See what we're building.
We're working with public finance practitioners to develop practical solutions to the problems governments face. See what's in development and let us know which projects interest you.
Risk-based reserves
Connect your reserve policy to the risks your government faces.
How much is enough? A percentage of spending is a useful starting point, but it doesn't explain how well reserves would cover your government's particular risks.
We're developing an application to help governments estimate the financial effects of uncertainty, compare reserve levels, and explain the choices behind a reserve policy.
It builds on GFOA's track record of helping governments make reserve decisions through consulting and custom financial models, bringing that experience into an application more governments can use.
Interested in risk-based reserves? Let us know, and we'll keep you informed as this project progresses.
Understanding financial health: Three Clocks
Understand your government's financial health today - and what it means for tomorrow.
A government can balance its budget today while financial pressures build for tomorrow. Making sense of that larger picture takes more than a single year's results.
We're developing ways to turn information in annual comprehensive financial reports into understandable financial insights. Built on GFOA's Three Clocks framework, this work connects annual affordability, financial trends, and obligations to future generations. We're exploring technology to extract relevant data from existing reports and make it easier for finance staff and elected officials to use.
Interested in Three Clocks? Let us know, and we'll keep you informed as this project progresses.
Optimizing budget contingencies
Manage uncertainty in spending, revenue, and capital plans without tying up more money than necessary.
Departmental budget cushions, conservative revenue forecasts, and allowances for uncertain capital costs and schedules can each seem prudent. Together, they can leave substantial resources unavailable for other priorities.
We're exploring ways to assess these uncertainties together and distinguish necessary protection from conservatism that consistently exceeds what experience supports. Building on GFOA's research and custom modeling work with governments, the approach combines shared contingencies, better-calibrated revenue forecasts, and analysis of capital costs and timing to identify financial flexibility while preserving protection against adverse outcomes.
Interested in this work? Let us know, and we'll keep you informed as this project progresses.
These previews describe work in progress. The solutions are not yet available for purchase.