Financial Statements of the United States Government for the Fiscal Years Ended September 30, 2021, and 2020
Balance Sheets
The Balance Sheets show the government’s assets, liabilities, and net position. When combined with stewardship information, this information presents a more comprehensive understanding of the government’s financial position. The net position for funds from dedicated collections is shown separately.
Assets
Assets included on the Balance Sheets are resources of the government that remain available to meet future needs. The most significant assets that are reported on the Balance Sheets are loans receivable, net, general PP&E, net; accounts receivable, net; and cash and other monetary assets. There are, however, other significant resources available to the government that extend beyond the assets presented in these Balance Sheets. Those resources include stewardship PP&E in addition to the government’s sovereign powers to tax and set monetary policy.
Liabilities and Net Position
Liabilities are obligations of the government resulting from prior actions that will require financial resources. The most significant liabilities reported on the Balance Sheets are federal debt and interest payable and federal employee and veteran benefits payable. Liabilities also include environmental and disposal liabilities, benefits due and payable, loan guarantee liabilities, as well as insurance and guarantee program liabilities.
As with reported assets, the government’s responsibilities, policy commitments, and contingencies are much broader than these reported Balance Sheet liabilities. They include the social insurance programs reported in the SOSI and disclosed in the unaudited RSI—Social Insurance section, fiscal long-term projections of non-interest spending reported in the SLTFP, and a wide range of other programs under which the government provides benefits and services to the people of this nation, as well as certain future loss contingencies.
The government has entered into contractual commitments requiring the future use of financial resources and has unresolved contingencies where existing conditions, situations, or circumstances create uncertainty about future losses. Commitments and contingencies that do not meet the criteria for recognition as liabilities on the Balance Sheets, but for which there is at least a reasonable possibility that losses have been incurred, are disclosed in Note 21—Commitments and Note 22—Contingencies.
Unmatched transactions and balances are adjustments needed to reconcile differences between assets and liabilities, that are primarily due to unresolved intra-governmental differences. See Note 1.U—Unmatched Transactions and Balances for additional information.
The collection of certain taxes and other revenue is credited to the corresponding funds from dedicated collections that will use these funds to meet a particular government purpose. If the collections from taxes and other sources exceed the payments to the beneficiaries, the excess revenue is invested in Treasury securities or deposited in the General Fund; therefore, the trust fund balances do not represent cash. An explanation of the trust funds for social insurance is included in Note 23—Funds from Dedicated Collections. That note also contains information about trust fund receipts, disbursements, and assets.
Due to its sovereign power to tax and borrow, and the country’s wide economic base, the government has unique access to financial resources through generating tax revenues and issuing federal debt securities. This provides the government with the ability to meet present obligations and those that are anticipated from future operations and are not reflected in net position.
The net position is the residual difference between assets and liabilities, adjusted for unmatched transactions and balances reported in the Balance Sheet, and is the cumulative results of operations since inception. For detailed components that comprise the net position, refer to the section “Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position.”
United States Government
Balance Sheets
as of September 30, 2021, and 2020
Table may scroll on smaller screens
(In billions of dollars) |
2021 |
Restated 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Assets: | ||
| Cash and other monetary assets (Note 2) | 475.0 | 1,926.9 |
| Accounts receivable, net (Note 3) | 401.0 | 321.2 |
| Loans receivable, net (Note 4) | 1,651.0 | 1,577.4 |
| Inventory and related property, net (Note 5) | 399.2 | 381.9 |
| General property, plant and equipment, net (Note 6) | 1,176.9 | 1,139.9 |
| Investments (Note 7) | 135.2 | 129.8 |
| Investments in special purpose vehicles (Note 8) | 26.4 | 108.4 |
| Investments in government-sponsored enterprises (Note 9) | 220.9 | 108.9 |
| Advances and prepayments (Note 10) | 369.3 | 218.6 |
| Other assets (Note 11) | 38.7 | 42.7 |
| Total assets | 4,893.6 | 5,955.7 |
| Stewardship property, plant, and equipment (Note 27) | ||
| Liabilities: | ||
| Accounts payable (Note 12) | 123.1 | 99.0 |
| Federal debt and interest payable (Note 13) | 22,344.8 | 21,082.9 |
| Federal employee and veteran benefits payable (Note 14) | 10,183.0 | 9,415.5 |
| Environmental and disposal liabilities (Note 15) | 613.3 | 602.7 |
| Benefits due and payable (Note 16) | 273.9 | 256.3 |
| Loan guarantee liabilities (Note 4) | 230.7 | 520.1 |
| Insurance and guarantee program liabilities (Note 17) | 129.8 | 199.3 |
| Advances from others and deferred revenues (Note 18) | 202.0 | 174.2 |
| Other liabilities (Note 19) | 677.1 | 394.0 |
| Total liabilities | 34,777.7 | 32,744.0 |
| Commitments (Note 21) and Contingencies (Note 22) | ||
| Unmatched transactions and balances (Note 1.U) | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| Net position: | ||
| Funds from Dedicated Collections (Note 23) | 3,486.8 | 3,474.4 |
| Funds other than those from Dedicated Collections | (33,372.6) | (30,265.8) |
| Total net position | (29,885.8) | (26,791.4) |
| Total liabilities and net position* | 4,893.6 | 5,955.7 |
| *Total liabilities and net position equals Total liabilities, Total net position and Unmatched transactions and balances. | ||
| The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | ||
- Current Report: Fiscal Year 2021 - PDF version
- A Message from the Secretary of the Treasury - PDF version
- Table of Contents - PDF version
- The Nation By The Numbers
- Executive Summary - PDF version
- Management's Discussion & Analysis - PDF version
- Statement of the Comptroller General of the United States - PDF version
- Financial Statements - PDF version
- Statements of Net Cost
- Statements of Operations and Changes in Net Position
- Reconciliations of Net Operating Cost and Budget Deficit
- Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities
- Balance Sheets
- Statements of Long-Term Fiscal Projections
- Statements of Social Insurance and Changes in Social Insurance Amounts
- Statements of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts
- Notes to the Financial Statements - PDF version
- Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - PDF version
- Note 2. Cash and Other Monetary Assets - PDF version
- Note 3. Accounts Receivable, Net - PDF version
- Note 4. Loans Receivable, Net and Loan Guarantee Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 5. Inventory and Related Property, Net - PDF version
- Note 6. General Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net - PDF version
- Note 7. Investments - PDF version
- Note 8. Investments in Special Purpose Vehicles - PDF version
- Note 9. Investments in Government-Sponsored Enterprises - PDF version
- Note 10. Advances and Prepayments - PDF version
- Note 11. Other Assets - PDF version
- Note 12. Accounts Payable - PDF version
- Note 13. Federal Debt and Interest Payable - PDF version
- Note 14. Federal Employee and Veteran Benefits Payable - PDF version
- Note 15. Environmental and Disposal Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 16. Benefits Due and Payable - PDF version
- Note 17. Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 18. Advances from Others and Deferred Revenue - PDF version
- Note 19. Other Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 20. Collections and Refunds of Federal Revenue - PDF version
- Note 21. Commitments - PDF version
- Note 22. Contingencies - PDF version
- Note 23. Funds from Dedicated Collections - PDF version
- Note 24. Fiduciary Activities - PDF version
- Note 25. Social Insurance - PDF version
- Note 26. Long-Term Fiscal Projections - PDF version
- Note 27. Stewardship Property, Plant, and Equipment - PDF version
- Note 28. Disclosure Entities and Related Parties - PDF version
- Note 29. Public-Private Partnerships - PDF version
- Note 30. COVID-19 Activity - PDF version
- Note 31. Subsequent Events - PDF version
- Required Supplementary Information (Unaudited) - PDF version
- The Sustainability of Fiscal Policy - PDF version
- Social Insurance - PDF version
- Deferred Maintenance and Repairs - PDF version
- Other Claims for Refunds - PDF version
- Tax Assessments - PDF version
- Federal Oil and Gas Resources - PDF version
- Federal Natural Resources Other than Oil and Gas - PDF version
- Other Information (Unaudited) - PDF version
- Tax Burden - PDF version
- Tax Gap - PDF version
- Tax Expenditures - PDF version
- Unmatched Transactions and Balances - PDF version
- Appendices
- Appendix A: Reporting Entity - PDF version
- Appendix B: Glossary of Acronyms - PDF version
- U.S. Government Accountability Office Independent Auditor's Report - PDF version
- Related Resources
Table of Contents
By Section
Certain material weaknesses, limitations, and uncertainties prevented the Government Accountability Office from expressing an opinion on the U.S. Government's consolidated financial statements included in the Financial Report and, therefore, GAO disclaimed an opinion on such statements. Certain information included on or referenced in this website, such as individual agency financial reports that were audited by other auditors, is separate from and not specifically reported in the Financial Report and therefore not covered by GAO's disclaimer.