May 26

USSGL Account Attributes and Crosswalks: How Sections 4, 5, and 6 Drive Financial Reporting

USSGL account attributes are additional characteristics attached to each general ledger account that refine how the account balance is reported on federal financial statements. Crosswalks are mapping tables that tell agencies which USSGL accounts, with which attributes, populate each line of each federal financial statement. Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the USSGL supplement to the Treasury Financial Manual define the attributes, the crosswalks to standard external reports (Balance Sheet, Statement of Net Cost, SF 133, and others), and the crosswalks to the reclassified statements used in the government-wide financial report.

Key takeaways

• Attributes refine accounts: A USSGL account number alone is not enough for financial reporting. Attributes like begin/end indicator, debit/credit indicator, reimbursable flag, and BEA category determine which financial statement line the balance goes to.
• Section 4 is the definition: Section 4 lists every attribute, what values it can take, and which USSGL accounts it applies to.
• Section 5 is the crosswalk to agency statements: Section 5 maps USSGL accounts plus attributes to specific lines of the Balance Sheet, Statement of Net Cost, Statement of Changes in Net Position, Statement of Budgetary Resources, Statement of Custodial Activity, SF 132, and SF 133.
• Section 6 is the crosswalk to government-wide statements: Section 6 maps USSGL accounts to the reclassified statements used in the government-wide consolidated financial report.
• Why this matters: If your attributes are wrong in your accounting system, your financial statements will be wrong. Strong front-end controls on attributes are essential.
• Where to find it: tfx.treasury.gov/tfm/supplements/ussgl, Part 1, Sections 4, 5, and 6.

Why account attributes and crosswalks matter

If you have read our USSGL pillar post, our USSGL chart of accounts walkthrough, and our guide to USSGL transaction codes, you have covered the foundation. Sections 4, 5, and 6 are the bridge between your day-to-day trial balance and the financial statements you have to produce. These are the sections that come into play when you start working on financial statement preparation, GTAS submissions, or audit support.
The single biggest cause of financial statement errors at federal agencies is mismanaged attributes. If your USSGL account is right but the attributes are wrong, the balance will populate the wrong line of the wrong statement, and you will spend audit season explaining why. Getting attributes right at the transaction level, before things ever reach the financial statements, is one of the highest-leverage controls in federal accounting.

What are USSGL account attributes?

A USSGL account attribute is an adjective that describes the account. The account number tells you what kind of balance you are looking at (an asset, a liability, an obligation). The attribute tells you additional characteristics that affect how the balance gets reported.
For example, USSGL 413900 (Contract Authority Carried Forward) can have a beginning balance or an ending balance, a debit balance or a credit balance, a direct or reimbursable designation, a discretionary or mandatory classification. Each of those is a separate attribute, and each one affects where the balance ends up on the SF 133.

The most important USSGL attributes to know

Section 4 of the USSGL defines roughly two dozen attributes. A few are critical for almost every account. Others apply only to specific situations.

Begin/End Indicator (B or E)

This indicates whether the balance is the beginning balance (B) as of October 1 or the ending balance (E) as of the reporting period end. Some financial statement lines require you to calculate the change during the year, which is why you will sometimes see both a B and an E indicator for the same USSGL account in a crosswalk.

Debit/Credit Indicator (D or C)

USSGL accounts can have both debit and credit balances depending on the transaction. This attribute tells you which side of the balance to use for the specific financial statement line being populated.

Reimbursable Flag (D, R, or D/R)

This flag indicates whether amounts relate to direct activities (D), reimbursable activities (R), or both (D/R). Reimbursable activities are goods, services, or joint project support financed by offsetting collections. Federal agencies track direct and reimbursable activity separately because some financial statement lines report only one type and some combine both.

Apportionment Category Code (A, B, or E)

OMB apportions funds in different ways. Category A is quarterly apportionments. Category B covers apportionments made by program, project, or other basis. Category E flags funds exempt from apportionment. The SF 133 Status of Budgetary Resources section breaks out unobligated balances by apportionment category, so this attribute is required to report correctly.
Watch the codes. The apportionment category codes used in USSGL attributes for GTAS (A, B, E) differ from the codes used on the SF 132 apportionment schedule (A, B, C). Both reference apportionment categories, but the coding conventions are not identical. Always check which document you are working in.

BEA Category Indicator (D or M)

The Budget Enforcement Act category indicates whether spending is discretionary (D) or mandatory (M). Section 4 of the SF 133 (Budget Authority and Outlays, Net) requires separate reporting for discretionary and mandatory spending, so this attribute is essential for that part of the report.

Other important attributes

• Authority Type Code. Distinguishes among appropriations, contract authority, borrowing authority, and other types when the USSGL account alone does not tell you.
• Availability Time Indicator. Shows whether budgetary resources are available in the current period or a subsequent period.
• Prior Year Adjustment Code. Identifies adjustments to prior year balances.
• TAF Status. Flags funds as unexpired, expired, or canceled. Some statement lines require you to filter to a specific status.
• Fund Type Code. Classifies the type of fund (general, special, trust, revolving, etc.).
• Financing Account Code. Identifies credit reform financing accounts.

How Section 4 is structured

Section 4 of the USSGL has two parts. The Attribute Definition Report lists every attribute name, its definition, its short name (used in crosswalk tables), and the valid values (called the "domain") for that attribute. The Attribute Table lists every USSGL account and shows which attributes apply to it.
Treasury publishes Section 4 in both PDF and Excel formats. For day-to-day reference, the PDF is fine. For actual analysis (filtering, sorting, searching across thousands of rows), the Excel version is the better tool.

Section 5: Crosswalks to standard external reports

Section 5 of the USSGL crosswalks every account to the lines of the standard federal financial statements that agencies prepare. There are crosswalks for each of the following reports.
• Balance Sheet
• Statement of Net Cost
• Statement of Changes in Net Position
• Statement of Budgetary Resources
• Statement of Custodial Activity
• SF 133 Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources (combined with Schedule P)
For each report, the crosswalk lists the financial statement line, the USSGL account or accounts that populate it, and the attributes that must be applied to the account balance. If you are preparing the Balance Sheet, the crosswalk tells you exactly which accounts (with which attributes) go on each line. If you are preparing the SF 133, same idea: the crosswalk gives you the recipe.

The same account can appear on multiple lines

One thing that surprises new financial statement preparers: the same USSGL account can appear on multiple lines of the same financial statement. The attributes are what distinguish where each portion of the balance goes. For example, an expense account might populate one line of the Statement of Net Cost for exchange revenue and a different line for non-exchange revenue. The account is the same; the attribute determines the split.

A walkthrough: Sarah reads the Balance Sheet crosswalk

Here is how the crosswalks work in practice. Sarah, our federal accountant from the pillar post, gets a question from a colleague: "We just collected a refund of a prepayment from a commercial vendor that was obligated earlier this fiscal year. Could you tell me how that will affect our balance sheet?"
The transaction is C112. The budgetary entry debits 480200 and credits 461000. The proprietary entry debits 101000 (Fund Balance with Treasury) and credits 141000 (Advances and Prepayments). Sarah needs to figure out which Balance Sheet lines are affected.

Step 1: Remember that budgetary accounts do not appear on the Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet is a proprietary report. It shows assets, liabilities, and net position. The budgetary debit to 480200 and credit to 461000 affect the Statement of Budgetary Resources and the SF 133, not the Balance Sheet. Sarah only needs to worry about the proprietary entry.

Step 2: Look up 101000 (Fund Balance with Treasury) in the crosswalk

Sarah opens the Balance Sheet crosswalk in Section 5 and searches for 101000. The crosswalk shows that 101000 maps to Line 1 of the Balance Sheet (Intragovernmental Assets, Fund Balance with Treasury). The Fed/Non-Fed indicator is G for the general fund. Since we are increasing 101000 (debit), Line 1 increases.

Step 3: Look up 141000 (Advances and Prepayments) in the crosswalk

This is where attributes matter. Searching the crosswalk for 141000 returns two hits: Line 5 and Line 13. Line 5 has a Fed/Non-Fed indicator of F (federal). Line 13 has a Fed/Non-Fed indicator of N (non-federal). Since the refund came from a commercial vendor, the non-federal attribute applies. The decrease to 141000 reduces Line 13, not Line 5.

The answer

Sarah tells her colleague: Line 1 (Fund Balance with Treasury) increases by the refund amount, and Line 13 (Other than Intragovernmental Assets, Advances and Prepayments) decreases by the same amount. Without checking attributes, she would have either picked the wrong line (Line 5 instead of Line 13) or not known how to choose between the two.

Section 6: Crosswalks to reclassified statements

Section 6 of the USSGL crosswalks accounts to the reclassified statements used in the U.S. government-wide consolidated financial report. The reclassified Statement of Net Cost and reclassified Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position are similar in format to the agency-level statements, but with adjustments needed for government-wide consolidation.
Most federal accountants will not use Section 6 directly in daily work. Unless you work at Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service or are involved in government-wide financial statement preparation, you will rarely touch the reclassified statements crosswalks. They exist so that agency-level reporting can roll up cleanly into the government-wide financial report.

Why this matters: front-end controls on attributes

The crosswalks tell you what attributes each financial statement line requires. If your accounting system does not maintain those attributes correctly at the transaction level, your financial statements will be wrong. Fixing attribute problems at month-end or year-end is painful and time-consuming. Building strong controls at the point of transaction entry is what prevents the problem.
• Tag transactions at entry. Every transaction should be coded with the correct reimbursable flag, apportionment category, BEA category, and other attributes at the time of entry, not retroactively.
• Validate attributes against the USSGL Section 4 attribute table. Some attribute values are not valid for certain accounts. Build that validation into your system.
• Review attributes monthly, not annually. Reviewing the SF 133 monthly catches attribute errors early when they are cheap to fix.
• Map your Treasury Account Symbol attributes correctly. TAS attributes (like fund type, BEA category, and TAF status) cascade down to USSGL attribute reporting. Errors at the TAS level propagate everywhere.

Where the crosswalks connect to other federal reports

For agencies preparing the SF 133, we have a deep dive on SF 133 USSGL crosswalk that walks through the mechanics of creating the budget execution report. For a broader overview of the six federal financial statements and how they relate to one another, see our federal financial statements overview. Both posts assume familiarity with the USSGL chart of accounts and attributes covered here.

Common pitfalls with USSGL attributes and crosswalks

• Ignoring attribute columns in the crosswalk. The crosswalk shows you the account number and the required attributes. Pulling balances without filtering on attributes produces wrong results.
• Misreading the Begin/End indicator. When you see both B and E for the same account in a crosswalk, calculate ending minus beginning. Do not add them together.
• Treating apportionment codes inconsistently. The USSGL uses A, B, and E for apportionment categories. The SF 132 uses A, B, and C. Both reference apportionments, but the codes are not interchangeable.
• Not maintaining attributes at the transaction level. Trying to apply attributes at month-end or year-end leads to errors. Attributes should be set at the point of transaction entry and validated as the transaction is recorded.
• Forgetting that the same account can hit multiple lines. The same USSGL account can appear on multiple lines of the same statement, with attributes determining the split. Always check whether your account has more than one mapping.

Frequently asked questions about USSGL attributes and crosswalks

What are USSGL account attributes?

USSGL account attributes are additional characteristics that refine how a USSGL account balance is reported on federal financial statements. Examples include the Begin/End Indicator (whether the balance is a beginning or ending balance), the Reimbursable Flag (whether the activity is direct or reimbursable), the BEA Category (discretionary or mandatory), and the Apportionment Category Code. Attributes are defined in Section 4 of the USSGL supplement to the Treasury Financial Manual.

What is a USSGL crosswalk?

A USSGL crosswalk is a mapping table that tells you which USSGL accounts, with which attributes, populate each line of a federal financial statement. Section 5 of the USSGL supplement provides crosswalks to the six standard external reports (Balance Sheet, Statement of Net Cost, Statement of Changes in Net Position, Statement of Budgetary Resources, Statement of Custodial Activity, and SF 133). Section 6 provides crosswalks to the reclassified statements used in the government-wide financial report.

What is the difference between Section 5 and Section 6 of the USSGL?

Section 5 crosswalks USSGL accounts to the standard external reports that individual federal agencies prepare (Balance Sheet, Statement of Net Cost, SF 133, etc.). Section 6 crosswalks USSGL accounts to the reclassified statements used in the U.S. government-wide consolidated financial report. Most federal accountants work primarily with Section 5. Section 6 is mainly used by Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service and agencies involved in government-wide reporting.

Why do USSGL accounts need attributes?

Because the same USSGL account can populate different lines of a financial statement depending on the nature of the underlying transaction. For example, an expense account might appear on one line for exchange revenue activity and a different line for non-exchange activity. Attributes are how the federal government tags each balance so it ends up on the right line. Without attributes, agencies would need a separate account for every possible combination, which would make the chart of accounts unmanageable.

What is the BEA category attribute?

The BEA Category Indicator is a USSGL attribute that flags whether spending is discretionary (D) or mandatory (M) under the Budget Enforcement Act. Section 4 of the SF 133 (Budget Authority and Outlays, Net) requires separate reporting for discretionary and mandatory spending, so this attribute is required to correctly populate that part of the report.

Where can I find the USSGL crosswalks?

The USSGL crosswalks are published at tfx.treasury.gov/tfm/supplements/ussgl. Navigate to Part 1, then Section 5 (Crosswalks to Standard External Reports) or Section 6 (Crosswalks to Reclassified Statements). Treasury publishes the crosswalks in both PDF and Excel formats. The Excel format is more useful for actual analysis because it lets you filter and sort by report, USSGL account, and attribute.

What is the most common attribute mistake in federal accounting?

Ignoring attribute columns when pulling USSGL balances for financial reporting. New federal accountants often pull the trial balance for an account and use the entire balance, without filtering by the attributes the financial statement line requires. The result is wrong totals on the financial statements. The fix is to always check every attribute column in the crosswalk and filter your data accordingly. If the crosswalk shows TAF status of "U" (unexpired), exclude expired and canceled funds. If it shows reimbursable flag of "D" (direct), exclude reimbursable activity.

What to learn next

After attributes and crosswalks, the last major section of the USSGL is Section 7: GTAS Validations and Edits. This section defines the validation rules and edits that Treasury runs against agency trial balances during GTAS submissions. Understanding these rules is critical for anyone responsible for GTAS reporting. We will cover Section 7 in a future post.
• What Is the USSGL? A Complete Guide to the U.S. Standard General Ledger 
• The USSGL Chart of Accounts: A Walkthrough of Sections 1 and 2
• USSGL Transaction Codes: How to Research and Post Federal Journal Entries

Master USSGL attributes and crosswalks with structured training

Attributes and crosswalks are where the USSGL connects to financial statement preparation. They are also where most agencies have audit findings. The Introduction to U.S. Standard General Ledger course walks through all seven sections of the USSGL supplement with worked examples and knowledge checks. It is the most efficient way to build the foundation needed for financial statement preparation, GTAS reporting, and audit support. NASBA-approved for CPE credit.

Sources

• Treasury Financial Manual, USSGL Supplement, Part 1, Sections 4, 5, and 6
• OMB Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements
• FASAB Handbook
• Budget Enforcement Act