U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 2

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

2015 A ua

March 16, 2016

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden

The President of the Senate

The Honorable Paul D. Ryan

The Speaker of the House of Representatives

Sirs:

I have the honor to transmit herewith the Annual Report of the U.S. Government Publishing 

Office (GPO) for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015. The report contains the results 

of an audit of GPO’s financial statements conducted by an independent accounting firm.

Respectfully submitted,

DAVITA VANCE-COOKS

Director

U.S. Government Publishing Office

Davita

Agency Director

732 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20401-0001 www.gpo.gov | facebook.com/USGPO | twitter.com/usgpo 

Keeping America Informed OFFICIAL | DIGITAL | SECURE
2 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

Buoyed by an 11% increase 

in e-Passport demand and 

a recovery by our print 

procurement program from 

the effects of sequestration 

and the Government 

shutdown a year before, I am 

pleased to report that GPO 

posted a strong financial 

performance for FY 2015, 

as attested by a recently 

concluded independent audit 

of our finances.

Revenue totaled $773.4 

million, up from $696.3 million in FY 2014. 

Overhead expense grew just 2.2%, due to the 

2015 employee buyout that has left GPO with a 

staffing level lower than at any time in the past 

century. Excluding funds generated for capital 

investment in e-Passport production and a 

decrease in long-term workers’ compensation 

under the Federal Employees Compensation Act, 

GPO’s net income from operations for the year 

was $17.6 million. With our total appropriated 

funding for FY 2016 now at the lowest level than 

at any time in the past decade, the funds earned 

in FY 2015 constitute retained earnings that will 

help fuel our continuing digital transformation.

The signs of that transformation were 

unmistakable as GPO completed its first year as 

the newly re-designated Government Publishing 

Office. For Congress, we released the Member 

Guide for the 114th Congress as a mobile app, 

providing the public with quick, easy access to 

information on Senators and Representatives 

from a variety of mobile platforms. Working 

A M 

GPO D ecr  D ait

Director Davita Vance-Cooks (center) cuts the ribbon on GPO’s new zero make-ready (ZMR) press in May 2015, with 

(left to right) former Public Printer Bill Boarman, Deputy Director Jim Bradley, Managing Director of Plant Operations 

John Crawford, Timsons Inc. Director of Sales and General Manager Bill Songer, and former Managing Director of Plant 

Operations Olivier Girod.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 3

with the Library of Congress and in support 

of the Legislative Branch Bulk Data Task 

Force, we developed bill status information for 

release in XML bulk data format via our Federal 

Digital System (FDsys) starting with the 113th 

Congress, a development that drew praise from 

the openness and transparency community. 

GPO joined GitHub (github.com), the Webbased computer code-sharing and publishing 

service, providing documentation on our digital 

legislative content on a fair and equal basis to the 

developer community. During the year, we made 

significant progress on our Composition System 

Replacement project, positioning us to introduce 

this new system for the production of bills in a 

beta phase at the opening of the 115th Congress.

Improvements for Congress extended to our 

conventional printing services as well. During the 

year we brought our new zero make-ready press 

online, resulting in significant new efficiencies 

in the production of congressional hearings. By 

the end of the year, we announced a reduction 

of 7% in the price we charge for hearings 

pages, the first such reduction in memory. For 

FY 2016, this will yield an estimated savings of 

$1.3 million in our Congressional Publishing 

Appropriation, helping to keep the level of 

funding in that account flat for an unprecedented 

third consecutive year.

Dr. Lonnie Bunch (center), Founding Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture, 

greets GPO employees after his address during the agency’s Black History Month celebration in February 2015.
4 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

Similar transformative progress was shown 

in the services we provide to Federal agencies. 

Once again, we made the annual Budget of the 

United States Government available as a mobile 

app. We partnered with the Office of the Federal 

Register (OFR) to make the electronic Code of 

Federal Regulations (eCFR) available in XML 

format for bulk data download from FDsys. 

For the Department of Commerce (DOC), we 

developed a new user-friendly, mobile-optimized 

Web site, which serves as a platform for multiple 

DOC entities.

In addition to responding to an increase 

in demand for e-Passport production, we 

made significant progress in the acquisition 

and installation of new technologies that will 

be required for the next generation passport, 

and we achieved a milestone through the 

production of the five-millionth secure border 

crossing card for the Department of Homeland 

Security’s Trusted Traveler Program. Additionally, 

the Government Accountability Office issued a 

report validating the quality and cost savings we 

provide to Federal agencies through our secure 

card program, reinforcing similar findings issued 

in 2013 by the National Academy of Public 

Administration. 

In support of a more open and transparent 

Government, our Federal Depository Library 

Program (FDLP) welcomed four new member 

libraries as digital-only depositories, while eight 

existing member libraries converted to digitalonly status. In partnership with the American 

Association of School Librarians, we launched 

an updated and redesigned mobile-friendly 

version of Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government. 

Developed by GPO and named after Benjamin 

Director Davita Vance-Cooks, with Chief of Staff Andrew Sherman, 

Deputy Director Jim Bradley, and Chief Administrative Officer 

Herbert Jackson, Jr., lead a town hall meeting in February 2015.

GPO reconfigured its main bookstore in 2015 to provide easy 

access to GPO Federal Credit Union services. Cutting the ribbon to 

open the new facility were GPOFCU President Timothy Anderson, 

GPOFCU Board Chair Anthony Zagami, and Director Davita 

Vance-Cooks. Present also were (left to right) GPOFCU Director of 

Growth Services Marcia Dixon, Credit Union National Association 

(CUNA) Chief Operating Officer Rich Meade, Chief Administrative 

Officer Herbert Jackson, Jr., Deputy Director Jim Bradley, radio 

host Ken McKlenton, Chief of Staff Andrew Sherman, GPOFCU 

Board Member Rose (Bates) Hood, and GPOFCU Board Vice-Chair 

Robert Freeman.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 5

Franklin, America’s patron saint of printing, this 

popular site contains educational content on the 

workings of the Federal Government for school 

children K-12. 

During the year, GPO once again was 

named one of the top online original catalogers 

in the world for our work in cataloging 

Government documents. We became the first 

Federal agency member of the Technical 

Report Archive and Image Library (TRAIL), an 

organization dedicated to identifying, acquiring, 

cataloging, digitizing, and providing unrestricted 

access to U.S. Government technical reports. We 

announced a new partnership with the OFR to 

make every issue of the Federal Register since 

it began publication in 1936 available to the 

public digitally, a project that will complement 

our ongoing work with the Library of Congress 

to digitize all issues of the Congressional Record

back to its introduction in 1873.

Our most significant contribution to 

openness and transparency in Government, 

however, was the work we completed in 

FY 2015 toward the introduction of the next 

generation of our public access system, currently 

known as FDsys. Underway since 2013, this 

work has been dedicated to enhancing the way 

the public interacts with our online offerings, 

including the development of a responsive user 

interface, a new Open Source search engine, the 

capability to link related publications, a mobilefriendly presence, and other improvements based 

on extensive stakeholder engagement during the 

design and development process.

The new system was revealed shortly 

after the second session of the 114th Congress 

convened in early 2016, with the introduction of 

govinfo. Though still in beta, govinfo improves 

upon FDsys with a modern, easy-to-use look 

and feel that syncs with the need of today’s 

Government information users for quick and 

effective digital access across a variety of digital 

platforms. I am extremely proud of this effort 

and with the positive reception of govinfo by 

the community dedicated to openness and 

transparency in Government, which included 

gracious notes of commendation from the 

Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

Chairman of the Joint Committe on Printing that 

we were honored to receive. Following a period 

of testing and finalizing the system’s features, 

govinfo will become GPO’s digital system 

of record—the third such system since we 

inaugurated online access in 1994—and FDsys 

will be retired from service.

GPO began to make several changes 

to its physical campus during the year. We 

reached agreement with the National Archives 

and Records Administration (NARA) to 

house the OFR as well as NARA’s archive of 

congressional and legislative records. These 

agreements involve the single largest package 

of GPO building space ever leased to another 

GPO hired a real estate management firm to help the agency prepare a plan 

for the commercial development of the agency’s parking lot property in 

Washington, DC.
6 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

agency. We engaged a private sector real 

estate management firm to assess the viability 

of commercially developing space currently 

used for parking adjacent to our Washington, 

DC, complex. Building space also underwent 

substantial reconfiguration to house the new 

equipment acquired for passport production. For 

employees, plans were made to replace our full 

service cafeteria, which discontinued operation 

in early FY 2016 due to declining sales, with a 

contemporary self-service Quick Café.

In my view, employee engagement is the 

centerpiece of effective management. During 

the year, we held quarterly town hall meetings 

involving all GPO employees in both Washington, 

DC, and in our offices nationwide to review 

GPO’s financial status, discuss plans, and listen to 

employee concerns. We held a series of listening 

sessions with GPO’s supervisors and managers to 

assess opportunities for worklife improvements. 

Based on our program of performance incentive 

awards, following the close of our FY 2015 

independent audit we paid a modest bonus 

office-wide. 

Last September, as GPO worked to produce 

the White House programs and other materials 

associated with the visit of Pope Francis to 

Washington, DC, I was proud to see that First 

Lady Michelle Obama posted a photo of GPO 

bookbinder Charlene Stevenson hand-tying the 

tassels on the programs, saying “Thank you 

for your service, Charlene! We couldn’t do it 

without you.”

I frequently see similar statements from 

Congress and Federal agencies recognizing our 

work, a testimony to the quality and care that 

the men and women of GPO quietly put into 

their jobs every day in support of our mission 

of Keeping America Informed. The results of FY 

2015 show that they excelled at their task, and 

we look forward to doing so again this year 

— GPO’s 155th since opening our doors for 

business the same day that Abraham Lincoln was 

first inaugurated.

DAVITA VANCE-COOKS

Director

U.S. Government Publishing Office

March 2016. 

First Lady Michelle Obama thanked GPO and singled out 

Charlene Stevenson in her Instagram post.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 7

GPO BY THE NUMBERS FY 2015

GPO staff 1,711

FY 2015 revenues $773,400,000

FY 2015 appropriations $119,993,000

Congressional Record pages produced 49,967,032

Federal Register pages produced 146,901,754

Revenues from procured printing $338,000,000

Jobs procured nationwide 83,963

Contractors on GPO’s master contractor list 12,000

Regional procurement offices nationwide 15

Passports produced 15,235,500

Secure credentials produced 3,054,178
8 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

Titles available on FDsys 1,500,000

Document retrievals from FDsys 564,000,000

Depository libraries nationwide 1,159

Tangible titles distributed to depository libraries 5,920

Tangible copies distributed to depository libraries 1,072,919

Titles cataloged 19,074

Publications sold 228,389

Subscriptions sold 258,674

Titles available 5,356

Titles in eBook format 330

Likes on Facebook 5,500

Followers on Twitter 5,700

Views of GPO Videos on YouTube 145,000

Posts on Instagram 400

Followers on LinkedIn 2,700
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 9

T e U.S. ovnmnt  P

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) 

is the OFFICIAL, DIGITAL, SECURE resource 

for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, 

authenticating, disseminating, and preserving 

the official information products of the Federal 

Government.

Under Title 44 of the U.S. Code, GPO 

is responsible for publishing the information 

products of all three branches of the Federal 

Government, including the official publications 

of Congress and the White House, U.S. passports 

for the Department of State, and the official 

publications of other Federal agencies and the 

courts. Once primarily a printing operation, 

we are now an integrated publishing operation 

and carry out our mission using an expanding 

range of digital as well as conventional formats. 

Congress and the President recognized this 

change in our operations in the Consolidated 

and Continuing Appropriations Act for FY 

2015 (P.L. 113-235), which contains a provision 

re-designating GPO’s official name as the 

Government Publishing Office. We currently 

employ about 1,700 staff.

Along with sales of publications in 

digital and tangible formats to the public, 

GPO supports openness and transparency in 

Government by providing permanent public 

access to Federal Government information at 

no charge through our Federal Digital System 

(FDsys, at www.fdsys.gov) and its newly 

introduced successor system govinfo. Today 

these systems make more than 1.5 million 

Federal titles available online from both GPO 

and links to servers in other agencies. In 2015 

FDsys averaged 47 million retrievals per month, 

with a spike up to 52.9 million retrievals in 

August 2015. We also provide public access to 

Government information through partnerships 

with 1,159 Federal, academic, public, law, and 

other libraries nationwide participating in the 

Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

 In addition to GPO’s Web site, gpo.gov, 

we communicate with the public routinely via 

Facebook facebook.com/USGPO, Twitter 

twitter.com/USGPO, YouTube youtube.com/

user/gpoprinter, Instagram instagram.com/

usgpo, LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/u.s.-

government-printing-office, and Pinterest 

pinterest.com/usgpo/.

H tory  From the Mayflower Compa

the Declaration of Independence and the papers 

leading to the creation and ratification of the 

Constitution, America has always been a nation 

based on documents, and our governmental 

tradition since then reflects that fact. Article I, 

section 5 of the Constitution requires that “each 

House shall keep a journal of its proceedings 

and from time to time publish the same.” After 

years of struggling with the problems associated 

with various systems of contracting for printed 

documents, in 1860 Congress created the 

To commemorate the 

150th anniversary of 

its delivery, the Library 

of Congress displayed 

President Lincoln’s 

original manuscript of 

his second Inaugural 

Address at the Library 

for a limited time. 

The manuscript was 

prepared from a typeset 

version printed for him 

by GPO. Notations on 

the first page indicate 

the type was set 

by GPO compositor 

D.W. Flynn.
10 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

Government Printing 

Office as its official 

printer. GPO first opened 

its doors for business on 

March 4, 1861, the same 

day Abraham Lincoln was 

inaugurated as the 16th 

President of the United 

States.

Since that time, 

GPO has produced and 

distributed the official 

version of every great 

American state paper and 

an uncounted number 

of other Government 

publications, documents, 

and forms. These 

documents include 

the Emancipation 

Proclamation, the legislative publications and 

acts of Congress, Social Security cards, Medicare 

and Medicaid information, census forms, tax 

forms, citizenship forms, passports, military 

histories ranging from the Official Records of 

the War of the Rebellion to the latest accounts of 

our forces in Afghanistan, the 9/11 Commission 

Report, Presidential inaugural addresses, and 

Supreme Court opinions. GPO’s work to keep 

America informed goes on today, in both digital 

as well as print formats.

S atic  V ision  GPO has

itself from a print-centric to a content-centric 

publishing operation. This transformation is 

consistent with the goals outlined in President 

Obama’s roadmap for a digital Government 

(Digital Government: Building a 21st Century 

Platform to Better Serve the American People, 

May 2012). It is also consistent with the 

recommendations submitted to Congress by 

the National Academy of Public Administration 

(Rebooting the Government Printing Office: 

Keeping America Informed in the Digital Age, 

January 2013).

In the years ahead, GPO will continue 

to develop an integrated, diversified product 

and services portfolio that focuses primarily 

on digital. Tangible print will continue to 

be required because of official use, archival 

purposes, authenticity, specific industry 

requirements, and segments of the population 

that either have limited or no access to digital 

formats, though we anticipate that its use will 

continue to decline.

S atgic  P lan GPO’s strat

which is available for public review at gpo.gov/

about, is built around four goals: satisfying our 

stakeholders, offering products and services, 

strengthening our organizational foundation, and 

engaging our workforce. The plan provides the 

blueprint for how GPO will continue to achieve 

its mission of Keeping America Informed with 

an emphasis on being OFFICIAL, DIGITAL, 

SECURE. GPO’s senior managers convene at the 

beginning of each fiscal year to review the plan 

and approve it before it is issued. 

GPO’s customers are involved in the digital 

world and understand technological change. 

Accordingly, it is important that GPO fosters 

an environment that embraces change and 

innovation, which leads to new ways of thinking, 

new work processes, and the development of 

new products and services for GPO’s customers. 

Tangible printing at GPO is being supplanted by 

an exponential growth in digital requirements 

by Congress and Federal agencies. Moreover, the 

public – including the library and Government 

information user communities – has signaled its 

strong desire for increased access to Government 

information digitally. 

GPO has changed to anticipate and 

accommodate those requirements. The content 

received from Congress and Federal agencies 

needs to be managed through a life cycle process 

August 18, 2015, was the 95th 

anniversary of the ratification of the 

19th amendment, which gave women 

the right to vote. GPO published this 

legislation in 1920 for Congress.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 11

that supports the primary requirement to make 

the digital version of publications permanently 

available online, and to print only when required 

or otherwise necessary. This policy is consistent 

with the President’s executive order of November 

2011 dealing with printing.

In transforming its business model, GPO is 

focusing on managing content for customer and 

public use both today and tomorrow. GPO uses 

its extensive experience and expertise with digital 

systems to provide both permanent public access 

to Government information in a variety of formats 

and the most efficient and effective means for 

printing when required, all within a secure setting 

that is responsive to the customer’s needs.

T hn

GPO has continually transformed itself 

throughout its history by adapting to changing 

technologies. In the ink-on-paper era, this meant 

moving from hand-set to machine typesetting, 

from slower to high-speed presses, and from 

hand to automated bookbinding. These changes 

were significant for their time.

Yet those changes pale by comparison 

with the transformation that accompanied 

our incorporation of electronic information 

technologies, which began more than 50 years 

ago in 1962 when the Joint Committee on 

Printing directed the agency to implement a 

new system of computer-based composition. 

The technologies supporting GPO’s 

transformation from a print-centric to 

a content-centric mission.
12 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

That order led to the development of GPO’s 

first electronic photocomposition system, which 

by the early 1980’s had completely supplanted 

machine-based hot metal typesetting. Following 

the enactment of the GPO Electronic Information 

Access Enhancement Act in 1993, the databases 

generated by our composition system were 

uploaded to the Internet via GPO’s first Web 

site, GPO Access, vastly expanding the agency’s 

information dissemination capabilities. Those 

functions continue today with FDsys and the 

newly introduced govinfo on a more robust and 

comprehensive scale.

While transforming to an increasingly 

digital footing, GPO continues to provide an 

array of printing services to support the needs 

of Congress, Federal agencies, and the public, 

and we are retooling our print operations to 

take advantage of the efficiencies provided by 

modern equipment. In FY 2015 we put into 

operation our new zero make-ready (ZMR) 

press to support congressional and Federal 

agency publishing requirements. This new 

high-efficiency press will allow us to eventually 

phase out three outdated presses installed in 

1979. We are continually reviewing product 

and equipment options to ensure that our 

publishing activities are conducted with the best 

technologies available.

As a result of these sweeping technology 

changes — digital products, equipment, and 

processes — GPO is now fundamentally 

different from what it was as recently as a 

generation ago. It is smaller, more agile, and 

equipped with digital production capabilities 

that are the foundation of the information 

systems relied upon daily by Congress, Federal 

agencies, and the public to ensure open and 

transparent Government in the digital era. As we 

prepare GPO for the Government information 

environment and technology challenges of the 

future, our transformation is continuing with 

the development of new ways of delivering 

Government information, including apps and 

bulk data download files.

GPO’s senior management met offsite in November 2014 to prepare the agency’s strategic direction for the coming year.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 13

GPO d 

For the Clerk of the House, the Secretary of 

the Senate, and the committees of the House 

and the Senate, GPO publishes the documents 

and publications required by the legislative 

and oversight processes of Congress in digital 

and tangible formats. This includes the daily 

Congressional Record, bills, reports, legislative 

calendars, hearings, committee prints, and 

documents, as well as stationery, franked 

envelopes, memorials and condolence books, 

programs and invitations, phone books, and 

the other products needed to conduct the 

business of Congress. We also detail expert 

staff to support the publishing requirements of 

House and Senate committees and congressional 

offices such as the House and Senate Offices of 

Legislative Counsel. We work with Congress to 

ensure the provision of these services under any 

circumstances.

Today the activities associated with creating 

congressional information databases comprise 

the majority of the work funded by our annual 

Congressional Publishing Appropriation. 

Our advanced digital authentication system, 

supported by public key infrastructure (PKI), 

is an essential component for assuring the 

digital security of congressional publications. 

The databases we build are made available for 

providing access to congressional publications 

in digital formats as well as their production in 

tangible formats. 

 GPO’s congressional information 

databases also form the building blocks of 

other information systems supporting Congress. 

For example, they are provided directly to the 

Library of Congress to support Congress.gov 

as well as the legislative information system the 

Library makes available to House and Senate 

offices. We work with the Library to prepare 

summaries and status information for House 

and Senate bills in XML bulk data format. We 

are also collaborating with the Library on 

digitizing historical printed documents, such as 

the Congressional Record, to make them more 

broadly available to Congress and the public.

GPO C t

C grssnal  W or k

electronic information technologies by GPO 

has been a principal contributor to lowering the 

cost, in real economic terms, of congressional 

information products. In FY 1980, as we 

replaced hot metal typesetting with electronic 

photocomposition, the appropriation for 

Congressional Publishing was $91.6 million, the 

equivalent in today’s dollars of $264 million. By 

comparison, our approved funding for FY 2015 

was $79.7 million, a reduction of nearly 70% 

in constant dollar terms, with a 22% reduction 

The Senate was in for a rare 

Sunday session on May 31, 

2015. GPO employee Linda 

Otter (pre-press) was among 

the staff working on the 

Congressional Record.
14 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

since FY 2010 alone. The same level of funding 

has been provided for FY 2016, making it the 

third consecutive year that approved funding for 

GPO’s Congressional Publishing Appropriation 

has been flat.

C gr

A 

FY 1980-2015

Fiscal Year Appropriation In Constant Dollars

1980 $ 91.6 million $ 264.4 million

1985 $ 94.0 million $ 207.8 million

1990 $ 74.1 million $ 134.9 million

1995 $ 84.7 million $ 132.3 million

2000 $ 73.3 million $ 101.2 million

2005 $ 88.1 million $ 107.3 million

2010 $ 93.8 million $ 102.3 million

2015 $ 79.7 million $ 79.7 million

Productivity increases resulting from 

technology have enabled us to make substantial 

reductions in staffing requirements while 

continuing to improve services for Congress. In 

1980, GPO employment was 6,450. At the end of 

FY 2015, following a buyout conducted earlier 

in the year that reduced GPO employment by 

approximately 100 positions, we had 1,711 

employees on board, representing a reduction of 

4,739, or more than 73%, since 1980. Today we 

have the smallest GPO workforce of any time in 

the past century.

GPO E 

FY 1980 – FY 2015

Fiscal Year Headcount

1980 6,450

1985 5,383

1990 4,977

1995 3,956

2000 3,139

2005 2,344

2010 2,284

2015 1,711

Director Davita Vance-Cooks and senior management regularly conduct 

Town Hall meetings with GPO detailees on Capitol Hill, who supply graphic 

arts support to the work of Congress in the Secretary of the Senate’s office, 

the Clerk of the House’s office, and to congressional committees. 

In May 2015, Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), 

Chairwoman of the Senate Legislative Branch 

Appropriations Subcommittee, toured the GPO plant and 

met with employees who produce congressional materials 

including the Congressional Record.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 15

H ligh of  F Y

C grssonal  W or 

year, GPO released the Mobile Member Guide 

app for the 114th Congress. This mobile Web 

app provides the public with quick, easy 

access to information on Members of the 114th 

Congress; features include their picture, party 

affiliation, hometown, home state, and length 

of service. The app allows users to browse 

for Members of Congress by last name, State, 

chamber, or party. The public can take advantage 

of this free mobile Web app across major mobile 

device platforms.

At the direction of the House of 

Representatives Appropriations Committee, 

and in support of the Legislative Branch Bulk 

Data Task Force, GPO, the Library of Congress, 

the Clerk of the House, and the Secretary 

of the Senate worked throughout 2015 to 

make bill status information in XML format 

available through the GPO’s FDsys Bulk Data 

repository, beginning with the 113th Congress. 

The announcement of this new information 

availability drew praise from various legislative 

openness and transparency advocates (see, for 

example, congressionaldata.org/congresspoised-for-leap-to-open-up-legislativedata/; and fiercegovernmentit.com/story/

bill-statuses-xml-coming-early-2016-sayscongress/2015-12-17). The FDsys Bulk 

Data repository for bill status information was 

made available at gpo.gov/fdsys/bulkdata/

BILLSTATUS in early 2016.

During the year, GPO joined GitHub, the 

Web-based computer source code sharing and 

publishing service used worldwide to collaborate 

on code, data, and policy. GPO’s presence on 

GitHub was welcomed by those in the legislative 

openness and transparency community who 

are interested in how legislative content is 

created, processed, stored, and made available 

to the public via FDsys. Through GitHub, GPO 

provides documentation on a fair and equal basis 

to the developer community about the process 

used to create FDsys metadata for legislative as 

well as executive and judicial content collections. 

It can also be used to provide documentation 

about the FDsys sitemap implementation and 

supporting resources that are currently available 

on the FDsys Bulk Data Repository (e.g., User 

Guides).

GPO is now a regular participant and 

presenter at the House Legislative Data and 

Transparency Conference, along with staff from 

other legislative branch agencies, data users, and 

transparency advocates.

GPO is in the process of developing a new 

XML-based automated composition system to 

replace our now-outdated Microcomp system. 

This effort is known as the Composition System 

Replacement (CSR) project. During 2015, the 

CSR team made significant progress toward 

the development of a beta system for the 

composition of congressional bills coincident 

with the opening of the 115th Congress in 

January 2017. Work during 2015 included the 

development of code that prepares XML bills for 

printing, paragraph-level styles and page layouts, 

table functionality, and font development. 

Contracts were awarded that augment CSR 

development staff with resources that have a 

high level of expertise in specialized system 

areas and components. The CSR team is working 

closely with House and Senate staff to ensure 

that the new system integrates seamlessly 

with specific authoring environments that are 

currently utilized for bills.

Congressional hearings are a major product 

produced on GPO’s new ZMR press. By the 

year’s end, the efficiency of the new press 

led GPO to reduce the prices charged for 

printing congressional hearings by 7%, the first 

such page rate reduction in recent memory. 

This rate reduction alone will generate an 

estimated savings of $1.3 million in the annual 

Congressional Publishing Appropriation.
16 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

Federal agencies are major generators of 

information in the United States, and GPO 

produces their information products for official 

use and public access. Federal agencies and the 

public also rely on a growing variety of secure 

credentials produced by GPO, including travelers 

holding U.S. passports, members of the public 

who cross our borders frequently, and other 

users. Our digital systems support key Federal 

agency publications, including the annual Budget 

of the U.S. Government and, most importantly, 

the Federal Register and associated products. As 

it does for congressional documents, our digital 

authentication system, supported by public key 

infrastructure (PKI), assures the digital security of 

agency documents.

H hlights of

O erations Since 2012, GPO has 

annual Budget of the U.S. Government available as 

a mobile app. The FY 2016 Budget app, released 

in January 2015, provided users with access to 

the text and images of the Budget, including the 

Budget Message of the President, information on 

the President’s priorities, and budget overviews 

organized by agency. The app provides links 

to GPO’s FDsys where summary tables and 

additional books of the Budget, including the 

Analytical Perspectives, Appendix, and Historical 

Tables are available. The complete, authentic 

online version of the Budget is also regularly 

made available through a direct link on FDsys.

One of GPO’s major agency customers is 

the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), a unit of 

the National Archives and Records Administration 

(NARA). The OFR produces the daily Federal 

Register and related publications such as the 

Code of Federal Regulations, and other key 

information products like the Daily Compilation 

of Presidential Documents and the Public Papers 

of the President. GPO publishes these publications 

in both digital and tangible formats.

During 2015, GPO partnered with the 

OFR to make the electronic Code of Federal 

Regulations (eCFR) available in XML format 

for bulk data download from FDsys (gpo.gov/

fdsys/bulkdata/ECFR). The eCFR is an editorial 

compilation of CFR material and Federal Register 

amendments. The OFR updates the material 

in the eCFR on a regular basis and can be as 

frequent as every day. With this new initiative, 

the OFR provides eCFR files to GPO and then 

GPO converts files into XML. The eCFR bulk data 

allows for a one-click download of the current 

GPO d  e

(Left) GPO released the President’s Budget of the U.S. Government for Fiscal Year 2016 in February 2015 in both print and digital formats, 

including a mobile Web app. (Right) In August 2015, GPO released the electronic Code of Federal Regulations, in partnership with the 

Office of the Federal Register.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 17

XML file for each of the titles in the eCFR. Bulk 

data downloads of eCFR data in XML format 

permit the data to be reused and repurposed 

for mobile Web applications, data mashups, and 

other analytical tools by third party providers, 

which contributes to openness and transparency 

in Government.

During the year, GPO also finalized 

plans with NARA to have the OFR move into 

approximately 17,000 square feet of space on 

the seventh floor of GPO’s Building A and 

construction of the OFR’s new offices began. 

Co-location of the OFR with GPO will reduce 

costs and streamline the publishing process for 

OFR publications. GPO is also partnering with 

NARA to provide space for the construction 

of facilities that will house NARA’s legislative 

documents archive.

Surveys of GPO’s Federal agency customers 

in recent years have consistently reported high 

rates of satisfaction with our products, services, 

and programs, the cost-effectiveness of GPO’s 

services, and satisfaction with GPO’s Web site 

and customer service. These results validate 

our emphasis on a customer-centric approach 

through GPO’s procedures, policies, and activities. 

Another Customer Services survey will be 

released in 2016. In November GPO held its 

annual Customer Service open house focusing on 

Federal publishing solutions available to agency 

representatives from Washington, DC, and around 

the Nation.

Among the significant products produced 

by GPO for Federal agencies in 2015 were 

the Department of State’s annual Trafficking 

in Persons report; the development of the 

Department of Commerce’s new user-friendly, 

mobile-optimized Web site, which serves as a 

platform for multiple Commerce entities; and 

various materials associated with the visit of 

Pope Francis to Washington, DC, in September, 

including the official White House program for 

15,000 guests to the South Lawn Ceremony with 

the Pope and President and Mrs. Obama. First 

Lady Michelle Obama publicly thanked GPO for 

its work on the White House program on her 

Instagram and Twitter pages. 

Panehip wi

than congressional and inherently governmental 

work such as the Federal Register, the Budget, 

and security and intelligent documents, GPO 

publishes virtually all other Federal agency 

information products via contracts with the 

private sector printing and information product 

industry issued by our central office and 

regional GPO offices around the country. In 

2015, this work was valued at approximately 

$338 million. Approximately 12,000 individual 

firms are registered to do business with GPO, 

the vast majority of whom are small businesses 

averaging 20 employees per firm. Contracts are 

awarded on a purely competitive basis; there are 

no set-asides or preferences in contracting other 

than what is specified in law and regulation, 

including a requirement for Buy American. 

This partnership provides significant economic 

opportunity for the private sector.

In recent years, the decline in print 

government-wide has reduced the amount of 

work we produce through this partnership, the 

result of the ongoing transformation of Federal 

agency information requirements from print to 

digital, the President’s initiative to reduce Federal 

printing, and to some extent funding reductions 

GPO’s Creative Services unit designed a new Web site for the Department 

of Commerce (DOC), which was released in April 2015. The site, at 

www.commerce.gov, serves as a platform for multiple DOC entities.
18 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

such as sequestration. However, in FY 2015 GPO 

saw an increase of 15.2% in print procurement 

business compared with the previous year. 

GPO’s partnership with the print and information 

product industry achieves significant savings 

and efficiencies for the work that it continues 

to produce and in the process generates private 

sector jobs nationwide.

GPO has long advocated that where Federal 

agency printing is required, this partnership is the 

most cost-effective way of producing it. We were 

interested to see the results of a Government 

Accountability Office study, conducted at the 

request of the Joint Committee on Printing 

and completed in 2013, which identified 

approximately 80 Federal printing plants still in 

operation government-wide. Additional savings 

for taxpayers could occur if the work these plants 

are producing is transferred instead to GPO’s 

partnership with the private sector printing and 

information product industry. 

S ri

D uments  For nearly a cent

has been responsible for producing U.S. 

passports for the Department of State (DOS). 

At one time no more than a conventionally 

printed document, the U.S. passport since 

2005 has incorporated a digital chip and 

antenna array capable of carrying biometric 

identification data. With other security printing 

features, this document — which we produce 

in Washington, DC, as well as a secure remote 

facility in Mississippi — is now the most secure 

identification credential obtainable. In 2015, 

GPO produced 15.2 million e-Passports, an 

increase of 11% over the year before. In the 

past decade GPO has produced more than 

100 million e-Passports for DOS. Throughout 

2015, we continued with facility changes and 

equipment installation and testing in support of 

the planned next generation passport.

Since 2008, GPO has also served as an 

integrator of secure identification smart cards to 

support the credentialing requirements of 

Federal agencies. In 2010, GPO was certified by 

the General Services Administration (GSA) to 

graphically personalize Homeland Security 

Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) cards for 

Federal agencies. GSA certified that GPO 

complies with the Federal Information Processing 

Director Davita Vance-Cooks presented 

Secretary of State John Kerry with a bound 

copy of the 2015 Trafficking in Persons

report in July 2015.

GPO held its annual open house for Federal customers in October 2014. 

Customer Account Division representative Veronica Speight discussed 

GPO services available to mimimize billing issues.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 19

Standard 201, which sets requirements to ensure 

that identification cards are secure and resistant to 

fraud.

To date, GPO has produced more than 

nine million secure credential cards across 15 

different product lines. Among these products 

are the Trusted Traveler Program’s (TTP) family 

of border crossing cards — NEXUS, SENTRI, 

FAST, and Global Entry — for the Department 

of Homeland Security (DHS), which are used by 

frequent travelers across U.S. borders. Another 

card produced for DHS is the Transportation 

Worker Identity Card (TWIC). GPO produces a 

Border Crossing Card (BCC) that is issued by 

DOS for authorized travel across the Mexican 

border. GPO also has produced secure law 

enforcement credentials for the U.S. Capitol 

Police that were used in the 2009 and 2013 

Presidential inaugurations. 

During 2015, a milestone was achieved in 

the production of secure border credentials for 

DHS. GPO employees have produced 5 million 

TTP cards for the Department’s U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection (CBP). The TTP provides 

expedited entry process for pre-approved, lowrisk travelers upon arrival in the United States 

under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. 

Since their introduction in 2008, GPO and CBP 

have successfully manufactured these secure 

credentials for members of the various TTP 

programs without a single compromise in security 

nor a fruitful counterfeit attempt. “CBP-TTP chose 

the GPO to manufacture their TTP program cards 

due to the GPO’s experience and secure supply 

chain,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner John 

P. Wagner, Office of Field Operations, CBP. “Their 

manufacturing processes are more secure and less 

susceptible to counterfeiting since no sensitive 

information is ever exchanged with a third 

party vendor, as previous official identification 

documents have been.” 

In another noteworthy development, 

at the request of Congress the Government 

Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed GPO’s 

secure credential program and issued its report in 

2015. The GAO’s report, Government Publishing 

Office: Production of Secure Credentials for the 

Department of State and U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection, March 2015 (gao.gov/products/GAO15-326R), validated the quality and cost savings 

we provide to Federal agencies through our 

secure card program, reinforcing similar findings 

issued in 2013 by the National Academy of Public 

Administration. 

In July 2015, Director Davita Vance-Cooks along with 

other GPO staff visited SICPA, a manufacturer of security 

printing inks located in Springfield, VA, to get a briefing on 

operations and tour their production facility.

GPO makes Global Entry cards for U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection. These cards allow expedited clearance 

for pre-approved, low-risk travelers when they arrive in 

the United States.
20 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

Producing and distributing the official 

publications and information products of the 

Government fulfills an informing role originally 

envisioned by the Founders, as James Madison 

once said:

“A popular Government without popular 

information, or the means of acquiring it, 

is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, 

or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever 

govern ignorance, and a people who 

mean to be their own Governors, must 

arm themselves with the power which 

knowledge gives.”

GPO operates a variety of programs that 

provide the public with “the means of acquiring” 

Government information that Madison spoke of. 

These programs include the Federal Depository 

Library program (FDLP), Federal Digital System 

(FDsys), Publications Sales, and Social Media.

F er  

P ogram The FDLP has legisl

antecedents that date back more than 200 

years, to 1813, when Congress authorized 

congressional documents to be deposited at 

the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, 

MA. Since then, Federal depository libraries 

have served as critical links between “We the 

People” and the information made available 

by the Federal Government. GPO provides the 

libraries with information products in digital and, 

in some cases, tangible formats, and the libraries 

in turn make these available to the public at no 

charge while providing additional assistance to 

depository library users.

The FDLP today serves millions of 

Americans through a network of 1,159 public, 

academic, law, and other libraries located 

across the Nation, averaging nearly three per 

congressional district. Once limited to the 

distribution of printed and microfiche products, 

the FDLP today is primarily digital, supported by 

FDsys and the newly introduced govinfo along 

with other digital resources. This overwhelming 

reliance on digital content allowed for the 

first digital-only Federal depository library 

designation in 2014. In 2015, four new Federal 

depository libraries were designated as digitalonly, while eight existing depository libraries 

converted to all-digital status. 

The FDLP launched an updated and 

redesigned version of Ben’s Guide to the U.S. 

Government in 2015. This Web site, named after 

Benjamin Franklin and available at bensguide.

gpo.gov, contains educational content on the 

workings of the U.S. Government and U.S. 

history. The updated site features new and 

enhanced content, a mobile device-friendly 

infrastructure, and a modernized look and 

feel that has been optimized for an intuitive 

learning experience. The FDLP partnered with 

the American Association of School Librarians 

(AASL), a division of the American Library 

Association (ALA), to ensure educational content 

in Ben’s Guide is easy to comprehend and age 

appropriate.

GPO d O pe, 

Anthony Smith, with GPO’s Library Services and Content 

Management unit, discussed new technology plans with 

Andrea Morrison, University of Indiana at Bloomington, at 

the American Library Association’s annual conference in 

San Francisco, CA, June 2015.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 21

Supporting Federal depository libraries and 

the public nationwide is the work GPO does 

under its statutory mandate to catalog and create 

a comprehensive index of the public documents 

issued or published by the Federal Government 

that are not confidential in character. The 

public interface for accessing these cataloging 

records is GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government 

Publications (CGP), which is available online at 

catalog.gpo.gov. In FY 2015, there were more 

than 23.6 million successful searches of the CGP. 

Also during this period, more than 19,000 new 

cataloging records were added to the CGP. In 

2015, GPO was once again named one of the 

top online original catalogers in the world in 

the annual report of the OCLC for the year. And 

during the year, GPO added more than 11,000 

original records for U.S. Government information 

products to WorldCat, the world’s largest 

network of library content and services.

Late in the year, GPO became the first 

Federal agency member of the Technical Report 

Archive and Image Library (TRAIL, at crl.edu/

grn/trail/about-trail). TRAIL identifies, acquires, 

catalogs, digitizes, and provides unrestricted 

access to U.S. Government agency technical 

reports. TRAIL currently consists of more than 

three dozen member institutions, many of which 

are Federal depository libraries. GPO and TRAIL 

have a shared goal of advancing free public 

access to U.S. Government information and will 

now work together to ensure the discoverability, 

ensuring permanent public access to, and the 

preservation of Government technical reports. 

As a member of TRAIL, GPO will offer expertise 

and guidance in cataloging and other areas. 

In April 2015, GPO released a new version of its popular children’s Web site, Ben’s Guide to the U.S, Government, at 

bensguide.gpo.gov

GPO’s Superintendent of Documents Mary Alice Baish 

addresses the 2015 annual conference of the Depository 

Library Council in Arlington, VA, as Council Chair Hallie 

Pritchett and GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks look on.
22 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

D I G I TA L A C C E S S T O G O V E R N M E N T 

INFORMATION GPO has been providing 

access to digital congressional and Federal 

agency documents since 1994, beginning with 

a site known as GPO Access. Fifteen years later, 

GPO Access was retired and a significantly reengineered site debuted as GPO’s Federal Digital 

System (FDsys). FDsys provides the majority of 

congressional and Federal agency content to the 

FDLP as well as other online users. 

Online access to Federal documents provided 

by GPO has expanded public access dramatically 

through the Internet. In 2015, FDsys averaged 47 

million retrievals per month, an increase of more 

than 23% over the previous year, with a spike up 

to 52.9 million retrievals in August.

GPO has continually added collections 

to FDsys to provide increased public access 

to Government information. In FY 2015, new 

collections included the historic Warren Report on 

the assassination of President Kennedy and the 

eCFR. In September, GPO and the Federal judiciary 

were recognized with a 2015 Digital Government 

Achievement award in the Government-toGovernment category for providing digital access 

to 1.4 million Federal court opinions via FDsys. 

Since the program began in 2011, there have been 

more than 300 million retrievals of opinions by 104 

Federal courts from FDsys.

Late in the fiscal year, GPO announced a new 

partnership with the Office of the Federal Register 

to make every issue of the Federal Register since it 

began publication in 1936 digitally available to the 

public. A total of 14,587 individual issues will be 

digitized. This project complements a similar effort 

underway with the Library of Congress to digitize 

every issue of the Congressional Record since that 

title’s inception in 1873.

In early 2016, GPO unveiled the next 

generation of its public access system with the 

introduction of govinfo. Though still in beta, 

govinfo improves upon FDsys with a modern, 

easy-to-use look and feel that syncs with the 

need of today’s Government information users 

for quick and effective digital access across a 

variety of digital platforms. Following a period 

of testing and finalizing the system’s features, 

govinfo will become GPO’s digital system 

of record—the third such system since we 

inaugurated online access in 1994—and FDsys 

will be retired from service.

GPO also began the process to seek 

certification as a Trustworthy Digital Repository 

in compliance with international standards. This 

certification will validate that GPO’s content 

management system, its infrastructure, and 

its supporting organization are reliable and 

sustainable, in order to ensure the highest level 

of service now and into the future.

GPO A ie

I ortio

1995, the first full year of our online operations, 

the cost of producing and distributing millions 

of copies of printed publications to Federal 

depository libraries nationwide was funded 

at $17.6 million, the equivalent today of $27.4 

million in constant dollars. For FY 2015, we 

funded this function at $8 million, a reduction 

of more than 70% in constant dollar terms. 

Along with appropriations to GPO’s Business 
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 23

Operations Revolving Fund, we have used the 

savings from reduced printing and distribution 

costs to pay for the establishment and operation 

of our digital information dissemination 

operations, achieving additional savings for the 

taxpayers and vastly expanding public access to 

Government information. 

N erf

O ine

( i n c l u d e s t i t l e s o n G P O s e r v e r s 

and titles linked from GPO)

FY 2000 – FY 2015

Year Number of Titles 

 FY 2000 193,000 

 FY 2005 301,600

 FY 2010 441,700

 FY 2015 1,500,000

P ic

S esP rogram  Along with

and our online dissemination systems, which are 

no-fee public access programs, GPO provides 

public access to official Federal information 

through public sales featuring secure ordering 

through an online bookstore (bookstore.gpo.gov), 

a bookstore at GPO headquarters in Washington, 

DC, and partnerships with the private sector that 

offer Federal publications as eBooks. As a onestop shop for eBook design, conversion, and 

dissemination, our presence in the eBook market 

continues to grow. We now have agreements with 

Apple, Google’s eBookstore, Barnes & Noble, 

OverDrive, Ingram, Zinio, and other online 

vendors to make popular Government titles such 

as the Public Papers of the President-Barack 

Obama, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, and 

Ponzimonium: How Scam Artists are Ripping 

Off America available as eBooks. We also offer 

a print-on-demand service for sales titles, which 

enables us to offer more titles and avoid the 

expense of additional warehousing.

R mb

P gram  We operate distribution pro

for the information products of other Federal 

agencies on a reimbursable basis, including 

General Services Administration (GSA) Consumer 

Information Center publications, from our 

facilities in Pueblo, CO, and Laurel, MD. The 

program saves money for the participating 

agencies by permitting them to take advantage 

of GPO’s centralized capabilities and economies 

of scale. The program is now providing 

distribution services, bulk storage, and a Webbased order module out of the Laurel facility 

for two Department of Agriculture publications, 

Team Nutrition and Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program, distributing more than 

1.5 million copies since the program began in 

August 2015. The Laurel facility is also now 

providing bulk storage and distribution services 

for Department of Justice publications. And at 

our Pueblo facility, we are scheduled in 2016 

to begin providing printing, distribution, bulk 

storage, and call center services for the Nevada 

National Guard.

GPO d  oal  M ed

been using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, 

Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and a blog to 

share information about GPO news and events 

and to promote specific publications and 

products. By the end of 2015, we had 5,500 likes 

on Facebook, 5,700 followers on Twitter, and 

145,000 views across 71 videos on YouTube. 

On Pinterest, we had 548 followers pinning on 

17 boards of Federal Government information. 

We added Instagram and LinkedIn to GPO’s 

social media portfolio in 2015 and by year’s end 

had 511 followers with 400 posts on Instagram 

and 2,700 followers on LinkedIn. Our blog, 

Government Book Talk, focuses on increasing 

the awareness of new and classic Federal 

publications through reviews and discussions.
24 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

B ins 

F d  All GPO activities are financ

through our Business Operations Revolving 

Fund. This business-like fund is used to pay 

all of GPO’s costs in performing congressional 

and agency publishing, information product 

procurement, and publications dissemination 

activities. It is reimbursed by payments from 

customer agencies, sales to the public, and 

transfers from GPO’s two annual appropriations: 

the Congressional Publishing Appropriation 

and the Public Information Programs of the 

Superintendent of Documents Appropriation. 

The Business Operations Revolving Fund 

functions as GPO’s checking account with the 

U.S. Treasury. GPO pays its expenses from this 

account either with electronic transfer or check. 

The fund is reimbursed when the Treasury 

Department transfers money from agency 

appropriations accounts to the fund when 

agencies pay GPO invoices. This procedure also 

applies to the payment of transfers from the 

Congressional Publishing and Public Information 

Programs appropriations, and to deposits of 

funds collected from sales to the public.

GPO maintains a cash balance in the 

Business Operations Revolving Fund that is 

used to pay all expenses. The cash balance 

fluctuates daily as payments are received from 

agency reimbursements, customer payments, and 

transfers from GPO appropriations.

R aied  E arning

system of accrual accounting, annual earnings 

generated since the inception of the Business 

Operations Revolving Fund have been 

accumulated as retained earnings. Retained 

earnings make it possible for GPO to fund a 

significant amount of technology modernization. 

However, appropriations for essential 

investments in technology and plant upgrades 

are also necessary and are requested annually.

A roriated  F unds GPO’s Congressional Publishing Appropriation is used to reimburse the Business Operations Revo

costs of publishing the documents required for 

the use of Congress in digital and tangible formats, as authorized by the provisions of chapters 

7 and 9 of Title 44, U.S.C. The Public Information 

Programs of the Superintendent of Documents 

Appropriation is used to pay for costs associated 

with providing online access to, and the distribution of, publications to Federal depository libraries, cataloging and indexing, statutory distribution, and international exchange distribution. The 

reimbursements from these appropriations are 

included in the Business Operations Revolving 

Fund as revenue for work performed.

Unlike most appropriations to other 

Federal agencies, these two appropriations 

are for work that GPO itself does not control. 

The Congressional Publishing Appropriation 

in effect is an appropriation by Congress to 

cover the costs of its publishing activities. 

The appropriation is made to GPO to relieve 

Congress of the burden of maintaining detailed 

accounting records for all publishing work 

ordered from GPO both by law and by other 

congressional requisitions, as well as the 

responsibility for estimating the anticipated 

volume of congressional publishing that is used 

as the basis for the appropriation.

Congress plays a major role in controlling 

the rate of spending for the Congressional 

Publishing Appropriation. GPO can transfer 

funds from the appropriation to the Business 

Operations Revolving Fund only when it 

performs congressional publishing work. The 

appropriation is not available for expenditure 

for any purposes other than this work. While 

GPO does its best to estimate the volume of 

congressional publishing in any given year, 

that volume can change due to circumstances 

beyond GPO’s control. GPO affects the rate of 

spending under this appropriation by ensuring 

the efficiency of its operations.

GPO’ F
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 25

If congressional requisitions fall short of 

GPO’s estimate, there will be a balance remaining 

in the Congressional Publishing Appropriation 

at the end of the year. Under the language of 

GPO’s appropriations legislation, such balances 

are eligible for transfer to the Business Operations 

Revolving Fund, where they can be used only 

for the purposes for which they were originally 

appropriated, with the approval of the House 

and Senate appropriations committees. If 

Congress’s requirements exceed GPO’s estimate, 

GPO will continue to fulfill them, and Congress 

will in effect spend more than it appropriated. 

As a result, there will be a shortfall in the 

appropriation. The shortfall is temporarily funded 

out of available money—retained earnings—in 

GPO’s Business Operations Revolving Fund that 

otherwise would be available for investment in 

new plant and equipment. Congress subsequently 

repays GPO for the excess cost of its printing 

to restore money to the Business Operations 

Revolving Fund.

Like the Congressional Publishing 

Appropriation, the Public Information Programs 

Appropriation is available only for specific 

programs: online access and distribution to 

Federal depository libraries, cataloging and 

indexing, statutory distribution, and international 

exchange. The publishing activities of the 

Government determine the workload handled by 

these programs, not GPO. However, GPO affects 

the level of funding by ensuring the efficiency 

of its information dissemination operations. Like 

the Congressional Publishing Appropriation, any 

unobligated balances remaining in this account 

may be transferred to the Business Operations 

Revolving Fund, where they can be used only 

for the purposes for which they were originally 

appropriated, with the approval of the House 

and Senate appropriations committees.

ANNUAL AUDIT Each year, GPO’s finances 

and financial controls are audited by an 

independent outside audit firm working under 

contract with our Office of Inspector General. 

For FY 2015, the audit concluded with GPO 

earning an unmodified, or clean, opinion on 

its finances, the 19th consecutive year GPO has 

been provided with such an audit result. 

FY 2015 F an

Revenue totaled $773.4 million while expenses 

incurred were $735.8 million, for an overall 

net income of $37.6 million from operations. 

Included in both GPO’s revenue and net income 

is approximately $15.3 million in funds set 

aside for e-Passport-related capital investments, 

as agreed to by GPO and the Department of 

State, and $4.6 million in funds resulting from 

a downward adjustment to GPO’s long-term 

workers’ compensation liability under the Federal 

Employees Compensation Act (FECA). Apart from 

these funds, GPO’s net operating income from FY 

2015 was $17.6 million.

Funds appropriated directly by Congress 

provided nearly $106.6 million (including funds 

from the Congressional Publishing and Public 

Information Programs appropriations, along 

with appropriations to the Business Operations 

Revolving Fund), or about 14% of total revenue. 

All other GPO activities, including in-plant 

publishing (which includes the production 

of passports), procured work, sales of 

publications, agency distribution services, and all 

administrative support functions, were financed 

through the Business Operations Revolving 

Fund by revenues generated by payments from 

agencies and sales to the public. 

The largest single component of GPO’s 

annual expenses is publishing work procured 

from the private sector. In FY 2015, the cost of 

this work totaled $305.8 million, or about 42% of 

total expenses. The second largest component 

was personnel compensation and benefits. 

These totaled $202.2 million, or about 27% of all 

expenses.
26

U . S . G eren

F an

The following summary tables are excerpts from the full audited consolidated financial statements and are 

not intended to substitute for the full audited financial statements presented at http://www.gpo.gov/pdfs/

congressional/archives/2015_AnnualReport.pdf.

For fiscal year 2015 (October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015) the GPO received an unmodified opinion 

(clean audit opinion) on its consolidated financial statements.

GPO achieved positive financial results before other operating expenses and Passport Capital Projects 

Reserve. Net income was $37.6 million in fiscal 2015 compared to net income $24 million in fiscal 2014. 

GPO’s fiscal 2015 operating income included $15.3 million in reserved funds for planned capital 

investments for increasing production capacity for the next generation U.S. passport, as arranged and agreed 

to between the Department of State and GPO. Similar type funds totaled $15.1 million for fiscal year 2014. In 

both years, this resulted in revenues without corresponding expenses in the income statements. The expenses 

associated with these revenues will be reflected in future financial statements as these capital projects are 

completed and put into use. 

Other operating expenses in 2015 included an adjustment of $4.6 million to reflect a reduction to GPO’s 

future workers’ compensation liability. This long-term adjustment is required to accurately record the actuarially 

determined liability at September 30, 2015. After adjusting for these two unique transactions, GPO had a net 

income after capital projects reserve and workers’ compensation liability adjustment of $17.6 million compared 

with $6.8 million in fiscal 2014.

 

In fiscal 2015 both operating revenue and operating expenses increased from fiscal 2014. Operating 

revenue was up $77.1 million or 11.1 percent (to $773.4 million from $696.3 million), while operating 

expenses increased $66.0 million or 9.8 percent (to $740.5 million from $674.4 million). This increase in 

revenue was primarily attributable to an increase in Printing and Binding revenue. Correspondingly, the 

increase in operating expenses was due primarily to an increase in printing and reproduction, and supplies 

and materials expenses, partially offset by a decrease in personnel compensation expenses.

Fund balance with Treasury increased by $18.9 million, from $475.7 million at the end of fiscal 2014 to 

$494.6 million at the end of fiscal 2015. Cash provided by operations increased by $38.6 million during the 

year, due primarily to a decrease in customer deposit collections (deferred revenues) as well as decreases in 

accounts receivable and prepaid expenses. GPO invested $33.1 million for capital items in fiscal 2015, slightly 

less than the $36.4 million invested in fiscal 2014. 

Summary of Net Income (in thousands) 2015 2014

Net Income $ 37,584 $ 24,004

Less Passport Capital Projects Reserve (15,340) (15,120)

Decrease in Workers’ Compensation Liability (4,611) (2,123)

Net Income After Capital Projects Reserve and

 Workers’ Compensation Liability Adjustment $ 17,633 $ 6,761

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015
27

Summary Balance Sheets (in thousands) 2015 2014

Assets

Current Assets

Fund balance with Treasury $ 494,646 $ 475,744 

Accounts receivable, net 132,122 133,507 

Inventory, net 35,417 34,379 

Prepaid expenses 350 3,504

Total current assets 662,535 647,134 

General property, plant and equipment, net 142,825 130,651

Total Assets $ 805,360 $ 777,785

Liabilities and Net Position

Current Liabilities

Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 114,564 $ 105,078 

Deferred revenues 133,156 160,296

Accrued annual leave 8,463 9,608 

Total current liabilities 256,183 274,982

Noncurrent Liabilities

Workers’ compensation liability 62,372 66,983

Total Liabilities 318,555 341,965 

Net position

Cumulative results of operations

Retained earnings 259,192 221,608

Invested capital 92,879 92,879

Unexpended appropriations 134,734 121,333

Total Net Position 486,805 435,820

Total Liabilities and Total Net Position $ 805,360 $ 777,785

GPO’s Balance Sheet strengthened in fiscal 2015 as a result of the operating performance. Working capital 

increased by $34.2 million, to $406.4 million in fiscal 2015 from $372.2 million in fiscal 2014, and total current 

assets increased by $15.4 million, to $662.5 million in fiscal 2015 from $647.1 million in fiscal 2014. 

Total assets grew by $27.6 million to $805.4 million in 2015 from $777.8 million in 2014. Fund balance 

with Treasury increased to $494.6 million in fiscal 2015 from $475.7 million in fiscal 2014 with the overall 

increase in agency orders being the key driver, with returned customer deposits as a contributing factor. 

GPO ended fiscal 2015 with an increase in retained earnings of $37.6 million to $259.2 million, compared 

to $221.6 million at the end of fiscal 2014.

Summary Statements of Cash Flows (in thousands) 2015 2014

Cash flows from Operating Activities

Net Income $ 37,584 $ 24,004

Provided by (used in) operating activities

Depreciation and other 20,888 20,737

(Increase) decrease in assets 3,501 (18,322) 

Increase (decrease) in liabilities (18,799) (29,939)

Increase (decrease) in workers’ compensation liability (4,611) (2,123)

Total adjustments 979 (29,647)

Net cash provided by operating activities 38,563 (5,643)

Cash flows used in investing activities (33,062) (36,376)

Cash flows provided by financing activities 13,401 9,496

Net increase (decrease) in cash balance $ 18,902 $ (32,523)

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015
28 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015

U . S . G eren

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

DIRECTOR

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

CHIEF GENERAL COUNSEL ADMINISTRATIVE 

OFFICER

SUPERINTENDENT

OF DOCUMENTS

CHIEF OF STAFF

INSPECTOR GENERAL

HUMAN CAPITAL LABOR RELATIONS

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT 

OPPORTUNITY

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

AND SYSTEMS

SECURITY SERVICES

PLANT OPERATIONS

CUSTOMER SERVICES

LIBRARY SERVICES AND 

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

PROGRAMS, STRATEGY 

AND TECHNOLOGY

CONGRESSIONAL

RELATIONS

PUBLIC RELATIONS

OFFICIAL JOURNALS

OF GOVERNMENT

PUBLICATIONS AND 

INFORMATION SALES

SECURITY AND 

INTELLIGENT DOCUMENTS

ACQUISITIONS

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

STRATEGY ADMINISTRATION PUBLIC ACCESS LEGAL FINANCE

OPERATIONS

EMPLOYEE

COMMUNICATIONS

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

732 North Capitol Street, NW

Washington, DC 20401-0001

Keeping America Informed | OFFICIAL | DIGITAL | SECURE

www.gpo.gov | facebook.com/USGPO | twitter.com/usgpo
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | FY2015 2

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

F O R T H E F I S C A L Y E A R S E N D E D S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 

2015 AND 2014

(With Independent Auditors’ Report Thereon)
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 2 

I. Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)....................................................................... 3

Mission................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Basis of Financial Reporting ............................................................................................................................ 4

Programs and Operations................................................................................................................................ 5

Funding ....................................................................................................................................................... 5

Programs and Operations Overview ............................................................................................................ 6

Financial Position and Results for Fiscal Year 2015 .............................................................................................9

Balance Sheet Accounts.................................................................................................................................9

Consolidated Revenues................................................................................................................................ 11

Operating Expenses.....................................................................................................................................12

Changes in Retained Earnings.....................................................................................................................12

Operating Performance Measures........................................................................................................................14

Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Projections.................................................................................................................18

II. Inspector General’s Report ..................................................................................................................................19

III. Independent Auditors’ Report ............................................................................................................................. 23

IV. Financial Statements ..........................................................................................................27

Consolidated Balance Sheets............................................................................................................................28

Consolidated Statements of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes 

 in Retained Earning ........................................................................................................29

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows .........................................................................................................30

Notes to the Financial Statements....................................................................................................................31

1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies............................................................................................... 31

2. Fund Balance with Treasury .........................................................................................................................39

3. Accounts Receivable, Net............................................................................................................................. 39

4. Inventory, Net ...............................................................................................................................................40

5. Prepaid Expenses..........................................................................................................................................41

6. General Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net ............................................................................................... 41

7. Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses.....................................................................................................42

8. Deferred Revenues..... .................................................................................................................................42

9. Workers’ Compensation Liability.................................................................................................................43

10. Commitments................................................................................................................................................44

11. Contingencies...... ........................................................................................................................................44

12. Net Position.. ................................................................................................................................................45

13. Appropriated Funds ......................................................................................................................................48

14. Employee Benefit Plans................................................................................................................................ 49

15. Major Customers...........................................................................................................................................51

16. Voluntary Separation Incentive Program..............................................................................51

17. Subsequent Events........................................................................................................................................51

 Abbreviations List ...............................................................................................................52
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 3 

SECTION I

MANAGEMENT

DISCUSSION

AND

ANALYSIS

(UNAUDITED)
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

4 

U.S. Government Publishing Office

Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

As of September 30, 2015

Mission

The core mission of the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO or Agency) is Keeping 

America Informed, by producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, 

and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government. To ensure Federal 

information is readily available to citizens, GPO makes information accessible in an array of 

communication mediums from secure digital documents, databases, and mobile web applications 

that are accessible through the Internet to traditional printed ink-on-paper products. GPO was 

created on June 23, 1860, with the enactment of Congressional Joint Resolution 25. GPO’s first 

day of operations was March 4, 1861. 

Basis of Financial Reporting

GPO’s consolidated financial statements are prepared pursuant to the requirements of Title 31 

United States Code (U.S.C.), Money and Finance, § 3515, Financial Statements of Agencies. 

The consolidated financial statements have been audited by an independent external auditor in 

accordance with Title 44 U.S.C., Public Printing and Documents, § 309, Business Operations 

Revolving Fund (herein referred to as the “Revolving Fund”) for Operation and Maintenance of 

Government Publishing Office.

The consolidated financial statements are prepared from GPO’s financial system on the accrual 

basis of accounting in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). 

Under the accrual basis, revenues are recognized (recorded) when earned, and expenses are 

recognized when incurred, without regard to the receipt or the payment of cash. 

GPO’s consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes provide information on the 

Agency’s financial position, results of operations, changes in net position, and cash flows, and 

disclose significant financial and economic events that may impact GPO, in conformity with 

applicable laws, regulations, standards, and policies relevant to financial reporting. GPO is 

committed to maintaining strong financial systems and internal controls to ensure accountability, 

integrity, and reliability. GPO’s internal controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance 

that obligations and costs comply with applicable laws and regulations and are within budgetary

limits; that funds, property, and other assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized 

acquisition, use, or disposition; and that transactions are properly recorded. 

GPO Instruction 825.18A, Internal Control Program, establishes the internal control standards 

and assessment methodology employed by GPO to ensure adequate and effective systems of 

management control and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Management 

monitors the internal control systems and regularly conducts vulnerability assessments and 

internal control reviews of GPO’s programs, operations, and other activities.

GPO’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) monitors the Internal Control Program at GPO and 
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

5 

keeps the Agency Director informed of management’s progress in addressing internal control 

deficiencies identified in audits, reviews, and investigations. The OIG and occasionally the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct audits of GPO’s programs and operations, 

and as such, evaluate management controls. GPO’s Internal Control Program, along with 

recommendations from audits, reviews, and investigations, has strengthened management 

controls and improved the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of GPO’s programs, 

operations, and other activities.

Programs and Operations 

The programs and operations managed by GPO are based on various public laws codified in 

Title 44 U.S.C. GPO’s statutory responsibilities include fulfilling the printing and information 

product needs of the Federal Government and distributing official Federal publications to the 

public.

Funding 

GPO’s programs and operations are funded through a business-type revolving fund, authorized 

by Title 44 U.S.C. and by annual and certain no-year and multi-year appropriations provided by 

the U.S. Congress. GPO’s Revolving Fund is authorized to be self-sustaining, without fiscal year 

limitations applicable to most annual appropriations. The Revolving Fund pays for the cost of 

the Agency’s programs and operations and is reimbursed at rates and prices that are intended to 

recover the full cost of goods and services delivered to customers. GPO’s rates and prices for 

products and services are developed using estimates of direct labor and direct material expenses, 

overhead expenses, and anticipated volumes.

The major sources of reimbursement to GPO’s Revolving Fund are:

 Payments from Federal customers for printing and binding, including U.S. passports and 

other secure credential documents and cards, blank paper and paper products, and 

information products and design services; 

 Sales of Government publications and information products to the general public,

bookstores, bookdealers, and businesses; and

 Fund transfers from the Congressional Publishing Appropriation (CP) and the Public 

Information Programs of the Superintendent of Documents (Salaries and Expenses or 

S&E) Appropriation for work performed and authorized to be billed to these 

appropriations.

The CP and S&E appropriations reimburse the Revolving Fund for costs incurred to produce 

congressional work and fulfill statutory requirements to disseminate Federal Government 

information to the public, respectively. Reimbursements to the Revolving Fund from the CP and 

S&E appropriations are recorded as revenue when related liabilities are incurred. Unexpended 

CP and S&E appropriation balances may be authorized to be transferred to the Revolving Fund 

for these purposes with the approval of the House and Senate Appropriations 
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

6 

Committees. Otherwise, unexpended annual appropriations are returned to the Department of 

the Treasury after five years. 

Congress has also made no-year and multi-year appropriations available to GPO’s Revolving 

Fund for specific purposes. For example, appropriations have been made for building repairs 

and improvements, security enhancements, information systems, and workforce retraining. 

Programs and Operations Overview

GPO is organized into separate business units to carry out the various programs and operations 

of the Agency. An overview of these business units follows.

Official Journals of Government – The Official Journals of Government business unit 

provides support services to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives and their 

committees regarding the printing, binding, and provision of digital information products 

required to carry out the legislative schedule and daily operations. This support includes the 

production of the Congressional Record, Congressional Record Index, bills, reports, hearings, 

committee prints, and other authorized documents.

This business unit also works in close partnership with the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) 

to coordinate the timely production of the official documents of the OFR including the daily 

Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA), and the 

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States.

Plant – The Plant business unit publishes, in print and online, the important official journals of 

the Federal Government, along with many other Federal Government documents that are 

available to the public. This business unit provides Congress with all legislative printing and 

binding services, including overnight production of the Congressional Record, and congressional 

bills, reports, hearings, and other documents. GPO also produces the daily Federal Register and 

the Code of Federal Regulations for the Executive Branch. Congressional and Federal Register

documents created in digital formats are posted on GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys)

(www.fdsys.gov). 

Security and Intelligent Documents – This business unit prints, manufactures, and 

distributes secure credentials and documents for other Federal agency customers. These security 

products and services incorporate advanced electronic technologies and integrated security 

features to prevent fraud and counterfeit activities. Security and Intelligent Documents (SID) 

products and services include the production of all U.S. Passports, Border Crossing cards (BCC), 

and the family of Diplomatic Security cards for the U.S. Department of State. Additionally, SID 

supports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Trusted Traveler border crossing 

smartcard program (TTP), the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program (TWIC), 

the U.S. Asian Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC) business travel card, as well as the 

Homeland Security Presidential Directive Personal Identity Verification (HSPD-12 PIV) card 

program used for access to Federal facilities and systems. SID also provides secure products and 

services for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of 

Defense, and the District of Columbia (DC) government.
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

7 

SID operates within a certified International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 

production and quality control environment. SID protects the Personally Identifiable Information 

(PII) data of customers used in the personalization of credentials, and is certified by the General 

Services Administration (GSA) as the only Government entity capable of graphically 

personalizing the Nation’s HSPD-12 PIV smart cards now used in all agencies for physical 

access to Federal Government facilities and logical access to Federal Government computer 

systems. SID accomplishes all this by leveraging GPO’s long and successful security printing 

tradition with expertise in biometrics, advanced chip and antenna technologies, and state-of-theart security features found in inks, threads, holograms, paper, and plastic substrates.

Customer Services – The majority of the Federal Government’s printing needs requisitioned 

through GPO are contracted out to the private sector using Customer Service’s partnerships with 

commercial printers and the overall information industry. This business model enables the 

Federal Government to take full advantage of the vast resources, expertise, and specialization 

within the private sector, and ensures open market competition for publishing contracts among 

thousands of businesses, large and small.

The Customer Services business unit provides pre-procurement consulting, print procurement 

(including specification writing, bid and solicitation management, and contract awarding), as 

well as life cycle contract administration to Federal customers. Customer Service teams are 

assigned to service specific customer agencies, and are in continuous contact with customer 

agency printing officers and program managers to maintain high levels of satisfaction and to 

expand their expertise on each agency’s specific mission, needs, and challenges. Customer 

Service’s performance measures for on-time delivery and quality acceptance (see Performance 

Measures section) underscore the effectiveness of this partnership between industry and 

Government. 

Creative and Digital Media Services – GPO’s Creative and Digital Media Services 

provides graphic design solutions, multimedia and Web services to Congress, the White House, 

and Federal agencies and commissions. This business unit assists customer agencies by creating 

effective visual communications solutions for their projects using the latest technology. The team 

is comprised of graphic designers who specialize in art, graphic design, Web 

design/development, e-book design, illustration, photography, and multi-media. This business 

unit’s work includes designs for Presidential Inauguration materials, the U.S. passport, and 

numerous other security design efforts. Other examples of recent Web design and development 

projects for agency clients include the National Interagency Fire Center, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, Open World Leadership 

Center, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of the Inspector General, among others. 

This business unit also offers website content updates for existing Federal agency customers who 

are required to utilize within-governmental digital media services for information dissemination.

Publication and Information Sales – This business unit increases public access to U.S. 

Government information through the sale of Government information products, primarily 

through GPO’s U.S. Government Bookstore website (http://bookstore.gpo.gov/). This site allows 

the public to purchase hard-copy and e-book copies of Federal Government publications and 
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

8 

subscriptions. This business unit also works with commercial sales channels, including book 

distributors nationwide, to enhance Government information distribution. Publication and 

Information Sales also provides customer agencies with expert advice on how to make their 

publications more user-friendly and commercially viable.

Reimbursable Services – This business unit provides a variety of global order fulfillment, 

inventory, and list management services to Federal agencies through distribution centers in 

Pueblo, CO, and Laurel, MD. This business unit also supports the GSA’s popular Federal Citizen 

Information Center in Pueblo.

Public Information Programs – This business unit supports and manages the Federal 

Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Cataloging and Indexing Program, the By-Law 

Program, and the distribution component of the International Exchange Service of the Library of 

Congress (LOC). The FDLP ensures equitable, secure, convenient, and permanent no-fee access 

to published U.S. Government information.

The FDLP includes approximately 1,200 designated Federal depository libraries throughout the 

United States and its territories and provides the American public free access to U.S. 

Government publications in tangible and electronic collections. Public Information Programs

major operational functions include cataloging, acquiring new tangible and electronic 

publications for the FDLP, program planning, distributing publications to libraries, education and 

outreach, library technical services, and archival management. Working with other GPO units, 

this business unit also supports the enhancement and promotion of, and education about GPO’s 

Federal Digital System (FDsys) (www.fdsys.gov), which provides direct online access to Federal 

Government publications. Other online services managed by this business unit include the 

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (http://catalog.gpo.gov), the FDLP Desktop 

(www.fdlp.gov), the FDLP Community Site (http://community.fdlp.gov), and Ben’s Guide to the 

U.S. Government (http://bensguide.gpo.gov). 
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

9 

Financial Position and Results for Fiscal Year 2015

The following is an overview of GPO’s financial position and operating results for the fiscal year 

ended September 30, 2015. This information should be viewed in context with the Financial 

Statements and Notes contained therein. In addition the management discussion and analysis put 

forth is prepared to highlight what we believe are the more significant financial events, items or 

transactions for the benefit of the reader. The reader will please note that this information, as 

presented is not meant to be an inclusive compendium of all activity for GPO’s Fiscal Year 

2015. 

Cash

GPO’s current cash requirements include program and operating expenses, as well as capital

investment requirements. Cash (also referred to as “Fund Balance with Treasury” or “FBWT”) 

increased by $18.9 million (4%) to $494.6 million as of September 30, 2015 from $475.7 million 

as of September 30, 2014. 

The increase was primarily due to cash increases from operating activities of $38.6 million, 

offsetting investing outlays of $33 million, and increases in unexpended appropriations of $13.4 

million. 

Accounts Receivable, Net

Net accounts receivable decreased from $133.5 million in 2014 to $132.1 million in 2015 (1%). 

The decrease had a favorable impact on cash flow for the Agency for fiscal 2015.

 $-

 $20,000

 $40,000

 $60,000

 $80,000

 $100,000

 $120,000

 $140,000

 $160,000

 $180,000

 $200,000

Accounts Receivable, Net

$(000's)

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

10 

Property & Equipment, Net

Net property and equipment increased by $12.2 million (9.3%) in 2015 to $142.8 million. The 

capital additions of $33.1 million was primarily centered on in-service placement of new secure 

credentials manufacturing equipment ($26 million) as well as a new Timson ZMR press ($8 

million). These additions were partially offset by $20.9 million in depreciation expense for fiscal 

2015. The capital investment trend is reflective of investment for secure documents as well as 

GPO’s transformation to a digital platform. 

Deferred Revenue

Deferred Revenue is primarily comprised of Customer Deposits which are funds advanced from 

Federal agencies. Customer Deposits decreased by $23.4 million (15.1 %) to $131.4 million in 

fiscal 2015 due to a return of $22.7 million to one Federal deposit account customer.

 $-

 $5,000

 $10,000

 $15,000

 $20,000

 $25,000

 $30,000

 $35,000

 $40,000

Capital Investments

$(000's) 

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

11 

Long-Term Workers’ Compensation Liability

The actuarial workers’ compensation liability decreased $4.6 million in 2015. The decrease in 

the actuarial liability primarily resulted from a reduced workforce, technological efficiencies,

improved production methods, and an increased emphasis on workplace safety conditions.

Consolidated Revenues

GPO’s consolidated revenues (net of eliminations) are primarily derived from Printing & 

 $-

 $50,000

 $100,000

 $150,000

 $200,000

 $250,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Deferred Revenues

$(000's)

Customer Deposits Total Deferred Revenues

 $58

 $60

 $62

 $64

 $66

 $68

 $70

 $72

L-T Workers' Compensation Liability

(Non-Current)

$(in millions)

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

12 

Binding and Appropriations. Consolidated revenues were $773.4 million in fiscal 2015 and 

$696.3 million in fiscal 2014. The increase of $77.1 million (11.1 percent) was attributable to 

increases in Printing and Binding revenues partially offset by a modest decrease in 

Appropriations revenues.

Operating Expenses

Operating costs increased by $66 million (9.8%) to $740.5 million in fiscal 2015, up from $674.4 

million in fiscal 2014. The increase is primarily attributable to the cost of the printing and 

binding products sold to customer agencies. Passport manufacturing costs increased due to an 

increase in the number of passports ordered over fiscal 2014. Operating expenses also increased 

due to a greater number of orders for publishing services.

Changes in Retained Earnings

GPO’s retained earnings increased by $37.6 million (17%) to $259.2 million at the end of fiscal 

2015, compared to $221.6 million at the end of fiscal 2014. 

As presented on the table below, GPO’s retained earnings include the planned uses of net income 

that is authorized by the responsible parties. The GPO and the Department of State annually 

agree to a price to be charged per passport, as well as a plan of capital investments required to 

produce future U.S. passports. As a result, a portion of the agreed upon price includes funding 

for these capital investments.

Also included in consolidated net income is the net change in the long-term workers’

compensation liability. This unfunded liability is required to be included in GPO’s consolidated

financial statements; however, GPO’s rates and prices are established only to recover the current 

 $-

 $100,000

 $200,000

 $300,000

 $400,000

 $500,000

 $600,000

 $700,000

 $800,000

 $900,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Operating Revenues

$(000's)

Printing & Binding Appropriations Total Revenue
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

13 

fiscal year actual cost of workers’ compensation, and not the long-term liability estimate. 

Adjusting GPO financial results for these two items allows GPO’s management to better gauge 

the actual results of GPO operations.

Excluding income required to be invested in capital projects to support the production of U.S. 

passports, and the adjustment to the long-term Workers’ Compensation Liability adjustment,

GPO had net income of approximately $17.6 million in fiscal 2015, compared to $6.8 million in 

2014.

Summary of Net Income (in thousands) 2015 2014

Net Income $ 37,584 $ 24,004

Less: Passport Capital Projects Reserve (15,340) (15,120)

Decrease in Workers' Compensation Liability (4,611) (2,123)

Net Income After Capital Projects Reserve and

Workers' Compensation Liability Adjustment $ 17,633 $ 6,761
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

14 

Operating Performance Measures

GPO gauges its overall efficiency and effectiveness using certain performance measures. 

Generally, these performance measures are based on established standards, goals, or objectives 

that are compared against actual performance or results for each fiscal year. The following 

sections discuss the major operating performance measures used by the Agency.

On-Time Delivery of Congressional Record

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the U.S. 

Congress. This important information product is published daily when Congress is in session. 

GPO uses a performance measure to evaluate the timeliness of the delivery of this core product

to Congress. To measure GPO’s success in delivering the Congressional Record to Congress 

on-time, GPO established a deadline of delivery to the House and Senate chambers before the 

start of the next day’s session when 100 percent of copy is received by midnight. 

 

On-Time Delivery and Quality Acceptance of Procured Printing 

Customer Services contracted with commercial printing vendors to produce and ship orders for 

GPO customers, on-time and at a high standard of quality.

85.0%

90.0%

95.0%

100.0%

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

On-Time Delivery 

of Congressional Record

Delivery rate Performance goal
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

15 

FDsys Search and Retrieval Metrics

GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides free online access to official publications from 

all three branches of the Federal Government. FDsys provides advanced search capabilities and 

the ability to refine and narrow users’ searches for quick access to the information they need. 

With FDsys, users can download a single file or download content and metadata packaged 

together in a compressed file. Searches and retrieval metrics reflect the growing user-reliance on 

FDsys.

90.0%

91.0%

92.0%

93.0%

94.0%

95.0%

96.0%

97.0%

98.0%

99.0%

100.0%

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

On-Time Delivery and Quality Acceptance 

of Procured Printing

Delivery rate Quality acceptance rate On-time goal Quality goal
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

16 

Passport and Smartcard Metrics

SID is meeting the challenges of new security issues and enabling the production of secure 

Federal Government documents for a wide variety of applications including U.S. passports and 

smart cards.

 600

 650

 700

 750

 800

 850

 900

 950

 1,000

 1,050

 1,100

2012 2013 2014 2015

FDsys Searches

(In thousands) 

FDsys Searches

 200,000

 300,000

 400,000

 500,000

 600,000

2012 2013 2014 2015

FDsys Retrievals

(In thousands)

FDsys Retrievals
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

17 

 8,000

 10,000

 12,000

 14,000

 16,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Passport Books Produced

(In thousands)

Passport Books Produced: Regular 28 Page Books

 -

 500

 1,000

 1,500

 2,000

 2,500

 3,000

 3,500

 4,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Smart Cards Produced

(In thousands)

Smart Cards Produced
Section I: Management Discussion and Analysis (Unaudited)

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 

18 

Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Projections

On July 1, 1953, the GPO Revolving Fund was established to finance GPO’s operations on a 

self-sustaining basis. The Agency’s overall long-term financial objective has been to earn 

revenues through a system of rates, prices, and surcharges used to bill customers for goods 

delivered and services performed that are sufficient to recover all Agency costs, including 

depreciation and overhead. In accordance with Section 309 of Title 44 U.S.C. the receipts and 

disbursements from the continuous cycle of business-type operations are recorded in the GPO 

Revolving Fund. 

GPO’s fiscal 2016 operating budget plans for the Agency to achieve at least break-even before 

the long-term Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) adjustment from the Department 

of Labor, and after adjusting for income from capital investments related to passport production. 

These capital investments for the Department of State are mutually agreed to and allow GPO to 

invest in state-of-the-art passport manufacturing technology. The GPO operating budget also 

provides sufficient cash to allow continued capital investment to achieve more efficient 

operations and better meet customer needs. The budget for 2016 will require that the Agency 

continue with the strict cost containment program implemented in fiscal 2011. 

The GPO’s focus on satisfying customers, producing authentic and secure products vital to 

customers, and managing through change are essential to maintaining Agency operations on 

sound footing, both organizationally and financially. Achieving adequate financial results will 

help ensure that the GPO Revolving Fund remains financially self-sustaining and that GPO can 

continue Keeping America Informed, as it has for over 150 years.
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 19

SECTION II

INSPECTOR

GENERAL’S

REPORT
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 20

GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

A U D I T R E P O R T

1 6 - 0 3

U.S. Government Publishing Office FY 2015

Independent Auditors’ Report

December 23, 2015
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 21

MEMORANDUM

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

Date

December 23, 2015

To

Director, U.S. Government Publishing Office

From

Inspector General

Subject: 

FY 2015 Independent Auditors’ Report

Report Number 16-03

Attached is the Independent Auditors’ Report on the U.S. Government Publishing 

Office's (GPO's) FY 2015 financial statements. We contracted with the independent

certified public accounting firm of KPMG LLP (KPMG) to audit the financial

statements of GPO as of and for the years ending September 30, 2015, and 2014. 

The contract required that the audit be conducted in accordance with generally

accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS).

KPMG's opinion on GPO's financial statements was unqualified. KPMG is 

responsible for the attached auditor's report and the conclusions expressed in the 

report. However, in connection with the contract, we reviewed KPMG's report and 

related documentation and inquired of its representatives. Our review did not 

disclose any instances where KPMG did not comply, in all material respects, with 

GAGAS requirements.

We appreciate the courtesies extended to KPMG and our staff. If you have any 

questions or comments about this report, please do not hesitate to contact me at 

(202) 512-0039. 

MICHAEL A. RAPONI

Inspector General

Keeping America Informed 1 www.gpo.gov/oig GPO Form 731A (R 9-07)
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 22

Attachment

cc:

Deputy Director, U.S. Government Publishing Office

General Counsel

Chief of Staff

Chief Financial Officer

Keeping America Informed 1 www.gpo.gov/oig GPO Form 731A (R 9-07)
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 23

SECTION III

INDEPENDENT

AUDITORS’

REPORT
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 24
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 25
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 26
U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 27

SECTION IV

FINANCIAL

STATEMENTS
Section IV: Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 28

U.S. Government Publishing Office

Consolidated Balance Sheets 

As of September 30, 2015 and 2014

(Dollars in Thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

2015 2014

ASSETS 

 Current assets Current assets

 Fund balance with Treasury (Note 2) Fund balance with Treasury (Note 2) $ 494,646 $ 475,744

 Accounts receivable, net (Note 3) Accounts receivable, net (Note 3) 132,122 133,507

 Inventory, net (Note 4) Inventory, net (Note 4) 35,417 34,379

 Prepaid expenses (Note 5) Prepaid expenses (Note 5) 350 3,504

Total current assets 662,535 647,134

 General property, plant and equipment, net (Note 6) General property, plant, and equipment, net (Note 6) 142,825 130,651

Total assets $ 805,360 $ 777,785

LIABILITIES AND NET POSITION

Current liabilities

Accounts payable and accrued expenses (Note 7) $ 114,564 $ 105,078

Deferred revenues (Note 8) 133,156 160,296

Accrued annual leave 8,463 9,608

Total current liabilities 256,183 274,982

Noncurrent liabilities

Workers' compensation liability (Note 9) 62,372 66,983

Total liabilities 318,555 341,965

Commitments and contingencies (Notes 10 and 11)

Net position (Note 12)

Cumulative results of operations:

Retained earnings 259,192 221,608

Invested capital 92,879 92,879

Unexpended appropriations 134,734 121,333

Total net position 486,805 435,820

Total liabilities and net position $ 805,360 $ 777,785
Section IV: Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 29

U.S. Government Publishing Office 

Consolidated Statements of Revenues, Expenses,

and Changes in Retained Earnings 

For the Fiscal Years Ended September 30, 2015 and 2014

(Dollars in Thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

2015 2014

OPERATING REVENUES

Printing and binding $ 653,866 $ 574,745

Appropriations 106,551 109,611

Sales of publications 6,326 6,645

Agency distributions 6,686 5,299

Total operating revenues 773,429 696,300

OPERATING EXPENSES

Printing and reproduction 305,818 267,281

Personnel compensation and benefits 202,174 206,303

Supplies and materials 142,038 122,128

Other services 40,653 32,466

Depreciation and amortization 20,888 20,737

Rents, communications, and utilities 15,848 14,739

Travel, transportation, and postage 11,541 8,255

Publications sold 1,496 2,510

Subtotal 740,456 674,419

Income before other expenses 32,973 21,881

OTHER EXPENSES

Decrease in workers' compensation liability 4,611 2,123

Net Income $ 37,584 $ 24,004

Retained Earnings, beginning of year 221,608 197,604

Retained Earnings, end of year $ 259,192 $ 221,608
Section IV: Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 30

U.S. Government Publishing Office 

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the Fiscal Years Ended September 30, 2015 and 2014

(Dollars in Thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

2015 2014

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 

Net income $ 37,584 $ 24,004

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash 

provided by (used in) operating activities:

Depreciation and amortization 20,888 20,737

Changes in assets and liabilities:

 (Increase) decrease in assets:

Accounts receivable 1,385 (10,283)

Inventory (1,038) (5,575)

Prepaid expenses 3,154 (2,464)

 Increase (decrease) in liabilities:

Accounts payable, accrued expenses, and other 9,486 8,812

Deferred revenues (27,140) (38,651)

Accrued annual leave (1,145) (100)

Workers' compensation liabilities (4,611) (2,123)

Total adjustments 979 (29,647)

Net cash provided by (used in) operating 

activities 38,563 (5,643)

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Capital purchases (33,107) (36,489)

Proceeds from sale of general property, 

plant, and equipment 45 113

Net cash (used in) investing activities (33,062) (36,376)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Appropriations received 119,993 --- 

Appropriations expended (106,592) --- 

Increase in unexpended appropriations 13,401 9,496

Net cash provided by financing activities 13,401 9,496

Net increase (decrease) in fund balance 18,902 (32,523)

 with Treasury

Fund balance with Treasury, beginning of year 475,744 508,267

Fund balance with Treasury, end of year $ 494,646 $ 475,744
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 31

U.S. Government Publishing Office

Notes to the Financial Statements

September 30, 2015 and 2014

1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies 

A. Reporting Entity

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO or Agency) is a Legislative Branch agency of 

the Federal Government. The Agency’s mission and authority are derived from various 

statutes codified in Title 44, Public Printing and Documents, of the United States Code

(U.S.C.). Congress established GPO to provide the Federal Government with an efficient 

and effective means for the production, procurement, and dissemination of Federal 

Government information to the Nation in traditional and electronics formats.

The Director, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, 

serves as the Agency head and oversees GPO’s programs and operations. These programs 

and operations are funded through a business-type revolving fund, authorized by 44 U.S.C. 

Section 309, and annual and special appropriations provided by Congress. The GPO

Business Operations Revolving Fund (Revolving Fund) maintains a system of accounts and 

records transactions to comply with the requirements of § 309 of Title 44 U.S.C.

The Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) has primary responsibility for congressional 

oversight of GPO’s programs and operations. The JCP is composed of five members of the 

U.S. House of Representatives and five members of the U.S. Senate. Every two years the 

JCP chairmanship and vice-chairmanship rotate between the House and the Senate.

B. Accounting Environment

Basis of Accounting 

GPO prepares its financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting 

principles (GAAP), based on accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting 

Standards Board (FASB), the private-sector standards-setting body. Under such standards, 

the GPO prepares its financial statements using the full accrual basis of accounting under 

which revenues are recognized (recorded or accrued) when earned and expenses are 

recognized as incurred, regardless of when cash is exchanged. 

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) has been designated by the 

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as the standards-setting body for financial 

statements of Federal Government entities, with respect to the establishment of GAAP. 

FASAB has indicated that financial statements prepared based upon accounting standards 

published by the FASB may also be regarded as in conformity with GAAP for those Federal 

agencies that have issued financial statements based upon FASB accounting standards in the 

past. Consistent with historical reporting, GPO’s financial statements are presented in 

accordance with accounting standards published by FASB.
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 32

Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

GPO prepares annual financial statements that reflect the overall financial position and 

results of operations to meet the requirements of GAAP and 31 U.S.C. § 3515(b) as 

mandated by 44 U.S.C. § 309(e). The accompanying consolidated financial statements 

include all funds under GPO’s control that have been established and maintained to account 

for the resources of the Agency. All significant intra-agency balances and transactions have 

been eliminated in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements. GPO’s 

consolidated financial statements do not include the effects of centrally administered assets 

and liabilities of the Federal Government, as a whole, such as interest on the public debt, 

which may in part be attributable to GPO. Other Federal agencies make financial decisions 

and report certain financial matters on behalf of the entire Federal Government, including 

matters in which individual agencies may be an indirect party. Financial matters maintained 

or reported by other Federal agencies in which GPO is indirectly involved include employee 

benefit plans and certain legal settlements.

Funds

GPO maintains a revolving fund and a general fund to account for its various programs and 

operations. Each of these funds is a distinct fiscal and accounting entity that accounts for 

cash and other financial resources together with all related liabilities and equities.

Revolving Fund – The GPO Revolving Fund is an inter-governmental fund established by 

law on July 1, 1953. This business-type revolving fund is available without fiscal limitation 

for financing the operation and maintenance of GPO, except for those information 

dissemination programs of the Agency that are funded by annual appropriations.

The GPO Revolving Fund is a self-sustaining financial entity used primarily to finance and 

account for GPO’s Publication Production Operations, and Publication and Information Sales 

Program. The two major sources of revenue to the Revolving Fund are reimbursements from 

the Congressional Publishing Appropriation and other Federal customers for providing 

printing, binding, and distribution services, including U.S. passport production, and 

publication and subscription sales to the public.

GPO’s Publications Production Operations account for the revenues and expenses associated 

with services provided by in-plant printing and purchased printing. The costs of these 

services are recovered through a system of rates used to bill customers. These rates include 

direct costs, depreciation, overhead, and related expenses permitted under 44 U.S.C. § 309.

GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Program sells Federal Government information 

products to the public. The prices of Federal Government publications and subscriptions sold 

through this program are established in accordance with 44 U.S.C. § 1708. 

General Fund – The General Fund is financed by two annual congressional appropriations 

to the Agency. These appropriated funds finance the cost of GPO’s support of the Congress, 

and the Government information dissemination services provided to the public without 

charge to the recipients.

The Congressional Publishing Appropriation is used to pay the cost of the printing and 
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 33

binding requirements of the Congress, and the printing, binding, and distribution of 

publications authorized by law to be distributed to others without charge to the recipient. 

The Salaries and Expenses (S&E) Appropriation is used by the Library Services and Content 

Management, a GPO business unit, to fund four information dissemination programs: the 

Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP); the Cataloging and Indexing Program; the ByLaw Distribution Program; and the International Exchange Program. The majority of this 

annual appropriation is used to finance the FDLP. Expenditures from these appropriations 

are used to reimburse the Revolving Fund for printing and binding, and other services and 

supplies furnished by GPO in accordance with Title 44 U.S.C.

C. Fund Balance with Treasury

Fund Balance with Treasury represents all balances in GPO accounts with the U.S. 

Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Treasury processes cash receipts and disbursements 

for GPO.

D. Accounts Receivable 

Accounts receivable consist of intra-governmental amounts due to GPO as well as amounts 

due from the public. Accounts receivable are shown net of a provision for uncollectible 

accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts is based on GPO’s recent debt collection 

experience.

E. Inventories

Inventories of paper, supplies, and materials are shown net of a provision for obsolescence. 

Inventories of paper, supplies, and materials include the cost of production material (e.g., 

computer chips, ink, book cloth) as well as the cost of administrative-use supplies. These 

inventories are valued at the lower of cost, using the weighted moving average cost method, 

or market. The allowance for obsolescence is determined based on historical usage of paper, 

supplies, and materials. 

Inventories of publications held for sale are valued at the lower of cost, using the weighted 

average cost method, or market. Publication inventories are shown net of a provision for 

excess inventory that may be disposed of by the Agency in the future. The allowance for 

surplus publications is based on life cycle studies of product sales that provide a historical 

basis for determining the percentage of potential excess inventory stock items held in 

inventory. 

F. Property, Plant, and Equipment

Property, plant, and equipment purchases are generally valued at their acquisition cost. GPO 

capitalizes the cost of the property as an asset when the cost is $25,000 or more and the 

estimated useful life is two years or more. The costs of major alterations and renovations to 

the GPO facility are capitalized and depreciated while the costs of maintenance and repairs 

are expensed when incurred. The depreciation of property, plant, and equipment is 

calculated on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset. The depreciation 

of an asset commences the month after the asset is first placed in service.
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 34

The following table reflects the standard estimated useful life of each major depreciable asset 

category. Exceptions to these standard estimated asset lives are authorized when justified.

Asset Category

Estimated

Useful Life (Years)

Building Improvements 20

Building Appurtenances 20

Other Structures and Facilities 20

Furniture and Fixtures 20

Leasehold Improvements 10

Plant Machinery and Equipment 10

Office Machinery and Equipment 5

Motor Vehicles 5

Computer Software 3

Land has an indefinite life and is not subject to depreciation as well as construction in 

progress and capitalized software in process. Leasehold improvements are generally 

depreciated over 10 years or the remaining duration of the lease for real property, whichever 

is shorter.

Printing equipment transferred to GPO from other Federal agencies under the provisions of 

44 U.S.C. § 312 is valued in accordance with JCP Regulation Number 26, Government 

Printing and Binding Regulations. This valuation approximates fair market value at the time 

of the property transfer.

G. Deferred Revenues

Deferred revenues are funds received in advance from customers for the future delivery of 

goods and services. GPO records these advances as revenue when the goods are delivered or 

the services are performed.

H. Accrued Annual Leave

Annual leave is accrued as a liability when earned. The liability is reduced when leave is 

used. The annual leave liability is calculated using the current hourly salary or wage of 

employees multiplied by their total hours of unused annual leave. Employees will receive a 

lump-sum payment for any unused annual leave when they separate from Federal service or 

enter active military service.

Sick leave and other types of non-vested leave are expensed when used. Employees are not 

entitled to a lump-sum payment for their unused sick leave.
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 35

I. Workers’ Compensation Liability

The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) provides income and medical cost 

protection to covered Federal civilian employees injured on the job, employees who have 

incurred a work-related occupational disease, and beneficiaries of employees whose death is 

attributable to a job-related injury or occupational disease. Claims incurred for benefits for 

GPO employees under FECA are administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) and are 

ultimately paid by GPO.

The FECA liability consists of two components. The first component, the accrued FECA 

liability, is based on actual claims paid by DOL but not reimbursed by GPO. GPO 

reimburses DOL for the amount of actual claims. As a result, GPO recognizes a current 

liability for actual claims paid by DOL which have not yet been reimbursed. This liability is 

included in accounts payable and accrued expenses.

The second component, the actuarial FECA liability, is the estimated liability for future 

benefit payments. These future estimates were generated from an application of actuarial 

procedures developed to estimate the liability for future FECA benefits. The actuarial 

liability for future workers’ compensation benefits includes the expected liability for death, 

disability, medical, and miscellaneous costs for approved compensation cases plus a 

component for incurred but not reported claims. The liability is determined using a method 

that utilizes historical benefit payment patterns related to a specific incurred period to predict 

the ultimate payments related to that period. These annual benefit payments have been 

discounted to present value using a composite rate from the Department of Treasury. 

J. Commitments and Contingencies

FASB Accounting Standards Codification, Asset Retirement Obligations (ASC 410-20), 

requires a reporting entity to recognize a liability for the fair value of a conditional asset 

retirement obligation if the fair value of the liability can reasonably be estimated. 

Accordingly, GPO has estimated and recorded the asset retirement obligation in accounts 

payable. Liabilities from loss contingencies, including environmental remediation costs not 

within the scope of ASC 410-20, arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines and 

penalties, and other sources, are recorded in accounts payable when it is probable that a 

liability has been incurred and the amount of the assessment and/or remediation can be 

reasonably estimated. Loss contingencies that do not meet these criteria are not accrued. 

K. Revenue Recognition

Printing and Binding – GPO must be reimbursed for the cost of printing and binding 

services furnished to customers at rates set by the Director in accordance with 44 U.S.C. § 

309. Revenues from in-house printing and binding work are recognized on a value-added 

basis, as work is performed, while revenues from commercially procured printing and 

binding are recognized on the date the contract requirements are fulfilled, which is generally 

the date of shipment by the commercial printer to the customer agency. Revenues related to 

the manufacture of passports by GPO for the Department of the State are recognized at 
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 36

annually negotiated rates per passport at the time that the printing and binding process is 

complete.

Appropriations – Appropriation revenues are recorded when a liability is incurred for 

purposes permitted by the appropriations act and program legislation. Unexpended 

appropriations are recorded as a component of net position. Unexpended appropriation 

balances are generally canceled after 5 years, unless authorized for transfer by appropriations 

committees.

Sales of Publications – Revenues from the sale of publications and subscriptions to 

customers are recognized when shipped by the Publication and Information Sales Program.

Agency Distributions – Revenues from the storage, packaging, and distribution of 

publications for other Federal agencies are recorded when services have been performed.

L. Expense Recognition 

Printing and Reproduction – This expense includes the cost of printing, duplicating, and 

reproduction orders that are procured by GPO from the private sector to satisfy the needs of 

the Federal Government. The expense is generally recorded on the date of shipment by the 

contractor and is shown net of vendor prompt payment discounts earned by the Agency.

Personnel Compensation and Benefits – Personnel compensation consists of the 

wages and salaries, including overtime premium and night differential, paid to GPO 

employees on a biweekly cycle. Personnel benefits include the Agency’s share of 

contributions towards Federal Employees Health Benefits, Federal Employees’ Group Life 

Insurance, and two Federal Government civilian employee retirement programs. The two 

retirement programs are the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal 

Employees Retirement System (FERS), which includes the related Thrift Savings Plan 

(TSP). Personnel benefits also include the current cost of workers’ compensation expense, 

transit benefits provided by GPO to employees, and the cost of incentive and performance 

awards to employees. Personnel compensation and benefits are recorded as expenses when 

earned by employees.

Supplies and Materials – Computer chips required for passport production are the most 

significant cost component within the category of supplies and materials. Passport supplies 

and materials are recorded as an expense when used in production operations. The second 

most significant component is paper and paper products that are commercially procured to 

satisfy GPO’s in-plant printing requirements and customer orders for blank paper. The 

expense is recorded when paper is drawn from inventory to fulfill an order or delivered to the 

customer, in the case of direct mill-to-customer shipments. This expense category also 

includes all other supplies and materials that are not capitalized as property, such as personal 

computers, furniture, and office supplies. The allowance for obsolete inventory is based on 

historical usage of supplies and materials. 

Other Services – This expense category includes the costs of professional services by 

contractors and the expenses related to a provision for uncollectible accounts receivable. The 
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 37

expenses for professional services are recognized when the contracted services have been 

performed. The expenses for uncollectible accounts receivable are recognized when 

receivables are deemed as potentially uncollectible, based on GPO’s collection experience. 

Depreciation and Amortization – GPO uses the straight-line method of depreciation and 

amortization to allocate a portion of the acquisition cost of property, plant, and equipment to 

each accounting period. The acquisition cost of each capitalized asset is depreciated, or 

amortized, over the asset’s estimated useful life, which is generally measured in years. The 

monthly depreciation, or amortization, of a capitalized asset commences at the beginning of 

the first full-month after the date that the capitalized asset was placed in service.

Rents, Communications, and Utilities – Rent and lease costs are incurred for the use of 

building space, equipment, and motor vehicles. GPO leases office and warehouse space from 

the General Services Administration and commercial lessors. GPO also rents automobiles 

and other motor vehicles. Communications costs include data, voice, video, and wireless 

services. Utilities include electricity, gas, steam, and water. Expenses are recorded as 

services are provided and energy resources are used.

Travel, Transportation, and Postage – This category includes travel and transportation 

costs of persons or things, including employee relocation costs, and postage expenses. Travel 

costs are incurred by persons on official business for audits, attendance at conferences, 

inspections, investigations, training, or other authorized business of the Agency. 

Transportation includes shipping costs for printing and reproduction products from GPO or 

contractors to customer agencies, depository libraries, or other GPO locations. Incurred 

travel expenses are accrued when they are estimable, while transportation costs are generally 

recorded on the date of shipment. Postage and commercial mail services are recorded as 

expenses when the delivery services are provided by the U.S. Postal Service and commercial 

carriers.

Publications Sold – Publications sold expense represents the cost of publications sold to 

customers and the cost of subscriptions issued to subscribers. Expenses are recorded at the 

time of publication sale or subscription issuance. Additionally, this expense includes any 

change in the estimated cost of the publications held in inventory for sale to the public that 

are potentially obsolete, damaged, or surplus. The allowance for surplus publications is based 

on life cycle studies of product sales that provide a historical basis for the determination of 

potential excess inventory on hand.

M. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

The consolidated statements of cash flows report the cash provided by and used in operating, 

investing, and financing activity categories. This statement identifies cash flows from GPO 

operations and is used to identify financing acquired from outside sources, and to identify the 

major non-operating (investing) uses of funds.

N. Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires 
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 38

management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets 

and liabilities as well as the disclosure of contingent liabilities at the date of the consolidated 

financial statements, and the amount of revenues and expenses reported during the reporting 

period. Actual results could differ from these estimates. 

The estimates that most significantly impact assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses 

reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements are: the allowance for 

inventory obsolescence for supplies, materials, and publications held for sale; the allowance 

for doubtful accounts related to accounts receivable; the estimated useful lives of capitalized 

assets; the actuarial estimated liability for future workers’ compensation benefits; and the 

estimate for contingent liabilities.

O. Fair Value Measurement

GPO applies FASB Accounting Standards Codification, Fair Value Measurements and 

Disclosures (ASC 820-10) for fair value measurements of financial assets and financial 

liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a 

recurring basis. ASC 820-10 defines “fair value” as the price that would be received to sell 

an asset, or paid to transfer a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants 

at the measurement date. This standard establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the 

inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest 

priority to unadjusted price quote in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 

measurements) and the lowest priority to measurements involving significant unobservable 

inputs (Level 3 measurements). GPO’s financial instruments consist of cash, accounts 

receivable, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities as of September 30, 2015 and 2014. The 

carrying amounts of these financial instruments approximate fair value because of the shortterm nature of these instruments. GPO holds no financial instruments that are measured at 

fair value on a recurring basis.

The approximate fair values in GPO’s financial instruments represent GPO’s best estimates 

of the amounts that would be received to sell those assets, or that would be paid to transfer 

those liabilities, in an orderly transaction between market participants at that date. Those fair 

value measurements maximize the use of observable inputs. GPO developed those judgments 

based on the best information available in the circumstances.

P. Tax Status

As a Legislative Branch agency within the Federal Government, GPO is not subject to 

Federal, state, or local income taxes. Accordingly, no provisions for income taxes are 

recorded by the Agency.
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 39

2. Fund Balance with Treasury 

A table of items included in GPO’s fund balance with Treasury, including funds on-hand or intransit to the Treasury, as of September 30, 2015 and 2014 follows:

Unrestricted funds are available to meet the financial obligations of the Revolving Fund. 

Restricted funds are composed of customer deposit accounts, other deferred revenues, and 

restrictions for accrued wages and salaries, payroll taxes and other withholdings, and earned 

annual leave not used by employees. These funds can only be used for the purpose specified.

The uses of general funds for CP and S&E appropriations are restricted by appropriation 

language. Supplemental and other general funds include unexpended appropriations made to 

GPO and are for specific purposes as discussed in Net Position, Unexpended Appropriations 

(Note 12B). 

The total fund balance with Treasury increased $18.9 million (4 percent) to $494.6 million in 

fiscal 2015 from $475.7 million in fiscal 2014. Total general funds available increased $15.7

million (12.7 percent). These funds are allocated to future approved projects. 

3. Accounts Receivable, Net 

Accounts receivable, net of an allowance for doubtful accounts, as of September 30, 2015 and 

2014, consisted of the following:

2015 2014

Fund Balances: 

Revolving fund:

Unrestricted $ 203,405 $ 159,441

Restricted: 

Customer deposit accounts 131,422 154,859

Other 21,221 38,503

Total revolving fund 356,048 352,803

General funds:

Congressional publishing 61,951 59,238

Salaries and expenses 25,485 25,075

Supplemental and other 51,162 38,628

Total general funds 138,598 122,941

Total $ 494,646 $ 475,744

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 40

The majority of accounts receivable are due from other Federal agencies for goods and services 

provided by GPO. By law, these customers are required to reimburse the Revolving Fund for the 

cost of products provided by GPO.

Unbilled accounts receivable results from the delivery of the goods and performance of services 

for which bills have not been presented to the customer for payment yet. Accordingly, unbilled 

accounts receivable includes the value of work in process and completed work for customer 

orders as of September 30, 2015, and 2014.

The majority of employee accounts receivable is owed by current and former employees who 

were advanced leave. Employees generally repay their leave indebtedness through biweekly 

installments from their earned leave or from leave donations from other employees under the 

GPO Leave Donation Program.

Net accounts receivable decreased by $1.4 million (1 percent) in fiscal 2015 from fiscal 2014. 

4. Inventory, Net 

Inventories, net of an allowance for surplus and obsolete stock increased by $1 million (3

percent) as of September 30, 2015 from the prior year, are detailed as follows:

2015 2014

Federal agencies: 

Unbilled accounts receivable $ 113,341 $ 96,172

Billed completed work 21,548 40,911

Subtotal 134,889 137,083

Other receivables:

The public 140 370

GPO employees 1,051 1,166

Subtotal 1,191 1,536

Total accounts receivable 136,080 138,619

Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts (3,958) (5,112)

Total accounts receivable, net $ 132,122 $ 133,507

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 41

5. Prepaid Expenses

Prepaid expenses or advances to others were $350,000 as of September 30, 2015, and $3.5

million as of September 30, 2014. The current year balance was primarily comprised of prepaid 

information technology services. The majority of the prepaid expenses in the prior year were for 

advance payments made by GPO ($3.2 million) for leasehold improvements to the Stennis 

facility by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Most of the fiscal 2014 prepaid expenses were 

either capitalized or expensed in fiscal 2015. 

6. General Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net 

General property, plant, and equipment, net as of September 30, 2015 and 2014, consisted of the 

following:

2015 2014

Supplies and materials $ 26,113 $ 24,074

Publications for sale 4,574 4,638

Paper 5,150 5,653

Work in process 3,217 4,006

Total inventory 39,054 38,371

Less: Allowance for surplus and obsolete inventory (3,637) (3,992)

Inventory, net $ 35,417 $ 34,379

(Dollars in thousands)

2015 2014

Land $ 9,971 $ 9,971

Buildings and improvements 93,932 90,899

Plant machinery and equipment 157,459 125,504

Computers and computer software 115,854 113,490

Furniture and fixtures 6,107 6,107

Motor vehicles 689 648

Leasehold improvements 14,534 10,582

Capitalized software in process 4,840 4,206

Capital improvements in process 10,831 28,192

Total 414,217 389,599

Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization (271,392) (258,948)

General property, plant, and equipment, net $ 142,825 $ 130,651

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 42

General property, plant, and equipment, net increased by $12.2 million in fiscal 2015 from fiscal 

2014 with capital additions of $33.1 million, offset by annual depreciation of $20.9 million. 

Included in the machinery and equipment investment increase of $32 million was approximately 

$26 million in new secure credential products manufacturing equipment. Also a Timson Zero 

Makeready (ZMR) 7-color press was placed into service for $8 million. Some of the GPO 

additional capital investments in fiscal 2015 included $2.5 million for renovations to GPO

Building No. 4 to expand the footprint for SID manufacturing. A majority of capital additions 

for computers and computer software in fiscal 2015 were for FDsys hardware and software

totaling $3.6 million. Leasehold improvement activity in 2015 was primarily comprised of 

improvements to the Stennis, MS Alternative Passport Facility.

Capital improvements-in-progress decreased by $17.4 million in fiscal 2015 compared to fiscal 

2014 due in part to completion and placement of SID equipment, and the Timson ZMR press

into service. 

Depreciation expense was $20.9 million in fiscal year 2015 and $20.7 million in fiscal year 

2014.

7. Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses 

Accounts payable and accrued expenses as of September 30, 2015, and 2014, were composed of 

the following:

The Other category included payables to two vendors ($3.9 million and $3 million, respectively) 

for E-passport microchip integrated circuits, as well as, $1.7 million payable to the Library of 

Congress (LOC) for document digitization services. 

8. Deferred Revenues 

As of September 30, 2015, and 2014, deferred revenues from customers consisted of the 

following:

2015 2014

Accounts payable:

Commercial printing $ 65,548 $ 62,388

U.S. Government agencies 6,771 6,787

Other 31,224 26,948

Total accounts payable 103,543 96,123

Accrued salaries and payroll taxes 11,021 8,955

Total accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 114,564 $ 105,078

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 43

GPO held $131.4 million and $154.9 million in customer deposit accounts as of September 30, 

2015, and 2014, respectively. Of these amounts, Federal Government customers had advanced 

funds of $129.7 million and $153 million for printing and binding deposit accounts, and 

customers advanced $1.7 million and $1.9 million for publication and information sales program 

deposit accounts as of September 30, 2015, and 2014, respectively. The funds in these deposit 

accounts will be applied to future orders placed by customers or refunded on request. The $27.1

million (16.9 percent) reduction in deferred revenues for fiscal 2015 from fiscal 2014 was 

primarily driven by a return of $22.7 million to one Federal deposit account customer. 

GPO defers the recognition of revenues for subscription services that will be provided to 

customers in the future. Customers pay for ink-on-paper subscriptions to the Congressional 

Record, the Federal Register, and other publications in advance of delivery. The revenues from 

subscriptions are recognized as the periodicals are published and distributed to subscribers. The 

unfilled subscription balances are refunded when the subscription is no longer available for sale, 

or the customer cancels the subscription.

GPO defers the recognition of revenues for unfilled customer orders of publications and other 

information products until the orders are shipped.

Advance billings are occasionally requested by customer agencies or used to finance high dollar 

orders until work is completed. GPO defers the recognition of revenues for advance billings to 

customers. This amount decreased to $507,000 in fiscal 2015 from $4.1 million in the prior year.

9. Workers’ Compensation Liability 

Claims incurred and paid by DOL as of September 30, 2015, and 2014, but not yet reimbursed to 

DOL by GPO, are approximately $6 million for both periods. This component of the workers’

compensation liability is considered current rather than long-term.

GPO’s estimated non-current, actuarially derived future workers’ compensation liability was 

approximately $62.4 million and $67 million as of September 30, 2015, and 2014, respectively. 

GPO’s estimated, undiscounted, non-current, actuarially derived future workers’ compensation 

liability was approximately $85.9 million and $99.3 million as of September 30, 2015, and 2014, 

respectively. These annual benefit payments have been discounted to present value using a 

composite rate from the Department of Treasury which resulted in discount rates as of September 

30, 2015 and 2014, of 2.41 percent and 3.00 percent, respectively. 

2015 2014

Deposit accounts $ 131,422 $ 154,859

Advance billings 507 4,051

Subscriptions 897 1,111

Unfilled orders 330 275

Total $ 133,156 $ 160,296

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 44

10. Commitments

10. A. Operating Leases 

As of September 30, 2015, GPO was committed to various non-cancelable operating leases, 

primarily covering warehouse and office space. Some of these leases contain escalation clauses 

and renewal options. Annual lease and rental expenses for real and personal property were $4

million in fiscal 2015 and $3.7 million in fiscal 2014.

A schedule of future minimum rental payments required under operating leases by type, which 

have initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year, follows:

Future Minimum Rental Payments

Required Under Operating Leases

10. B. Obligations

GPO had unliquidated obligations of $364 million at September 30, 2015, and $364.2 million at 

September 30, 2014, of which $218.3 million and $233.9 million, respectively, were undelivered 

orders related to commercial printing. These obligations include purchase orders and contractual 

obligations by GPO to acquire goods and services from the private sector and other sources. 

Some of these orders are scheduled for delivery or performance in the next fiscal year.

11. Contingencies 

11. A. Administrative Proceedings, Legal Actions, and Claims

GPO is a party in various administrative proceedings, legal actions, and claims brought against 

the Federal Government by employees, contractors, and other parties. The uncertainty involving 

the outcome of these pending matters will be resolved when future events occur or fail to occur. 

In some cases, legal matters relate to contractual arrangements GPO has entered into for goods 

and services procured on behalf of other Federal entities. The costs of administering, litigating, 

and resolving these actions are borne by the GPO Revolving Fund unless the costs are recovered 

Fiscal Year Warehouse Office Total

2016 $ 729 $ 485 $ 1,214

2017 168 492 660

2018 0 367 367

2019 0 20 20

2020 & Thereafter 0 0 0

Total Minimum Lease Payments $ 897 $ 1,364 $ 2,261

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 45

from another Federal entity. As of September 30, 2015, GPO had $50,000 recorded in estimated 

liabilities, related to claims in which management believes the likelihood of an adverse result 

against GPO is probable. Such amounts are included in accounts payable and accrued expenses 

in the financial statements. The Agency had zero recorded probable liabilities for the prior year, 

as of September 30, 2014. 

Contingencies where the risk of loss is reasonably possible, are approximately $1 million and 

$1.3 million, as of September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Management believes that the 

ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on GPO’s 

consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) represents the GPO in all litigation in Federal court. In these 

cases, amounts paid under any judgment, compromise settlement, or award are funded from the 

Judgment Fund administered by the Department of the Treasury (31 U.S.C. § 1304). As a 

legislative branch agency, GPO is not required to reimburse the fund for amounts paid on its 

behalf.

The Judgment Fund paid a total of $6,000 in fiscal 2015 and $4.6 million in fiscal 2014 on behalf 

of GPO and other Federal Agencies. In fiscal 2014, $4.6 million was paid under a Consent 

Decree to resolve a lawsuit related to past recycling of wastepaper that may have contained 

polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). GPO was one of 5 agencies identified in the Consent Decree. 

No allocation of the payment amount was made by DOJ and, based on the language of the 

Consent Decree, GPO’s share of the payment amount, if any, was not determinable. 

11. B. Environmental Liabilities

GPO’s Central Office in Washington, DC, is located in an industrial facility consisting of four 

buildings that contain asbestos building materials. When they were constructed, asbestos was a 

common building material used as flame retardant, thermal system insulation, and in a variety of 

building materials (e.g., wall, floor, and ceiling tiles). GPO asbestos abatement efforts have been 

successful in the removal, enclosure, and encapsulation of friable asbestos to comply with 

applicable laws and regulations when unexposed asbestos is detected during building renovation 

projects.

The estimated costs to remove or remediate the visible and non-visible presumed asbestos

containing material, both friable and non-friable, within the GPO facility, were $783,000 as of 

September 30, 2015, and $722,000 as of September 30, 2014. The increased liability is the result 

of recently conducted investigative asbestos mappings and surveys. These amounts are included 

in accounts payable and accrued expenses on the financial statements. 

12. Net Position

12. A. Cumulative Results of Operations

Retained Earnings – Retained earnings include the net operating results of the Revolving 

Fund, since inception, less certain required transfers to other Federal agencies.

Invested Capital – Invested capital represents the resources of the Federal Government 
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 46

that were directly appropriated to the Agency by Congress for investment in GPO assets

(land, buildings, equipment, and capital).

12. B. Unexpended Appropriations 

The following table presents unexpended appropriation balances from September 30, 2013, 

through September 30, 2015, for appropriations made available to GPO:

Unexpended Appropriations

As of September 30, 2015, GPO had obligated all of the $62 million of the unexpended 

appropriations available for Congressional Publishing, and all of the $21.6 million of the 

unexpended appropriations available for Salaries and Expenses. The obligations are based 

on the estimated cost of open orders as of September 30, 2015. At September 30, 2014, the 

obligations were $59.2 million in Congressional Publishing Appropriations and $23.5

million in S&E Appropriations.

The Revolving Fund unexpended appropriations balances at September 30, 2015, and 2014

were $51.2 million and $38.6 million, respectively. The Revolving Fund unexpended 

appropriations balances are primarily the result of the following appropriation activities: 

 In fiscal 2001, Congress authorized the transfer of $3.3 million to the Revolving Fund 

from prior year Salaries and Expenses Appropriations to pay for the printing and 

distribution of publications to depository libraries. As of September 30, 2015, GPO had 

expended the entire appropriation. At the end of fiscal 2014, there was $555,000 

available.

 In fiscal 2010, Congress appropriated $12.8 million to the Revolving Fund for 

information technology development and facilities repair. As of September 30, 2015, 

GPO had expended about $12.5 million from the appropriation. As of September 30, 

Appropriations (Dollars in thousands)

Revolving 

Fund

Salaries 

and 

Expenses

Congressional 

Publishing Total

Unexpended balance at September 30, 2013 $ 22,522 25,555 63,760 111,837

2014 fiscal year appropriation activity:

Received 8,064 31,500 79,736 119,300

Transferred 15,158 (5,675) (9,483) 0

Expended (7,116) (27,914) (74,774) (109,804)

Unexpended balance at September 30, 2014 38,628 23,466 59,239 $ 121,333

2015 fiscal year appropriation activity:

Received 8,757 31,500 79,736 119,993

Transferred 7,233 (6,067) (1,166) 0

Expended (3,454) (27,281) (75,857) (106,592)

Unexpended balance at September 30, 2015 $ 51,164 $ 21,618 $ 61,952 $ 134,734
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 47

2015, and 2014, a balance of $226,000 was available for future expenditure.

 In fiscal 2010, GPO transferred a total of $2.2 million from prior year Salaries and 

Expenses Appropriations to the Revolving Fund. This transfer was authorized to cover 

appropriation shortfalls (about $1.5 million of the $2.2 million) and for FDLP 

improvements (about $688,000 of the total). As of September 30, 2015, a balance of $1.6

million was available for future expenditure. At the end of fiscal 2014, a balance of 

about $1.5 million was available.

 In fiscal 2011, GPO transferred $2.6 million from the Salaries and Expenses 

Appropriation to the Revolving Fund to cover salaries and expenses of the 

Superintendent of Documents. As of September 30, 2015, GPO had expended $1.4 

million from this appropriation. As of September 30, 2015, and 2014, a balance of $1.2

million was available for future expenditure.

 In fiscal 2012, GPO transferred a total of $9.9 million unexpended prior year balances of 

Congressional Publishing Appropriations remaining from fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 and 

$1.1 million from prior year Salaries and Expenses Appropriations to the Revolving 

Fund. These amounts are available to Congressional Publishing and Salaries and 

Expenses, respectively to offset requirements for new budget authority for fiscal 2015, 

and liquidate obligations incurred in subsequent years. These amounts were unexpended 

as of September 30, 2015. 

 In fiscal 2013, GPO transferred $3.2 million from the Salaries and Expenses 

Appropriations to the Revolving Fund. These amounts are available to the Revolving 

Fund to offset Salaries and Expenses requirements for new budget authority for fiscal 

2015 and to liquidate obligations incurred in subsequent years. These amounts were 

unexpended as of September 30, 2015. 

 In fiscal 2013, Congress appropriated $4 million to the Revolving Fund for information 

technology development. As of September 30, 2015, GPO had expended about $3.3

million from the appropriation. As of September 30, 2015, a balance of $680,000 was 

available. At the end of fiscal 2014, a balance of about $1.2 million was available.

 In fiscal 2014, GPO transferred about $9.5 million from the Congressional Publishing

Appropriations remaining from fiscal years 2009 through 2011 to the Revolving Fund, 

and $5.7 million from the Salaries and Expenses Appropriations from fiscal years 2009 

and 2010 to the Revolving Fund. These amounts are available to the Revolving Fund to 

offset Salaries and Expenses requirements for new budget authority for fiscal 2014, and 

liquidate obligations incurred in subsequent years. These amounts were unexpended as 

of September 30, 2015. 

 In fiscal 2014, Congress appropriated $8.1 million to the Revolving Fund for information 

technology development. As of September 30, 2015, GPO expended about $4 million 

from the appropriation leaving a balance of $4.1 million available. At the end of fiscal 

2014, a balance of about $4.4 million was available.
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 48

 In fiscal 2015, GPO transferred about $1.2 million from the Congressional Publishing

Appropriations remaining from fiscal year 2010 to the Revolving Fund, and $6 million 

from the Salaries and Expenses Appropriations from fiscal year 2010 to the Revolving 

Fund. These amounts were unexpended as of September 30, 2015.

 In fiscal 2015, Congress appropriated $8.8 million to the Revolving Fund for information 

technology development and facilities upgrades. As of September 30, 2015, GPO

expended about $2 million from the appropriation leaving a balance of $6.8 million 

available.

13. Appropriated Funds

13. A. Total Appropriations Made Available

The total appropriations made available to GPO for fiscal 2015 and 2014 were as follows:

13. B. Expended Appropriations

The total appropriations expended by GPO during fiscal 2015 and 2014 were as follows:

(Dollars in thousands)

2015 2014

Congressional publishing $ 79,736 $ 79,736

Salaries and expenses 31,500 31,500

Revolving fund 8,757 8,064

Total available appropriations $ 119,993 $ 119,300
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 49

Expended Appropriations

14. Employee Benefit Plans 

GPO funds a portion of pension contributions for its employees under the Civil Service 

Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), and makes 

payroll deductions from employees for their pension contributions. The Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) determines the employer contributions for these defined benefit plans that 

are required to be paid by GPO. OPM is responsible for Government-wide reporting of CSRS 

and FERS assets, accumulated plan benefits, and unfunded liabilities. In accordance with FASB, 

and consistent with multi-employer pension plans, GPO has reflected only the required 2015 2014

Congressional publishing:

Hearings $ 16,900 $ 15,156

Congressional Record products 21,428 20,928

Miscellaneous publications and 

printing and binding 18,828 22,391

Bills, resolutions, and amendments 4,982 4,327

Details to Congress 4,889 3,848

Business and committee calendars 2,116 3,470

Committee reports 2,608 1,423

Other 1,978 2,150

Public document envelopes 551 409

Committee prints 1,577 672

Total Congressional publishing 75,857 74,774

Salaries and expenses:

Depository library distribution 19,542 19,657

Cataloging and indexing 6,680 6,975

International exchange 749 953

By-law distribution 310 329

Total salaries and expenses 27,281 27,914

Revolving Fund:

Infrastructure and systems improvements 3,454 7,118

Total revolving fund 3,454 7,118

Total expended appropriations 106,592 109,806

Reconciliation of expended appropriations to the

consolidated statements of revenues, expenses, and 

changes in retained earnings: 

Total expended appropriations 106,592 109,806

Eliminations (Intra-agency) (41) (195)

Consolidated revenues from appropriations $ 106,551 $ 109,611

(Dollars in thousands)
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 50

contribution to these programs in its financial statements. OPM is responsible for funding any 

other costs. Therefore, GPO is not required to record in the consolidated financial statements the 

unfunded pension liability and post-employment benefits relative to its employees.

Other OPM administered programs provide health, life, and long-term care insurance benefits to 

active, inactive, and retired employees. Permanent employees of GPO may participate in the 

Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, Federal Employee Group Life Insurance Program, 

and/or Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program before and after their retirement from the 

Agency.

Civil Service Retirement System

The CSRS is a defined benefit plan. Generally, it covers GPO employees first hired before 1984. 

Total GPO (employer) contributions to CSRS for employees covered under this retirement 

program were 7.5 percent of basic pay in both 2015 and 2014 for investigators and lawenforcement officers, and 7.0 percent of basic pay in both years for all other employees. GPO 

contributions were $1.3 million and $1.8 million for the years ended September 30, 2015 and 

2014, respectively.

Federal Employees Retirement System

Using Social Security benefits as a base, FERS provides a defined benefit plan (Basic Benefit 

Plan) and a voluntary defined contribution plan. GPO employees first hired after December 31, 

1983 were automatically covered by FERS and Social Security, while employees hired prior to 

January 1, 1984 were able to choose between joining this plan or remaining in CSRS.

The employer contribution rate to FERS for GPO law enforcement officers was 32.8 percent of 

basic pay in fiscal 2015 and 33.3 percent in fiscal 2014. The FERS contribution rate for all other 

employees was 14.8 percent in fiscal 2015 and 15.1 percent in fiscal 2014. GPO contributions to 

FERS totaled $16.2 million for fiscal 2015 and $14.7 million for fiscal 2014.

Thrift Savings Plan

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) allows employees to defer the recognition of income tax on 

contributions made to the plan. The TSP elective deferral limit for employees was $18,000 for 

2015 and $17,500 for 2014. Employees who were 50 years old or older were allowed additional 

catch-up contributions of $6,000 in 2015 and $5,500 in 2014. For FERS employees, the 

employer is required to contribute 1 percent of the employee’s base pay to the TSP, and to match 

voluntary employee contributions dollar-for-dollar for the first 3 percent of pay and 50 cents on 

the dollar for the next 2 percent of pay. Thus, the employer contribution to the TSP can be up to 

5 percent for FERS employees. Employees participating in CSRS may contribute to the TSP, 

but they do not receive any matching contributions from the employer. GPO made employer 

contributions to the TSP of $4.8 million in both fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2014.

Social Security System

As an employer, GPO matches employee contributions to the U.S. Social Security 

Administration (SSA) under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) for employees in 

the FERS. GPO contributes 6.2 percent of gross pay (up to $118,500 in 2015 and $117,000 in 

2014) to SSA's Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Program. Additionally, 

GPO makes matching contributions for all employees of 1.45 percent of gross pay, without limit, 
Section IV (continued): Notes to the Financial Statements

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 51

to SSA's Medicare Hospital Insurance Program. Contributions to these SSA programs were for 

the years ended September 30, 2015, and 2014 totaled $9.8 million and $9.9 million, 

respectively.

15. Major Customers 

GPO’s primary customers are the Congress and large Federal agencies in the Executive Branch 

of the Federal Government. The following reflects GPO’s top six customers in fiscal years 2015

and 2014:

16. Voluntary Separation Incentive Program 

In fiscal 2014, the Agency Director established the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program

(VSIP) and the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) under Federal authority 2 U.S.C. 

60q, and with the approval of the House of Representatives Committee on House 

Administration, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and OPM. The Agency offered 

buyouts of up to $25,000, and early outs, with a goal of achieving a reduction of 100 positions. 

As part of the agreement employees were required to leave the rolls no later than December 31, 

2014. A total of 103 employees left the agency. In fiscal 2014 GPO accrued $2.2 million for the 

VSIP for 90 employees. These employees were paid in fiscal 2015. In fiscal 2015 GPO accrued 

and paid $325,000 for the 13 remaining employees approved for the VSIP. 

17. Subsequent Events

GPO has evaluated subsequent events through December 23, 2015, the date which the financial 

statements were available to be issued, and found there were no material events that required 

financial adjustment, accrual, or further disclosure. 

Billings % of Total Billings % of Total

U.S. Department of State $ 223,518 31.1% $ 208,508 31.3%

U.S. Congress 75,994 10.6% 75,071 11.3%

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services 55,850 7.8% 46,859 7.0%

U.S. Defense Logistics Agency 55,430 7.7% 46,432 7.0%

U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security 48,112 6.7% 43,011 6.5%

U.S. Department of the Veterans Affairs 46,611 6.5% 35,984 5.4%

(Dollars in thousands)

2015 2014
Section IV (continued): Abbreviations List

U. S. Government Publishing Office | Financial Year In Review – FY 2015 52

ABBREVIATIONS LIST

ASC Accounting Standards Codification

CP Congressional Publishing

CSRS Civil Service Retirement System

DOL U.S. Department of Labor

EFT Electronic Funds Transfer

FASAB Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board

FASB Financial Accounting Standards Board

FDLP Federal Depository Library Program 

FDsys GPO’s Federal Digital System

FECA Federal Employees’ Compensation Act

FERS Federal Employees Retirement System

FICA Federal Insurance Contributions Act

LSCM Library Services and Content Management

GAAP U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

GAO U.S. Government Accountability Office

GPO or Agency U.S. Government Publishing Office

HTML Hypertext Markup Language

IPAC Intra-governmental Payment and Collection (System)

ISO International Organization for Standardization

JCP Joint Committee on Printing

OASDI Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance

OIG Office of the Inspector General

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OPM Office of Personnel Management

PACM Presumed Asbestos Containing Material

PDF Portable Document Format

PII Personal Identifiable Information

S&E Salaries and Expenses

SID Security and Intelligent Documents

SSA U.S. Social Security Administration

Treasury U.S. Department of the Treasury

TSP Thrift Savings Plan

U.S.C. United States Code

VSIP Voluntary Separation Incentive Program

XML Extensible Markup Language