In 2024, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) aren't just number-crunchers. They're strategic visionaries navigating an increasingly complex global financial landscape.
The days of juggling spreadsheets and dealing with data silos are over. Or at least, they should be.
Your budgeting software isn't just a tool. The right solution doesn't just crunch numbers. It surfaces insights, removes barriers between departments, and elevates your finance team’s role from routine administrators to strategic partners.
In this guide, we'll explore the top 10 budgeting solutions to help you transform your financial planning from a quarterly headache into a competitive edge. Whether you're a startup, a small and medium-sized business (SMB), or an enterprise, choosing the right budgeting software is crucial.
Business budgeting means allocating resources to meet your organization’s strategic goals. It's a comprehensive financial roadmap that:
Without robust business budgeting software, businesses often struggle with:
These inefficiencies can lead to missed opportunities and suboptimal resource allocation.
Spreadsheets, although familiar, can result in inaccuracies, a lack of version control, and time-consuming manual upgrades. These errors may have significant consequences, including erroneous financial estimates and lost opportunities.
Modern enterprise budgeting software automates many of these activities, allowing for more accurate forecasting, real-time data integration, and improved financial reporting.
Here are a few reasons why it’s better to use a business budgeting software:
Also Read: Why Modern Finance Teams Are Choosing Cloud FP&A Over Spreadsheets
When evaluating budgeting solutions, prioritize these technical capabilities:
To help you navigate through your options, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 business financial budgeting software that stand out for their features, functionality, and ability to meet diverse business needs.
Hear it directly from our happy customer!
Limelight is a comprehensive financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform, offering a suite of tools designed to streamline budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes for businesses of all sizes.
It is a cloud-based platform that transforms the way finance teams operate, enabling them to drive business growth and make informed decisions.
Designed for organizations of all sizes, Limelight provides a comprehensive suite of tools ensuring that finance professionals can focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual data entry and reconciliation.
Key Features:
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Pros:
Who It's For:
Ideal for mid-size to large enterprises, especially non-profit organizations, seeking a scalable, feature-rich budgeting solution. It is also well-suited for organizations with complex financial structures, those undergoing rapid growth, or companies that require enhanced collaboration among finance teams and stakeholders.
Pricing:
Custom pricing based on organizational needs and scale. Get a quote to obtain detailed pricing information.
Datarails is a budgeting and consolidation tool that integrates with Excel, a familiar tool for many finance professionals. This tool specializes in financial consolidation, allowing businesses to combine data from several sources for complete reporting.
Datarails also has automation tools that eliminate manual labor, allowing more time for strategic planning. Its customer service is well-regarded, giving it a solid alternative for businesses wanting simplicity paired with robust budgeting capabilities.
However, Datarails has limited advanced forecasting and scenario planning tools and is not as customizable as other high-end solutions.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s For: Datarails is ideal for SMBs and mid-sized businesses that depend primarily on Excel for financial processes yet need extensive consolidation and reporting features. It's great for finance teams searching for a product that streamlines their current processes while still providing powerful reporting capabilities.
Related Reads: Top 11 Datarails Alternative and Competitors for FP&A
Pricing: Starting at $24,000 per year and can increase depending on factors like your company’s size and data needs
Limelight vs. Datarails
Limelight offers more advanced multi-dimensional modeling and automation compared to Datarails, which enhances Excel but lacks Limelight’s robust ERP integration and sophisticated forecasting capabilities.
Prophix is an effective solution for collaborative financial planning and performance management. It provides a full set of capabilities, including budgeting, forecasting, and sophisticated financial reporting.
The platform stands out for its AI-driven automation, which minimizes manual processes and gives predictive insights, improving the accuracy and efficiency of financial planning.
Anyone opting for Prophix might have to go through a steeper learning curve due to its wide range of features. It could also be slightly expensive for smaller businesses, given its price and time-consuming initial setup and customization process.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It's For: Prophix is best suited for mid-sized to big businesses with complicated financial procedures that need interaction across different departments. It is ideal for firms who want to use AI to improve the accuracy and efficiency of their financial planning.
Pricing: Custom quotes based on selected modules and user count
Limelight provides deeper ERP integration and advanced automation features, whereas Prophix focuses on AI-driven insights and in-memory processing but may not match Limelight’s comprehensive data modeling.
Vena Solutions smoothly integrates with Excel, providing a complete financial planning and analysis solution for both SMBs and big organizations. It has a large template library that facilitates setup and enables bespoke budgeting and forecasting.
The customization options are slightly limited as compared to other platforms, but the extensive template library built for customizable budgeting and forecasting makes up for that. You may also require training to utilize some of its complex functionalities.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s For: Vena Solutions is suitable for SMBs and organizations who like to work with Excel but want a more robust financial planning and analysis tool. It's ideal for firms looking to optimize their budgeting process without quitting Excel.
Related Reads: 10 Best Vena Alternatives and Competitors
Pricing: Vena Solutions has two plans — Professional and Complete. The Complete plan includes all the features of the Professional plan, such as full Microsoft Excel integration and reporting and analytics, along with additional features like Vena Insights premium support. You can request a custom quote for each plan.
Limelight vs. Vena Solutions
Limelight excels in ERP integration and advanced automation, while Vena Solutions extends Excel's capabilities but does not provide the same degree of multi-dimensional modeling and real-time data processing as Limelight.
Anaplan is a highly adaptable, cloud-based tool for complicated financial and operational planning. Its unique Hyperblock™ technology enables enterprises to accurately plan and anticipate complicated scenarios via real-time data gathering and multi-dimensional modeling.
Anaplan's API and connectors enable connection with a broad range of third-party systems, making it flexible to various business scenarios.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s For: Anaplan is intended for big organizations with complex financial and operational planning requirements across several business divisions. It is ideal for enterprises that want a highly scalable platform that can handle complicated, cross-functional planning and real-time data analysis.
Pricing: Not publicly available
Limelight vs. Anaplan
Limelight provides robust ERP integration and flexible budgeting, while Anaplan provides cloud-native planning with real-time analytics. Nonetheless, Limelight's advanced capabilities give more depth to financial modeling and automation.
Adaptive Planning is a cloud-based financial planning and analytics software that enables continuous planning, budgeting, and forecasting.
The platform's versatile, multi-dimensional data architecture allows for extensive financial scenario planning and what-if analysis.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s For: Adaptive Planning is appropriate for mid-sized to big businesses that need a scalable, cloud-based solution for financial planning and analysis. It is especially well-suited for businesses that currently use Workday applications since it interacts smoothly with Workday's full array of HR and finance solutions.
Pricing: Adaptive Planning offers two plans — Workday Adaptive Planning, which includes a free 30-day trial, and Workday Adaptive Planning & Consolidation. Pricing for both plans varies based on your requirements, and you can request a quote.
Limelight vs. Adaptive Planning by Workday
Limelight offers advanced FP&A tools and deep ERP integration, whereas Adaptive Planning works well with Workday for continuous planning but may not have Limelight's advanced automation and flexibility.
Jedox is a performance management tool that integrates planning, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting with advanced analytics.
The platform also has a sophisticated API that allows for easy connection with current ERP, customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence (BI) systems.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s for: Jedox is appropriate for mid to large-sized businesses with advanced financial and performance management requirements. It is ideal for enterprises that demand a fully flexible platform that can integrate with a variety of business systems.
Pricing: Jedox offers three plans — Business, Professional, and Performance. You can pick from the three based on your organization size and get a custom quote.
Limelight vs. Jedox
Limelight exceeds Jedox in terms of advanced automation and ERP integration. Jedox provides powerful multi-dimensional planning and real-time analysis but falls short of Limelight's data modeling and thorough reporting.
Planful is a continuous planning platform that enables flexible financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting in dynamic business circumstances.
The technology employs a centralized database to consolidate financial data, allowing for real-time reporting and analysis.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s For: Growing mid-market companies and larger enterprises seeking agile planning solutions. However, it has limited advanced analytics for very large enterprises.
Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available.
Limelight vs. Planful
Planful excels in continuous planning and dynamic reporting. However, Limelight offers superior flexibility and more detailed budget creation capabilities.
Oracle Hyperion is a comprehensive financial management suite designed for large enterprises with advanced budgeting and planning needs. The software offers a wide range of features, including detailed budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting tools, all integrated within Oracle’s broader suite of enterprise applications.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who it’s for: Large enterprises with complex financial structures and reporting needs.
Pricing: Not publicly available
Limelight vs. Oracle Hyperion
Limelight offers more intuitive automation and ERP integration compared to Oracle Hyperion, which is known for its comprehensive features but may have a steeper learning curve and a higher cost.
IBM Planning Analytics, powered by TM1, is an AI-powered platform for financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting that enables advanced, multi-dimensional data modeling and real-time analysis.
The platform's in-memory OLAP engine enables high-performance data processing and quick scenario analysis, making it ideal for large-scale financial operations. Its connection with IBM Cognos Analytics improves its reporting capabilities by offering in-depth insights into financial and operational data.
Key Features:
Pros:
Who It’s for: IBM Planning Analytics is appropriate for major companies that need AI-powered insights and enhanced scenario planning. It's ideal for businesses wishing to use AI for more precise and thorough financial planning.
Pricing: You can pick from three plans — Essentials, Standard, and Premium. The Essentials plan is meant for small teams and starts at $9,900/year. For growing teams with 10 or more members, the Standard plan starting at $20,700/year is well-suited. The Premium plan is customized for large organizations and you can request a quote based on your requirements.
Limelight vs. IBM Planning Analytics
IBM Planning Analytics excels with its AI-driven insights and in-memory processing capabilities. However, Limelight's multi-dimensional modeling provides superior flexibility and ease of use.
Selecting the best budgeting software requires thoroughly analyzing your organization's unique requirements and limits. Here's a framework to guide your decision:
Here are some additional considerations based on your business size:
1. Considerations for Startups
Startups should focus on scalability and ease of use. The software should be able to grow with the business and provide intuitive tools that don’t have a steep learning curve.
2. Considerations for SMBs
Small and medium-sized businesses should choose solutions that strike a balance between price and powerful capabilities. Integration with current systems and customer support are critical things to consider.
3. Considerations for Enterprises
Enterprises need software that enables advanced customization and complete support for complex financial systems. The business budgeting software should also offer multi-entity and multi-currency support, comprehensive security and compliance features, and deep integration with ERP and other enterprise systems.
The right budgeting software can transform financial planning from a necessary evil into a strategic asset.
Each software option has its strengths. Limelight, for instance, excels with its comprehensive feature set, flexibility, and scalability, making it suitable for various business sizes and industries. However, the best choice for you depends on both your current needs and future aspirations.
Remember:
Whether you’re a startup, SMB, or large enterprise, there’s a tool that fits your needs.
Ready to put an end to outdated budgeting software?
Request a demo today or see how Limelight can transform your financial planning with product tour!