Flow of funds

Flow of funds accounts are a system of interrelated balance sheets for a nation, calculated periodically.

The flow of funds (FOF) accounts of the United States are prepared by the Flow of Funds section of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and are published quarterly in a publication called the Z.1 Statistical Release.

The flow of funds accounts follow naturally from double-entry bookkeeping; every financial asset is also a liability of some domestic or foreign human entity.

A fundamental fact about any economic sector is its balance sheet, a breakdown of its physical and financial assets, and of its liabilities.

They contain the sectors and instruments shown below: Monetary Gold and Special Drawing Rights Currency and Deposits Debt securities Loans Equity and investment fund shares/units Insurance technical reserves Financial derivates and employee stock options Other accounts payable / receivable

Financial assets of broad sectors of USA economy, 1945–2017. Source : Federal Reserve System , flow of funds data.
Liabilities of broad sectors of USA economy, 1945–2017. Source : Federal Reserve System , flow of funds data.
Financial net worth of broad sectors of USA economy, 1945–2017. Source : Federal Reserve System , flow of funds data.