Common Questions

What is SAM?

The Shared Accounting Module (SAM) is a web-based software application that ensures valid TAS-BETC classification of all Fund Balance with Treasury (FBWT) transactions to the appropriate Treasury Account Symbols (TAS) and Business Event Type Codes (BETC).

Why should I use SAM?

SAM was designed to assist agencies in complying with the new Governmentwide Accounting (GWA) reporting rules by minimizing modifications to their internal systems.

How do I access the SAM application?

The application can be accessed through the FMS website or Sam.gov

What is a TAS?

Treasury Account Symbol - The receipt, expenditure, appropriation, and other fund account symbols and titles as assigned by Treasury. For more information, please refer to GWA Treasury Account Symbol (TAS)

What is a BETC?

Business Event Type Code - The BETC is an 8 character code used in the GWA system to indicate the type of activity being reported, such as payments, collections, borrowings etc. This code must accompany the Treasury Account Symbol (TAS). For more information, please refer to Business Event Type Code(BETC)

When SAM is implemented, will the FMS SF 224 be obsolete?

No, the FMS SF 224 will be retired when all ALCs (who report on the SF 224) become full GWA Reporters. For more information, please refer to Final Partial 224 Business Rules
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Who can access SAM?

Only individuals that have been granted access will be allowed to use SAM. Each user is assigned access to SAM by a security administrator from his/her agency. Users will be assigned permissions based on their duties in the agency.

What is a C-Key?

A C-KEY is an acronym for classification key which is a unique agency accounting code assigned to a transaction. Agencies will establish C-Keys in SAM for collection transactions that will be used to derive the appropriate values of TAS-BETC(s).

What is a cash flow?

A cash flow is a combination of a C-Key name, description and the corresponding TAS-BETC(s). More than one pair of TAS-BETC(s) can be assigned in a cash flow. An agency will set up, by ALCs, Cash Flow Profiles to allow SAM to translate their C-Keys for specific transactions types to TAS-BETC(s).

What are access groups?

Access groups are used to associate agencies with Cash Flow and Default Profiles with in the SAM application.

What are access group default rules and why do they need to be managed?

Default rules are used to derive a valid TAS-BETC when the normal validation or C-Key translation fails. In other words default rules are a safety net to ensure that all transactions receive a valid TAS-BETC before processing.

How does SAM fit into GWA?

SAM was developed to support the GWA modernization effort as a one-stop utility for all agencies to ensure that its transactions contain TAS/BETC without the burden of updating existing account systems.

Who can I contact if I need additional assistance with SAM?

For questions concerning SAM, please contact: SAM Treasury Support Center at (877) 255-9033. For any questions concerning GWA, please call (202) 874-8270.