Federal financial reporting, defined here as the process of recording retrospective executive department-level financial and performance information, can provide both a snapshot of the government's financial health at a given moment in time, as well as an accounting of its financial performance over a particular time frame. Federal financial reports may help the federal government demonstrate accountability, provide information for policy formulation and planning, and be used to evaluate governmental performance. This book provides an overview of federal financial reporting; an understanding for the primary components of the annual financial report of the United States government; a citizen's guide to the 2012 financial report of the United States government; and provides an management report on improvements needed in controls over the preparation of the United States consolidated financial statements.