Outdated Technology Increases Risk and Impedes Mission Readiness for Federal Finance Teams, Workday Government Research Shows

Eight in Ten Respondents Say They Don't Have the Visibility to Effectively Manage Risk

Modernization Lags After Years of Piecemeal Upgrades, Budget Constraints, and Program‑by‑Program Fixes

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Workday Government, a wholly owned subsidiary of Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the enterprise AI platform for managing people, finance, and agents, today announced new research showing outdated financial management systems are increasing risk and impeding mission readiness for federal finance teams, with eight in ten survey respondents saying they don't have the visibility needed to effectively manage risk.

The report, "Future-Ready Finance: Trust, Transparency, and Accuracy in Government Spending," includes responses from senior federal finance decision-makers across civilian agencies, the Department of War, and the intelligence community, underscoring the need for urgent modernization.

Respondents cited numerous pain points for leaders across finance functions, from accounting to compliance. These include siloed data, a lack of real-time visibility, and slow generation of financial reports. These problems, the result of years of piecemeal upgrades to existing financial management systems, budget constraints, and program-by-program updates piled atop legacy platforms, waste time and money. These findings coincide with the recent release of the U.S. government's FY27 budget, which includes a call for greater internal efficiencies across civilian agencies.

Legacy Systems are Slowing Mission Delivery

The report found that these legacy constraints impose a major operational tax on federal finance teams, losing one‑third of their work hours to manual reporting and data clean-up due to outdated financial management systems. Four out of five (80%) respondents agree outdated systems are hindering mission success, with nearly two out of three (64%) citing current systems as making it harder, not easier, to see the full cost of agency programs. In addition, many federal finance leaders are making decisions with yesterday's information, with 55% saying their reports are "often" or "almost always" outdated by the time they are shared, and 56% highlighting that their systems still operate like the 2010s or earlier.

For government workers, this means spending huge amounts of time wrestling with bad data instead of focusing on higher‑value mission work, and making critical decisions without a clear, current view of program costs.

Closing the Execution Gap in Federal Finance

Federal finance leaders say their systems break down where plans meet reality. Just over half rate their systems "very effective" for planning and budgeting, but that drops to 44% for execution and only 36% for reconciliation – leaving finance teams chasing down errors, reconciling data across systems, and shouldering heavy audit preparation instead of focusing on mission delivery. And because 85% say they spend more time preparing financial reports than actioning insights from them, even basic questions about where funds stand or how they were used can become slow, manual processes.

That execution and audit gap matters to taxpayers, who depend on agencies to quickly spot issues, course-correct, and ensure resources are being directed where they are needed most.

Modernization is Underway, with Leaders Prioritizing Cloud Platforms Powered by Responsible AI

Leaders overwhelmingly see responsible AI as critical to improving financial accuracy and oversight (96%), expecting the biggest benefits in strengthening audit readiness, linking budget to mission performance, and driving operational efficiencies. Looking ahead, and in line with the U.S. Treasury's 2018 vision, agencies are prioritizing modernization that fixes the fundamentals: better data quality (54%), stronger spend management (51%), and faster close and reconciliation (45%).

Modern cloud and enterprise AI platforms like Workday are viewed by leaders as playing a key role in helping agencies adapt quickly to policy and funding changes.

Workday is the Enterprise AI Platform Built for this Moment

Workday is the enterprise AI platform that helps federal agencies modernize by unifying finance, HR, and planning on one platform – providing real-time visibility into funds and mission costs, and automating close and audit support for continuous readiness. Powered by Sana, Workday's AI foundation and "superintelligence for work," AI agents work within core workflows and federal controls, ensuring every AI-driven action is permission-aware and fully auditable. The result is a single, trusted source of truth that links financial decisions to mission outcomes, delivering an improved employee experience for federal finance workers and increased value for taxpayers.

"Federal finance leaders are clear: modernizing financial systems is essential to building public trust," said Lynn Martin, general manager, Workday Government. "With Workday, agencies leverage the power of AI embedded directly into the platform to transform their existing financial processes and controls, giving leaders the real-time insight, automation, and responsible AI they need to better manage their workforce, budgets, and mission outcomes."

About the Study

The study surveyed 100 senior finance decision-makers across federal civilian agencies, the Department of War, and the intelligence community in December 2025. All participants play an active role in financial decision‑making, with more than 90% making or directly participating in final decisions on financial systems, planning, or processes.

For More Information

• Learn more about Workday Government's support for agency transformation at the Workday Federal Forum on April 28 in Washington D.C. Register here.
• See how Workday helped the Department of Energy transform its workforce management here.
• Learn about the mission of Workday Government here.

About Workday Government

Workday Government is a wholly owned subsidiary of Workday, the enterprise AI platform for managing people, finance, and agents. Workday Government is dedicated to serving the U.S. government by unifying HR and finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core, empowering agencies at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver on their missions. Workday Government supports a range of agencies across the civilian, defense, and intelligence communities. For more information about Workday Government, visit workday.com/federal. For more information about Workday visit workday.com.

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SOURCE Workday Inc.