Financial Ratio Analysis of Audited Federal Financial Statements

摘要

In recent years, the U.S. Congress has called upon federal government agencies to produce auditable financial statements which adhere to many of the same accounting standards as private businesses. The purpose of these statements is to fully reveal federal entities' financial position, in the hope of enabling a better understanding of these federal entities, and to assist in resource management. The information contained in these federal financial statements permit the calculation of numerous financial ratios. The objective of this thesis was to examine the ability of a set of federal financial ratios to measure aspects of the financial condition of government agencies. To accomplish this, the thesis relied upon a previously developed financial ratio framework. Financial ratios proposed in the framework were calculated for major government agencies. Statistical tests were used to describe the distribution of each ratio and the relationship between the ratios. Broad conclusions are that numerous financial ratios exist, which do have the ability to distinguish differing aspects of the financial condition of government agencies, but that the conceptual meaning of some proposed federal financial ratios is not yet well understood.