Edwin, an AI-powered treasury and financial platform built specifically for local governments, today announced the development of a comprehensive, national public-sector financial benchmarking map. Built using historical Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) data, the benchmark dataset analyzes policy utilization, yield optimization and maturity profiles across public agencies to give finance leaders the data they need to make public money work harder for their communities.
This national study aims to make invisible structural discrepancies visible by enabling finance directors to securely compare their portfolio’s yield, risk and asset allocation with those of peer agencies of similar size. Rather than arbitrarily penalizing municipal performers, Edwin’s benchmark dataset provides the hard peer-comparison statistics that finance leaders need to justify modernized investment strategies to City Managers, City Treasurers, City Councils and oversight boards.
“Local governments in this country manage roughly $5 trillion in public funds, yet the vast majority are forced to steward these immense public resources using a disconnected web of static Excel spreadsheets and fragmented bank portals,” said Peter Rogers, CEO and CoFounder of Edwin. “Our benchmarking map shows that even well-run cities leave millions of dollars on the table simply because they lack the automated tools to safely maximize their investments.”
Public finance teams are currently caught in a grueling macro-squeeze, facing severe staffing shortages, compounding audit pressures and tight municipal budgets. When manual day-to-day data entry takes precedence, strategic cash management inevitably slips to the back burner. In a higher-for-longer interest-rate environment, leaving public cash idle represents a massive missed opportunity for communities. When finance teams are stuck wrestling with legacy tools, public money simply isn’t working as hard as it should.
Edwin acts as a modern treasury command center, connecting a city’s various bank accounts directly to its main accounting system. As a secure, read-only platform, Edwin deploys artificial intelligence (AI) agents that handle data with accuracy to automate tedious bank reconciliations, forecast cash flow 24 months out and alert finance teams to keep investments aligned with local policies.
“Stewardship, accountability and fiscal responsibility are woven directly into our code,” added Rogers. “Local government deserves to be part of this AI moment today, not the last sector to benefit from it. Software is our wedge to build the robust financial infrastructure that public agencies have permanently lacked, ensuring every public dollar works as hard as possible for the community it serves.”
The public benchmarking map has already reviewed publicly available financial reports from agencies representing more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. Edwin invites finance directors, treasurers and public administrators to preview the platform and dataset at the upcoming Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) conference in Chicago from June 28 to July 1.
About Edwin
Named after Edwin Sydney Stuart, the historic Pennsylvania governor and Philadelphia mayor who championed strict budgetary controls, Edwin is an AI-powered treasury and financial platform engineered for local government finance teams. Edwin automates banking workflows, generates audit-ready compliance trails and surfaces optimized yield opportunities to ensure public money works harder for everyone. For more information, visit Edwin.