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The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, annually prepares consolidated financial statements for the U.S. government for Congress and the administration to use in fiscal decision making. GAO has been required to audit the consolidated financial statements since 1997, but is also mandated to audit various other federal financial statements.

While federal financial management has improved since the federal government began preparing these statements, GAO has been unable to render an audit opinion on the government’s consolidated financial statements because of the following impediments:

1. 1. serious financial management problems leading to financial statements from the Department of Defense that cannot be audited;
2. 2. the federal government's inability to adequately account for and reconcile intragovernmental activity and balances between federal agencies; and
3. 3. the federal government's ineffective process for preparing the consolidated financial statements.

It is important to note that while almost all of the 24 largest federal agencies received unmodified (“clean”) opinions on their most recent financial statements, the Department of Defense has consistently been unable to receive such an audit opinion on its financial statements.

U.S. Government’s Consolidated Financial Statements

• Financial Audit: U.S. Government’s Fiscal Years 2015 and 2014 Consolidated Financial Statements, GAO-16-357R, February 25, 2016
• Financial Audit: U.S. Government's Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013 Consolidated Financial Statements, GAO-15-341R, February 26, 2015
• Financial Audit: U.S. Government's Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012 Consolidated Financial Statements, GAO-14-319R, February 27, 2014
• Financial Audit: U.S. Government's Fiscal Years 2012 and 2011 Consolidated Financial Statements, GAO-13-271R, January 17, 2013
• Fiscal Year 2011 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 2007 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 2006 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 2005 Financial Report of the United States Government
• Fiscal Year 1997-2004 Financial Reports of the United States Government

Federal Entity Financial Statements

• Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Department of the Treasury
  • Office of Financial Stability: Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
  •  Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s (Fiscal Service) Schedule of Federal Debt 
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
• Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Recommended Links

• Transforming DOD’s Business Operations

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• Reducing Government-wide Improper Payments