• Awards Season
  • Big Stories
  • Pop Culture
  • Video Games
  • Celebrities

Get the Most Out of Quickbooks Accounting Software

QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software programs available today. It is used by small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs to help manage their finances. With its intuitive user interface and powerful features, QuickBooks can help you stay organized and on top of your finances. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of QuickBooks accounting software.

Organize Your Finances

The first step in getting the most out of QuickBooks is to organize your finances. This includes setting up your accounts, categorizing transactions, and tracking expenses. With QuickBooks, you can easily create invoices, track payments, and manage payroll. You can also set up reminders for upcoming bills or tax payments. By organizing your finances with QuickBooks, you will be able to keep better track of your money and make informed decisions about how to spend it.

Create Reports and Analyze Data

Another great feature of QuickBooks is its ability to generate reports and analyze data. With these reports, you can quickly see where your money is going and identify areas where you can save money or increase efficiency. You can also use the data to create budgets or forecast future expenses. This will help you make informed decisions about how to best manage your finances.

Integrate with Other Apps

Finally, QuickBooks integrates with a variety of other apps that can help you streamline your accounting process even further. For example, you can link it with payment processors such as PayPal or Stripe so that customers can pay invoices directly from their accounts. You can also integrate it with project management tools like Trello or Asana so that tasks are automatically updated in QuickBooks when they are completed in those apps. By taking advantage of these integrations, you will be able to save time and effort when managing your finances with QuickBooks.

QuickBooks is a powerful accounting software program that can help small businesses stay organized and on top of their finances. By following these tips, you will be able to get the most out of this software and make sure that your business runs smoothly and efficiently.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

MORE FROM ASK.COM

business finance planning software

  • All Categories >
  • Financial Planning Software

Financial Planning Software Reviews and Ratings

What is financial planning software.

Gartner defines financial planning software as the key tool that enables organizations to manage their enterprisewide financial planning, forecasting and budgeting processes. Financial planning software allows finance organizations to plan and analyze business financial strategy for the organization across all three financial statements (that is, profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flows). It supports modeling, collaboration, analytics and performance-reporting capabilities, all of which enhance a user’s ability to effectively manage financial performance.

How these categories and markets are defined

Products In Financial Planning Software Market

  • Number of Ratings, High to Low
  • Number of Ratings, Low to High
  • Average Rating, High to Low
  • Average Rating, Low to High

CCA

Workday Adaptive Planning

"Workday Adaptive: Forecasting Made Easy"

My organization recently (about a year ago). Overall, considering the direction our college was moving towards, this tool made a lot of sense. We had recently been introduced to budgeting more accurately by forecasting and Adaptive helps tremendously with that, especially for the Finance department. This tool allows for better tracking of spending throughout various departments within the college. Considering all of the new tools and changes we've been introduced to, I can confidently say that Adaptive has been one of the tools that was very user friendly, easy to use and it made good business sense (meaning it fit into my workflow well and didn't cause an interruption in the way I work).

OneStream Platform

  • OneStream Platform

"Driving value from OneStream's platform of solutions"

Based on my personal impressions (I am the OneStream sponsor) and feedback from our user community, the OneStream close and consolidation and account reconciliation products are easy to use and have great functionality. Implementations of these products were straightforward and costs were below budget. OneStream product support is very strong and we have benefited from a number of webinars with OneStream technical experts regarding both existing products that we use as well as other products that we are considering using.

Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

"Oracle EPM Highly Recommend"

Oracle offers state of the art EPM tools. I have used competitors planning and reconciliation tools and find that Oracle's are the most flexible and adaptable options in the market. Additionally, the continuity and connectability for end-users between each EPM tool is one of the best features.

Anaplan for Finance

  • Anaplan for Finance

"Anaplan is a user-friendly and easy-to-learn platform with a wide range of use cases"

Models are very easy to set up in Anaplan and the software can be used for a large number of use cases across the business. Our initial implementation - a subscription model - was very quick and made our forecasting process much more efficient. Anaplan support is very quick to respond to queries and there is an excellent community to help with new ideas and innovative solutions.

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

"A flexible and robust platform for contribution, consolidation and data presentation."

Planning Analytics deliveries a large set tools to enhance our clients business planning, providing scalability and security while processs large amount of data. Compared to other tools and platforms we understand that Planning Analytics can be more user friendly than others.

Prophix

"Prophix - A Great Tool!"

My overall experience with Prophix has been extremely positive. I was a prophix global administrator at my prior company and I am currently one at my new organization. The system makes financial planning including budgeting and forecasting extremely efficient and simple. Additionally, I enjoy being able to control the entire planning process from start to end using the system.

Jedox EPM Software

Jedox EPM Software

"Jedox is a Perfect EPM software recommended for large multinational business !"

Jedox easily met our Group FP&A objective of combining financial consolidation , planning and reporting in one tool replacing multiple systems and excel working sheets.

Vena Complete Planning Platform

Vena Complete Planning Platform

"Quality financial software for academic administrators"

The updated Vena product is easy to use for finding the budget/expense items I need for my department. Overall, I have found the software fairly easy to use. Though I have needed some further training from our finance department on specific features and how to find certain expense lines or projects.

CCH Tagetik CPM

CCH Tagetik CPM

"Tagetik is Amazing!"

Positive experience, the tagetik team is always ready to provide us with the needed support, both technical or functional.

Board

"Very good tool, that improved our planning process and gave us total control over it."

The overall experience is very satisfying. We consultants team were committed and professional which resulted in a very tailored solution. And the tool is allowing our company to plan in a more agile and efficient way.

Planful Continuous Planning Platform

Planful Continuous Planning Platform

"Planful is a game-changer"

Planful's financial planning offering provides us with everything we need to produce a monthly rolling forecast from the ground up and project as many forward-looking periods as we'd like (generally 18-months to 5-years). Additionally, via Spotlight, the Excel add-in, we have access to leaf-level financial data and the ability to format it to our liking (with access to all of the functionality we have grown accustomed to via Excel) at the touch of a button. Planful (formerly Host Analytics) has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on us over the last ~8 years.

SAP Analytics Cloud

"A great SaaS product for planning and reporting."

It supported several use cases (complex and simple) and had a very good answer to standard and individual requirements. The implementation time was very promising and the flexibility/customizability of the product was keeping the balance between complexity and cost-efficiency. There was not for every requirement a silver bullet, but design patterns that could show an reliable alternative.

Pigment

"Pigment, your greatest asset for planning and analyzing with your business partners"

Overall, Pigment is a key asset for our company and is the essential tool we use for budget planning, analysis and forecasting. We managed to engage our business partners in the budget planning process thanks to the user-friendly interface of Pigment. Business users feel it very easy to read, understand and play / input. From a FP&A professional standpoint, Pigment helped us reduce and kill some time consuming tasks (i.e the consolidation of dozens of Excel sheets every month). It enables us focus on analyzing, understanding our actuals and forecast, and to provide insightful analysis.

Oracle Hyperion Planning

Oracle Hyperion Planning

"Impressively able, easy to work with, as well as fast"

Oracle Hyperion Planning is a budget solution that is easy to use, easily managed and accessible. Implementation of Oracle Hyperion Planning enabled us to be a more efficient company that can generate more accurate forecasts and simulations. We sought a tool that is able to consolidate information such that it can be aggregated, reported, and used to gain insight of the business.

Axiom Software

"Syntellis software is user firendly"

We have had a great experience with Syntellis financial planning and reporting software . Being excel based the product is extremely user friendly which is important for our org. since we have over a 100 budget analysts. It is also high customizable to fit the financial reports and planning needs of your institution. We implemented customization to assist with variance and lease accounting. The software also automates basic tasks such as data loading and allows more time for analysis.

Anaplan Platform

  • Anaplan Platform

"Financial Planning Experience with Anaplan"

Anaplan is very fast growing tool in terms of new technical features and the flexibility it provides at the time of implementing a business solution. The vendor provides scalable capabilities and we can customize it with various business use cases. Moreover, the connected planning is an added advantage in this tool which makes it easy for clients to go for this vendor which helps in quick decision making.

CXO Software

CXO Software

"CXO is an easy to use reporting tool with low implementation costs"

CXO enables you to present management information in a clear and understandable way. One of the most important advantages is that the business can easily create and adjust reports without the intervention of the IT department.

Kepion

"Your RoI will never be better!"

The tool is exceptional in terms of how easy it is to implement and customize the requirements. Easy to configure the business logic. The end-user accessibility is web application-like and provides great UI/UX.

JustPerform

JustPerform

"friendly self-service platform for business user"

The vendor communicates promptly and provides the necessary information about the service with quality that meet our expectation. Normally, product might not provide us 100% of our requirement but you will get experience about "try the best" or "alternative solution" from this vendor.

Financial Reporting for NetSuite in Excel

"A useful time saver when using Netsuite as your ERP"

Streamlines processes between Netsuite in Excel, and is a must have for any business who uses Netsuite as their ERP. Saves me lots of time in building Saved Searches in Netsuite and downloading to Excel.

Gartner Research

Trending products.

  • deFacto Power Planning

Popular Comparisons

  • OneStream Platform vs Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
  • OneStream Platform vs Workday Adaptive Planning
  • Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) vs Workday Adaptive Planning
  • Pigment vs Workday Adaptive Planning
  • Anaplan for Finance vs Pigment
  • Credit cards
  • View all credit cards
  • Banking guide
  • Loans guide
  • Insurance guide
  • Personal finance
  • View all personal finance
  • Small business
  • View all small business

You’re our first priority. Every time.

We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.

So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners .

9 Best Business Budgeting Software Tools of 2023

⏰ Estimated read time: 8 minutes

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

Our Nerdy picks for

All-in-one budgeting software

NerdWallet Rating

In-depth forecasting

Cash flow management

Best Business Budgeting Software Tools

Our picks for

If you already use (or are planning to use) one of these top accounting solutions, then the features and reports they offer will likely satisfy your business budgeting software needs.

QuickBooks Online

on QuickBooks Online's secure website

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200.

for first three months or free 30-day trial.

  • Easy to share information with your accountant and to find QuickBooks experts and online resources if needed.
  • More than 750 app integrations, including live, in-house bookkeeping.
  • Robust feature set includes thorough record-keeping, comprehensive reporting, excellent invoicing and inventory management, plus a capable mobile app.
  • Daily phone support and 24/7 chat support in all plans.
  • Expensive compared to the competition.
  • Limited account users with each plan.

on Xero's secure website

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78.

30-day free trial

or monthly discount (terms vary).

  • Unlimited users in all pricing plans.
  • Integrates with more than 1,000 third-party apps.
  • Feature set includes an excellent mobile app and suite of reports, capable invoicing features, plus automated bill and receipt capture through Hubdoc.
  • Simple layout and easy to use.
  • No phone number for customer support listed.
  • Entry-level plan limits bills and invoices to five and 20 per month, respectively.

on Zoho Books' secure website

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275.

14-day free trial

of the Premium plan.

  • Less expensive than some competitors; free plan available for businesses with less than $50k in annual revenue.
  • Email support in free plan; phone and chat support in paid plans.
  • Rich feature set includes excellent invoicing, inventory management, workflow rules and a capable mobile app.
  • Add accounting widgets to your phone’s home screen; track time using your Apple Watch.
  • Fewer third-party integrations and reports than some competitors.
  • No plan includes more than 15 users (can add additional users for a fee).

Our pick for

$99/per month

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $299.

  • Offers more than 20 forecasting methods including percentage of other accounts, growth rates and assumptions, and key performance indicators.
  • Predicts cash flow and can create budget forecasts for up to 10 years.
  • Can import chart of accounts data from QuickBooks Online or Xero.
  • Scenario analysis tool helps your business plan for “what if” situations.
  • There will be a learning curve if you’re not familiar with using various projection methods.
  • Accounting data isn’t synced daily. QuickBooks Online integration updates scenarios with actual results on a monthly basis.

$69/per month

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $119, $249.

  • Forecasts cash flow for up to three years.
  • Automatically imports QuickBooks Online and Xero data daily.
  • Scenario planning tool prepares your business for “what if” situations.
  • Streamlined user interface makes it easier to use than some competitors.
  • Focuses on cash flow only, as opposed to other apps that incorporate profit and loss budgets, etc. This can be limiting for businesses that need a more holistic view of their financials.

Financial planning and analysis

Centage Planning Maestro®

Quote-based

  • Scenario planning tool helps your business prepare for “what if” situations.
  • Can use non-financial drivers, like hours worked or square footage, to calculate expense and revenue budgets.
  • Customizable performance dashboard drills into historical trends and comparisons.
  • In-depth financial planning and analysis tools can accommodate medium-size businesses with dedicated finance teams, too.
  • Accounting software integrations cost extra.
  • Getting used to various customization options is a learning process.
  • Quote-based pricing isn’t transparent.

Software integrations

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $200, $375, $500.

  • You’ll likely need only the least-expensive plan to serve your budgeting needs since it’s designed for small businesses.
  • Direct integrations with popular accounting software.
  • Advanced forecasting tools.
  • All plan tiers include unlimited users and free 24/7 customer support.
  • Integrations are limited to accounting software.
  • Software plans and features seem geared slightly more toward accountants, so functionality may be more than some small business owners need.

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $40.

  • Integrates with popular accounting software.
  • Automates a great deal of the earliest stages of starting a business.
  • The company requires no contract and offers a 35-day money back guarantee.
  • Customer support is available by email and live chat.
  • You need the most expensive plan to use the software for budgeting beyond the pitch and investment startup stages.
  • Most expensive plan is required to integrate with accounting software.

Free business budgeting software

Spendesk Collaborative Budgets

  • Totally free software.
  • Company has paid offerings that could be useful as your business grows.
  • Can invite additional users to collaborate on budgets.
  • Software may be too basic to serve budgeting needs for certain types of businesses.
  • Signing up for the free software will subject you to marketing emails as the company tries to upsell you, though you can easily unsubscribe.

QuickBooks Online: Best for all-in-one budgeting software

  • $30 per month for the Simple Start plan.
  • $60 per month for the Essentials plan.
  • $90 per month for the Plus plan.
  • $200 per month for the Advanced plan.

Xero: Best for all-in-one budgeting software

  • $15 for the Early plan.
  • $42 for the Growing plan.
  • $78 for the Established plan.

Zoho Books: Best for all-in-one budgeting software

  • $0 per month for the Free plan.
  • $20 per month for the Standard plan.
  • $50 per month for the Professional plan.
  • $70 per month for the Premium plan.
  • $150 per month for the Elite plan.
  • $275 per month for the Ultimate plan.

PlanGuru: Best for in-depth forecasting

  • $99 per month for the single-entity solution.
  • $299 per month for the multidepartment/multilocation solution.
  • $29 per month for each additional user.

Float: Best for cash flow management

  • $69 per month for the Essential plan.
  • $119 per month for the Premium plan.
  • $249 per month for the Enterprise plan.

Centage Planning Maestro: Best for financial planning and analysis

Futrli: best for software integrations.

  • $35 per month for the Single plan.
  • $200 per month for the Starter plan.
  • $375 per month for the Professional plan.
  • $500 per month for the Practice plan.

LivePlan: Best for startups

  • $40 per month for the Premium plan.

Spendesk Collaborative Budgets: Best for free business budgeting software

What is business budgeting software .

  • Financial management

6 Best business budgeting software of 2023

Arjun Ruparelia

Running a small business entails a myriad of challenges that necessitate careful planning and effective tools for optimised financial management. Budgeting software can strengthen the firm’s financial backbone by automating financial analysis and monitoring, improving process efficiencies, and putting them on the road to achieving long-term success.

Agicap UK demo logo - women typing on keyboard

Business budgeting software: Definition

Business budgeting software is a specialised tool that assists firms in designing, managing, and analysing their financial budgets . It enables businesses to plan their asset allocation, track their cash inflows and outflows, evaluate their financial performance, and make informed decisions.

Budgeting software offers several functionalities, including forecasting, financial reporting, cash flow management , and variance analysis. By streamlining the budgeting process, this software solution improves data accuracy and yields real-time insights that facilitate effective financial planning and better organisational control—a prized requirement for small and mid-sized firms.

Which software is best to use to create a budget?

Considering the various drawbacks of using Excel for budgeting, firms should explore dedicated budgeting software that provides a more streamlined and automated money-planning experience. Below is a quick rundown of the best budgeting software as per the specific needs of a company.

If you need to start making cash management in Excel : Download our free resource :

Nouveau call-to-action

Best affordable budgeting apps: Quickbooks and Xero

By offering comprehensive financial management tools that can be easily integrated with other business functions, in conjunction with user-friendly interfaces and robust reporting capabilities, both Quickbooks and Xero make excellent budgeting software options.

Best budgeting tools for businesses scaling up: LucaNet, Cube, and Vena

With their sophisticated features ranging from budget creation, multi-dimensional forecasting, and scenario planning to analysis, these software options are known for their flexibility, scalability, and ability to handle complex budgeting requirements, making them suitable for growing organisations.

Best personal finance software: Quicken and Mint

Due to their ability to manage personal finances effectively, Quicken and Mint are both preferred choices for personal budgeting. Being easy to navigate, Mint enables individuals to connect financial accounts, track income and expenses effortlessly, set savings goals, and receive bill payment alerts. Quicken takes it a notch up with its comprehensive features, empowering individuals to better manage their capital.

Best budgeting software for small businesses

While some business owners prefer using spreadsheets or Google Sheets to plan their budgeting process, they can be prone to errors and offer limited functionality. Budgeting software minimises the need for manual effort and simplifies financial planning and management by automating budgeting functions. Below, we describe the top six budgeting software for small businesses.

Xero: best budget tracker for companies seeking more affordable solutions

Xero is an excellent accounting software that offers robust budgeting features. With its budget manager feature, companies can quickly create budgets , which can then be used to undertake a performance analysis across a specified period.

Its expense management feature allows companies to easily track and monitor all their expenses, spot patterns and trends, and create a forecast budget with personalised assumptions. Enterprises can also import their own budgets into this cloud-based platform.

Xero also provides a budget summary and budget variance reports . It comes with a 30-day free trial period, and you can later switch to any of its four price plans, ranging from £7 to £24.5 per month. While this budgeting software is easily scalable, its forecasting functionality is limited.

Intuit Quickbooks: overall best budget software solution

Quickbooks is another popular accounting software among small businesses that use it for budgeting, invoicing , and financial management. It helps its users create budgets on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis by automatically pre-filling data from the current/previous year.

Quickbooks provides for easy classification , where budgets can be split by location, customer, and class. Like Xero, it provides a simplified budget overview and a variance report that details and compares the actual performance to the budgeted amounts.

Hosted on the cloud, Quickbooks enables easy on-the-go access . Companies can try it out for free for 30 days and then choose from any of their three-tier plans based on their requirements.

LucaNet: best budget tracking tool

Lucanet’s budgeting software offers dynamic budget planning on an annual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Manufacturing businesses will find it suitable, as it even affords sub-planning on a cost unit and cost centre basis.

Other features include automatic, rules-that, integrated P&L, and liquidity planning . It seamlessly integrates with over 250 systems and even provides scenario-based forecasting.

It comes with a user-friendly interface that provides a holistic view of your financial position and can be easily scaled in sync with your operational needs. Businesses can try out its demo version before opting for full-scale implementation.

Cube: best budgeting tool for companies looking to scale

Cube offers an i ntuitive, spreadsheet-native platform that effortlessly integrates with Google Sheets and Excel. Its budgeting software automates the consolidation of data from multiple sources.

Cube’s software offering includes customisable dashboards, audit trails, and user-based controls. It allows for multi-scenario analysis, where you can model your budget based on different assumptions.

Cube supports multiple currencies , making financial reporting in different currencies easier. It provides actionable, real-time insights that your finance teams can use for better forecasting. The only downside is that it is prohibitively priced.

You may also like the article Cash flow forecasting software: The 3 best ones for 2023

Vena: best forecasting software for large-scale enterprises

Vena is another Excel-based budgeting software option for mid-sized businesses. It includes a central database that pulls in data from multiple sources and automates workflow processes with its intuitive, visual tools.

Vena offers standardised Excel templates for planning operating expenses, revenues, and other accounting items. It has a very flexible approach to budgeting, allowing for bottom-up and top-down budgeting. Companies can also perform zero-based and driver-based budgeting.

Its cutting-edge scenario modelling feature empowers companies to take an agile approach to the budget, evaluating how a particular driver change impacts their forecasts on a rolling basis. Vena assures high data security , and firms can experience a free guided tour of Vena’s platform.

AccountsIQ: best budgeting tool for companies looking for customisation

AccountsIQ is a cloud-based business budgeting software in the UK that incorporates your budgets into your accounting software , including Xero, Quickbooks, Sage 200, and more, for budget checking. It aims to help companies minimise their spending by providing operational insights and variance reporting.

Firms can check for existing fund balances before raising commitments and unduly impacting their budgets. AccountsIQ provides a group reporting feature where it tracks and highlights variances at the group level by comparing rolled-up actuals to their budgeted numbers.

Businesses can also design budgets at GL and BI code levels for better insights into sub-level budgeting of cost centres, departments, projects, and more. AccountsIQ has a provision for custom pricing in the case of specific requirements.

Factors to consider before choosing a business budgeting software

Below, we outline a few factors to bear in mind before you select budgeting software for your business.

Business needs:  Your choice is largely determined by your needs: how complex is your business model? Are you looking for extensive scenario analysis? Do you have plans for scaling up? This plays a big role in whether you can work with simple budgeting software like Xero and Quickbooks or more elaborate ones like Vena and Cube.

Features: Basic budgeting software automates expense management, cash flow forecasting, and financial reporting. If your needs are complex, look for additional features, such as multi-user collaborative tools and seamless integration into several ERP platforms. Also, explore their customer support services.

Ease of use:  You must look for software that has a user-friendly interface and is easily navigable. While demo versions and free trials are a good place to start, you must also look at user reviews for long-term user experience.

Cost:  While it may be tempting to choose free budgeting software, it may not be an ideal choice. Instead, make a cost-benefit analysis, comparing software providers on their subscription charges and additional add-on costs with their features.

Is Excel good for budgeting?

With over 69% and 92% of finance teams using spreadsheets on a daily and monthly basis, respectively, Excel continues to be a popular budgeting tool among small organisations. Below we list some of the versatile features that make it a good choice for budgeting.

  • Customisable: Excel empowers finance teams to tailor their budget layout and structure per their needs by splitting data across spreadsheets, tabs, or budget categories.
  • Built-in formulas: Excel affords complex calculation capabilities through its wide range of formulas and functions, including financial projections.
  • Data visualisation: By providing visual representations, such as graphs and charts, of your budget data, Excel helps companies gain actionable insights into their operations, especially with regard to performance tracking.
  • Scenario planning: Excel enables organisations to explore different financial scenarios and the impact of their decisions on their financial budgets, aiding further adjustments, and realignment.

However, despite being an effective budgeting solution, Excel has some drawbacks, making it unsuitable for certain companies:

  • High error rate: Excel’s lack of full automation requires companies to manually undertake certain tasks, such as importing bank account transactions, which are prone to human error. Moreover, budgeting using Excel is inefficient when a large amount of data is involved.
  • Steep learning curve: Excel can be complex for users unfamiliar with spreadsheets, as creating and customising budget templates, writing formulas and macros, and utilising other advanced features require some practice.
  • Limited collaboration: Excel does not allow for simultaneous collaboration with multiple users, making it a poor choice for enterprises, as they often rely on several departments to combine and reconcile financial data.
  • Data security concerns: While Excel files can be password protected, they only enable a single password shared across users and are generally stored on a local network, making them more susceptible to data loss and security breaches.
  • Analysis limitations: Excel’s data visualisation tools lack advanced reporting and analysis features, which may be important to mid to large-sized businesses.

Key Takeaway

Budgeting software equips businesses with all the necessary tools to automate their forecasting, monitor and minimise their expenses, and streamline their cash flows , thus, improving efficiency and optimising financial management.

Try it for free Agicap

Agicap is the perfect tool to anticipate payment difficulties!

Test it for free 🚀

Subscribe to our newsletter

You may also like.

Activity-Based Budgeting (ABB) is a sophisticated budgeting method, considering activities that result in costs for the company.

Sandbox Workspace London Bridge, 46-48, Red Lion Court, Park St, London SE1 9EQ

  • Manage your cash flow
  • Cash flow monitoring
  • Cash flow forecast
  • Consolidation
  • Custom dashboards
  • Debt management
  • Late payment reminders
  • Supplier Invoice Management
  • Terms of Use
  • General Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal Notice
  • We're hiring
  • Book a demo
  • Try for free

By industries

Consultancy

Architecture & Engineering

Software & IT

Event Management

Operations Manager

Project Manager

Financial Manager

Team Member

Project Management

Quoting & Budgeting

Sales & CRM

Resource Planning

Time Tracking

Reporting & Dashboard

Cost Management

Collaboration

Integrations

Guides & E-books

4-Day Work Week

Success Stories

Webinars & Events

Help Center

business finance planning software

Webinar: How to price services to maximize profit?

Watch the on-demand webinar to uncover the biggest pricing mistakes businesses make and evaluate if it's time to adjust your pricing model.

building with a lot of offices

14 Best Business Budgeting Software in 2023

Scoro logo

Budgeting is the basis for all business success and the tech world has responded by releasing a lot of of financial tools to lend a hand. With so many solutions to choose from every company can find the budgeting tool that best fits their business needs. And to make the decision process easier, we’ve put together a list of the best budgeting software on the market. 

In recent years, companies have moved their budgets to the cloud for several reasons. For one, cloud-based budgeting software is less expensive than on-premise products. Smaller companies also lack the infrastructure and IT staff to manage the complicated infrastructure of on-premise software.

Companies that use Excel for managing their budgets are far more likely to make mistakes, as nearly 90% of spreadsheets contain errors.

Online business budgeting tools are an excellent option for any business that wishes to manage their budgets in a streamlined and organized way. These next-generation tools focus on the keyword “intuitive” and require less specialized training, meaning that they’re easy-to-use and can be implemented more quickly. Moreover, the online software providers release product updates as often as every two months, ensuring that your software is up to date.

If you’re looking to move your budgets out of Excel or bring more structure, find your new software from this list that outlines the perks and benefits of each. We’ll start with the most widely used and best budgeting software and move on to smaller niche tools, to help you find exactly the right tool to manage, plan, and forecast your company’s budgets.

Every business budgeting software listed here:

  • Has unique features that stand out from other budgeting software;
  • Is by a trustworthy provider, with regular updates and high security;

Finances screenshot Scoro

Scoro combines budgeting features with other tools to manage your entire company in one system. You can also manage expenses and resources, use a financial dashboard, and manage project budgets.

Top features:

  • Budget planning and forecasting
  • Financial reports and analysis
  • Unlimited project budgets
  • Financial KPI dashboard
  • Invoicing and professional services automation
  • Automated revenue stream from invoices

What’s special about this tool: Scoro combines the tools for budgeting, CRM, and project management so that you can manage your entire business in one solution and access all the financial data in one place.

Pricing: From $26 user/month, 14-days free trial.

Try out Scoro for free!

business budgeting software

Centage is a comprehensive enterprise budgeting software provider that offers different tools called Maestros for budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, etc. If you’re looking for a highly complete solution, Centage might be the answer.

  • Budgeting and planning
  • Financial dashboard and reporting
  • Comprehensive analytics

What’s special about this tool: Centage integrates with other widely used enterprise management software like SAGE, Dynamics, and QuickBooks.

Pricing:  Upon Request

Everything about your business, one click away

business budgeting tool

Prophix says it has created a software solution for corporate performance management, which means that it includes many smaller tools for managing a company’s resources and planning its budgets.

  • Budgeting, planning, and forecasting
  • Financial, statutory and management reporting
  • Cash flow planning
  • Profitability modeling and optimization
  • Personnel planning

What’s special about this tool: Prophix wants to offer its users a wholesome product that scales as the company grows.

business budgeting software

Float is an easy-to-use cash flow forecasting and budget management software that integrates seamlessly with other tools like Xero, Quickbooks Online, and Free Agent.

  • Cash flow forecasting
  • Business budgeting
  • Visual reporting

What’s special about this tool: Float is a highly visual and nice-to-use tool that helps to bring more clarity to your company’s budgets and cash flow.

Pricing: Small (1 user account) $35/month, Medium (3 user accounts) $59/month, Large (10 user accounts) $119/month

Read on: Business Management Trends You Should Quit in 2017

5. Planguru

Compared with Centage and Prophix, Planguru is a more simple budgeting software solution, which might be what you’re looking for to manage your small company’s budget.

  • Pre-built Integrated Financial Statement Structure
  • Payroll Utility
  • Engagement Tools for Professional Accountants
  • 20+ Standard Forecasting Methods
  • Forecast using Non-Financial Data

What’s special about this tool: Planguru has a separate analytics tool that helps to get a better overview of financials and make better decisions.

Pricing: $99/company/month + $29 for each additional user

Interesting read: 10 Easy Steps to Improve Your Billing Process Right Now

gide budgeting tool

GIDE helps companies combine budgeting, strategic planning, and rolling forecasts while consolidating projects/companies and business departments within one comprehensive corporate performance management platform.

  • Profit/loss statement Balance sheet & Cash flows
  • Capital asset planning
  • Capital structuring
  • Operational data
  • Working Capital

What’s special about this tool: GIDE promises a fast implementation process of two weeks compared to the average of 8 weeks of budgeting software implementation.

Pricing: N/A

7. Maxiplan

business budgeting software

With Maxiplan’s cost-effective budgeting solutions, organizations can move beyond the chaos and complexity of spreadsheet-based processes to more effectively plan and track financial performance.

  • Financial performance management
  • Budgeting and forecasting
  • Profit & loss and cash flow forecasts
  • Actual/budget/plan variance reporting
  • Revenue forecasting and analysis
  • Ad hoc planning and consolidation

What’s special about this tool: Maxiplan challenges companies struggling with Excel spreadsheets to move their business into a more organized solution.

business budgeting software

Tagetik is a simple business budgeting software solution that helps to bring more structure into budgeting and forecasting.

  • Disclosure management
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Financial consolidation

What’s special about this tool: Tagetik promises to give you the ease of Excel, the flexibility of the cloud, and the power of built-in financial intelligence.

9. Adaptive Insights

business budgeting tool

Adaptive Insights is a comprehensive tool offering cloud-based budgeting and forecasting software combined with reporting and analytics features.

  • Revenue management
  • Capital management
  • Balance sheet & cash flow statements
  • Expense management

What’s special about this tool: Adaptive Insights has a visual financial reporting and dashboard tool that gives a quick overview of the company’s financial performance.

Pricing:  Upon request

business budgeting tool

Coupa is a simple budget management tool that helps to inform every team member about real-time results and budgets. It’s part of a more comprehensive Coupa management suite.

  • Real-time budget tracking
  • Budget roll-up reports
  • Informed approvals
  • Auto-updates

What’s special about this tool: Coupa calls itself a Savings-as-a-Service solution. It also has a spend and expense management suite to complement your budgeting.

11. Tidemark

business budgeting tool

Tidemark is a single-platform analytics suite that provides tools for extensive budget planning and result tracking.

  • Revenue planning
  • Supply chain management
  • Financial planning
  • Budgets and forecasts

What’s special about this tool: Tidemark has an excellent tool for people and resource management that helps to keep track of non-financial measures as well.

12. Neubrain

business budgeting tool

Neubrain differs from all the tools above in that it only focuses on analytics. It acts as a connector of all other financial tools such as QL, SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Dynamics GP, Great Plains, ADP, Excel, and more.

  • Budgeting and forecasting functions, rules, and algorithms
  • Salary and benefits forecasting
  • Allocations and Activity-based Costing (ABC)
  • Budget submission and approval workflows
  • Powerful reporting capabilities

What’s special about this tool: Neubrain budgeting analytics software makes your financial data tell a story and helps to make long-term decisions that pay off.

13. BillQuick

BillQuick time billing software

BillQuick is a business budgeting tool that facilitates budgeting even if you’re not near a PC. This tool helps both with budgeting, invoicing, and project management, making it a great fit for creative teams .

  • Budgeting for projects
  • Generating invoices and billing clients
  • Tracking personal time off, overtime, compensation time, vacations, etc.
  • Emailing invoices as PDFs

What’s special about this tool: BillQuick is all about employee productivity. It has a tool called Employee Workload Forecaster that helps to get a better overview of your workforce and allocate budgets accordingly.

Pricing: Professional plan $19.95 user/month, Enterprise plan (unlimited features) $24.95 user/month

14. QuickBooks

Quickbooks budgeting software

QuickBooks is a popular small business accounting and budgeting tool used by accountants all over the world. It provides various features from expense tracking to invoicing, helping companies to get a complete overview of their budgets and forecasts.

  • Tracking expenses
  • Custom invoice templates
  • Sending invoices
  • Managing and paying bills
  • Automatically download & categorize bank transactions
  • Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet + more reports

What’s special about this tool: QuickBooks is 100% focused on efficient budgeting and expense management. This means that it has great features that cover everything you need.

Pricing: Simple Start plan $15/month, Essentials plan $30/month, Plus plan (unlimited features) $40/month

Recommended articles

7 workflowmax alternatives for agencies & consultants, 9 project management software that integrate with xero, streamline your operations with scoro’s native xero integration.

See how Scoro can help deliver projects and improve your profitability.

Start a free trial

Tour the product and try Scoro for free for 14 days, no credit card required.

Get started today!

Get a 14-day free trial and see how Scoro can work for your business.

By clicking "Accept All Cookies", you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Notice

  • Functionality
  • Performance

Vena Logo

CPM Technology Value Matrix

See why Vena was named a Leader in the CPM Technology Value Matrix from Nucleus Research.

Nucleus Research Logo

Vena Industry Benchmark Report 2022

Get your free copy of  The State of Strategic Finance: Industry Benchmark Report 2022  today.

Download Report

business finance planning software

Join the Community

Connect with finance leaders and access Excel templates, CPE/CPD courses, exclusive content and more.

business finance planning software

Hear From Vena’s Partner Community

Partner Story: JMT Consulting - a Vena Distinguished Partner.

Photo of Jacki Tiso, CEO and Founder, JMT Consulting

Try the Customer Portal

Your one-stop shop for everything Vena. Personalized for you.

business finance planning software

Executive Perspective

business finance planning software

Modern Finance

business finance planning software

Strategy and Operations

business finance planning software

Excel Essentials

business finance planning software

Data and Tech

business finance planning software

The 7 Best FP&A and Financial Planning Software Tools for 2023

business finance planning software

Table of Contents

Modern finance needs modern tools. 

To empower finance teams today, this means implementing a financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform that delivers. But what exactly should you be looking for to keep your business on track?

As the heartbeat of financial planning and business analysis, FP&A processes are critical to organizations today--keeping your business running smoothly by enabling planning, forecasting and analysis. But to drive invaluable data-driven decision making and ensure your team has everything they need to thrive, those FP&A processes must rely on a financial platform that's powerful, function rich and intuitive to use.

So how do the current FP&A solution s on the market measure up? How do you know which one is the best for your business needs? 

Keep reading for an overview of seven of the top FP&A and financial planning software tools on the market--and the pros and cons of each.

What Is Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)?

Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) comprises the planning, budgeting, forecasting and analytical processes that together support your organization's business and financial decision making. Through cross-functional analysis, it helps you build your future goals, measure ongoing financial performance and forecast upcoming results. 

To achieve all of that, modern FP&A teams rely on financial planning software. Gartner defines financial planning software as "a key tool that enables organizations to manage their enterprise-wide financial planning, forecasting and budgeting process." It empowers businesses to "plan and analyze business financial strategy for the organization across all three financial statements (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow)." Typically, financial planning software also supports scenario modeling, collaboration, analytics, budgeting and performance reporting. 

Let's dig a little deeper into FP&A and how to choose a financial planning software that truly supports it.

How Do You Do FP&A?

As strategic partners to the entire business, FP&A teams are responsible for communicating and collaborating across departments. That means collecting company-wide data to fuel organization-wide planning,  look ahead and contribute to strategic decision making. It also means making informed financial decisions to ensure your business continues to thrive.

Several key duties are taken on by the FP&A team, including:

  • Analyzing assets, investments and your current return on investment (ROI)
  • Deciding how to use cash flow
  • Calculating key financial ratios to determine financial health
  • Analyzing your products and services to see where the most net profit is made and which products have the highest and lowest profit margins
  • Determining the cost efficiency of each department and whether resources are allocated in the best possible way--and working with those departments to build effective budgets
  • Reporting to leadership and building out the financial models and forecasts that support their ongoing decision making
  • Comparing budgets and forecasts against historical results, mapping out growth plans and looking for expansion opportunities

To build efficiencies into the key processes that support those duties, organizations need an FP&A platform that fits their needs.

How To Choose the Best FP&A Platform

To empower your FP&A processes, you require a technology platform that will drive confident and connected decision making and ensure business-wide accountability. One that offers data analytics, guides business intelligence, lets you share actionable and scalable insights across your organization and drives strategic business planning and up-to-the-minute analysis.

To achieve that, your financial planning platform should have: 

  • Powerful BI cloud and AI capabilities
  • Access to real-time analytics at scale 
  • Functionality that drives operational alignment and accountability 
  • Collaboration tools that let you share insights across cross-functional teams 
  • Multidimensional modeling and scenario analysis capabilities
  • Unified data control and security to ensure your data is protected
  • An intuitive, easy-to-use interface 

Ultimately, the tool you choose should connect your data, be intuitive for users and stay scalable to your business needs--letting you remain agile and proactive as you continue to grow.

The Best FP&A and Financial Planning Software

An out-of-the-box, no-code solution, Vena's FP&A platform brings your financial and operational data to life with interactive visualizations that improve the way your teams communicate, collaborate and find creative solutions to complex business problems.  

Vena empowers confident and connected decision making and business-wide accountability. It makes it easy to share actionable, scalable, AI-driven business insights and empowers strategic planning and agility at every level with guided business intelligence. And with extensible APIs, native integrations and multidimensional modeling capabilities, Vena enables you to go from data readiness to deep insights to peak business performance in an instant--all within a secure, complete planning platform.

Key Functionality and What Makes Vena Easy To Use

Built around a familiar Microsoft Excel foundation, Vena is flexible and intuitive, empowering FP&A teams to:

  • Enhance strategic decision making, with self-serve access to data analytics and instant AI-powered insights using configurable dashboards that answer critical business questions, find creative solutions to complex problems and power proactive decision making
  • Drive operational alignment and accountability, to easily communicate the impact of investment decisions, enhance visibility into business performance and help teams determine what drivers they need to focus on to optimize operations with effective data management and easy-to-understand visualizations
  • Future-proof analytics and insights by leveraging out-of-the-box embedded and guided business intelligence, with instant access to Microsoft's ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) updates
  • Centralize data in a secure environment, with unified data control and security, including sensitivity labeling, end-to-end encryption and real-time access monitoring
  • Empower cross-departmental collaboration, enhancing the visibility of business performance and supporting communication to all stakeholders

Vena's Complete Planning solution is self-service, secure and interactive--connecting teams, enabling collaboration and facilitating data-driven cultures. All with Excel at the core, meaning you don't have to abandon the tools you're comfortable with in order to scale. 

Want to see Vena in action? Sign up for a 7-day Vena Preview or Request A Demo to speak to a representative.

Used to streamline business-wide planning, consolidation, reporting and visual analytics, Planful lets you see performance data at scale, automate, improve reporting and align planning processes. Their financial performance management software is meant largely for bigger FP&A teams and CFOs looking to streamline their planning efforts. 

Key Functionality and What Planful Does Well

  • Offers collaboration and sharing tools with a web-based user interface
  • Adheres to common security and compliance requirements
  • Provides consistent and customizable financial reporting 

Planful Weaknesses

Fragmented platform and disconnected planning and reporting, mixing legacy database technology with different database for dynamic planning

  • Challenging to maintain, requiring significant IT and technical support
  • Data modeling is complex and challenging to configure
  • Requires third-party technology for full breadth of FP&A and financial close processes
  • Limited Excel add-in, with no way to easily export live reports into Excel. 
  • Does not support Mac operating systems

How Does Planful Compare With Vena?

Anaplan is a web-based, enterprise-level business modeling and planning platform. It serves multiple areas across the business, including finance, marketing, sales, supply chain and workforce management. Anaplan offers forecasting and scenario modeling capabilities, with real-time access to data and collaboration capabilities. 

Key Functionality and What Anaplan Does Well

  • Can be scaled across the organization
  • Supports complex calculations
  • Is highly customizable to accommodate multiple use cases

Anaplan Weaknesses

  • Steep learning curve for modeling and configuration
  • Configuration solutions can be complex and challenging to maintain
  • There are no pre-configured starter models
  • Modeling is complex and difficult to use and maintain

How Does Anaplan Compare With Vena?

Prophix's corporate performance management (CPM) software is designed mostly for finance teams at mid-market organizations. It improves profitability and minimizes risk by automating budgeting, forecasting, reporting and consolidation-to-close processes for better decision making. Prophix is available in the cloud or on premise.

Key Functionality and What Prophix Does Well

  • Supports multiple use cases
  • Makes it easy to build custom reports
  • Has 20+ years of category and industry experience

Prophix Weaknesses

  • Limited Microsoft Excel integration
  • Weak business intelligence and machine learning integrations or tools
  • Template creation is cumbersome and difficult to use
  • The combination of cloud and on-premise deployments are not at feature parity
  • Rigid and inflexible workflow, not adaptable for different business processes

How Does Prophix Compare With Vena?  

5. workday adaptive planning.

Workday Adaptive Planning is an enterprise planning and analysis solution designed to empower collaboration, insights and agility. It offers modeling and analytics functionality for organizations of all sizes, with customizable offerings for different use cases. 

Key Functionality and What Workday Adaptive Planning Does Well

  • Has brand recognition and a large customer base
  • Is customizable to certain use cases, including workforce planning, sales planning and financial planning
  • Offers flexibility to create sheets and views based on the needs of business users

Workday Adaptive Planning Weaknesses

  • Not a native Microsoft Excel integration, but instead uses proprietary modeling and formula language
  • Has a steep learning curve, with weak support and implementation services
  • Has performance issues and system limitations

How Does Workday Adaptive Planning Compare With Vena?

6. datarails.

Datarails is a financial planning and analysis platform that offers automation, visualization and consolidation capabilities. Finance teams can benefit from the spreadsheets and financial models of Excel while automating their financial reporting and planning.

Key Functionality and What Datarails Does Well

  • Offers a low-cost option that makes it a good starter solution
  • Offers a point solution for financial budgeting, planning and reporting
  • Connects to Microsoft Excel using legacy desktop ribbon technology

Datarails Weaknesses

  • Does not support extended, scalable planning use cases beyond traditional financial budgeting, planning and reporting
  • Flexibility and modeling is difficult and requires Datarails support to aid in setup and maintenance
  • The product is in development and has performance issues, with key features and capabilities missing
  • The Excel add-in requires installation

How Does Datarails Compare With Vena?

Cube is an FP&A platform that provides real-time financial and operational data access. It enables strategic planning, reporting and analysis within a spreadsheet environment, with flexible use cases across functions.

Key Functionality and What Cube Does Well

  • A niche FP&A solution, it lets you get started fairly quickly
  • Provides customizability and flexibility
  • Offers top-rated customer service and support

Cube Weaknesses

  • Has limited security with no way to restrict what users can access
  • The product is relatively newer and immature technology, with a limited feature set and functionality that's still lacking
  • There are modeling limitations, with a limited number of dimensions your organization can have

How Does Cube Compare With Vena?

To get the most out of your FP&A team and processes, you need a financial planning platform that will enable those processes, empower your team and help you exceed your business goals. 

That makes choosing the right solution crucial. Understanding what you hope to achieve, the functionality you need to accomplish those goals and the learning curve to expect for your team should all play a part in making that decision. From there, it’s all about carefully comparing the pros and cons to make sure you get the solution that best meets all your needs—then putting your new platform to use to make your organization’s objectives a reality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I look for in FP&A tools?

What you should look for in your FP&A tools depends on your most pressing needs and the planning processes you have in place. You should also consider your people and the change involved in bringing in any new technology investment. Look for a familiar, flexible interface that lets your team stay agile and proactive, is scalable as your business grows and connects your data for more informed analysis and decision making. Automation, collaboration and visualization functionality are also key if you hope to fully empower your FP&A team.

What does FP&A software do?

Gartner says financial planning and analysis (FP&A) software supports “the office of finance’s budgeting, planning and forecasting efforts. Many also supplement the office’s budgeting and planning process support with modeling, collaboration analytics and performance-reporting capabilities, to increase its ability to manage performance by linking corporate strategy and execution.” It empowers you to better understand your business’s overall financial health, look ahead to make better decisions for the future and collaborate on budgeting and planning.

What is xP&A and how is extended planning different from FP&A?

According to Gartner , extended planning and analysis (xP&A) “extends” traditional FP&A solutions focused solely on finance into other planning domains—such as workforce planning, sales, operations and marketing. Solutions that enable xP&A help organizations exploit the challenges faced when introducing new cloud-based business processes and navigating economic uncertainties. In other words, this tech-powered planning approach enables finance teams to build agility, resilience and alignment into financial, strategic and operational planning.

What other solutions does Vena provide?

Vena offers solutions across FP&A , sales performance management and financial close management . We also have pre-configured industry solutions designed specifically for banking and credit unions, SaaS, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, hotel and lodging, higher education, healthcare, professional sports, not for profit and professional services.

blog-cta-vena-preview

Like this content?

Get resources curated just for you and your department.

menu arrow

How Cube works

Scalable FP&A starts here

Accelerate your FP&A with Cube. Sync data, gain insights, and analyze business performance right in Excel, Google Sheets, or the Cube platform.

Integrations

Integrate your way

Connect and map data from your tech stack, including your ERP, CRM, HRIS, business intelligence, and more.

Keep your data safe

Built with world-class security and controls from day one, Cube is SOC 2 Type I and Type II compliant.

Developer Center

Cube's flexible API

Cube's API empowers teams to seamlessly connect and transform their data, allowing you to access it easily and efficiently.

Make the switch to Cube

See why the world’s top growth companies choose Cube for a fast implementation and quick time to value.

Reporting & Analytics

Report with speed & accuracy

Easily collaborate with stakeholders, build reports and dashboards with greater flexibility, and keep everyone on the same page.

Planning & Modeling

Plan with precision

Accelerate your planning cycle time and be prepared for what's next. Stay ahead of pace by planning and modeling across multiple scenarios and outcomes.

Centralized Data Management

Take control of your data

Automatically structure your data so it aligns with how you do business and ensure it fits with your existing models.

We help companies win

Discover how finance teams across all industries streamline their FP&A with Cube.

Clear costs, no surprises

Find the plan that fits your needs and helps your finance team win.

Content Library

The one-stop shop for FP&A resources

Expand your strategic finance and FP&A knowledge. Discover books, articles, webinars, and more to grow your finance career and skills.

Daily insights for finance leaders

From forecasting to budgeting to strategic planning and workforce management—get expert tips and best practices to up-level your FP&A and finance function.

Sign up for Strategic Finance Pros

Join our exclusive, free Slack community for strategic finance professionals like you. Ask questions, network, and share insights with other FP&A folks.

Swipe our free FP&A templates

From rolling forecasts to board deck templates your boss will love—find the Excel, Google Sheets, and Google Slide templates you need here.

The Finance Fix

Need your finance and FP&A fix? Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter from former serial CFO turned CEO of Cube, Christina Ross.

Help Center

Get support

Looking to make the most of Cube, or dig into the weeds on platform best practices? Start your search here.

Who we are & what we stand for

We're on a mission to help every company hit their numbers. Learn more about our values, culture, and the Cube team.

Join our team

Grow your career at Cube. Check out open roles and be part of the team driving the future of FP&A.

Got questions or feedback for Cube? Reach out and let's chat.

In the news

Keep up with Cube

Curious what we're up to? Check out the latest announcements, news, and stories here.

Updated: September 29, 2023 |

The 15 best financial management software tools for businesses in 2023

Billy Russell

Billy is an expert in the FP&A space. Before joining Cube at the seed stage, Billy found success as a tax advisor at companies like Grant Thornton LLP and Gemini.com. He holds a BA and MA in Accounting from William & Mary and splits his time between NYC and New England.

The 15 best financial management software tools for businesses in 2023

Financial management software can offer the most complete and accurate view of your organization’s financial health in real-time.

But in order to get this benefit (and many others), you need to choose the right solution for your business.

So, we put together this comprehensive guide on what financial management software is, the different types, and the benefits of using them.

And of course, we’ll review the best financial management tools available on the market today.

Let’s get started.

Billy Russell

FP&A Strategist, Cube Software

What is financial management software?

The 15 best financial management software tools

Benefits of financial management software

Other tools

Choose the best financial management software

See Cube in action

Get out of the data entry weeds and into the strategy.

Sign up for The Finance Fix

Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter from serial CFO and CEO of Cube, Christina Ross.

Financial management software plays an integral role within any organization. The platforms are tools used to manage an organization’s income, assets, and expenses. This software solution helps reduce computation errors, maintain audit trails, and ensure compliance with accounting standards.

There are two main types of financial management software: ERPs & FP&A solutions.

Enterprise resource planning software (ERP)

ERP software is the accounting system used to manage financial day-to-day business activities such as accounting, bookkeeping, project management, supply chain operations, etc.

This makes it easy for financial teams to see a snapshot of a business's performance and keeps track of all a company’s historical financial data.

Financial planning and analysis software (FP&A)

FP&A software is a financial planning , analysis, and reporting solution . It helps combine the historical data of your ERP with the forward-looking data of your plans , budgets , and forecasts.

This enables finance teams to bring together an entire financial picture so detailed analysis can be performed to understand what happened in the past, what’s happening right now, and what we're planning for the future.

15 best financial management software tools

We’ve profiled several software vendors across different categories to give you more comprehensive insight into the modern finance tech stack. We’ve designated them as either ERP or FP&A solutions.

And yes, we’ve started with Cube. We’re proud of our financial management solution and how much our customers of all sizes love the planning and analysis support. Let’s take a look.

Cube is the first spreadsheet-native FP&A platform that empowers teams to drive better planning and performance without changing how they work. Our cloud-based FP&A software platform helps finance teams work anywhere—we integrate natively with both Excel and Google Sheets—so that they can plan, analyze, and collaborate with the ultimate speed and confidence.

There are many companies (like Masterworks and SmugMug ) that use Cube for nearly all of their company's financial operations.

Automate manual workflows, reduce errors, and improve collaboration so you can make smarter business decisions in a fraction of the time.

Cube offers faster time to value (most companies are finished onboarding within two weeks) and is competitively priced.

What it is: An FP&A software

Who it’s for: Mid-size and enterprise FP&A teams looking to save time and grow. Cube also works for hypergrowth SMBs who want a solution that will scale with their organization's complexity.

Key Features:

  • Automated data consolidation: Connect data from numerous sources for automated rollups and drill-downs.
  • Multi-scenario analysis: Allows you to model how changes to key assumptions affect overall outputs seamlessly.
  • Endless integrations: Integrations for spreadsheets (Google and Excel), accounting & finance, HR, ATS, billing & operations, sales & marketing, and business intelligence.
  • Customizable dashboards: Gives you full ability to build and share customizable dashboards.
  • Native Excel and Google Sheets integration: Compatible and bi-directional with any spreadsheet
  • Multi-currency support: Evaluate your financials in both your local and reporting currencies.
  • User-based controls: User controls, validations, and an audit trail ensure that the right data goes to the right people at the right time.
  • Centralized formulas and KPIs: Store all your calculations in a central location and manage from a single source of truth.
  • Drilldown and audit trail: Get straight to the transactions and history behind a single cell of data in just one click.
  • Starting at $1250/month for lean finance teams and $2450/month for companies looking to scale. See detailed pricing or book a demo .

New call-to-action

Vena Solutions is a cloud-based predictive analytics and business intelligence tool that automatically generates forecasts and insights from data.

Vena also automates variance analysis, identifies discrepancies, and builds ad-hoc reports for your business

vena-view-2

What it is: FP&A software

Who it’s for: Vena is good for companies that need the rigid process and planning controls of pre-built FP&A processes or that want to customize a pre-built solution for their unique needs.

  • Financial planning
  • Financial reporting automation
  • Incentive compensation management
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Financial consolidation
  • Pricing is not available on their website.

3. Workday Adaptive Planning

Workday_Logo

Workday Adaptive Planning is a financial planning and analysis solution used by some of the world’s largest brands.

This software enables users to manage cash flow , carry out expense management , revenue management, workforce modeling , capital management, financial close, and more.

Workday Adaptive Planning is cloud-based, mobile-ready, and uses a combination of visuals, color coding, and a clean and intuitive UI to deliver a great user experience.

workday-view

Who it’s for: This software is ideal for medium to large businesses. Workday Adaptive Planning has the tools and flexibility to scale with growing businesses and offers a complete solution to all the financial requirements of a business.

Key features:

  • Shareable custom reports
  • Automate and streamlines repetitive tasks
  • Payroll and workforce management
  • Planning and forecasting tools

You will need to reach out to Workday Adaptive Planning for pricing.

Read our complete Workday Adaptive Planning Review .

Anaplan is a web-based planning and forecasting application designed to help organizations make decisions by giving them real-time access to data. The application offers the ability to create and manage models, share data across teams, and collaborate on projects.

Anaplan works to help businesses make decisions by evaluating options and trade-offs in the current environment in real time. It also offers signal analysis to uncover insights and adapt to continually changing conditions and markets.

anaplan-view

Who it’s for: Anaplan is a good choice for larger enterprises that have a strong IT team to support implementation.

  • Planning and modeling
  • Predictive insights
  • Enterprise scale
  • Connected planning
  • Pricing is not listed on their website.

Read our full review of Anaplan .

prophix-logo (1)

Prophix is an FP&A solution with a focus on corporate performance management . Prophix uses AI and a virtual financial analyst to simplify the repetitive jobs required to keep your business running smoothly. Their automated budgeting software will help save time and increase efficiency for your business.

prophix-view (1)

What it is: FP&A

Who it’s for: Prophix works for businesses that need workflow automation.

  • Budgeting and planning
  • Forecasting
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Financial consolidation and close
  • Workflow and automation

6. Oracle Essbase

oracle-hyperion-essbase (1)

Oracle Essbase is a business analytics solution designed to drive smarter decisions with the ability to quickly test and model complex business assumptions in the cloud or on-premises. Businesses develop and manage analytic applications by using business drivers to model multiple what-if scenarios.

You can interact with Essbase through a web or Microsoft Office interface to analyze, model, collaborate, and report.

Who it’s for: Oracle Essbase is ideal for very large enterprises with deep IT resources that already have a robust FP&A solution in place, have analysis teams seeking targeted analytics and modeling tools, and are already invested in Oracle back-office solutions.

  • Scenario modeling
  • Simple workflows
  • Multidimensional expressions
  • Real-time reporting
  • Professional: $16 per user per month
  • Enterprise: $80 per user per month

Xero

Xero is an accounting software solution that provides an easy-to-use platform for all of your business accounting needs. You can pay bills, claim expenses, accept payments, track projects, and connect with all of your banks with Xero.

You will have a full financial picture of your business, making tasks such as end-of-year tax returns easy. Automate tasks like invoicing and reporting to keep your business running smoothly.

What it is: ERP software for accounting

Who it’s for: Xero is for small to mid-market businesses.

  • Pay bills and claim expenses
  • Bank connections
  • Track projects
  • Manage payroll with Gusto
  • Inventory and analytics
  • Early : $12/month
  • Growing : $34/month
  • Established : $65/month

8. Zoho Finance Plus

zoho logo

ZOHO Finance Plus is an integrated finance suite for businesses that offers a unified platform for all of your back-office needs. All of the ZOHO apps are integrated so any data you input in one app will immediately be reflected in the others, helping keep your data updated and accurate at all times.

What it is: ERP

Who it’s for: ZOHO Finance Plus is for small to mid-market businesses.

  • Financial reports
  • Subscription management
  • Invoicing and expense reporting
  • Order and warehouse management

9. Acumatica Cloud ERP

Acumatica-Logo

Acumatica is a cloud-based ERP solution that helps scale growing businesses. Providing easy integrations with all applications currently being used. AI-powered automation makes every aspect of your business more efficient.

Acumatica can be tailored to any industry for an in-depth suite of tools to help grow your business.

Who it’s for: Acumatica is for mid-market businesses.

  • Financial management
  • Warehouse management system
  • Construction management
  • Manufacturing management
  • Acumatica does not list pricing online.

10. Sage Intacct

Sage intacct resized

Sage is one of the oldest financial software companies in the space and has a number of market-leading products in its portfolio.

Sage Intacct is their ERP solution. It’s an AICPA-endorsed cloud-based financial management software, and is used by CFOs around the world to automate complex processes, consolidate data, and drive better financial decisions.

This software comes with a good deal of customizability. You can use business object frameworks, connect it with Office 365 apps and Web APIs, and build a platform that meets your finance department’s needs.

sage-intacct-view

What it is: ERP solution

Who it’s for: Sage is designed for teams between 10 to 200 in size. It’s also most suitable for distribution, manufacturing, and professional services. Although, finance teams in most industries can customize the software to meet their needs.

  • Clean UI is easy to use and makes finding data quick.
  • Capable of handling complex costing and other manufacturing requirements.
  • Cloud-based, no need to download files locally and can be accessed from anywhere.
  • Easy to integrate with third-party apps and tools.

You’ll have to request a demo for Sage Intacct.

11. Oracle NetSuite

Oracle NetSuite is a financial management and business system designed to help finance teams of any size better organize their data.

NetSuite lets you see real-time business insights at a click of a button and uses business intelligence to help with forecasting and scenario planning.

It’s one of the more comprehensive financial management solutions on the market and provides a deep pool of tools and features.

oracle-netsuite (1)

What it is: Oracle NetSuite is a complete all-in-one business management and ERP solution.

Who it’s for: This software is better suited to medium to large organizations with complex financial planning requirements. Smaller businesses may find it overwhelming.

  • The central dashboard provides all the key information you need at a glance.
  • Create a single source of truth.
  • Assign permissions and seamlessly collaborate with team members.
  • Lots of customizable options to help tailor the software to your needs.

You need to book a demo or reach out to NetSuite’s customer support for a quote.

12. QuickBooks

Intuit_QuickBooks_logo

QuickBooks is a cloud-based, all-in-one accounting and financial management solution for small businesses.

This software helps finance teams gain better control over their financial data. You can monitor KPIs, gain deeper insights into performance, collaborate with team members, and drill down into data via an interactive interface.

QuickBooks has a robust suite of reporting and analytical tools on the backend, making it easy to produce real-time performance reports and keep a close eye on metrics that matter.

intuit-quickbooks (1)-png

What it is: ERP financial management and accounting software

Who it’s for:

This software is designed for small to medium-sized businesses. It helps finance teams better collaborate, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline all aspects of a business’s finances.

  • Intuitive UI and incredibly easy to use with no prior experience with similar software.
  • Strong financial reporting tools.
  • It uses visuals like graphs and charts well to easily view data at a glance.
  • It enables you to channel your financial data into a single source of truth.

QuickBooks has pricing plans ranging from $30/month to $200/month.

13. FreshBooks

freshbooks-logo-1 (1)

Freshbooks is a cloud-based accounting and financial management platform designed for small businesses.

This intuitive and easy-to-use software makes it easy to keep your financial data organized and produce reports based on real-time information.

If you manage financials for clients, you can seamlessly invite them to log in and view the data you want to give them access to within FreshBooks.

What it is: Accounting and financial planning ERP software

Who it’s for: This software is better suited to smaller businesses and businesses that handle financials for clients. It has excellent collaboration and communication tools and is easy to pick up and use.

  • The mobile app has all the functionality you need to manage your data remotely.
  • You can create projects and invite clients' team members to view the data.
  • Time-tracking tools enable you to track how productive team members are.
  • It makes it easy to manage your financial records in one place.

FreshBooks has three monthly plans running from $4.50/mo to $15/mo, depending on your requirements.

14. SAP Business One

sap-logo

SAP Business One is an ERP solution offering an affordable way to manage any small business. You can drive profitable growth by streamlining key processes, gaining more significant insights into your business, and making decisions on real-time information.

SAP Business One is a complete ERP software solution powered by AI and analytics.

sap-view

Who it’s for: SAP Business One is best for small businesses.

  • Sales and customer management
  • Purchasing and inventory control
  • Business intelligence
  • Analytics and Reporting
  • In-memory platform
  • SAP applications and APIs

15. Multiview ERP

multiview-logo

Multiview ERP offers a team of client support specialists on top of their powerful, data-centric financial ERP software. This software helps break down data silos, automate accounting processes and provide more access to information through industry-leading dynamic reporting solutions.

Who it’s for: Multiview is best for mid-market and enterprise companies.

  • General ledger
  • Accounts payable
  • Accounts receivable
  • Fixed assets management
  • Budgeting and forecasting

Benefits of using financial management software

FP&A analysts deal with many repetitive, manual, error-prone tasks that consume most of their time.

Using software to handle integrations, calculations, sorting, and data presentation frees up more of your time to analyze the data and advise the business.

Not only that, the structure and control of software applications reduces errors and improves data quality along with speeding up cycle times.

Here are some of the main benefits of using financial management software:

Automating repetitive, manual tasks

The benefits of taking mundane tasks from employees and automating them with software go far beyond saving time.

Automating repetitive and administrative tasks frees employee time to work on more important things, increases productivity, and improves morale.

Streamlining workflows

Streamlining workflows shares similar benefits. By simplifying how finance teams work, you find ways to continually improve business processes.

Financial management software integrates with other tools, removes or handles complicated or unnecessary steps – and does so in a fraction of the time it would take a person to do.

Reducing the chance of error

Finance professionals are great at what they do. They’re detailed-oriented and meticulous by nature, and they pride themselves on ensuring their work is error-free.

This is where FP&A teams spend most of their time—checking and rechecking formulas, spreadsheet links, and subtotals for accuracy. But at the end of the day, they’re still human; sometimes mistakes happen and errors get missed.

Financial management software provides automation, structure, and control that eliminates many of the core causes of errors in spreadsheets.

Not only does this save FP&A teams countless hours ticking and tying data, but it also provides them with confidence and peace of mind that the numbers are always correct, based on a single source of truth.

Detailed and complex reporting

Decision-makers in businesses rely heavily on detailed financial reports to help them make informed decisions, report company performance, prepare forecasts, and more.

This is where financial management software impresses. With just a few clicks, you can produce real-time reports with the exact financial data you want.

Plus, the best financial management software for…

Every company is different and has unique needs and circumstances that are considered when choosing the right financial management software. Some software solutions work better than others depending on certain factors such as the size of the company or the integrations required.

Best financial management software for small businesses

When it comes to mid-market and enterprise businesses, Cube stands out above the competition.

Cube is also an excellent fit for hyper-growth SMBs that want a solution that will scale with their organization's complexity.

hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(8159624, '895b1c2b-3268-4db4-9b60-a64339743656', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"});

Best free personal finance software.

For personal finance software, there are many free and paid options. If you want the best free finance software solution out there, read our complete guide to the best financial software for businesses and personal needs.

Sneak preview: we discuss Mint by Intuit, Quicken, Moneydance, YNAB, and Turbotax.

Best personal finance software for Mac

If you’re a Mac user and looking for the best personal finance software supported by your device, Moneydance is the way to go.

Monydance provides online banking and bill payment, account management, budgeting, investment tracking, multi-currency, and detailed graphs and reports.

Conclusion: choose the best financial management software

Financial management software plays a crucial role in managing and optimizing your organization's financial health and performance.

But these platforms aren’t always “one-size-fits-all.” Take the time to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each, and how they align with your requirements and goals.

And if you’re looking for a complete, flexible financial management solution, we recommend seeing Cube in action.

Cube provides automated data consolidation, sharable planning templates, customizable dashboards and reports, scenario planning and analysis, bidirectional Excel and Google Sheet integration, approval workflow, drill-throughs, audit trails, user-based controls, and centralized formulas and KPIs.

These FP&A software features translate to easier reporting and KPIs, more accurate forecasting and budgeting, faster close and consolidation cycles, and collaborative teamwork for more control and fewer mistakes.

New call-to-action

Home > Blog > 9 Best Business Budgeting Software for All Size Businesses (2023)

9 Best Business Budgeting Software for All Size Businesses (2023)

by Zvi Korn

9 Best Business Budgeting Software for All Size Businesses (2023)

In today’s dynamic financial landscape, mastering the art of business budgeting is essential for financial professionals, whether you’re a personal financial planner or a corporate financial analyst.

Budgeting forms the cornerstone of effective financial planning, providing a strategic roadmap to achieve financial objectives. Be it for personal finance or corporate operations, budgets act as invaluable tools, guiding financial decision-making and cost management. In the realm of businesses, budgeting software serves as a powerful ally, simplifying the complex task of budget creation, tracking, and analysis.

Table of Contents

What Is Business Budgeting?

At its core, a budget is a device that is used for planning and governing business activities. The business or corporate budget has existed for more than a century.

A corporate budget is a comprehensive estimation of what a business’ expenses and revenues will be for a given fiscal period. Many times, people think of a budget in terms of expenses, but that is only part of a budget.

Every business budget will include both revenue guidance and expense estimates, each being derived from historical results adjusted for assumptions about the future. Budgets are a major priority for finance departments, and every business requires a budget, to some extent, in order to run efficiently.

In today’s environment, business budgeting is one of the primary activities in financial planning and analysis. FP&A is an approach to business planning, budgeting , and forecasting that integrates all functional areas of a business and links its strategies to its plans, then monitors how the plans were executed. Budgeting is one of the pillars of FP&A.

Modern developments in the software are allowing businesses to develop budgets with greater confidence and accuracy. Many ERP systems utilize software applications that can integrate budgets with performance monitoring, allowing for greater visibility on how well a budget is being followed throughout the period.

Steps in the Budgeting Process

After choosing the business budgeting software tool that fits your organization based on size, budget, and most important criteria, businesses need to follow these steps:

  • Communicate with management
  • Establish goals and targets
  • Develop a detailed budget to support goals and targets
  • Compile and revise the budget model
  • Review the budget and make changes as needed.
  • Approve the budget

Although some budgets might include additional steps, almost every budget will follow this framework.

9 Best Business Budgeting Software Tools for 2023

Budgeting software for businesses range from simple, a-few-dollars-a-month software focusing  exclusively on budgeting, all the way up to complete financial planning for enterprises. Because of that, we broke it down into 3 categories: Budgeting software for small businesses, medium, and enterprise. 

Top 3 Business Budgeting Software for Small Businesses

There are many more options for budgeting software for small businesses when comparing it to the amount of software options for medium or large businesses. This is due to the much larger number of small businesses that exist, the significantly lower prices for small business budgeting software, and the high competition in this category.

(While the term “small business” can have a different definition depending on the country or industry, for our purposes we define it as a business with less than 50 employees or less than $1 million in revenue). 

Some small or local businesses even use personal or household budgeting software for their needs, while others need more high end software for their complicated budgets. Here we cover the top 3 that give a good range in price, ability, and integrations. 

Note: This list does not include software such as Xero or Freshbooks that come with budgeting abilities because it isn’t their main focus. While it might be enough for some companies, we look specifically at budgeting focused software for small businesses. 

business finance planning software

As the name suggests, Budgyt is a budget-focused software, but it also covers financial planning through organizing and managing financial data. Although Budgyt can be pricey compared to other small business budgeting software (starts at $199/month) it is one of the best out there and receives first place. 

The intuitive interface and simple dashboard makes it easy for collaboration and centralized data to be shared across the board, which is perfect for small businesses who have multiple people working on finances. Budgyt is designed for small to medium sized businesses (and nonprofits as well) looking to streamline their budget planning.

business finance planning software

Important features :

  • One of the most amount of 3rd party integrations out of any small business budget software. 
  • Forecasting feature with advanced planning capabilities.
  • Multi department collaboration and centralized data.
  • 5-10 days implementation for most businesses.
  • Budgyt has three pricing plans ranging from $199/month to $699/month. They also have discounted rates for nonprofits.

business finance planning software

Scoro is also an excellent budgeting software for small businesses, as it combines budgeting features with other tools to manage the whole company’s finances in one system. However, it is not as comprehensive as Budgyt due to the lower number of integrations and less complete forecasting abilities. The price reflects it as well (far cheaper than Budgyt) and Scoro is still able to cover most of your budgeting needs if the biggest focus is on the budget alone. 

Scoro also allows you to manage expenses and resources, analyze financial data, and manage project budgets all in one dashboard. This, combined with its unique project management tools , makes Scoro perfect for companies looking to manage their entire financial workflow in one space.

business finance planning software

Important features:

  • Big focus on KPI dashboards and metric settings.
  • Sharing abilities on a centralized database makes it good for multiple contributors.
  • Some of the best project management tools for budgeting software.

Pricing: 

  • 14-day free trial.

3) PlanGuru

business finance planning software

PlanGuru is a great budgeting software option that ranks in between Budgyt and Scoro in terms of pricing and abilities. PlanGuru focuses slightly more on forecasting and strategic planning than the rest, and includes features such as financial ratios and cash flow projection for increased planning abilities.

Although it still has a good budgeting function, PlanGuru’s forecasting and planning emphasis makes it a middle of the line budgeting software system with middle of the line pricing.

business finance planning software

Important Features:

  • Compatible with QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Xero or Excel.
  • Budgeting and forecasting capabilities go up to 10 years in the future.
  • 20+ Standard Forecasting Methods w/ Custom Formula Builder.
  • $99/month + $29/ month for each additional user.

Top 3 Business Budgeting Software for Medium Sized Businesses

Although the difference between small and medium sized businesses is sometimes a blurry line, we made the distinction by dividing it into those companies that are looking for a more complete budgeting and finance software (medium sized businesses) and a standard, budget focused software (small businesses). 

That being said, there are some medium sized businesses with simple budgets and cash flows that will do perfectly fine with a cheaper, budgeting-only solution, and there are some small businesses with complex finances that need a much more complete budgeting and financial planning software. 

1) Datarails

business finance planning software

Datarails is an FP&A tool that provides a complete financial planning package: Budgeting, forecasting, scenario planning, automation, real time dashboards, and drill down capabilities are some of the functions that Datarails provides that improves the finance department. 

Datarails is also the only completely native Excel FP&A tool on the market, which allows for easy integration and an easy-to-use platform. The centralized platform and audit control are perfect for finance teams that have multiple users who rely on the data for budgeting and forecasting. It also specifically caters to medium size businesses and has some of the most competitive pricing for FP&A solutions of any size. 

Important Features :

  • Ability to continue using your own Excel models for quickest implementation. 
  • Dashboards updated in real time with the ability to drill down to the granular level.
  • More than 70 integrations to conduct the most accurate and data driven decisions.
  • 2 weeks for full implementation.
  • Starts at $2,000/month.

2) Mosaic Tech

business finance planning software

Mosaic Tech is a great budgeting and FP&A tool for medium sized businesses. It streamlines how you produce budgets and analyzes your financial data. In addition, it has great financial forecasting abilities and consolidates data across many different sources. 

While Mosaic Tech and Datarails have many similar features, the biggest difference is that Datarails has a native Excel platform while Mosaic Tech essentially transitions the finance team away from Excel. This ends up taking far more time as the finance team needs to learn a new platform. When integration is complete, the automation and consolidation of data sources (HRIS, ERP, accounting, etc.) makes for improved decision-making in regards to budgeting and forecasting. 

  • Easy to consolidate data across multiple platforms.
  • Monitor budgets and track budget performance per project and overall including projects completed, in flight, and upcoming.
  • Maps, modifies, and customizes data. 
  • No pricing available online – customized quotes only. 

3) OneStream

business finance planning software

OneStream is also an excellent budgeting and FP&A platform for medium sized businesses and it provides automation, KPI tracking, and cash management. Although the implementation time is slightly quicker than Mosaic Tech, the budgeting function is less robust. 

In addition to medium sized businesses, OneStream also works with enterprise level corporations and focuses on financial and operational insights to support faster and more informed decision-making. Its biggest strength is data analysis and in-system reporting.

business finance planning software

  • Automate and accelerate the financial close and reporting process.
  • Personalized dashboards and KPIs.
  • Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete). 
  • Implementation fee.
  • No pricing on their websites – customized quotes only. 

Top 3 Corporate Budgeting Software for Enterprise Level Businesses

Similar to mid sized businesses, large and enterprise level businesses usually need more than an exclusively budgeting software. This is where FP&A software comes in. Many of the companies here have similar capabilities to those in the medium size business section, but the price and functions are more suited for extremely big corporations with large amounts of data such as Dell and Coca Cola (who use Workday’s software).  

1) Workday Adaptive Planning

business finance planning software

Workday is the leading enterprise level solution software for both budgeting and FP&A. The name, number of customers, and reliability, make it an obvious choice for large companies and enterprises. However, the expensive pricing plans and long implementation time create a barrier for small and medium businesses. 

Workday is a budgeting and financial planning software designed to help finance and FP&A teams streamline their workflows, consolidate any number of spreadsheets and other data sources, and improve how they use their data to budget and forecast. Workday also provides excellent HR and other Workday native software that is easier to integrate into companies’ financial planning in comparison to third party integrations. This can help with data formats, access, and complete reliability. 

business finance planning software

  • Comprehensive budgeting and forecasting tools including revenue management, capital management, expense management and financial statements.
  • Easy to produce balance sheet and cash flow data with a few clicks.
  • Automated board and financial reporting.
  • No pricing on their website – Customized quotes only. 

2) Prophix 

business finance planning software

Prophix is a corporate performance management (CPM) software that provides organizations with tools to gather, analyze and report their financial data, including advanced budgeting. Prophix gives companies all the tools they need to gain complete control over the budgeting process and simplify it as well.

Prophix is a rare enterprise FP&A software that puts an emphasis on budgeting. It is also one of the only solutions that has both cloud and on-premise solutions. 

business finance planning software

  • Can drill down into data to a granular level.
  • Clean interface with clear visuals in the form of graphs and charts.
  • Advanced sales performance forecasting Including reports and dashboards, self-service analytics and a forecasting engine to drive sales performance.
  • Customized quotes upon request.

business finance planning software

Jedox is an integrated business planning FP&A software that puts an extra focus on business intelligence. Jedox is a great forecasting and planning tool and while its budgeting function is also quite robust, it ranks slightly behind Wokday and Prophix. 

But that doesn’t mean that its budgeting function is lacking. Rather, Jedox empowers companies to analyze historical data and combine it with market insights and trends to plan, forecast, and budget smarter. This saves time and gives the ability to streamline any business process while collaborating with different departments for the most accurate results. 

business finance planning software

  • Financial planning for short and long term, meant for enterprises with long term growth expectations. 
  • Direct links to many third party integrations and real time updates.
  • Multi currency management and detailed audit trails makes it ideal for international corporations. 
  • Jedox doesn’t provide pricing on their website but gives customized quotes based on different option plans. 

There are many different types of budgeting software, and depending on your company’s needs, a cheap, budgeting-only solution might cover everything you need. However, more complete budgeting and financial planning software cover more complete financial management needs including forecasting, scenario planning, automation, and real time updates, all of which go hand in hand in budgeting. Datarails does just that and is a great option for mid sized companies looking to upgrade their budgeting abilities and save dozens of hours per month. 

Drive Business Performance With Datarails

Become a partner.

  • Search Search Please fill out this field.
  • Software for Advisors

1. MoneyGuidePro

  • 2. eMoney Advisor

3. RightCapital

4. emoney plus, 5. asset-map, frequently asked questions (faqs).

  • Financial Planning Software FAQs

The Bottom Line

  • Financial Advisor
  • Practice Management

Top 5 Financial Planning Software Tools Used by Financial Advisors

J.B. Maverick is an active trader, commodity futures broker, and stock market analyst 17+ years of experience, in addition to 10+ years of experience as a finance writer and book editor.

business finance planning software

It's hard to imagine the days of financial planning and portfolio management without technology. Independent advisors, registered representatives, and accountants have come to rely on sophisticated financial software to help them devise appropriate investment and retirement plans for clients. Here we have compiled a list of financial planning software programs popular among professionals for cash flow analysis, long-term planning, and tax strategy plans.

Key Takeaways

  • Financial advisors often use an array of software solutions including customer relationship management tools, portfolio management tools, trading/rebalancing solutions, and investment analytics.
  • Financial planning tools that aggregate financial strategies into streamlined solutions are a common software solution.
  • MoneyGuidePro has been the most popular financial planning software by financial advisors since 2020, according to Technology Tools for Today,  a technology conference for financial advisors.
  • Financial planning tools can help financial advisors better engage with clients by visualizing household finances, managing budgeting goals, and projecting outcomes of financial decisions.

Software for Financial Advisors

Financial software programs typically provide a wide arrange of useful information and capabilities. The most in-demand software products include:

  • Customer relationship management software organizes client information and streamlines process flows and communication techniques.
  • Financial planning software provides cash flow analysis, long-term planning, and tax strategy plans.
  • Portfolio management software provides comprehensive reporting tools for greater awareness and management of your client's entire asset holdings.
  • Trading/rebalancing software automates and coordinates portfolio transactions.
  • Investment analytics software provides all-encompassing data and historical information regarding securities and other investments.
  • Risk tolerance software identifies, navigates, and quantifies hidden and known portfolio risks.
  • Document management software simplifies document transmission, signature retrieval, or document storage.

Most Popular Type of Software

In a 2023 survey conducted by Technology Tools for Today, a technology conference for financial advisors, financial planning software programs were reported to have an 83.68% market penetration, meaning that 83.68% of projected sales from financial planning software programs occurred in 2023.

Though many companies may use several of the software groups above, some are very specific to financial advisors. Customer relationship management, risk tolerance, and document management solutions are common across industries.

In this article, we'll look at the top five financial planning software programs used by financial advisors. The top five financial planning software programs used by professional financial advisors based on market share include MoneyGuidePro, eMoney Pro, RightCapital, Orion Financial Planning, and eMoney Plus.

With 31.52% of the industry's market share by user in 2023, MoneyGuidePro is the most popular financial advisor software program in terms of market share.

Part of MoneyGuidePro’s success is attributed to its visually engaging, user-friendly presentation. The main portal is designed to fully engage the client, including Play Zone where the client can input different choices and options to see potential effects. The advisor retains ultimate control of the program including what parts of the program the client is allowed to see.

Owned by Envestnet, the MoneyGuide suite of products has two levels:

  • MoneyGuidePro provides more sophisticated solutions including custom report templates, estate planning, net worth statements, and risk management tools.
  • MoneyGuideElite offers the high level of services including dynamic income modeling, tax planning quantification, and annuity strategy modeling.

2. eMoney Pro

eMoney offers a very in-depth program and is known for its detailed cash flow analysis module. The market share for eMoney Pro came in at 28.47% for 2023.

One of eMoney's strengths is its financial feed that provides real-time data, alerts, and news, helping advisors stay on top of important client and market situations. Another noteworthy feature is the eMoney client portal (emX) which allows clients to access a printout of their finances at any time.

eMoney boasts the title of the top ranked financial software solution in regards to customer satisfaction. The eMoney product line also has various standalone solutions and APIs to aid financial advisors at various levels of service.

RightCapital came in third place for 2023 with 15.65% of the market share, up from 11.59% in 2022. Founded in 2015, it's a relatively new software especially compared to the other software leaders. RightCapital competes very well with the leaders—MoneyGuidePro and eMoney Pro—when it comes to newer, smaller advisors.

RightCapital generally appeals to millennial clients who need help with budgeting and was created to exist in the middle ground between too limited and too comprehensive planning tools. It boasts a number of partner integrations with CRM programs, performance reporting solutions, custodian/clearing firms, and analytics software tools. RightCapital also boasts several specific features to its product including:

  • RightIntel , a built-in business intelligence solution.
  • RightPay , an integrated client billing system.
  • Snapshot , personalized plan summaries for clients.
  • BluePrint , an organizational visualization system for household data.

Another eMoney offering, eMoney Plus, comes in at fourth with 5.26% of market share in 2023. The software is a step below eMoney Pro, focusing on foundational planning with a more simplified suite of solutions compared to eMoney Pro's more advanced planning features. eMoney Plus sees most of its success with dually-registered advisors .

eMoney Solutions

Product Description: Leverage intuitive, streamlined goals-based solutions to build more planning-led relationships and deliver more plans to more clients.

Solutions include basic access to eMoney's platform, foundational planning, and advanced analytics.

Production Description: Harness advanced planning to provide the most comprehensive cash-flow-based capabilities to accommodate clients' most complex planning needs.

Solutions include advanced platform access, advanced planning, and advanced analytics.

Asset-Map comes in at 5th with 4.68% of the market share for 2023, surpassing Orion Financial Planning which had been the 5th most commonly used software in 2021 and 2022.

Asset-Map is designed for financial professionals, and it allows users to profile and engage with clients more productively. The software visualizes household finances and tracks financial progress to help users understand finances more efficiently and thoroughly, in order for financial planners to provide more suitable investment strategies.

Asset-Map provides two main services:

  • Asset-Map Pro : All Asset-Map features for financial planners
  • Asset-Map Essentials : The features of Asset-Map Pro, without Target-Map service which provides visualizations of financial planning goals

What Software Do Financial Advisors Use?

There are dozens of financial planning software tools with the most common being MoneyGuidePro. In addition, financial advisors may use customer relationship management tools, portfolio management tools, trading/rebalancing software, or document management solutions.

What Is the Best Financial Planning Software?

Every financial advisor will be best suited for software that meshes well with their client's needs. Some advisors are better suited with more simple, less expensive solutions that can more easily explain client portfolios. Others require heavier analytical capabilities or more robust management tools. In either case, a financial advisor should reflect on their client's needs and back into whether a financial planning software tool is the right level for that need.

What Are Popular Financing Planning Tools?

In 2023, MoneyGuidePro was the most popular financial planning software solution for financial advisors. eMoney also had two of the top five financial planning tools.

Whether you have a new, small firm or a larger firm looking to upgrade to a complex, highly capable analytic solution, there is a financial planning software tool best suited for you and your clients. Consider what you need to best address your client's investing needs, and pursue a solution to better manage your client's assets.

Technology Tools for Today. " The 2023 T3/Inside Information Software Survey ."

MoneyGuide. " What Envestnet MoneyGuide Does ."

MoneyGuide. " Which Solution Is Best For You? "

eMoney. " Client Experience ."

eMoney. " eMoney Pro ."

eMoney. " Solutions to Grow and Scale Your Business ."

Technology Tools for Today. " T3 and Inside Information Reveal Results of 2021 Advisor Software Survey ."

Technology Tools for Today. "2022 T3/Inside Information Survey"

Asset-Map. Homepage .

  • Practice Management Guide for Financial Advisors 1 of 23
  • 5 Growth Strategies for Financial Advisors 2 of 23
  • Top Referral Tips for Financial Advisors 3 of 23
  • 9 Client Events to Grow Your Financial Advisor Practice 4 of 23
  • Top Tips for Young Financial Advisors 5 of 23
  • More Advisors Are Going Independent, With No Regrets 6 of 23
  • Top Reasons Why Advisors Should Go RIA 7 of 23
  • Top Challenges for Financial Advisors 8 of 23
  • Regulation Best Interest (BI): Definition, Broker Obligations 9 of 23
  • How Financial Advisors Can Protect Themselves Against Lawsuits 10 of 23
  • How RIAs Can Avoid Discrimination in Hiring 11 of 23
  • The Financial Advisor Industry Still Lacks Diversity 12 of 23
  • Ethical Issues Financial Advisors May Face 13 of 23
  • Top 5 Financial Planning Software Tools Used by Financial Advisors 14 of 23
  • 10 Best Tools for Financial Advisors 15 of 23
  • A Primer on Philanthropic Vehicles 16 of 23
  • Tax Tips for Financial Advisors 17 of 23
  • 4 Associations Financial Advisors Should Join 18 of 23
  • 4 Certified Senior Designations Worth Holding 19 of 23
  • 5 Traits of Successful Financial Advisors 20 of 23
  • Should You Focus on Crypto in Your Advisory Practice? 21 of 23
  • Advisors: What Does Your Future Hold? 22 of 23
  • Tips for Advisors Who Retire and Sell Their Practice 23 of 23

business finance planning software

  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Privacy Choices

By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

IMAGES

  1. Advisors: don't forget these Small Business Financial Planning Topics

    business finance planning software

  2. Professional Investor: What is Financial Planning?

    business finance planning software

  3. Ch3

    business finance planning software

  4. Here's How Small Business Financial Planning Software Can Fix Your Business

    business finance planning software

  5. Personal Finance Planning and Management

    business finance planning software

  6. How Financial Planning Software can Help to Grow Your Business?

    business finance planning software

VIDEO

  1. Financial Planning Workshop Video 2: Budgeting (Part 1)

  2. Understanding Financial Planning

  3. Wealth fact #financeplanning #moneymanagement #personalfinance #personalfinance101 #money

  4. Financial Planning

  5. How to create an Investor Ready Business Plan

  6. Get Money From Your Structured Settlement to Buy a Vehicle

COMMENTS

  1. How to Download Talley ERP 9 Software

    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. Talley ERP 9 is a popular ERP software that helps businesses manage their operations, finances, and other aspects of their operations.

  2. Get the Most Out of Quickbooks Accounting Software

    QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software programs available today. It is used by small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs to help manage their finances. The first step in getting the most out of QuickBooks is to org...

  3. How to Choose the Best Checkbook Software for Your Business Needs

    As a business owner, managing your finances is one of the most important aspects of running a successful company. One key tool for keeping track of your finances is checkbook software. With so many options available, it can be tough to know...

  4. Best Financial Planning Software Reviews 2023

    Products In Financial Planning Software Market ; Workday Adaptive Planning. by Workday · 342 Ratings ; OneStream Platform. by OneStream · 270 Ratings ; Oracle Fusion

  5. The 12 best business budgeting software tools (updated for 2023)

    Workday is a budgeting and financial planning software designed to help finance and FP&A teams streamline their workflows and improve how they

  6. 9 Best Business Budgeting Software Tools of 2023

    At its core, LivePlan is software designed to guide you through the business planning and startup process. It takes the guesswork out of

  7. 6 Best business budgeting software of 2023

    Quickbooks is another popular accounting software among small businesses that use it for budgeting, invoicing, and financial management. It

  8. 14 Best Business Budgeting Software

    Centage is a comprehensive enterprise budgeting software provider that offers different tools called Maestros for budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting

  9. Best Budgeting and Forecasting Software for Small Businesses

    Compare Small Business Budgeting and Forecasting Software ; Jirav · (158) ; LiveFlow · (145) ; Causal · (230) ; SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) · (109).

  10. The 7 Best FP&A and Financial Planning Software Tools for 2023

    Anaplan is a web-based, enterprise-level business modeling and planning platform. · Prophix's corporate performance management (CPM) software is

  11. The 15 best financial management software tools for businesses in

    Anaplan is a web-based planning and forecasting application designed to help organizations make decisions by giving them real-time access to

  12. Best Budgeting Software 2023

    ... finance platform that reduces the complexity of financial operations. OneStream unifies corporate performance management processes such as planning, financial

  13. 9 Best Business Budgeting Software for All Size Businesses

    As the name suggests, Budgyt is a budget-focused software, but it also covers financial planning through organizing and managing financial data.

  14. Top 5 Financial Planning Software Tools Used by Financial Advisors

    eMoney boasts the title of the top ranked financial software solution in regards to customer satisfaction.5 The eMoney product line also has