Financial planning software is a digital tool designed to help businesses manage their financial strategies effectively. Typically, they have features for budgeting, forecasting, planning, analysis, and more.
Imagine all the day-to-day financial tasks you carry out, such as bill payments, investment transactions, and monitoring cash flow to ensure you have enough liquidity. Financial planning software can help you automate all these tasks, saving you time and reducing the number of errors that could occur.
Financial management is critical for achieving set financial goals, and using financial planning software will allow you to make data-driven financial decisions rather than decisions based on hunches.
Here are a few best practices to help you choose the best financial planning software for you.
The most comprehensive financial planning software offers many notable features. But with so many to consider, it can help to have a list of your specific pain points and desires when choosing financial planning software.
When looking for the right financial planning solution for your business, be sure to keep an eye out for the following features:
Most financial planning software companies require you to speak to one of their representatives to create a customized plan that reflects your needs. Others have pre-set plans with transparent monthly fees. Either way, you should determine your budget before booking demos and creating accounts to ensure you’re able to afford it.
Reading current customer reviews is the easiest way to determine whether a tool is the right financial planning software for your company. By reading customer reviews on trusted sites like G2, Capterra, and Gartner, you’ll see the pros and cons of using these tools, guiding you on which one to choose.
The best financial planning software prioritizes its customers' privacy and security. They should offer full encryption, multi-factor authentication, user management and access control, and single sign-in options.
Ensure you choose a financial planning software that you can quickly set up. It should also have a friendly user interface that’s easy to navigate. The best way to check this is by trying out the software’s demo or checking for reviews about its ease of use and implementation time. Additionally, look for software with adequate tutorials and customer support to guide you through the setup and implementation processes.
With customization, you can create personalized report templates and workflows or adjust layouts and colors to match your current financial documents. Some finance software also lets you work with your existing spreadsheets so you don’t need to make many modifications or spend time trying to customize templates.
So, what's the top financial planning software for businesses? Let's get into it.
Cube is the only CFO-founded FP&A platform. What does it mean to be CFO-founded? It means that Cube was built by somebody who intimately understands the pains of FP&A teams, including financial planning.
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 you can plan, analyze, and collaborate with the ultimate speed and confidence.
Cube does all the heavy lifting regarding your prep work. It connects to all your source systems (your ERP, HCIS, and so forth) and collects all that financial data in a single source of truth. Then, you're able to use the native Excel (or Google Sheets) integration to arrange and pull that data into your preferred environment.
Cube helps you plan and forecast to stay ahead in today's fast-paced business climate. Customizable forecasting dashboards and reports, robust scenario planning and analysis, and bidirectional native Excel and Google Sheet integrations provide financial forecasting software features that translate to easier reporting, more accurate forecasting, faster close and consolidation cycles, more control, and fewer mistakes.
Here's a little more about how Cube can help you with your comprehensive financial planning:
Key features:
➡️ See all of our features here ⬅️
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise companies
Sage Intacct is a cloud-based software solution that allows users to budget, analyze, and plan effectively. The subscription service offers financial statement consolidation, revenue recognition, project accounting, and employee management features like syncing employee data and running payroll.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing: There are no price plans listed on Sage Intacct's website.
Best for: Any size business, from startups to public companies
Intuit is a global technology platform with several business and finance products, including QuickBooks—a financial planning software geared toward growing small businesses. Many of Intuit's products can be used in conjunction with each other, such as integrating QuickBooks with Mailchimp to combine your finances and marketing for a more streamlined experience.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses
Vena is a financial planning platform designed to bring people, the planning process, and systems together with pre-built solutions to automate time-consuming tasks. Specific capabilities include financial planning and analysis, reporting, compliance reporting, and financial close.
As a cloud solution, Vena offers reporting that includes what-if scenarios and prepares for cash and budget strategic planning. However, customers cite a long learning curve and limited training opportunities.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing: There are no set plans; contact a Vena representative for a custom quote.
Best for: Larger companies
Planful offers a cloud-based FP&A software platform covering structured and dynamic planning, consolidation, and reporting. The platform offers solutions for managing cash flow, workforce reporting, financial reporting, annual operating planning, monthly close and consolidation, and multi-dimensional analysis.
The company rebranded its Host Analytics in early 2020 to focus on mid-market customers.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing: Pricing plans aren't listed online.
Best for: Larger companies with sizable FP&A teams
Jirav is cloud-based financial planning and analysis that helps accounting and finance professionals budget and forecast without spreadsheets. It's designed to be completely customizable so you can track, forecast, and share the data that matters most to your business.
Jirav offers fast time to value through native financial, non-financial, and operational integrations that eliminate slow, manual processes.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Best for: Small businesses
Board is a self-service platform for analytics, planning, and forecasting and even allows users to create custom planning and analysis applications. The platform unifies metrics, analytics, and reports in one place.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing: There is no pricing available on their website.
Best for: Companies or individuals looking to completely customize their financial planning
Xero is a simple accounting software solution that connects with banks for reconciliation through AI. Xero allows its users to manage all of their accounting needs from one central, easy-to-use platform that saves time on tedious everyday tasks.
Key features:
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Best for: Small to mid-market businesses
Financial planning software can be a powerful tool for businesses. It helps automate and streamline financial tasks, saving you time and effort. Ultimately, the best way to find the right software is to research and compare different options. Consider your specific needs and budget when making your decision.
Consider:
Need help deciding? Book your free demo with Cube to see if it’s the right financial planning solution for your business.
Sources cited: