§015s. (CB) Standard General Ledger (SGL) Chart of Accounts

Cyclopedia of Congressional Budget Law

Standard General Ledger (SGL) Chart of Accounts

Summary

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL) provides a uniform chart of accounts and technical guidance for standardizing federal agency accounting.

The United States Standard General Ledger Supplement Sections consist of the following major sections:

  • Chart of Accounts
  • Account Descriptions
  • Accounting Transactions
  • USSGL Attributes
  • Report Crosswalks
  • Reclassified Statements Crosswalks
  • GTAS Validations and Edits
Links:
USSGL Document Library:
USSGL Accounting Guidance

GAO Glossary of Terms and Definition (September 2005)

Standard General Ledger (SGL) Chart of Accounts

A chart of accounts (and technical guidance) established to support the consistent recording of financial events as well as the preparation of standard external reports required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of the Treasury. Agencies are required by law (31 U.S.C. § 3512) to “implement and maintain financial management systems that comply substantially with,” among other things, the Standard General Ledger. It contains two complete and separate, but integrated, self-balancing sets of accounts—budgetary and proprietary. Budgetary accounts are used to recognize and track budget approval and execution, whereas proprietary accounts are used to recognize and track assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. The Standard General Ledger is reproduced in the Treasury Financial Manual “Standard General Ledger Supplement,” available at www.fms.treas.gov/ussgl/index.html. OMB policies regarding the Standard General Ledger are in OMB Circular No. A-127.

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