Financial Audit Manual, Volume 1, June 2025

Government Accountability Office
06/12/2025

Fast Facts

The Financial Audit Manual (FAM) presents a methodology for performing financial statement audits of federal entities in accordance with professional standards. It is a tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources.

This June 2025 revision replaces Financial Audit Manual, Volume 1 (June 2024 version) and contains the audit methodology.

The FAM's other volumes are:

Volume 2: detailed implementation guidance

Volume 3: the Federal Financial Reporting Checklist

You can download all volumes of the FAM in Word and certain Excel templates, and see prior versions of the manual on the main FAM page.

Highlights

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) maintain the Financial Audit Manual (FAM).

For more information, please visit the main FAM page, or contact Dawn B. Simpson at SimpsonDB@gao.gov.

GAO Contacts

Dawn B. Simpson Director Financial Management and Assurance simpsondb@gao.gov

Media Inquiries

Sarah Kaczmarek Managing Director Office of Public Affairs media@gao.gov

Public Inquiries

Topics

Auditing and Financial ManagementInternal controlsFinancial statementsCompliance oversightAccounting standardsFinancial audit manualFinancial reportingGovernment auditing standardsLaws and regulationsAuditorsInspectors general