This also allows entities who need time to switch the remainder of Fiscal Year 2021 to do so.
It should be noted that this requirement to move to the DISGF/DISNGF BETC is not changing, and that at this point the only change is the date that the outgoing DISB BETC may become unavailable, which is again no earlier than October 1, 2021. Federal entities with intra-governmental activity should work with one another to ensure that the DISGF/DISNGF BETC information is communicated in a timely manner. If your trading partner has made the switch and is asking you for information related to the new BETCs it would be prudent to either work with them to identify how this information should be reported, or contact the General Fund team to voice any concerns you have in implementing. This holds true unless you are one of the few agencies who are actively working with the General Fund to come up with an alternative implementation timeline.
In addition, an analytical (soft) edit is being developed in GTAS and should be available no later than Period 6 FY 2021 (March 2021). This edit will be based on the proper usage of the DISGF/DISGFAJ BETCs as compared to the usage of USSGL 320710 in GTAS.
The General Fund looks forward to working with you and answering any questions you might have, so please contact them at GeneralFund@fiscal.treasury.gov with any questions. You may also be interested in joining the General Fund Audit Readiness Activities Working Group. If interested, please let us know via the above email address and you will be added. More information related to the new BETCs is attached and can be found at https://fiscal.treasury.gov/cars/reference‐and‐guidance.html > GWA Reporting > BETC Guidance and BETC Frequently Asked Questions.