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America's Fiscal Future - Current Financial Condition A bird’s eye view of the federal financial condition, GAO’s audits of the government’s books, and a little help for unpacking the federal financial report.

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The Nation’s Financial Condition

Each year, the Department of the Treasury (in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget) publishes the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO audits. Here’s a quick overview of the federal financial condition over the past 3 years:

Financial Outcomes for Fiscal Years 2020 - 2022

  FY 2022 FY 2021 FY 2020
Net Cost $9.1 Trillion $7.4 Trillion $7.4 Trillion
Revenue $4.9 Trillion $4.3 Trillion $3.6 Trillion
Assets
(End of Fiscal Year)		 $5.0 Trillion $4.9 Trillion $6.0 Trillion
Debt Held by the Public
(End of Fiscal Year)		 $24.2 Trillion $22.3 Trillion $21.0 Trillion
All Other Liabilities
(End of Fiscal Year)		 $14.8 Trillion $12.5 Trillion $11.7 Trillion
Budget Deficit $1.4 Trillion $2.8 Trillion $3.1 Trillion

Source: Financial Report of the United States Government for Fiscal Years 2022, 2021, 2020.

A more complete picture of the government’s financial condition, including information on the government's fiscal sustainability, requires a closer look at the financial report. Read on for our insights on understanding the financial report.

Auditing the Federal Government’s Books

While federal financial management has improved since the government began preparing these statements, we have been unable to render an audit opinion on them primarily because of:

  1. Serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense;
  2. The federal government's inability to adequately account for intragovernmental activity and balances between federal agencies; and
  3. Weaknesses in the federal government’s process for preparing the consolidated financial statements.

Additionally, there was inadequate support for the cost of loan programs at the Small Business Administration (fiscal years 2020 through 2022) and Department of Education (fiscal year 2022).

Want to go deeper into the results? Read our work on Federal Financial Accountability.

Need to know more about financial statement auditing (or what an “audit opinion” is)? Read this post on our WatchBlog.

Unpacking the Financial Report of the U.S. Government

GAO periodically publishes a guide to understanding the financial report of the U.S. government, for those who want to dig deeper into the financial report.

View the Guide

The Short Version

Short on time? The U.S. government publishes a yearly Executive Summary (PDF, 7 pages) that provides a brief high-level summary of key parts of the Financial Report. In the Financial Report, you will find the Executive Summary and the financial statements themselves, as well as:

  • Management’s Discussion and Analysis: Insights on topics including the reporting entity, the results of operations, and future outlook.
  • Notes to the Financial Statements: Disclosures and detailed information relating to the financial statements.
  • Required Supplementary Information: Additional information on topics such as fiscal sustainability and social insurance, as required by federal financial accounting standards.
  • Other Information: Information on topics such as the tax burden and the tax gap.
  • GAO’s Independent Auditor’s Report: Includes GAO’s reports on the reliability of the information in the financial statements and internal control over financial reporting.
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