Page 1 GAO-25-108148 CFS Issues for VA
August 21, 2025
The Honorable Richard F. Topping
Assistant Secretary for Management
and Chief Financial Officer
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20420
U.S. Consolidated Financial Statements: Key Issues for the Department of Veterans
Affairs
Dear Mr. Topping:
Congratulations on your appointment as the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA). As VA’s Chief Financial Officer, you have an important role in helping to
ensure that reliable and complete federal financial information is available. The purpose of this
letter is to highlight important issues for your awareness related to financial management in the
federal government.
GAO is responsible for conducting the annual audit of the U.S. government’s consolidated
financial statements, or CFS.
1
On January 16, 2025, we issued a disclaimer of opinion on these
statements for fiscal years 2024 and 2023.
2
The consolidated financial statements are compiled
from federal entity financial statements and other federal entity information. As such, federal
entities, including VA, have a key role in supporting financial reporting at the government-wide
level.
While VA’s auditor issued an unmodified audit opinion on VA’s fiscal years 2024 and 2023
financial statements, the auditor identified material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in
internal control over financial reporting and made recommendations to help address them. VA’s
strong and sustained commitment is critical to addressing these recommendations and the
following key issues that affect the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements.
Intragovernmental activity and balances: In our fiscal year 2024 audit of the consolidated
financial statements, we continued to report that the federal government was unable to
adequately account for intragovernmental activity and balances between federal entities. This is
one of three major impediments preventing us from rendering an opinion on the consolidated
financial statements.
Under federal accounting standards, intragovernmental activity and balances between federal
entities must be eliminated for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. While
1
The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is required
to annually submit audited financial statements for the executive branch of the U.S. government to the President and
Congress. These statements, as submitted, also include the legislative and judicial branches.
2
GAO, Financial Audit: FY 2024 and FY 2023 Consolidated Financial Statements of the U.S. Government, GAO-25-
107421 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 16, 2025).
