Financial Statements of the United States Government for the Fiscal Years Ended September 30, 2020, and 2019

Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities

The primary purpose of these financial statements is to report how the annual budget deficit relates to the change in the government’s cash and other monetary assets, as well as federal debt and interest payable. It explains why the budget deficit normally would not result in an equivalent change in the government’s cash and other monetary assets.

These statements reconcile the budget deficit to the change in cash and other monetary assets during the fiscal year. They also serve to explain how the budget deficits were financed. These statements show the adjustments for non-cash outlays included in the budget, and items affecting the cash balance not included in the budget, to explain the change in cash and other monetary assets.

The budget deficit is primarily financed through borrowings from the public. When receipts exceed outlays, the difference is a surplus. The budget treats borrowing and debt repayment as a means of financing, not as receipts and outlays. The budget records outlays for the interest on the public issues of Treasury debt securities as the interest accrues, not when the cash is paid.

Non-cash flow amounts in the budget related to loan financing account activity also reflect intra-governmental transactions such as interest expense paid or interest revenue received from Treasury, entity year-end credit reform subsidy reestimates, and the receipt of subsidy expense from program accounts. Cash flow from non-budget activities related to loan financing account activity includes all cash flows to and from the public, including direct loan disbursements/default payments to lenders, fees collected, principal and interest repayments, collections on defaulted guarantee loans, and sale proceeds of foreclosed property. The budget totals exclude the transactions of the financing accounts because they are not a cost to the government. However, since loan financing accounts record all credit cash flows to and from the public, they affect the means of financing a budget deficit.

United States Government 
Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities 
for the Years Ended September 30, 2020, and 2019