In a rapidly evolving business world where everyone is expected to do more with less and uncertainty rules the market, cash flow management is the bedrock upon which companies are able to achieve financial stability and sustained growth.
There are many software solutions designed to streamline this critical aspect of your business. If you’re evaluating your options, you’ve come to the right place. This article provides an in-depth discussion of all the features you should look for in a solid solution for cash flow management and will help you decide which software is the best for your unique needs.
From automating tedious and routine financial processes and tasks, streamlining communications between stakeholders, to running what-ifs, our roundup will walk you through them all. Whether you are an ambitious startup or an established enterprise, discover the tools that will empower you to manage your cash flow with confidence.
The best cash flow forecasting software compared
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $$ | $$ | $$ | $$ | $$-$$$ | $$$ |
| Best for | SMB to Mid-Market | Mid-Market | SMB to Mid-Market; with custom pricing for enterprises | SMB to Mid-Market | Mid-Market | Enterprise |
| Scalability | High | High but requires extensive planning | Scalable, but requires manual uploading | Moderate | Scalable but requires continual adjustments | Scalable with upgrades |
| Type of FP&A solution | 3rd Generation | 2nd Generation | 3rd Generation | 3rd Generation | 2nd Generation | 2nd Generation |
| Native Integrations | 200+ OOTB integrations | Few native integrations | 22 OOTB integrations | 29 OOTB integrations | 7 OOTB integrations | 10 OOTB integrations |
| Predictive Forecasting | ||||||
| Scenario planning & modeling | ||||||
| What-if analysis | ||||||
| Collaboration with access control | ||||||
| Dynamic Dashboards | ||||||
| Automated Real-time Financial Statements & Reports | ||||||
| Customizable Forecasting Models | ||||||
| Connected 3-statement modeling | ||||||
| Onboarding, Training & Customer Success | ||||||
| Customizable Modeling and Reporting Templates |
Drivetrain
Drivetrain is a powerful, built-for-B2B strategic financial planning platform. Drivetrain offers a comprehensive, third-generation FP&A solution that seamlessly connects various business applications and data sources, to create cash flow forecasts quickly and easily.
Drivetrain’s full range of features will give CFOs and their finance teams in SaaS and other B2B businesses everything they need to create flexible, strategic, and more accurate cash flow forecasts.
The platform's ability to generate multiple scenarios like best-case, worst-case, base-case, and what-if analysis allows businesses to plan and prepare for various cash flow outcomes.
Additionally, Drivetrain's unique approach to computation through simple, plain English formulas makes it accessible for cross-functional teams to collaborate and align on shared metrics across different geographies, market segments, and channels.
$$
Small and Mid-market
Customizable forecasting models including driver-based modeling
Configure direct and indirect cash flow statements
Automated reporting and ad-hoc reporting tools
Best-of-breed reporting templates
200+ integrations
Unparalleled customer support
Seamless and intuitive UI
Heavily focused on B2B businesses
Predictive forecasting capabilities
Rolling budgets and forecasts
Connected 3-statement modeling
Variance analysis
Scenario planning and what-if analysis
Subscription revenue modeling with multi-currency support
Vena is an Excel-based planning platform. It empowers Excel users with planning and forecasting capabilities beyond the limits of traditional spreadsheets.
$$
Mid-market
Versatile solution that caters to any type of company
Users have reported good support during training
Easy visualization and filtering
Implementation can be a heavy lift (in excess of 2 months and often beyond 4 months)
Template automation is difficult
Very expensive for small to mid-sized companies (costs can go over $60,000 including implementation fees)
Centralized data management
Financial forecasting
Real-time reporting and analysis
Cube is an FP&A tool that leverages multi-dimensional (products, regions) databases, known as "cubes," to allow users to slide and dice their data. Cube is designed to help finance teams streamline their budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes.
$$
Small to Mid-market
Intuitive and easy to implement
Templates for routine financial reports
Native Google Sheets capability (not add-in)
Takes a lot of formatting to make the reports understandable, making it difficult for non-finance users
Lack of headcount planning feature
Multidimensional analysis capabilities are limited to 8 top-line dimensions
Drill-down capabilities are limited to the summary-level
Data refreshes can be slow
Data integration with various source systems, including ERP, CRM, and HRIS
Bi-directional integration with Excel and Google spreadsheets
Multi-currency support
Mosaic is primarily a financial BI tool rather than an out-and-out FP&A solution. It consolidates data across source systems into accessible visuals and provides out of the box templates. But, it comes with rigid modeling and limited customization capabilities.
$$
SMB to Mid-market
Provides out of the box templates and standard metrics to get started quickly
Built-in 3-statement model, but with limited customizations
Workflows and collaboration
Model creation is rigid (highly inflexible) and highly templated
Unintuitive for people familiar with Excel as there are so many different tabs, selections and fields to navigate and input values into
Doesn’t handle rollups well
Doesn’t support weekly reporting
Setting up access controls is limited
Multiple scenarios
Collaborative planning
Dashboards
Rolling forecasts
Workday Adaptive Planning is a cloud-based enterprise performance management (ERP) software designed for enterprise-level companies. As its name suggests, Workday Adaptive Planning offers tools for budgeting, forecasting, and modeling to help businesses plan more efficiently.
$$-$$$
Mid-market
Good financial close and consolidation capabilities
Transactional-level drill down capabilities
Custom report builder
Driver-based forecasting
Modeling interface contains many tabs and configuration settings that leads to errors and high dependency on system integrators for implementation and change requests
Offers only 7 pre-configured adapters
The formula builder uses its own syntax (not DAX-based), and combined with a not very user-friendly help system results in a steep learning curve
Heavy dependence on third-party system integrators and long implementation times (often ~6 months to 1 year)
On-demand forecast vs. actuals
Multiple scenario planning
Rolling forecasts
Multi-currency support
Anaplan is a second generation FP&A tool well-suited for enterprise-level and Fortune 2000 businesses. It can accommodate most of the FP&A use cases businesses have and can help with cash flow forecasting.
$$$
Enterprise
Use case flexibility
Scenario planning capabilities
Support for multiple currency translations and eliminations
Available in multiple languages
Steep learning curve and long implementation times
Limited visualization features on the dashboard
Complex pricing model and is extremely costly for mid-market and SMB companies
Driver-based forecasting
What-if scenario analysis
AI-based forecasting (add-ons)
Drivetrain vs. the field: Why Drivetrain is the best cash flow forecasting solution
The cash flow forecasting tools we've evaluated generally fall into two categories: those with custom-built calculation engines for complex financial modeling and those enhancing Excel's capabilities for users who value spreadsheet flexibility.
Drivetrain distinguishes itself in these categories by offering a powerful calculation engine with an easy-to-use ‘spreadsheet-inspired’ user interface, utilizing straightforward plain-English formulas and templates.
This blend of power and simplicity allows users to quickly master its features, making it a unique and efficient choice for cash flow forecasting.
See how Drivetrain can make cash flow forecasting easy
How to choose the right cash flow forecasting software for your business
What is cash flow forecasting?
Cash flow forecasting helps a company predict future financial liquidity over a predefined period. It involves estimating the amount of cash that will flow in and out of the business, including all expected income and expenses.
With cash flow forecasting, an organization can plan for future resource needs, ensuring they have enough cash to cover upcoming requirements like product enhancements, hiring new employees, expanding into new markets, etc., when they need it.
Effective cash flow forecasting supports strategic decision-making, allowing businesses to anticipate and navigate financial challenges, manage debt more efficiently, and identify opportunities for investment and growth.
5 key benefits of cash flow forecasting software
1. Accurate financial planning and resource allocation
Cash flow forecasting software uses historical cash inflow and outflow data analysis to considerably reduce the margin of error in financial projections. With enhanced cash management, businesses can make better proactive strategic decisions such as funding for product development, marketing initiatives, and hiring. This ensures that resources are utilized efficiently and aligned with strategic priorities.
2. Ability to more successfully navigate uncertainty
The software gives companies the ability to simulate various financial ‘what-if’ scenarios, helping them prepare and better navigate possible outcomes with greater confidence and agility.
3. More time to spend on strategic initiatives
By automating data collection and analysis, cash flow forecasting software tools can save countless hours that would have otherwise been spent on managing multiple Excel spreadsheets needed for forecasting. With the right software, teams can instead focus on important and strategic tasks.
4. Real-time insights
SaaS businesses can access up-to-date financial information, thereby enabling proactive adjustments to cash flow strategies that help in quickly responding to changing market conditions or internal factors.
5. Easy collaboration across different teams
A centralized platform for financial data enhances the ability for different teams to collaborate more effectively, enabling a more unified, cohesive approach to financial planning and analysis that leads to better-informed decision-making.
What are the different types of cash flow forecasting?
Most finance teams focus their energies on data gathering and data consolidation. While the familiarity of spreadsheeting is a big plus when creating annual reports, budgets and forecasts, it does have limitations.
Since they require manual entry of data, making it more error prone, data integrity and accuracy becomes a big issue. Also, each department and team has their own preferred models and spreadsheets for budgeting and reporting, so reconciling all of it into a single source of truth for the organization can be a long-drawn process.
These challenges led to the creation, and continued evolution, of modern FP&A software or strategic finance software. In this section, we have compared seven of the best financial reporting tools on the market currently, indicating the maturity of each in terms of their FP&A features. Here we’ll take a look at the degree to which each solution relies on spreadsheets.
Source: Adapted from FP&A software classifications developed by Paul Barnhurst (The FP&A Guy).
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web application that replaces spreadsheets | ||||||
| Web application that integrates with spreadsheets | ||||||
| Application uses a spreadsheet for calculations | ||||||
| Add-in for spreadsheet applications |
If I wanted to see our marketing engine's performance - leads, conversions, win/loss ratios - we had to drive data from several sources to a spreadsheet. Naturally, these manual exercises cost us time and flexibility. The accuracy and speed of our workflows are significantly higher with Drivetrain. We don't have to wait for a quarter or month-end to capture performance.— Rahul Kumar, VP of Finance and Business Strategy at FarEye
Real-world use cases for a cash flow forecasting software like Drivetrain
Putting together the plans and budgets using spreadsheets involves a lot of manual entry, not to mention all the back-and-forth emails with department heads to ensure accurate numbers. And doing the forecasting necessary to support the planning effort is just as arduous.
This is exactly why Airmeet, a premium events and experiences platform, decided to use Drivetrain.
In Airmeet, every budget owner had their own way of forecasting pipeline and revenue, and the finance team had to incorporate their forecasting models with the rest of their model to come up with a range.
To add to the problem, department plans kept changing, and there was no easy way to see how those changes would impact the model. All of this made it hard to effectively collaborate on making strategic, data-driven decisions.
Under these circumstances, it was hard for Airmeet’s finance team to move quickly. They needed a centralized system where everyone could collaborate faster and with fewer errors. They found that in Drivetrain, which provided a single source of truth for all teams and collaboration features that helped to eliminate friction.
Before Drivetrain, we had to spend time exporting and consolidating data across our Quickbooks accounts, multiple Excel files and Chargebee data to build our reporting. It took us five days every month to accomplish this. With Drivetrain, the data consolidation and rollups are completely automated and available in real-time. The best part is we now have the same information for both financial data and business metrics visible to everyone.— Rajshekhar Patil, Manager of Business Finance, at Airmeet
With Drivetrain, stakeholders no longer have to wait for the finance team to publish their monthly reports to make decisions or share their data. Now, in addition to the monthly P&L book, Airmeet has added reports such as pipeline, MRR, customer and departmental reports. This translates to Airmeet having all the required information needed to make a decision.
With accelerated data consolidation and reporting, the finance team has more time to collaborate with each budget owner, finalize budgets, and implement their forecasting models. Company leaders can easily assess the impact of investments by any combination of department, team, region, or any other dimension, giving them the confidence to make informed decisions.
Features
1. Native Integrations
Swift integration with data source systems is a crucial feature for any cash flow projection software.
Any cash flow forecasting software for real time cash position needs to integrate with all the source systems containing the data you need for the job. This includes various accounting systems (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero) and banking platforms to seamlessly pull in financial data, such as income, expenses, and transactions so that you can drastically reduce the time spent on manual data entry and minimize associated errors.
Drivetrain comes with 200+ native integrations that help you do automatic syncing of financial and business data from integrated systems (ERP, accounting, billing/invoicing, HRIS, CRM) to ensure that forecasts are always up-to-date.
This creates a single source of truth with automated data mapping, ensuring a unified data source for accurate, on-demand (every hour or once a day) analysis and budgeting, based on the latest financial information.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native integrations with top 6 ERPs | ||||||
| Native integrations with top CRM, HRIS, Billing & BI tools | ||||||
| Integration with Excel and Google Sheets | ||||||
| Excel/CSV upload download |
2. Predictive forecasting
Forecasting capabilities are essential to understand the cash flow in your business. With the ability to forecast, you can make more data-driven decisions both in terms of resource allocations in the short term as well as their long term strategic planning.
For example, in Drivetrain, users can access historical data in real time and change assumptions all on the same screen to create forward-looking cash flow forecasts.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolling forecast | ||||||
| Driver based forecasting | ||||||
| Pre-configured forecast methods | unknown |
3. Scenario planning and what-if-analysis
The ability to perform scenario planning and what-if analysis allows users to assess the potential impact of different business decisions and external factors on cash flow. This feature helps in risk management and strategic planning
Cash flow forecasting informed by various scenario modeling provides a deeper understanding of your risk and opportunities relative to your cash flow and cash reserves. It basically enables you to stress test your assumptions on cash flow.
Below are several more specific features that can improve your cash-flow forecasting.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity Analysis | unknown | |||||
| What-if Analysis | ||||||
| Unlimited Scenarios |
4. Collaboration with access control
Collaboration features allow multiple users to work on forecasts simultaneously and share insights with relevant stakeholders within the organization.
These features facilitate communication among team members involved in cash flow management, ensuring alignment on forecasts, assumptions, and strategies to optimize cash flow.
Also, with the right role-based access control, you can keep conversations private. Given cash flow discussions, this control enables finance teams to verify numbers and assumptions without everyone accessing it.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Planful | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenting Threads | ||||||
Fine-Grained Role Based Access Control | ||||||
Slack Notifications (approved Slack app) |
5. Automated, real-time financial statements & reports with dynamic dashboards
The best financial reporting tools automate reporting to save time and help ensure that cash flow reports are generated consistently and accurately. Look for a cash flow forecasting software that offers both automated reporting and interactive dashboards with enriched reporting features for faster, more informed decision-making.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Planful | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drill Down to Transaction-Level | ||||||
Drill Down by Any Dimension | ||||||
Global- and Chart-Level Filters | ||||||
Automated 3-Way Financial Statements | ||||||
Text Callouts/Notes in Dashboards | ||||||
Reporting templates |
6. Customizable forecasting models
Customizable multi-dimensional models allow businesses to accurately project future cash flows based on specific scenarios and assumptions. It enables you to forecast and re-forecast at the speed your business requires.
The software you choose should also support connected 3-statement modeling which makes the bedrock of cash flow forecasting. It integrates the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement such that changes in one statement dynamically reflect across the others to provide a holistic view of a company's financial health.
With Drivetrain, changes in P&L and cash flow instantly reflect in the cash flow statement, helping you analyze the impact and make informed decisions.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena Solutions | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connected 3-statement modeling | ||||||
| Driver Based Forecasting | ||||||
| In-Memory Multidimensional Calculation Engine | ||||||
| Rolling forecasts | ||||||
| Multi Subsidiary Consolidation | ||||||
| Unlimited Planning Window (long range planning) | ||||||
| Natural Language Formulas | ||||||
| Model Templates |
7. Customizable templates
Templates help you get started with cash flow forecasting quickly so you can start deriving value from day one. For example, with Drivetrain, one can connect their ERP/Accounting system like NetSuite or Quickbooks and come up with a 3-statement report within minutes and create metrics to add to reports like cash balance, net burn, runway trend, burn rate, collections, cash in and cash out, etc.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Templates can be customized based on business maturity | ||||||
| Best practices, tips and advisory | unknown | unknown |
8. Security & compliance
Compliance with financial regulations and industry standards, as well as robust security measures to protect sensitive financial data, are essential for any cash flow forecasting software. The table below provides some specific features you should look for related to security and compliance.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type II | ||||||
| ISO 27001 | unknown | |||||
| Fine-Grained Role Based Access Control | ||||||
| Audit trails |
9.Onboarding, training & customer success
Onboarding, training and customer success can make or break the value you’re able to derive from an investment in any software tool. Look for access to reliable customer support, comprehensive documentation, and training resources that together, ensure users can effectively use the software and quickly get answers to any issues or questions that arise.
| Software/ Platform | Drivetrain | Vena | Cube | Mosaic | Workday Adaptive Planning | Anaplan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implementation time | 4-6 weeks | > 2 months | >2 months | >2 months | > 4 months | > 6 months |
| In-house implementation | Yes | No | unknown | unknown | No | No |
| White-glove onboarding | ||||||
| Self-service management (admin) | ||||||
| Dedicated customer support/success |
FAQ
1. How long does it takes to implement Drivetrain?
Implementation time is a core consideration when choosing a cash flow forecasting software solution because it directly impacts your time-to-value and ultimately the ROI you’re able to achieve with it.
With Drivetrain, you can count on being fully up and running in less than six weeks with white-glove onboarding from our in-house implementation team, which is hyper-focused on your success.
2. How easy is it with Drivetrain to integrate with the different systems with the data necessary for cash flow forecasting?
Drivetrain integrates with all the systems you need to make getting the data necessary for cash flow forecasting fast and easy. With more than 200 native integrations, including direct sync with Google Sheets and Excel spreadsheets, you can seamlessly connect and consolidate data from all your core systems with Drivetrain, including:
- Popular ERP and accounting tools such as Oracle Netsuite, Quickbooks, Xero, and Sage
- Any flavor of CRM you like, such as Salesforce, Hubspot, and SugarCRM
- A wide range of billing and invoicing systems, including Chargebee, Zoho Subscriptions, and Stripe
Drivetrain also integrates with numerous HRIS, ATS, with BI and analytics tools like Looker, Tableau, and Power BI.
No matter where your data lives, you can easily map it to Drivetrain to make consolidating the data you need for your cash flow forecasting simple.
3. Who uses cash flow forecasting software?
While the finance team is responsible for cash flow forecasting, anyone who needs to understand the company’s liquidity (e.g. investors) can use the software too, provided you grant them access.
Drivetrain shines here, with a UI so intuitive that any stakeholder can use it successfully with a minimal learning curve.
Different teams within your organization can leverage Drivetrain to meet a wide variety of planning needs in addition to cash flow forecasting. And with dynamic dashboards, they can easily share their results with other teams and company leadership, achieving the alignment needed for agile decision-making much easier.
