When it comes to budgeting and forecasting software for small businesses, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that different software provides different features and options, so you need to figure out what’s best for your business. Second is that different software offers different forecast intervals, so you need to decide on the right one for your needs. Third, always check the reviews of different forecast software before making a purchase. Finally, make sure you have an accurate understanding of your business size and its budget when planning your forecasts—otherwise you may find yourself in for some surprises down the road!
Budgeting and Forecasting Software for Small Businesses
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:
- The first spreadsheet-native FP&A software that helps finance plan for the unexpected and move the business forward.
- Eliminates manual work and provides the real-time insights finance needs to strategize with speed and agility.
- Pairs the flexibility and familiarity of your spreadsheets with the control and power of enterprise software.
- Implements quickly. Cube gets you up and running in days, not months, which means faster time to value at a lower cost.
- Connects with any source system, any browser, and any sheet in moments, so you don’t have to change how you work.
- 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 Without the use of spreadsheets or outdated solutions, their technologies seek to foster collaboration across the organization.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.
Financial Planning Software for Startups
Startup Financial Model
Your one-stop shop for developing the full investor return summary, income statement, balance sheet, cash flows, pre-money & post-money valuation, customer lifetime value analysis, and other financial statements needed for operating a business and raising capital is the startup financial model.
The traditional company plan has been replaced by the startup financial model. The model has an easy-to-use interface and enables you to develop a thorough multi-sheet financial model for business planning in only one hour, including and connecting everything from sales to personnel.
Xero
Platforms like Xero have made cloud-based accounting platforms a reality. With Xero, an online accounting tool, you can track your cash flow in real time, make expert recurring invoices (and get updates when they’re opened), import and organize your most recent PayPal, credit card, and banking transactions, and easily create and send personalized purchase orders.
The platform has over 700 capabilities that may be used to manage payroll, inventories, and your primary corporate financial operations.
Quickbooks
With over 4.3 customers worldwide, Quickbooks is one of the most trusted business financial toolkit available online.
The tools available on Quickbooks let you:
- Track income & expenses
- Maximize tax deductions
- Invoice & accept payments
- Run reports
- Send estimates
- Track sales & sales tax
- Manage bills
- Work together with your team
- Clock employee time and billable hours
- Track Inventory
- Create and manage budgets
- Pay employees with free direct deposit
You can try Quickbooks free for 30 days and then choose the plan which fits to your needs better.
Freeagent
The accounting program Freeagent was created with the needs of freelancers and small enterprises in mind. You may manage all of your invoices, expenses, projects, and taxes with the online accounting software.
The straightforward pricing of this software makes it stand out from similar products.
Freshbooks
97% of clients, according to the business, suggest Freshbooks.
The software has an intuitive user interface, the capacity to automate invoicing, the management of projects and payments, and the tracking of time. You can manage your business from anywhere with Freshbooks’ availability on the Android and iOS platforms.
The three different plans for this accounting software start at $15. By registering for the website’s free trial, you can try any of them.
Centage
It is a complete enterprise budgeting software supplier that provides a variety of Maestros tools for forecasting, financial reporting, and other budgeting-related tasks. Comprehensive analytics, planning and budgeting, a financial dashboard, reporting, and predictions are some of its features.
Scoro
To manage a complete business with just one system, it combines budgeting features with additional tools. Additionally, it employs a financial dashboard, controls project budgets, and manages costs and resources.
Unlimited project budgets, the usage of a financial dashboard, automated invoice income stream, financial KPI dashboard, financial dashboard use, financial reports and analysis, and automation of professional services billing are some of its features.
Prophix
The software solution for corporate performance management developed by Prophix includes other smaller applications for budget planning and resource management.
Its characteristics include anticipating cash flows, planning budgets, maximizing profits, and planning personnel.
Float
It is a simple-to-use software program for managing cash flow budgets and forecasts that works well with other applications like Quickbooks Online, Xero, and Free Agent.
Its features include Business budgeting, Visual reporting, and Cash flow forecasting. It is an easy-to-use application with a strong visual component that aids in budget and cash flow clarity for the business.
GIDE
It assists businesses in integrating rolling forecasts, strategic planning, budgeting, and project consolidation into a holistic corporate performance management platform.
Its feature includes Capital asset planning, Working Capital, Operational data, Profit/loss statement, Balance sheet & Cash flows, and capital structuring.
It promises a fast implementation process of two weeks compared to the average of 8 weeks of budgeting software implementation.
Maxiplan
Organizations may plan and manage financial performance more efficiently with the help of Maxiplan’s cost-effective budgeting solutions by escaping the confusion and complexity of spreadsheet-based processes.
Its features include budgeting and forecasting, profit & loss and cash flow projections, actual/budget/plan variation reporting, revenue forecasting and analysis, and revenue forecasting and analysis.
It puts pressure on organizations that are using Excel spreadsheets to switch to a more organized alternative.
Coupa
It is a straightforward budget management tool that assists in informing each team member about budgets and current outcomes.
It is a component of a larger Coupa management suite that also includes a spending and expense management suite to support your planning.
Budgeting Software for Business
Mint
Best budgeting app overall
Cost: Free
Mint is one of the most popular budgeting apps and for good reason. It is free to use, something rare among the best budgeting apps, and you get financial budgeting shared by 24 million users.
The app allows you to create a personalized budget and will then monitor your spending. It studies your spending habits and advises how to increase your savings. It will also check your subscriptions to ensure that you are not paying for services you do not need. With MintSights, you can set goals to reach financial milestones and build a stronger financial foundation. Once you connect your accounts, you can easily navigate between outstanding account balances, your monthly expenses versus spending, and even access your free credit score. Mint is compatible with not just banking accounts, but also your credit cards, loans, and investments. You can even file your IRS taxes and receive your refund through the app’s integrated TurboTax services.
Goodbudget
Best budgeting app with digital envelopes
Cost: There is a free version with ads, or you can upgrade to an ad-free plan for $7 per month or $60 per year.
Goodbudget is a budgeting app that helps you create and stick to a budget. There is available debt tracking to keep you motivated and on track. It also helps with money management so you know exactly where your funds are and how they are performing. You will have to subscribe to Goodbudget, but once you do, you will have wide access to the app through both the web and multiple phones. This means that it is easy to share your account with others, like a spouse or family member. It helps you stay connected financially even if you are physically apart, helping to prevent miscommunications and financial mishaps. All transactions are synced to the cloud so you never have to worry about certain financial transactions going missing. Review pie charts and reports to track your spending, with generated reports to show your finances in greater detail. Digital envelopes help you categorize your finances into available funds with each envelope assigned to certain expenses. It is a visual way to improve your finances through the help of virtual tools.
Personal Capital
Best budgeting app for investors
Cost: Personal Capital is free to use.
More than 2.8 million people utilize Personal Capital, and it is a portfolio tracker specifically designed to help with your investments, offering a unique digital approach to your personal finance. The app works with several different types of accounts, including your normal banking accounts, as well as investments, stocks, and retirement funds. The exclusive Retirement Planner tool helps you view your 401K, IRAs, and also your debt so you can have a complete, well-rounded portrait of your finances at the click of a button. The Cash Flow graph stacks your income versus your expenses for an overall financial snapshot that is easy to understand, plus there is an Investment Checkup tool that checks your investments, looking for ways to minimize risk while maximizing rewards. The Retirement Planner is an excellent option when you want to create and manage your retirement. You also have the option to join Personal Capital as an investment client so you can receive direct support from its financial advisors.
Pocketguard
Best budgeting app for overspenders
Cost: There are three subscription plans, in addition to a basic plan with limited features for free.
| Type of plan | Cost |
| Monthly | $7.99 |
| Annual | $34.99 |
| Lifetime One-Time Purchase | $79.99 |
PocketGuard takes a different approach to budgeting, utilizing smart algorithms to manage and track your spending. It also monitors your bills, helping to ensure that you do not miss a payment and risk falling further into debt. There is a bill tracker and organizer available as soon as you link your bank accounts. Any subscriptions you have will be automatically flagged and built into your monthly budget. With the IN MY POCKET feature, the app will automatically calculate your monthly expenses and then advise you on what is left over to spend. It also can help you negotiate better interest rates on your existing accounts, helping you save those extra dollars. It is easy to identify what disposable income you have to spend when the app does all the calculating and reporting for you. You do not have to pay to use PocketGuard, although you will need to subscribe if you want to access all of the best.
Quicken
Quicken is a long-established tool for managing personal accounts, and while its reputation was founded on a desktop version, it is also available as an app for your mobile devices.
Quicken has a comprehensive set of financial reporting features. These are organized around a few different topics, including budgeting, bills, accounts, and even investing. For budgeting, it allows you to enter your purchases and income so you can compare them to have a better picture of how much you spend versus how much you earn.
In terms of bills, you can see which utilities and such services you are constantly paying, as well as the amounts owed and how much money you have left over. For accounting purposes, you can even combine your banking and credit card payments in one location so you know exactly how much you’re paying out. This is especially useful because consumers frequently underestimate how much simple purchases might add to prices.
It also allows you to track your investments, whether they are part of your savings, investment portfolio, or 401k pension plan. This implies that you have a good notion of how much your savings and assets are worth, while it’s fair to say that
In total, Quicken combines your banking, investment reporting, and budgeting into a single dashboard that you can access from a PC or even a mobile device via the mobile app.
YNAB
You Need A Budget, often known as YNAB, is here just in case you require precise instructions. Because, hey, you really do need one if you don’t want to spend every every penny you have and more. Perhaps you have more money than you anticipated as well.
As you may anticipate, YNAB’s main goal is to assist you in reducing your expenditure and avoiding living paycheck to paycheck. Maintain the plan and moderate your spending, and soon YNAB will realize that you are using last month’s funds rather than those you just received.
It is simple to install, supports the bulk of transaction data that can be downloaded from banks, and automatically adjusts for use by either individuals or small businesses by altering its monetary categories in accordance with your requirements.
If you stray from your course, YNAB, which is surprisingly understanding and forgiving for a piece of software, will inform you what to do to get back on track.
What is the Best software for Small Business
1. Best accounting software: Xero
A cloud-based accounting program geared exclusively toward small businesses is called Xero. It offers capabilities for accountants to assist make sure their clients have sound balance sheets as well as tools for businesses to track financial performance and cash flow in real-time. Financial KPI tracking and performance comparisons between actual and chosen time periods are both possible with customizable financial reports. Businesses can quickly take online payments in many currencies from services like Stripe and PayPal as well as credit cards. Additionally, Xero makes it simple to prepare and distribute invoices, as well as to remind clients to make payments automatically when their bills are past due.
2. Best eCommerce software: Shopify
Although there are several excellent eCommerce systems available, Shopify is the best since it offers a hosted, all-in-one solution that makes it easier for small businesses to launch an online store rapidly. Users may utilize marketing tools like meta titles and descriptions, construct custom URLs, and easily enhance promotions across social media networks like as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Users can also sell products globally with local language support. Additionally, Shopify provides a huge selection of plugins to make processes like inventory management simpler.
3. Best project management software: Trello
Trello is a task management and collaboration application that supports a variety of projects, including data entry, marketing campaigns, content creation, customer assistance, and sales tracking. It’s vital to note that, while these types of papers can be attached, it works for the majority of projects except for budgeting and invoicing. It’s a handy and simple application for smaller organizations that tracks tasks effortlessly using due dates, card cover images, users, a task commenting function, labels, priorities, and more. Additionally, each project management pipeline can accept attachments like files, photos, or documents.
4. Best time tracking software: Toggl
For very small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who just need a simple time tracker, Toggl might be the best bet. While there are many great software solutions out there that include extensive features such as expense management, mileage tracking, employee monitoring, and more, many small businesses don’t need all of those features (and don’t want to pay for them). With Toggl, it’s all about ease of use because employees can instantly track time across hundreds of third-party apps, computers, and devices — just hit Start and the timer gets going. Toggl is free with paid tiers that start at $9/month for add-ons such as invoicing features.
5. Best online payment software: PayPal
Two of the most popular online payment platforms are PayPal and Stripe. Despite the fact that they have many similarities, including a processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 for online payments, PayPal is a superior choice for startups and small enterprises. PayPal is a better alternative for small business owners since it is simpler to set up and use, while Stripe gives more customization choices to suit larger enterprises. One of the most extensively used systems in the eCommerce sector, PayPal enables millions of customers and merchants to send and receive payments using bank accounts and credit cards. Customers can finish purchases using PayPal, PayPal credits, or Venmo by adding the PayPal button to the payment page.
6. Best email marketing software: MailChimp
Because MailChimp is adaptable, reasonably priced, and allows customers to add features and capabilities as business needs evolve, we believe small businesses can’t go wrong with it. In actuality, businesses with fewer than 2,000 users can use it for free. This is a big benefit for small businesses or entrepreneurs who wish to cut costs as much as they can while expanding their enterprises. However, even the higher tier plans are affordable, with the Essentials and Standard plans coming in at just $9.99 and $14.99 monthly, respectively. (Take note that the real rate changes depending on the subscription count.) However, MailChimp includes a wide range of tools, including behavioral targeting, A/B testing, customized templates, complex segmentation, and more, that place targeted marketing and other marketing strategies front and center.
7. Best collaboration tools: Slack
The Swiss Army Knife of team collaboration tools is Slack. It makes it possible for team members to connect on any desktop or mobile device, which is especially helpful for smaller organizations that do not have a single workplace (or whose employees work remotely due to COVID-19 measures). A variety of capabilities, including voice and video calling, are available on Slack. Additionally, it is simple to interface with other business tools like MailChimp and Google Drive, enabling effective information sharing between all of these platforms. Additionally, Slack makes it simple to upload and exchange documents including Word docs, JPEGs, MOVs, PDFs, and Google Drive files. Slack is actually used by some firms instead of email because it’s simpler.
8. Best document management software: G-Suite
Google’s free cloud computing, collaboration, and productivity package is called G-Suite. Because it offers a one-stop shop for all document management requirements, it is perfect for small enterprises and independent contractors. Users can quickly and simply create and share documents (Google Docs), spreadsheets (Google Sheets), and presentations inside the collection of separate apps (Google Slides). Team members can design an email account to make it appear more professional, access email, hold video meetings, and encrypt data. Documents, including large files, may be effortlessly uploaded and shared with anybody inside or outside the company thanks to G-15GB Suite’s of free cloud storage space. Owners of the documents specify how users can access each file and provide them the option to “see only,” “edit file,” or “completely access and edit.”
9. Best human resources/payroll software: Gusto
Many smaller businesses use both full-time workers and temporary or contract workers. They therefore require a payroll management system that can handle both W-2 and 1099 employees. Because it can handle payroll processing and payroll tax obligations for all types of workers, Gusto is perfect for these kinds of circumstances. Gusto makes it simple to add new employees and identify their job classification. Even better, because both categories of workers are regarded as employees, the expense of maintaining payroll for a full- or part-time employee is the same as that for a freelancer or contractor. In addition, Gusto charges monthly fees as opposed to other payroll firms’ per-payroll pricing models. This implies businesses can process payroll as often as necessary.
10. Best customer relationship management (CRM) software: Act!
built primarily to satisfy the requirements of small and medium-sized organizations. We are aware that many CRM tools are created with the robust requirements of enterprise businesses in mind, but our mission is to assist smaller businesses in gaining access to these benefits at a reasonable price point, without additional CRM integration fees, hidden costs, or expensive and pointless features. Key advantages consist of:
- Tiered plans to meet every need: Choose from one of three plans that offer basic to advanced CRM and email marketing that includes thousands of emails per month. With clear features and pricing, customers can choose the plan that’s right for them and scale as business needs change.
- Powerful built-in tools: Take advantage of relationship and task management capabilities across all three plans. Every plan includes a library of email templates, campaign management and reporting features, opportunity tracking, our companion mobile app, cloud storage, and more.
- Advanced automation: In our higher-tiered plans, customers benefit from powerful marketing automation tools, intuitive dashboards and analytics, team management features, app integrations, sales pipeline management, and more.
- Easy setup: Act! offers user-friendly onboarding processes that greatly simplify the experience for newcomers to CRM. Our dashboard is highly intuitive and fully customizable so businesses can adapt it to meet specific business needs, customer profiles, and market requirements.
- Cloud-based technology: Access business apps and data 24/7 from anywhere. The Act! mobile app makes it easy to stay engaged with customers without losing time or opportunities.
Conclusion
Forecasting software can be a great tool for small businesses to help them budget and forecast their expenses. By understanding the goal of forecasting, you can make better decisions about where to allocate resources and how much money to budget in order to reach your goals. Additionally, using forecast software can help you measure your results and adjust your strategy as needed.