Federal finance leaders estimate they lose an average of 35 percent of their work time to outdated financial management systems, driven by manual reporting, spreadsheet version control, repetitive data entry, and error resolution.
The findings come from new research released by MeriTalk in collaboration with Workday Government examining the state of federal financial management and the barriers agencies face in achieving real-time spending visibility.
The study – Future-Ready Finance: Trust, Transparency, and Accuracy in Government Spending – finds many agencies still rely on fragmented systems and manual processes that complicate oversight and make it difficult for leaders to understand the full cost of government programs.
Real-time financial insight remains rare across government. Just 12 percent of federal finance leaders say they can consistently provide real-time financial data to leadership, while 55 percent report that financial reports are often outdated by the time they are shared.
Those limitations also affect mission execution. Four out of five finance leaders say outdated systems hinder mission success, and nearly two-thirds say their current financial systems make it harder – not easier – to understand the full cost of agency programs.
Integration challenges are among the most persistent barriers. More than half of finance leaders say connecting financial data across procurement, human resources, and grants systems remains one of their biggest operational challenges. Leaders also cite difficulties in modeling new budget scenarios when priorities shift and the growing burden of audit and compliance documentation.
While some agencies report modern, cloud-enabled capabilities, many remain constrained by aging infrastructure. Fifty-six percent of respondents say their financial management systems operate more like those of the 2010s or earlier, rather than modern cloud-based environments with near-real-time data capabilities.
When funding or policy changes occur, those limitations slow agencies’ ability to respond. More than half of finance leaders say it takes weeks or longer for updates to appear in agency systems and reports.
In addition, 85 percent say their agencies spend more time preparing financial reports than extracting insights from them, underscoring the need for greater automation and stronger data integration across systems.
Looking ahead, finance leaders say modernization efforts should focus on strengthening the underlying data foundation that supports financial operations. Top priorities for the next two years include improving data quality and lineage, modernizing procurement and spend management, and automating financial close and reconciliation processes.
Many also see artificial intelligence (AI) playing an increasing role in audit readiness and compliance tracking, linking budgets to mission outcomes and identifying cost-saving opportunities across programs.
To accelerate progress, the report recommends agencies prioritize real-time visibility into financial data, build more connected data foundations across enterprise systems, automate reconciliation and audit documentation, and deploy responsible AI to support forecasting and oversight.
The research was conducted in December 2025 and is based on a survey of 100 senior finance decision-makers across federal civilian agencies, the Department of Defense – rebranded as the Department of War by the Trump administration, and the intelligence community. Respondents include Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), budget leaders, accounting and audit officials, and financial systems modernization leaders.
To access the full report, visit: https://www.meritalk.com/study/trust-transparency-accuracy-in-government-spending/