Best Budgeting and Planning Software

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you don’t have much time for budgeting and planning. You need to get your business moving, and making quality decisions is a critical part of the process. That said, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to budgeting and planning. And even if you have some experience with both, there are often important differences between the two software platforms out there. So what do you do?

We’ve put together a list of the best budgeting and planning software entrepreneurs, based on our own experience and research. We hope this list will help you make better decisions about how to spend your limited time and resources—and help you grow your business faster than ever before!

Best Budgeting and Planning Software

CountAbout

A personal financial and budgeting software program is called CountAbout. It is noteworthy since it is one of the few systems that can import data from Quicken or Mint. You are urged to do that as soon as you join up, and there are some helpful instructions that lead you through the process.

Additionally, it links to your other financial resources, which include banking, credit card, and retirement accounts at thousands of different financial institutions. Additional features include support for recurring and split transactions, categories that can be defined, running register balances, and multi-factor login protection. Additionally, it makes advanced budgeting possible by enabling tasks like account reconciliation and register balance monitoring.

The web-based interface of CountAbout allows it to be used on a complete PC in addition to the iOS and Android platforms. Starting with a Basic account, it is accessible through a subscription interface, but transactions must be input manually. A more useful Premium account, on the other hand, can automatically download transactions from your financial institution.

Mint

From the same people who brought us Quickbooks and TurboTax, comes Mint, another mobile-based solution (opens in new tab). It makes keeping track of expenditures and balances simple. By creating an account and linking all of your financial accounts, Mint can analyze your spending patterns and suggest offers for credit cards, retirement rollovers, and savings account deals that could save you money.

Through multi-factor authentication, VeriSign security screening, and the option to remotely delete your financial information in the event that your mobile device is lost, Mint offers protection.

You Need a Budget (YNAB)

A contemporary method of using a budgeting system for personal money is called YNAB (You Need A Budget). The millennial demographic will undoubtedly be particularly drawn to its stylish interface.

The purpose of YNAB is to give every dollar a job by connecting accounts to create a budgeted amount, and then assigning where the money goes by the category including immediate responsibilities like the rent and utility bill, actual expenses like medical and auto maintenance, and debt payments.

The right panel of the interface displays the general budget information, including the total spent last month, the monthly budget, and any underfunded areas, in plain sight. A weekly video, a podcast, and a newsletter are used to promote and teach better budgeting practices. Additionally, it promotes goal-oriented saving for retirement as well as seasonal gifts.

The user interface of You Need a Budget is surprisingly strong and can be customized to meet a person’s demands depending on their financial situation. You are able to immediately import transactions from a bank account after adding one. Naturally, as your updated financial information is entered into the various categories, the overall financial picture will change.

Quicken

Quicken is PC software that can be downloaded. It is unusual in that it supports both Windows and Macintosh platforms, in contrast to other of the more heavily mobile-focused solutions. It is a well-known financial and budgeting tool that has existed since the days of DOS and Apple II computers.

To make things simple and eliminate the need for tiresome manual entries, Quicken operates by downloading all of your transactions. It includes cutting-edge features like integrated Quicken Bill Pay, data export to Excel, the opportunity to create personalized invoices with your own logo, and safe online backup of Quicken files to Dropbox cloud storage.

Different pricing tiers are available depending on the features you need, such as free online bill payment, priority customer assistance, and personalized budgets. There is even a tier that can categorize home and business spending separately and send you customized bills.

A few useful new features were added to Quicken in the most recent update, and the Mac version saw some significant improvements. The Home tab, which provides a thorough summary of your financial situation, is where you’ll start your financial journey. There is also a cool Wizard-style system for beginners.

Moneydance

For quite some time, Moneydance has been a well-liked desktop money management option, and many Mac users are also admirers. Although using it on the Apple OS platform is undoubtedly a joy, this program is also available for Windows and Linux.

Regardless of the flavor you prefer, the software is unquestionably speedy and simple to use. Additionally, if you reside in the US, it has been regularly enhanced to integrate with all of your bank accounts, as well as credit cards and investments, which makes it really appealing.

Moneydance is available for the same price in all of its variants, including the Windows and Linux editions as well as the Mac OSX edition. For individuals who choose a mobile solution, there are other editions available with variations for iOS and Android.

The good news is that Moneydance does really come with a demo edition that you can use to familiarize yourself with its features and capabilities before making a purchase.

Pocketguard

Using Pocketguard is ideal. You frequently find yourself feeling little anxious about how much money you’re spending. There is a desktop version of this financial management tool in addition to versions for Mac OS and Android.

However, the mobile edition of this bundle is absolutely worth trying if you’re seeking for a convenient quick reference guide to your finances at any time of the day or night.

With its primary In My Pocket star feature, it’s accessible for both the US and Canadian markets and enables you to consolidate all of your incomings and outgoings into one practical location. As a result, budgeting becomes much more effective.

There is a free basic edition of Pocketguard available that is nevertheless quite feature-rich. If you’re sufficiently taken with what it does, you could want to upgrade to the Pocketguard Plus model, which has a monthly or yearly subscription, in order to increase the usability.

Best Budgeting and Forecasting Software

Workday Adaptive Planning 

best overall

A corporate performance management (CPM) product called Workday Adaptive Planning has forecasting and budgeting functions. Businesses in all market segments—Enterprise, mid-market, and small—love the Workday Business Planning Cloud.

Forecasting models supported by Workday include::

  • Budgeting expenses
  • Forecasting revenue
  • Workforce planning
  • Capital Planning
  • SaaS account modeling
  • Sales planning
  • Academic calendar modeling

Those who are closest to the business can plan thanks to the purpose-built solutions provided by Workday software for finance. the whole collection of cloud-based software products supported by a strong in-memory technological platform that enables large-scale built-in analytics and functional and corporate-wide business planning.

Xero 

Best for small business

Xero is a popular small business online accounting solution because of how simple it is to use. Tools for financial reporting provide immediate, current reporting with direct links to all original transactions. You can also view cash flow in real-time, wherever you are, with online accounting.

At its core, Xero is a robust yet user-friendly accounting program created from the ground up. It is all you need to run your small business because it is written in straightforward language for users who are not familiar with accounting jargon.

Budget Maestro

Best for mid-market

For mid-market and even enterprise-level businesses wishing to handle budgeting and forecasting with reliability, Budget Maestro is the perfect answer. For the purpose of creating more accurate budgets and financial predictions, the program automates many of the labor-intensive and error-prone activities involved with using spreadsheets.

Budget Budget accuracy is continuously maintained by Maestro’s built-in financial intelligence and business rules, which are based on your assumptions and processes. Working with a centralized database eliminates the possibility of human error leading to data disparities. Additionally, any adjustments to estimates or hypotheses are immediately updated, ensuring that you are constantly working with the same version of the truth.

Prophix 

Best free to start

A free trial of PROPHIX’s budgeting and forecasting software is available, and it contains a central database, periodic forecasts (monthly, mid-year, multi-year), and other forecasting requirements that are all easily accessible. For proper analysis and management, this software provides income statements, balance sheets, cash flow, and other company-specific budgeting requirements to your desktop.

PROPHIX provides several options to increase forecasting precision. With PROPHIX’s versatile modeling capabilities, it is able to undertake what-if analyses, inter-period forecasts, actual to forecasts/budget comparisons, rolling forecast development, and forecasting based on numerous key performance metrics.

Budgyt 

Best for cloud

A budgeting and forecasting tool for any company, Budgyt is simple to use and intuitive. With this cloud-based solution, creating budgets is quicker, more precise, and more dependable thanks to an intuitive budgeting tool that takes the place of cumbersome spreadsheets. Clients in any industry with several stores, units, or divisions can use this service. Individual budgets are rolled up by Budgyt, which also produces reports and analyses. Additionally, Budgyt imports and exports data from the general ledger accounting software you now use.

Enterprise, mid-market, and small firms in the for-profit and non-profit sectors all favor this approach. If you are a for-profit organization or a non-profit, there are different price options.

Limelight

The financial planning and reporting software platform Limelight is simple to use and quick to set up. The web-based Limelight software enables collaboration, data integration, real-time planning, and reporting from any device.

Dynac CPM 

Imagine if your income statement and balance sheet are integrated, producing current cash flow statements whenever you require them. Add to that dynamic rolling predictions with “What if” scenarios so you can see the results of company choices.

Vivid Reports

is made to be an add-in for Microsoft Excel that is completely integrated with the general ledger accounts, balances, and transactions in your ERP. You can utilize all of Excel’s features, and it is quite simple to learn and use.

CALUMO

For accountants, CALUMO is a reporting, budgeting, and forecasting tool. Organizations can easily and rapidly report on, budget for, forecast, and plan their financial, sales, operational, manufacturing, and other initiatives with CALUMO.

Solver

The main factor influencing the expansion and profitability of your firm is quicker and better decision-making. Managers may readily get the data they need to examine business operations and financial data because it is all conveniently available in one package.

Best Corporate Budgeting Software

1. Cube

Our top pick for FP&A software is Cube, a strong and user-friendly FP&A application. Here is a brief description of Cube:

  1. The first spreadsheet-native FP&A software that helps finance plan for the unexpected and move the business forward.
  2. Eliminates manual work and provides the real-time insights finance needs to strategize with speed and agility. 
  3. Pairs the flexibility and familiarity of your spreadsheets with the control and power of enterprise software. 
  4. Implements quickly. Cube gets you up and running in days, not months, which means faster time to value at a lower cost.
  5. Connects with any source system, any browser, and any sheet in moments, so you don’t have to change how you work. 
  6. Access to an award-winning customer team with deep FP&A experience. 

2. Workday Adaptive Planning

Enterprise solutions for planning, modeling, budgeting, and forecasting for financial, labor, and sales needs are offered by Workday Adaptive Planning, formerly known as Adaptive Insights. Without the use of spreadsheets or outdated solutions, their technologies seek to foster collaboration across the organization.

For large businesses, Workday Adaptive Planning for Finance offers financial planning and analytics. They also add modeling, teamwork, analytics, management reporting, board reporting, scenario planning, and financial consolidation features to their FP&A system.

3. Anaplan

Complex scenario planning, intelligent forecasting, and quicker decision-making are all facilitated by Anaplan. Their corporate-wide solutions link strategy to results while also linking accountability to a single source of truth.

In order to integrate people, data, and plans across the organization and make the best decisions, Anaplan especially offers FP&A solutions. The solution consists of planning, budgeting, and forecasting, as well as specialist finance planning, operational planning, and planning for financial and operational planning, all of which promote better and quicker decision-making.

4. Planful

A cloud-based FP&A software platform from Planful delivers reporting, consolidation, and structured and dynamic planning. The Planful platform raises the financial dialogue and supports quicker, more certain, and more strategic decision-making.

Planful provides solutions for managing cash flow, employee reporting, financial reporting, annual operations planning, monthly close and consolidation, and multi-dimensional analysis for the finance industry. Early in 2020, the business changed its name from Host Analytics to better target mid-market clients.

5. Vena

Vena provides a comprehensive planning platform with ready-made solutions to automate time-consuming operations that connects people, processes, and systems. Financial planning and analysis, reporting, compliance reporting, and financial closing are examples of specific competencies. Vena provides FP&A software that is “pre-configured” for a prescriptive approach and can be altered to suit particular requirements.

6. Prophix

By automating routine processes, Prophix’s Corporate Performance Management (CPM) solution aims to increase profitability and reduce risk. With cloud or on-premise solution options, their technologies assist Finance in automatically budgeting, planning, consolidating, and reporting.

7. Jira

Jirav is a cloud-based financial planning and analysis tool that frees accounting and finance teams from the use of antiquated, error-prone spreadsheets for budgeting and forecasting. You can track, forecast, and share the data that matters most to your organization since it is totally configurable.

8. DataRails

Analytics is what DataRails does for the financial sector. Their financial analytics platform was created to give finance professionals the tools they need to easily gather, report, and analyze data. DataRails automates the data collection from each of your organizational systems and spreadsheets, resulting in the creation of a consolidated database of all your numbers without requiring you to alter the way you work.

9. Centage

With the help of Centage’s Planning Maestro, FP&A can make choices more swiftly and intelligently, respond to market changes rapidly, take prudent risks, and seize new possibilities. You may use the tool to create flexible, driver-based strategies, predict likely financial performance, monitor outcomes, and distribute vital information throughout the company.

10. OnPlan

With the help of the financial modeling software OnPlan, you can interact with your FP&A team to forecast, budget, and perform benchmarking with improved visibility and transparency. You provide OnPlan your current spreadsheet models, and they create a model just for you with useful dashboards, charts, graphs, and more.

Budgeting Tools for Young Adults

Money Under 30

Money Under 30 is a highly important online resource, especially for young individuals, as it covers a wide range of practical financial problems. Money Under 30 cuts through the clutter of more complex subjects you might not be interested in just now and gives straightforward, educational, and approachable content.

Do you require assistance in submitting your income taxes? You may read an article at Money Under 30.

You have a few thousand dollars to invest, but where should you begin? That is where Money Under 30 can help.

You won’t feel patronized or out of your depth after reading Money Under 30. It’s an excellent starting point for learning the fundamentals of financial planning, money management, and investment.

Gen Y Planning

When you’re a young adult, it could be necessary to look outside your parents for a financial counselor who can relate to you, your lifestyle, and your objectives and aspirations. lover of karaoke and fine food Sophia Bera, the founder of Gen Y Planning, is a young adult who strives to offer her peers the finest counsel and direction possible. Check out this list for more millennial and young adult financial planners.

Start Planning for Retirement

Retirement seems like a distant goal while you’re in your twenties, if you really consider it at all. Even if you don’t know what the coming week may hold, starting to save with your very first paycheck is a terrific approach to start making plans for the future. If your employer offers a 401(k) plan, sign up as soon as you can and make the maximum contribution, particularly if your employer matches contributions. You might have to forgo a few lunches or expensive bottles of wine each month, but in the long run, you’ll be extremely happy you did.

Wally: Track Expenses as You Go

Planning and budgeting need knowing where your money goes each month, especially if you are paid for costs associated with your job. Making a spreadsheet to plan your spending is fine, but seeing what you actually spend can serve as a wake-up call and inspire you to be more aware of your wasteful expenditures (those lattes add up). An app called Wally makes it simple to see how much money you spend each day. With Wally, you can do a lot of things, such log costs and take pictures of your receipts.

You Need A Budget

It’s time to begin preparing a little more carefully after you have a better understanding of where your money is going. An app called You Need A Budget makes creating and maintaining a budget simple, if not effortless. You Need A Budget is able to assist with:

  • Planning expenses
  • Planning savings
  • Adjusting your goals
  • Understanding the potential results

Home Budget for Families

Couples and young families just starting their lives together as adults have many financial worries. Of course, daily expenses are always a priority, but thinking ahead to their children’s futures gives them a new perspective on money. A collaborative software called Home Budget enables everyone concerned to contribute to the planning, assessment, and budgeting of family funds. Home Budget is an excellent platform for those who want hands-on experience and want to be very proactive in their planning because it has many possibilities for tailoring the program to your own needs.

Conclusion

By understanding your financial situation and setting a budget, you can create a budget that is manageable and effective in managing your finances. By creating a budget for what you can and what you cannot expect, you can make informed decisions about investment transactions. In addition, by analyzing your financial data, you can make informed decisions about which investments are best for your money. Overall, using the right budgeting and planning software can help you manage your finances effectively and efficiently.

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