Letter from the Administrator

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Agency Financial Report (AFR) details our accomplishments and challenges in program and financial management over the past year. The audit opinion and financial results reported in the AFR exhibits GSA’s commitment to operational integrity, accountability and transparency as a steward of public resources.

GSA's mission is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people. While this has been the case over the course of our 67-year history, the tools and strategies we employ to deliver on this mission must change with the times.

Recently, this has meant focusing on three priority areas: Ensuring that our real estate and acquisition serves as a catalyst for economic development; streamlining and modernizing our acquisition systems and offerings; and, transforming the government’s technology services to better serve the American people.

GSA manages more than 375 million square feet of property, one of the largest, most diversified real estate portfolios in the world. We are determined to leverage this strength to support the communities in which the federal government is located by acting as a catalyst for economic development wherever the federal government has a presence.

GSA acquisition solutions supply federal purchasers with cost-effective, high-quality products and services from commercial vendors and internal, government developers. Each year, approximately $50 billion go through GSA contracts.

GSA has placed itself at the forefront of bringing government procurement policy and services into the 21st Century. To cite but one example, over the past year, we designed and deployed an initiative to “Make it Easier” to do business with government, which is intended to: (1) Provide well-designed technological interfaces which allow vendors to register, update information, and interact with the government easily; (2) Ensure small businesses have the tools and support that they need to be successful when working with the government; and (3) Help vendors understand the procurement process and know how to seek business.

GSA has always led the charge in the realm of government technology, from being the first agency to move to the cloud, to founding and deploying 18F, the federal government's first tech "startup" venture to enable agencies to rapidly deploy easy-to-use, cost-efficient, and reusable digital tools, services, and expertise. To bolster and mature these technology efforts, GSA recently launched a third service, the Technology Transformation Service (TTS), in order to: (1) Fully weave an agile, iterative approach to technology development into the fabric of federal IT; (2) Help agencies make better IT purchases; and (3) Offer the best possible technology solutions that are most relevant to agency missions.

We think of TTS as the launchpad for the next big expedition for the federal government in technology; the place where the IT needs of government professionals are anticipated and addressed with the most innovative efficient and relevant solutions. Creating TTS provides a solid foundation for the federal government’s modernization efforts.

As outlined in the Management Assurances Section of this report, GSA conducted its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over operations, systems, and financial reporting. GSA can provide reasonable assurance that internal controls were operating effectively in each of these areas throughout the year. Management relies on these internal controls to identify material inadequacies in financial and program performance areas and to identify corrective actions needed to resolve them. As required by the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000, I have assessed the financial and performance data used in this report, and believe them to be complete and reliable.

While the scope of GSA’s work is certainly vast and varied, the mission, at its essence, is simple: We serve the government and the American people. We are a dynamic agency, indispensable to the functioning of government, while making positive change nationwide. This report provides a mere snapshot of the excellent, professional work the 12,000-strong GSA team performs daily in order to better serve partner agencies and the communities in which we work and live.