Letter from the chief financial officer

On behalf of the General Services Administration, I’m proud to provide GSA’s FY 2023 Agency Financial Report. This report represents the culmination of the agency’s efforts to ensure that we continue to act as a responsible steward of over $48 billion in net position.

These efforts include the financial management and execution of multiple pieces of legislation, including annual appropriations acts, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan. Each of these brings a unique set of reporting and accounting requirements, and all of them require accuracy and transparency. Our efforts included making changes to the core financial system in preparation for implementation of a new accounting standard, the Statements of Federal Accounting Standard 54, which will fundamentally change how leases are reported in FY 2024.

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer has the privilege of leading the financial reporting, accounting, and execution responsibilities for GSA. We take that obligation seriously, and I would like to thank the OCFO personnel and employees across the agency who, every day, work to assure accountability and transparency in financial management across the enterprise and who have contributed to the development and review of this report.

Audit and compliance

In FY 2023, GSA’s independent auditors identified no material weaknesses in their annual audit of GSA’s financial statements. In addition, the auditors did not identify any instances in which GSA’s financial management systems did not substantially comply with the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996, and there was no reportable non-compliance with provisions of laws tested for FY 2023.

GSA addressed the material weakness identified in FY 2022 related to reimbursable activities in the Federal Buildings Fund and controls over certain manual journal entries. In FY 2023, GSA implemented the below corrective actions:

The auditors did not identify any instances in which our financial management systems did not substantially comply with the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996, and there was no reportable non-compliance with provisions of laws tested for FY 2022.

• We conducted a risk assessment to ensure adequate controls are in place, implemented and documented an approval process for all manual journal entries over a certain dollar threshold, and updated the system to enforce second level approvals of transactions which went live October 2023.
  
  GSA implemented compensating controls in FY 2023 related to manual journal entries that reduced the finding from a material weakness to a significant deficiency.
• We implemented controls to maintain budgetary resources within applicable budget authorities. These controls included adding a new data element to identify unique reimbursable authorities typically funded by direct budget authorities.

FY 2023 key accomplishments

This fiscal year has been one of growth and progress for GSA and the OCFO. In FY 2023, my office delivered on its mission to provide the full suite of financial services to GSA, including budget formulation and execution, analytics and financial data management, financial operations and reporting, and financial controls and certification of funds. We take great pride in being entrusted with the management of the agency’s financial resources and, this year, continued our tradition of delivering the operational excellence that our customers rely on.

In February, we successfully transitioned the Financial Management Line of Business (FMLoB) back to GSA from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The return of FMLoB and Pegasys Financial Services functions, systems, and personnel strengthens our service delivery by allowing us to increase, standardize, and enforce system and process controls; prioritize Pegasys system enhancements that align to GSA’s strategic goals; and remove barriers between organizations so that we can better deliver value to our customers.

Our dedication to customer service is evident in our results on GSA’s Internal Partner Satisfaction Survey (IPSS). In FY 2023, OCFO received an overall score of 3.97 out of 5, and ranked highest at GSA for acting in the agency’s best interest, overall performance, the value of our services, and our office’s timeliness. We were among the highest in the expertise of our staff.

GSA continues to be recognized as one of the best places to work in the Federal Government. In March, the agency was named the fourth best midsize agency in the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Rankings, up from sixth in 2021. In those same rankings, OCFO was rated 11th out of 423 agency subcomponents, up six places from last year. We are proud of our progress and are committed to maintaining a work environment and culture that supports our employees, our customers, and the American people.

In my role as GSA’s performance improvement officer, I have the responsibility of overseeing strategic planning and performance management activities across the agency. My office has been critical in GSA’s response to the Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum M-23-15 [PDF]: Measuring, Monitoring, and Improving Organizational Health and Organizational Performance in the Context of Evolving Agency Work Environments. The memo, which was sent to the heads of executive departments and agencies, directed organizations to develop updated work environment plans that describe current operational policies that are critical to improving organizational health and organizational performance. OCFO led the agency’s efforts to analyze GSA’s organizational health and work environment, and provide data-driven recommendations to OMB. This work will continue as GSA continues to maintain its organizational health and meet the evolving needs of its employees and customers.

FY 2023 was marked by organizational changes, new financial management standards and reporting requirements, and internal successes. These made for a year full of opportunities and accomplishments. It is a privilege to serve as GSA’s chief financial officer and I look forward to building upon this year’s achievements in FY 2024 and beyond.

Respectfully,

/S/_____________________
Nimisha Agarwal
Chief Financial Officer
November 14, 2023