Top 10 Enterprise Management Software: A Buyer’s Guide

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.

Attributed to Peter Drucker, this quote often elicits mixed feelings in the world of business but does aptly describe a key challenge for rapidly growing businesses—balancing their long-term strategic vision with their current operational and performance priorities while staying on top of financial and business metrics.

This is why businesses need a comprehensive solution that can help them manage day-to-day complex activities, optimize performance, achieve strategic objectives, and maintain competitiveness.

Enterprise performance management (EPM) refers to the processes designed to help organizations plan, budget, forecast, and report on business performance, as well as consolidate and finalize financial results (referred to as “closing the books”). To do this effectively, an EPM solution must be able to collect and aggregate data (actuals) across departments to enable teams to create reports and compelling visualizations for better decision-making.

On top of reporting, EPM tools also provide planning and analysis tools.Therefore, EPM solutions are primarily used by CFOs and finance teams to analyze, understand, and report on business performance and metrics. EPM software aggregates data (actuals) from all departments, enabling teams to create reports and compelling visualizations to present the information in an effective way for better decision-making.

You’ll often hear people use Corporate Performance Management (CPM) and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) interchangeably, and rightfully so. While "CPM" was popularized by Gartner to describe finance-led planning and reporting, "EPM" has caught on as a broader term that underscores cross-functional collaboration across the organization. Whichever the label, both aim to align strategy with execution by integrating planning, forecasting, and performance analytics.

In this guide, we have detailed five of the best EPM software in the market in 2025. For each platform, there is a summary of key features related to EPM software with a few pros and cons highlighted, which might be helpful as you evaluate your options.

The best enterprise performance management software compared

Choosing the best EPM tool for your business isn’t easy. There are a lot of features you need to look for, including native integrations, automated reporting, interactive dashboards, predictive forecasting, integrated planning and budgeting, and customizable modeling and reporting templates.

This guide will make evaluating your options a lot easier. We have reviewed and compared five different enterprise performance management solutions to help you find the best fit for your business requirements. The table below provides a high-level, side-by-side comparison of five EPM tools, followed by a more detailed discussion of each. We’ll also explain the many benefits that EPM software can offer your business and discuss the specific features you’ll want to look for in a solution.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
Price	$$	$$	$$	$$-$$$	$$$
Best for	SMB to Mid-Market	SMB to Mid-Market	Mid-Market	Mid-Market to Enterprise	Enterprise
Scalability	High	Moderate; Same limitations as MS Excel	High	High	Scalable with upgrades
Type of FP&A solution	3rd Generation	3rd Generation	2nd Generation	3rd Generation	2nd Generation
Native Integrations	800+ OOTB integrations	70+ OOTB integrations	100+ OOTB integrations	25 OOTB integrations	10 OOTB integrations
Automated reporting and interactive dashboards
Predictive forecasting
Financial consolidation and close
Integrated planning and budgeting
Collaboration with access control
Customizable modeling and reporting templates
Onboarding, training and customer support

Drivetrain

Drivetrain is a strategic finance platform that helps SaaS companies and other B2B businesses optimize performance to achieve strategic objectives, and maintain competitiveness.

Drivetrain combines a powerful computation engine that can scale seamlessly with your business with unparalleled ease of use. With a familiar, Excel-like UI, plain-English formulas, and built-in formulas (DAX syntax), users can quickly build the models they need to understand and predict business performance and the reports and dashboard to communicate their results.

With more than 200 out-of-the box (OOTB) integrations, Drivetrain makes it easy to connect and consolidate financial and business data across many different sources providing real-time visibility into current business performance. By centralizing the data and plans from different teams, CFOs can manage and analyze critical information in a highly efficient manner and turn it into actionable business insights.

Price:

Best for:

Small and Mid-market

Pros:

Very user-friendly tool (rated #1 on G2 for ease-of-use)
200+ integrations to unify data from multiple source systems
Provides real-time insights, such as budget and forecast vs. actuals, for faster decisions
Ability to easily and quickly create custom metrics
Advanced collaboration features
Automated reporting with interactive dashboards
Extensive customization options
Interactive charts with drill-down and filters for better analysis and storytelling

Cons:

Heavily focused on B2B businesses

Key enterprise performance management features in Drivetrain:

Financial consolidation and close
Forecasting and planning
Custom analytics
Data visualization
Scenario planning and what-if analysis
Multidimensional modeling with multi-currency support

Datarails

Datarails is a Microsoft Excel-based plugin that allows businesses to save their spreadsheet data into a database to facilitate automation of financial planning, reporting, analysis, and data gathering. Users can continue to use their existing financial models in Excel but have reported issues when trying to run complex calculations, sometimes prompting them to revert to Excel defaults. Datarails also uses AI/ML algorithms for predictive analytics and financial insights.

Price:

Best for:

Small and Mid-market

Pros:

Offers OOTB templates
Easy-to-use UI
In-house customer support

Cons:

Initial setup is tedious
Requires custom formulas and syntax for many routine operations
Doesn’t integrate with Excel 2007 or earlier versions
Does not have a native integration with Google Sheets
Data refresh is slow

Key enterprise performance management features in Datarails:

Budgeting and forecasting
Analysis and scenario modeling
Financial reporting
Data visualization tools
AI features

A heavily edited screenshot of the DataRails product showing the Collection Management feature with some workflows and commenting options.

Planful

Planful distinguishes itself from other financial reporting platforms with Planful Predict, which combines the data manipulation capabilities of FP&A tools with AI (more so than Datarails). It is aimed at top-level executives, such as CFOs and CEOs, to enable faster and more insightful decision-making and strategic planning.

Price:

Best for:

Small and Mid-market

Pros:

Responsive customer support team (for L1 issues or first-line of support)
More user control on financial processes
Good-looking UI that enables both regular and infrequent users

Cons:

Longer implementation time
Difficulty in setting up templates
AI is limited to predicting forecasts and budgets
Requires multi-year contracts
Wage data entry process is complicated

Key enterprise performance management features in Planful:

Financial close management
Financial consolidation
Workforce planning
Cash flow forecasting
Data visualization

Planful Predict product page showing advanced fill feature showing budget projections

Pigment

Pigment is a business planning platform designed for finance and revenue teams. Targeted towards larger organizations, it enables planning and forecasting in real-time to help leaders make data-driven business decisions.

Price:

$$-$$$

Best for:

Mid-Market to Enterprise

Pros:

Flexible drag-and-drop style calculation engine
Strong organizational-wide planning platform
Real-time integrated business planning

Cons:

Limited formatting and customization features
Complex learning curve
Limited visualization capabilities compared to financial BI tools
Performance suffers when processing large data sets

Key enterprise performance management features in Pigment:

Financial reports and statements
Scenario planning
Custom dashboards
Financial analytics

Anaplan

Anaplan is a web-based planning and forecasting application. While it is more accurately characterized as a second generation FP&A tool, we have included it here as an option that is particularly well-suited to enterprise-level SaaS businesses. It offers AI/ML features for generating financial insights.

Price:

$$$

Best for:

Mid-market

Pros:

Supports real-time collaboration
Provides security and audit tracking
Allows integration with other CRM and financial systems

Cons:

Steep learning curve, long implementation times (at least 6+ months) and very high time to value
Limited visualization features on the dashboard
Complex pricing model and is extremely costly for mid-market and SMB companies

Key enterprise performance management features in Anaplan:

Forecasting
Scenario modeling
Workflow management features

Anaplan product screenshot showing a Top Line Revenue Summary with a stacked chart split by different revenue types, Group KPIs, P&L summary table and a line chart showing Total Revenue over some period

Why Drivetrain is the best EPM software for your business

Many of the EPM tools on the market today target large enterprises (no surprise there). Due to their complexity, finance leaders and teams often need extensive training and technical expertise (via IT teams or third-party system integrators), to derive maximum value and generate reports.

It is also an exhausting process involving BI tools and the organization's IT team, as well as longer wait times to get access to performance metrics in real time. Stakeholders and decision makers have no option but to settle for basic reports, instead of insightful, actionable, and customized results. To achieve the agility that businesses need today, CFOs and their finance teams require a user-friendly, self-service solution that enables them to customize and build these reports themselves.

That solution is Drivetrain, a simple, yet powerful strategic finance software that fully supports enterprise performance management. Drivetrain provides a highly sophisticated and powerful calculation engine, but also offers the familiarity and ease of Excel spreadsheets through an Excel-like UI.

The platform combines best-in-class modeling and reporting templates with dynamic, interactive dashboards, pre-calculated and custom metrics and detailed reports. You can quickly analyze your actuals vs. budget on demand, and create detailed variance reports or compare your actuals vs. forecast, all without any external support for IT teams or data analysts.

Using Drivetrain, finance teams can more effectively and efficiently manage the financial consolidation and close process—by aggregating financial and business data from different source systems, tracking current business performance, and deriving actionable business insights, all in real time.

See how Drivetrain can help you level up your enterprise performance management

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How to choose the right enterprise performance management software for your business

What is enterprise performance management software?

Enterprise performance management software is used to do budgeting, create forecasts, and facilitate other types of FP&A activities that help manage financial performance of a business. Such tools typically provide data analytics, reporting, and forecast modeling so organizations can analyze, understand, and plan strategically for the business. EPM software helps companies align business strategy with business execution.

Top 5 benefits of enterprise performance management solutions

A comprehensive third-generation FP&A software enables finance leaders and teams to track and optimize business performance and make data-driven decisions. In this section, we have outlined some of the key benefits businesses can expect when they start using financial performance management software.

1. Automated data consolidation

Most of the EPM tools on the market today support large volumes of data, automating its consolidation from several different source systems. This saves FP&A teams the trouble of manually pulling and reconciling from different sources, as well as removes the hassles of cut- and copy-paste errors—making it more time and effort friendly.

2. More accurate forecasting

The right enterprise performance management software enables finance teams to accurately forecast expenses and revenue. By pulling historical data and centralizing modeling assumptions in one single platform, EPM software not only eliminates a huge amount of the effort involved in forecasting but also most of the error and ensures that finance teams are always working from the most accurate data available when they create their forecasts.

3. Real-time insights

EPM tools help FP&A teams stay on top of their business performance and metrics with detailed insights into their financial performance, including revenue, expenses, and profitability, in real time. The best EPM software solutions will make it easier for FP&A teams to view and update their models with a click of a button and then share those results in a meaningful way with all the stakeholders that need to see them. The ability to update forecasts on the fly also allows businesses to be far more agile in their decision-making to respond to emerging threats and leverage new growth opportunities.

4. More time for strategic initiatives

By handing off the data-related burden of consolidating data from multiple sources to an EPM tool and making it available in one place, CFOs and their teams have far more time to think strategically about the business and explore what the data is telling them. With the detailed insights derived from financial performance management tools, they can better predict the profitability of future initiatives and scenarios and make more informed decisions to improve efficiency and profitability.

5. Better collaboration across different teams

Consolidating data from multiple sources and making it easily accessible to all stakeholders that need to see it are table stakes for effective EPM. This drives better strategic alignment across departments as teams are able to view and work on the same data set more confidently and efficiently—without worrying about the errors of data consolidation and validation as well as version control. It also helps to achieve alignment faster by eliminating disagreements about whose data is the “right” data, shifting the conversation instead to how to best achieve business goals and objectives.

What are the different types of enterprise performance management tools in SaaS?

Most SaaS businesses still use spreadsheets for the FP&A activities necessary to manage and predict performance. The simple truth is that this makes EPM much harder than it has to be, not to mention far less effective. We’ve already touched upon a few of the limitations inherent in spreadsheets. Let’s just lay them out right here:

‍

Manually entering all the data you need can be extraordinarily time consuming.
They’re highly error prone, especially when it comes to complex formulas.
Lack of version control means you’re always chasing down the owner to verify the data.
Keeping the models you use to make critical business decisions is very tedious and complex.
Unifying data across multiple spreadsheets can take days (if not weeks).

‍

To be clear, spreadsheets are a great, cost-effective way for small companies with a relatively simple business model. When you multiply all the different FP&A processes required for effective EPM by the problems listed above, it becomes clear that spreadsheets simply do not scale. For SaaS businesses (or any other business for that matter), growth is mission critical making it inevitable that most will have to seek better solutions managing performance.

This reality is what has given rise in recent years to the category of what we now know as modern FP&A software (aka strategic finance software) and has driven its continued and rapid evolution.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the maturity of each of these tools in terms of the degree to which each solution relies on spreadsheets.

‍

Note: We've adapted the table below from FP&A software classifications developed by Paul Barnhurst (The FP&A Guy).

‍

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
Web application that replaces spreadsheets
Web application that integrates with spreadsheets
Application uses a spreadsheet for calculations
Add-in for spreadsheet applications

Real-world use cases for an enterprise performance management software like Drivetrain

The way [the data] shows up on Drivetrain is clean. A person can drill down into everything. Drivetrain offers a ‘package solution’ – one that ‘does the job, end to end.
_{— Kushank Poddar, Head of Sales Strategy, LambdaTest}

For LambdaTest, a software testing infrastructure platform, one of the biggest challenges in its growth journey was overreliance on technologies that couldn’t keep up with the company’s rapidly changing needs, especially in its revenue operations.

Initially, LambdaTest was using a combination of Zoho CRM and Google Sheets to track its revenue generating activities. With rapid expansion into new markets, however, the sales strategy team was struggling to get a comprehensive view of the sales funnel with the reports available in Zoho CRM.

The problem was magnified when they began to prepare the company’s annual plan. Before any actual planning could begin, Poddar and his team would have to configure and run a massive number of customized reports in Zoho CRM to get the required data. And, with multiple sales channels and individual teams, they had to deal with dozens of funnels, each of which had to be evaluated against 6-8 different metrics.

Drivetrain was instrumental in helping the sales strategy team streamline its annual planning, enabling them to create the annual financial plan in a fraction of the time it would have taken otherwise.

Drivetrain also eased the process of cross-functional collaboration at LambdaTest, as team members can easily log in to the platform and get access to whatever data they need. The company has people in multiple departments who now use Drivetrain in various ways to meet their different needs.

With these time-consuming processes and activities out of the way, LambdaTest’s strategy team now has unprecedented visibility into business performance and can turn insights into action even faster to spot new opportunities. According to Poddar, he can now devote more time and effort on long-term initiatives, such as experiments to improve the productivity of the sales team.

Features

In earlier sections, we detailed the features as well as with the pros and cons of the five of the best EPM tools in the market today. The information we have compiled here will help you gain a better understanding of the specific features you should look for in an EPM software depending on your company’s unique needs.

1. Native integrations

Swift integration with data source systems is a crucial feature for any FP&A software, especially those that ensure financial performance management. Integration with source systems eliminates the need for manual entry of data, minimizing typos and human errors in formulas. Without native integrations, real-time financial reporting can be challenging for finance teams.

Drivetrain has 200+ native integrations that finance leaders and teams can use to automatically sync financial and business data from integrated systems into one central platform. Creating a single source of truth ensures that forecasts are always up-to-date.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	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. Automated reporting and interactive dashboards

Similar to financial reporting platforms, EPM software should automate and streamline the financial reporting process by eliminating manual entries and reducing the risk of errors. This will save hours of work for finance teams while at the same time, significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of reporting. This ensures that any report, such as collections reports, marketing funnel reports, headcount analysis reports, variance reports, can be generated quickly and are reliable.

An EPM software should also provide a real-time view of all the core financial and SaaS metrics businesses use to measure their performance. Assuming the system can track them (refer to the section on integrated planning and budgeting features), customizable and interactive dashboards allow finance teams to monitor easily and more effectively to determine at a moment’s notice, answers to questions that arise regarding company performance to enable rapid decision-making.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
Automated reporting templates
Automated 3-way financial statements
Drill down to transaction level
Drill down by any dimension
Global- and chart-level filters
Text callouts/notes in dashboards

3. Predictive forecasting

Forecasting is a critical part of financial planning and analysis. The ability to forecast accurately and efficiently empowers finance leaders to make more data-driven decisions both in terms of resource allocations in the short term as well as their long term strategic planning.

As a full-featured strategic finance platform, Drivetrain is ideal for enterprise performance management because it allows finance teams to access historical data in real time. They can select from a number of predefined forecasting methods, adjust their assumptions, and make futuristic predictions—all on the same unified dashboards. Drivetrain also helps CFOs and their finance teams proactively identify hidden risks and opportunities.

Software/ Platform	Planful	Pigment
Rolling forecasts and budgets
Pre-configured forecasting methods	unknown	unknown
Driver-based forecasting

4. Integrated planning and budgeting (modeling capabilities)

Third-gen FP&A tools help automate the labor-intensive planning and budgeting processes, centralize all the planning and financial data, improve collaboration across teams, and boost productivity. Finance teams can quickly and easily produce budgets and forecasts, model what-if scenarios, and generate detailed reports—all on a single platform.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
In-memory multidimensional calculation engine
Actuals vs. forecast analysis
Budget variance analysis
Multiple scenario planning
Sensitivity analysis		unknown
What-if analysis
OOTB financial ratios and business metrics
OOTB SaaS metrics
Automate and track custom metric calculations

5. Collaboration with access control

Any enterprise performance management software should provide a single source of truth—consolidating and reconciling data across systems—and include facilitating seamless collaboration across all teams. Collaboration features allow multiple users to work on forecasts simultaneously and share insights with relevant stakeholders within the organization. User access controls and other permissions ensure that only authorized users are allowed to view and manage sensitive financial information.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
Commenting Threads
Fine-Grained Role Based Access Control				unknown
Slack Notifications

6. Customizable modeling and reporting templates

All businesses, especially SaaS organizations, have unique business models, strategies and requirements, thereby reducing the scope of one-size-fits-all templates. It is crucial for finance teams to review the templates provided by EPM tools and determine how easy it would be to customize those for their own specific requirements. The built-in templates Drivetrain provides are designed with flexibility in mind, making it easy to customize assumptions, inputs, and formulas per business needs, industry-specific nuances, and changing market conditions.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
Customizable model templates				unknown
Automated reporting templates				unknown
Custom data modeling

7.Onboarding, training & customer success

Onboarding, training and customer success is possibly the most important feature to derive maximum value from any EPM software. Reliable customer support and comprehensive training, along with easy access to best practices and resource documents ensures that users can effectively utilize and leverage the software for their business requirements, as well as address any issues as they occur.

Software/ Platform	Drivetrain	Datarails	Planful	Pigment	Anaplan
Implementation time	4-6 weeks	unknown	>3 months	6-10 weeks + (also requires 8 hours of user training)	> 6 months
In-house implementation	Yes	unknown	No	unknown	No
White-glove onboarding				unknown
Self-service management (admin)
Dedicated customer support/success				unknown

1. How long does it take to implement Drivetrain?

Implementation time is the make-or-break factor for choosing an EPM software solution because it directly impacts your time-to-value and ultimately the ROI you’re able to achieve with it.

Drivetrain streamlines the entire user onboarding process, ensuring that finance teams and other users are fully up and running in less than six weeks. Our in-house implementation team provides a top-notch white-glove onboarding experience, including guiding you through complex features and allowing you to provide instant feedback.

2. What is the importance of an EPM software?

A modern EPM solution enables financial teams to respond quickly to disruptions and stay ahead of the curve, by:

Optimizing the financial close
Streamlining account reconciliation
Making accurate and agile forecasts
Managing and driving profitability
Aligning tax reporting with corporate financial reporting
Fulfilling reporting requirements
Managing change with enterprise data management

3. What is the difference between EPM and CPM?

There are a few fundamental differences between Corporate Performance Management (CPM) and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM):

EPM is the process of monitoring performance across the enterprise, via an EPM software, with the goal of improving business performance. An EPM system integrates and analyzes data from many sources, including, but not limited to, e-commerce systems, front-office and back-office applications, data warehouses, and external data sources. Advanced EPM systems can support many performance methodologies such as the balanced scorecard.

CPM is an umbrella term that describes the methodologies, metrics, processes, and systems used to monitor and manage the business performance of an enterprise. CPM platforms are used by teams to align corporate goals and strategies with planning and execution processes to better control organizational success. CPM is also regarded as a subset of business intelligence that helps manage corporate performance per specified KPIs.

Related enterprise performance management software guides

We have even more information on enterprise performance management related software and tools. Check them out.

Financial reporting software Business budgeting software Financial planning and analysis software Revenue planning software

Modern finance teams don’t just report on the past, they shape what comes next. But that requires more than spreadsheets and siloed systems. It calls for a unified approach to planning, forecasting, and performance management across the entire business. That’s the promise of enterprise performance management (EPM) software: to connect strategic goals with daily execution in real time.

Still, the gap between promise and reality is wide. Many EPM tools are either too rigid to handle fast-changing business needs or too fragmented to offer a clear view of performance. Often, their planning modules aren’t built with finance workflows in mind, leading to clunky processes, manual workarounds, and leaving finance teams to fight fires instead of driving strategy.

The best EPM platforms combine deep financial modeling capabilities with operational flexibility, giving teams a shared language to plan, pivot, and align. Because performance isn’t something you review once a quarter from your rear-view mirror—it’s something you steer as you drive it forward every day.

You’ll often hear people use the terms corporate performance management (CPM) and enterprise performance management (EPM) interchangeably, and rightfully so. While "CPM" was popularized by Gartner to describe finance-led planning and reporting, "EPM" has caught on as a broader term that underscores cross-functional collaboration across the organization. Whatever label you use, both refer to software that aim to align strategy with execution by integrating planning, forecasting, and performance analytics.

For this updated guide, we reviewed a total of ten EPM solutions, six for the enterprise and five for the mid-market categories. To cover the broadest range of possible needs, we’ve broken them out into two categories based on the needs of the market sector they target with their solution:

Enterprise, which we define as 1000 employees and/or more than $100M ARR
Mid-market businesses, defined as 50-1000 employees, and/or $5-$100M ARR

For this evaluation, we consulted a wide range of sources, including vendor websites and product documentation, independent software review platforms, customer testimonials and reviews, and third-party analyst reports.

For each EPM system, you’ll find a summary of the key features related to aligning strategy with execution by integrating planning, forecasting, and performance analytics, and some of the pros and cons you might want to consider as you evaluate your options.

We’ve also included a new discussion about how AI is being incorporated into the CFO and finance functions today. For this, we highlight three companies that are leading the way forward with AI in terms of how they are incorporating it into their platforms to enhance their EPM and other functions. This information will benefit CFOs and others working in corporate FP&A who want to leverage the power of AI to streamline their work and improve financial performance.

The best EPM software for enterprises

If you’re part of a finance team or lead one, you probably already know this pain. You're buried in Excel files that break when someone sneezes. Your planning cycle takes three months because everyone's using different versions of the same spreadsheet. By the time you finish your forecast, the business has already changed direction twice. This is why EPM software exists: to fix the chaos that comes with managing enterprise finances through disconnected tools.

But here's where it gets tricky. Walk into any EPM vendor demo and you'll hear about driver-based forecasting, multi-dimensional reporting, AI-enabled modeling, and collaborative planning workflows. These aren't just buzzwords, though. They're genuinely useful capabilities. Driver-based forecasting lets you model how changes in key business metrics ripple through your financials. Multi-dimensional reporting means you can slice your data by region, product line, or any other dimension that matters to your business. Real-time dashboards give executives the numbers they need without waiting for month-end reports.

The problem isn't that these features don't matter; it's that most vendors sell them as if they're magic bullets. A system with every bell and whistle is worthless if it takes your team six months to figure out how to use it. The finance teams that actually succeed with EPM tools focus on finding platforms that deliver core functionality without the “complexity tax.” They want tools that integrate with their existing systems, don't require an SQL course to operate, and can show value within weeks, not quarters.

In this guide, we have identified six top EPM software solutions that offer these and other key features enterprise CFOs and their finance teams need to effectively manage the complexity of corporate finance and help them provide strategic insights that drive growth. They are Drivetrain, Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planning, Oracle Cloud EPM Platform, SAP Enterprise Performance Management, and Pigment.

Take a look at the table below for a quick look at how they stack up in terms of the key features they offer to support enterprise EPM processes. Then, we’ll dive into the details.

Software/ Platform
Price	$$	$$$	$$$	$$$$	$$$	$$$
G2 ratings	4.8	4.6	4.3	4.1	4.2	4.6
Time to ROI (from G2)	6 months	17 months	22 months	25 months	12+ months	15 months
Time for implemen-tation	4-6 weeks	5-7 months	4-6 months	5-7 months	16-24 weeks	3-6 months
No. of integrations supported	800+	60-100	300+	150+	100+	20
Driver-based forecasting
Multi-dimensional reporting
AI-enabled modeling
Collabor-ation with access control
Multi-curreny support
Ease of use

Drivetrain

Drivetrain is redefining what enterprise performance management should look like, fast, flexible, and built for real-world business complexity. Most EPM tools take months to roll out. Drivetrain gets you up and running in just 4–6 weeks. It means faster access to insights and a return on investment (ROI) in as little as six months.

What sets Drivetrain apart is how deeply AI is woven into the platform. And it’s real AI; the kind that finance teams can build complex models, run what-if scenarios, and forecast with speed and precision, without any SQL or coding mastery. And with 800+ native integrations, Drivetrain plugs into almost any system you’re using, making it easy to unify data and eliminate the silos that slow down enterprise planning.

For finance leaders, the real value lies in how Drivetrain brings teams together. Multi-dimensional reporting, real-time visualizations, and collaborative workflows make it easy for stakeholders to align, test assumptions, and make better decisions, faster. It’s everything enterprise planning should be: powerful, intuitive, and built for the pace of business today.

Pros:

Fastest implementation in the market (4-6 weeks), accelerating time-to-value
Industry-leading time to ROI (6 months) with the highest G2 rating (4.8)
Most extensive integration ecosystem (800+) to eliminate every data silo
AI-native platform with superior forecasting and modeling capabilities
Intuitive interface requiring minimal training for finance teams
Global scalability for large enterprises

Cons:

Primarily focused on B2B businesses

Key enterprise performance management features in Drivetrain:

Real-time multi-dimensional financial planning and analysis
Driver-based forecasting with scenario modeling
Automated financial consolidation and reporting
Interactive dashboards with drill-down capabilities
Collaborative planning with role-based access controls

Anaplan

Anaplan functions as a connected planning platform designed for complex enterprise environments. With implementation times ranging from 5-7 months and a time to ROI of 17 months, organizations must commit to significant upfront investment before realizing value. While Anaplan offers robust multi-dimensional reporting and driver-based forecasting capabilities, users consistently note its steep learning curve, which is further reflected in its G2 ease-of-use rating. This complexity often makes it necessary to get specialized training for users and/or hire dedicated resources with the skills to maximize platform utilization.

The platform provides strong collaboration features with comprehensive access controls, allowing large organizations to manage complex permission structures across departments. Anaplan's multi-currency support meets the needs of global enterprises, though its AI-enabled modeling capabilities lag behind newer market entrants. With limited integration capabilities, Anaplan falls significantly behind competitors like Drivetrain in terms of connectivity to external systems, potentially creating challenges for organizations with diverse technology ecosystems.

For organizations evaluating Anaplan, the primary consideration should be whether the extended implementation timeline, learning curve, and limited integration capabilities align with business objectives. The platform offers comprehensive planning capabilities for enterprises willing to invest substantial time and resources in deployment and training. However, organizations seeking more agile implementation, more intuitive user experiences, or more extensive integration options may find Anaplan challenging to justify against business requirements.

Pros:

Robust, connected planning across departments and functions
Strong multi-dimensional analysis and scenario modeling capabilities
Comprehensive workflow and collaboration features

Cons:

Steep learning curve requiring significant training investment
Long implementation times (5-7 months) and extended ROI timeline (17 months)
Limited integration capabilities compared to modern platforms
A complex interface that can overwhelm new users
Performance issues with large datasets reported by users

Key enterprise performance management features in Anaplan:

Cross-functional connected planning and budgeting
What-if scenario analysis and modeling
Financial consolidation and close management
Automated variance analysis and reporting

Workday Adaptive Planning

Workday Adaptive Planning delivers a comprehensive enterprise planning solution that integrates particularly well within the broader Workday ecosystem. With implementation timelines of 4-6 months and a time to ROI of 22 months, organizations should prepare for moderate deployment timeframes before achieving value. The platform performs adequately in multi-dimensional reporting but excels in collaboration features with well-designed access controls that facilitate cross-functional planning processes.

Workday Adaptive Planning supports approximately 60-100 integrations, focusing primarily on connections within the Workday ecosystem rather than the broader range offered by leaders like Drivetrain.

Organizations considering Workday Adaptive Planning should evaluate their existing technology landscape, particularly any current Workday investments. For companies already using Workday HCM or Financials, the platform offers natural synergies and data flows. However, organizations requiring extensive connections to diverse systems or seeking faster implementation timelines may need to carefully assess whether the platform's integration approach and deployment timeline align with their specific requirements.

Pros:

Good user interface with high ease-of-use ratings
Strong collaboration features with intuitive workflows
Seamless integration within the Workday ecosystem
Comprehensive multi-currency support for global operations
Good balance of functionality and accessibility

Cons:

The extended time to ROI (22 months) is among the longest in the category
Limited integration options (60-100) outside the Workday ecosystem
Multi-dimensional reporting capabilities lag behind competitors
Implementation complexity increases outside the Workday environment
Growing AI capabilities, but not yet best-in-class

Key enterprise performance management features in Workday Adaptive Planning:

Integrated financial and workforce planning
Rolling forecasts with driver-based modeling
Dashboard creation with self-service analytics

Oracle Cloud EPM Platform

Oracle Cloud EPM Platform provides an end-to-end solution, particularly suited for organizations already invested in the Oracle ecosystem. With implementation timeframes ranging from 5-7 months and the longest time to ROI in the comparison at 25 months, organizations must commit to a significant upfront investment before realizing returns. The platform offers capable multi-dimensional reporting and driver-based forecasting features, but receives lower ratings for ease of use and collaboration capabilities compared to more modern alternatives.

Oracle’s Cloud EPM supports approximately 150+ integrations, with particular strength in connecting to other Oracle applications. This integration approach proves effective for organizations heavily invested in the Oracle ecosystem but presents notable limitations compared to modern platforms like Drivetrain that offer more fully connected planning.

For organizations evaluating Oracle Cloud EPM, the primary considerations should include existing Oracle investments and tolerance for extended implementation timelines. Organizations already committed to Oracle's ecosystem may find value in the platform's native integration capabilities, while those seeking more agile implementation approaches, intuitive user experiences, or more extensive integration options may find the platform's complexity and deployment timeline challenging to justify against business objectives.

Pros:

Comprehensive end-to-end EPM suite covering all financial processes
Strong multi-dimensional reporting and analytics capabilities
Deep integration with the Oracle ecosystem
Global scalability for large enterprises

Cons:

Longest time to ROI (25 months) of all vendors compared
Complex implementation requiring specialized expertise
Limited ease of use with a steep learning curve
Moderate collaboration capabilities compared to modern platforms

Key enterprise performance management features in Oracle Cloud EPM Platform:

Complete financial close and consolidation
Strategic and operational planning modules
Profitability and cost management
Narrative reporting and disclosure management
Account reconciliation with automated matching

SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud delivers capabilities specifically designed for enterprises operating within the SAP ecosystem. With implementation timelines of 6+ months and a time to ROI of 18+ months, organizations face a substantial upfront investment before they can expect to start realizing any value from the system. The platform performs adequately in driver-based forecasting while offering stronger multi-dimensional reporting capabilities, though users consistently note challenges with its ease of use and the lack of collaboration features.

The platform supports approximately 100+ integrations, focusing primarily on connections within the SAP ecosystem. This approach benefits organizations heavily invested in SAP but may limit flexibility for those with diverse technology stacks.

SAP’s Analytics Cloud makes the most sense for companies already deep in the SAP ecosystem. If your data and processes are built around SAP, the integration and continuity can be a big plus. But the tradeoff is time and complexity. Implementations tend to be long, and the user experience isn’t exactly known for being intuitive. For organizations looking to move fast or prioritize usability, it’s worth asking whether SAP’s approach aligns with how your teams actually work and how quickly you need to see results.

Pros:

Strong multi-dimensional reporting and analysis
Deep integration with SAP ERP systems
Comprehensive global business support
Robust security and compliance features

Cons:

Complexity challenges affecting ease of use
Limited driver-based forecasting capabilities
Collaboration features lag behind modern platforms
Requires significant training and specialized knowledge

Key enterprise performance management features in SAP Analytics Cloud:

Financial planning and consolidation
Business planning and simulation
Profitability and cost analysis
Regulatory and management reporting
Integration with the broader SAP S/4HANA systems

Pigment

Often referred to as a corporate performance management software, Pigment is designed for agile organizations. It takes a modern, design-first approach to EPM. The interface is clean, intuitive, and built to get non-finance teams involved in planning, something most traditional tools struggle with.

Pigment performs well in driver-based forecasting and multi-dimensional reporting while offering advanced AI-enabled modeling capabilities that compete with the top platforms in the market. However, with only 20 integrations, Pigment has the most limited connectivity among all platforms reviewed, creating potential challenges for organizations with complex system landscapes.

It is, however, a good fit for growth-stage companies that prioritize ease of use and fast adoption over deep system connectivity. If collaboration and accessibility are higher on your list than integrations, Pigment will likely deliver. But if your planning process relies heavily on pulling in data from a wide range of tools, it’s worth digging deeper into whether the integration limitations could become a bottleneck.

Pros:

Modern, intuitive interface with excellent ease of use
Advanced AI-enabled modeling and forecasting capabilities
Strong collaboration features for modern teams

Cons:

The most limited integration ecosystem (20) in the comparison
Limited multi-currency capabilities compared to competitors
May require workarounds for complex enterprise requirements
Considerable time to ROI (15 months) despite modern architecture

Key enterprise performance management features in Pigment:

Real-time scenario planning and modeling
AI-powered insights and anomaly detection
Collaborative budgeting and forecasting

The best EPM tools for mid-market companies

Mid-market organizations face a distinct challenge when selecting EPM (or CPM software for that matter) software in finding solutions that deliver sophisticated capabilities without the complexity and cost traditionally associated with enterprise platforms. These companies have outgrown basic planning tools but cannot justify the extended implementation timelines and premium price points of enterprise offerings. The right mid-market EPM solution must thread this needle carefully, providing robust functionality while remaining reasonably easy to to implement and maintain with more limited resources.

Finance leaders at mid-market companies should evaluate EPM tools against practical criteria that directly impact operational success. Implementation speed proves paramount; solutions requiring more than 3-4 months to deploy can derail budget cycles and exhaust team patience. Integration capabilities often make or break EPM success, as mid-market organizations typically operate diverse system landscapes that evolved organically through growth. Strong EPM solutions offer extensive pre-built connectors that eliminate costly custom development while providing finance teams with a comprehensive data foundation for planning and analysis. The accelerating pace of market change has elevated scenario planning from a nice-to-have to an essential capability, enabling finance teams to prepare for multiple futures rather than committing to single-point forecasts.

The democratization of advanced analytics has transformed the mid-market EPM landscape, with AI-enabled planning features now within reach of organizations lacking dedicated data science teams. Smart finance leaders look beyond flashy dashboards to evaluate whether AI capabilities can really deliver practical benefits: more accurate forecasts, early detection of performance variances, and automated generation of insights that enhance decision quality.

Ultimately, total cost of ownership should drive evaluation, considering not just licensing costs but implementation complexity, required technical expertise, and ongoing maintenance burden. Solutions that deliver powerful modeling capabilities through intuitive interfaces without requiring specialized technical skills represent the sweet spot for mid-market organizations seeking to transform their finance team from backward-looking scorekeepers to forward-looking strategic partners.

In this section, we cover five EPM solutions with features that meet and in some cases exceed the needs of mid-market businesses. They are Drivetrain, Cube, Vena, Planful, and Mosaic. The table below offers a quick comparison of their relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of the EPM capabilities that mid-market businesses need. Then we dive into the details of each solution below the table.

Software/ Platform
Price	$$	$$	$$$	$$$	$$$
Time to Implemen-tation	4-6 weeks	2-3 months	4-6 months	4-6 months	2-3 months
Time to ROI	6 months	10 months	20 months	17 months	8 months
No. of integrations supported	800+	50+	100+	16	30+
AI-enabled planning features
Scenario analysis & what-if analysis
Advanced budgeting & forecasting
Customizable modeling & reporting templates
Collaboration tools
Role-based access and version controls and audit trail
Ease of use

Drivetrain

Drivetrain stands out as an exceptional performer in the EPM software market, offering the fastest implementation time (4-6 weeks) and quickest time to ROI (6 months) among all competitors. These metrics are critical for finance teams seeking to rapidly transform planning processes and demonstrate value to stakeholders.

With more than 800 integrations, Drivetrain easily connects with virtually any financial system, data source, or operational tool. This capability can be transformative for mid-market businesses, eliminating data silos and manual reconciliation processes that typically plague their finance departments.

What truly elevates Drivetrain is its comprehensive approach to scenario modeling and AI-enabled planning, allowing finance professionals to build sophisticated multi-dimensional models that capture business complexity while remaining highly intuitive to use. This balance of power and accessibility is reflected in Drivetrain's market-leading G2 rating of 4.8, indicating exceptional customer satisfaction across implementation, support, and ongoing value. The platform's robust collaboration features with granular access controls ensure that the right stakeholders have appropriate visibility and input capabilities.

The platform's demonstrated ability to handle BvA analysis, scenario planning, and multi-currency support provides finance teams with the essential tools needed to navigate volatility and support strategic decision-making across global operations.

Pros:

Fastest implementation time (4-6 weeks) and quickest ROI (6 months)
Extensive integration ecosystem with 800+ connections
Mid-market pricing with enterprise-grade capabilities
Exceptional ease of use for finance and non-finance users alike

Cons:

Heavily focused on B2B businesses

Key enterprise performance management features in Drivetrain:

Real-time multi-dimensional scenario modeling
AI-powered driver identification and impact analysis
Driver-based assumption management with version control
Automated variance analysis between scenarios
Collaborative workflow with role-based permissions
Visual dashboards for scenario comparison
Intuitive spreadsheet-inspired UI

Cube

Cube provides a spreadsheet-native approach to enterprise performance management that appeals to many finance teams. The platform's integration with Excel and Google Sheets creates a familiar environment for corporate performance management, although the limited number of system integrations (~50) restricts the scope of data that can be easily incorporated compared to more connectivity-focused alternatives. This constraint often necessitates manual data management processes that can introduce delays and potential errors in consolidated financial reporting and planning.

Implementation timelines for Cube typically extend to 3-4 months, significantly longer than more agile CPM/EPM solutions. This extended timeline delays the realization of benefits from financial transformation initiatives. While the platform provides competent multi-dimensional modeling capabilities for budgeting and forecasting, its AI functionality lags behind industry leaders, limiting opportunities for automated variance analysis and predictive forecasting that modern finance teams increasingly require.

The collaboration features seem basic when compared to other alternatives for mid-market businesses. The platform performs effectively for finance-led planning but may struggle with broader cross-functional budgeting and forecasting processes where non-finance stakeholders need to actively participate. Organizations considering Cube should evaluate whether its spreadsheet-centric approach aligns with their financial planning maturity and cross-functional requirements for a comprehensive solution.

Pros:

Native integration with Excel and Google Sheets
Adequate multi-dimensional scenario modeling
Solid multi-currency support
Side-by-side scenario comparison functionality

Cons:

Limited integration ecosystem (~50 connections)
Longer implementation timeline (3-4 months)
Limited AI capabilities

Key enterprise performance management features in Cube:

Spreadsheet-native scenario building
Template-based scenario planning models
Financial statement impact analysis

Vena

Vena delivers an Excel-based EPM solution that maintains the familiar spreadsheet experience while adding planning functionality. The platform's implementation typically requires 4-5 months, considerably longer than faster alternatives in the market. This extended timeline can delay the realization of benefits and limit agility during critical planning cycles. Vena offers approximately 100 system integrations, which cover common financial systems but may require custom work for specialized operational data sources.

The platform's core strength lies in its Excel compatibility, enabling finance teams to leverage existing skills and templates. However, this approach comes with inherent limitations for complex scenario planning and multi-dimensional modeling that more purpose-built solutions have overcome. Vena's AI capabilities remain relatively underdeveloped, focusing primarily on basic anomaly detection rather than advanced scenario generation or predictive analytics.

Vena's collaboration features provide adequate version control and basic workflow management but lack the sophisticated permission structures and real-time collaboration capabilities found in more advanced platforms. Organizations that prioritize Excel compatibility above implementation speed and advanced modeling capabilities may find Vena meets their requirements, but those seeking to transform planning processes should carefully consider the platform's limitations in handling complex, cross-functional planning scenarios.

Pros:

Excel-native interface familiar to finance teams
Solid multi-currency support for global operations
Robust multi-dimensional modeling for complex scenarios

Cons:

Longest ROI timeline (20 months) among all compared vendors
Limited AI capabilities for intelligent scenario generation
Steeper learning curve for non-finance users
Implementation requires a substantial time investment (4-6 months)

Key enterprise performance management features in Vena:

Excel-native modeling environment
Workflow management for scenario approvals
Multi-dimensional modeling capabilities

Planful

Planful operates in the premium segment of the EPM market while delivering the lowest G2 rating (4.3) among reviewed vendors. The platform's extended implementation timeline of 4-6 months and lengthy ROI period of 17 months indicate potential complexity in deployment and value realization, factors that finance leaders must carefully consider when evaluating total cost and time investment. With only 16 native integrations supported, Planful presents significant limitations for organizations with diverse systems.

The platform demonstrates adequate capabilities in BvA analysis, multi-currency support, and collaboration features with access controls, core functionalities that finance teams require for effective planning and reporting. However, Planful shows moderate performance in multi-dimensional modeling, AI capabilities, and scenario planning, which are increasingly important for finance organizations navigating uncertain business environments and complex decision-making.

Finance professionals should note that Planful's combination of higher price point, longer implementation timeline, and fewer integrations may present challenges for organizations seeking quick wins or operating with varied technology ecosystems. The platform may be better suited for organizations with less complex integration requirements that can accommodate longer deployment schedules and delayed financial returns on their EPM investment.

Pros:

Modern visual approach makes complex scenarios more accessible
Robust collaboration framework democratizing planning processes

Cons:

Limited dimensions supported
Lack of native integrations
Report templates that are difficult to set up
Steep learning curve
Long and expensive implementation by third-party consultants

Key enterprise performance management features in Planful:

Rolling forecast functionality
Driver-based modeling capabilities
Pre-built templates for modeling

Mosaic

Mosaic is a corporate performance management tool founded in 2019 with a focus on supporting collaborative planning and consolidating data across ERP, CRM, and HR systems. In February 2025, Mosaic was acquired by Hibob, a platform that serves the HR needs of mid-market businesses.

While we could have eliminated it from this guide, we decided to include our evaluation of its enterprise performance management capabilities here to provide current Mosaic customers a deeper look into a few alternatives that may be suitable for their needs.

Mosaic provides the standard CPM features, making it suitable for basic to intermediate financial planning needs. In terms of corporate performance management, this means sufficient support for the usual planning and analysis activities of mid-market businesses. However, more sophisticated demands may require secondary solutions.

The platform's role-based access control and basic multi-currency support provide core functionality for mid-market companies but may not fully address the needs of rapidly growing organizations or those with complex international operations. Lack of customization and rigidity of the platform are some of the most common complaints by Mosaic users.

Pros:

Easy to use and set up
Good monitoring capabilities
Intuitive dashboards

Cons:

Limited integrations
Model templates are rigid
Lacks root cause analysis capabilities
Version control of models is confusing
Doesn’t support weekly reporting

Key enterprise performance management features in Mosaic:

Real-time data integration
Scenario modeling
Predictive analytics

The best scenario planning solutions for small businesses

Selecting scenario planning software represents an important decision for small businesses navigating market uncertainty while managing limited resources. Budget constraints, rapid implementation needs, and varied technical skills within teams create distinct requirements that differ substantially from enterprise or mid-market buyers.

Most small businesses must balance the sophistication needed for strategic planning with practical considerations such as minimal training requirements, immediate productivity gains, and integration with existing systems. The spectrum of available solutions ranges from purpose-built financial planning tools to familiar spreadsheet applications, each offering different tradeoffs in functionality, cost, and complexity.

This comparison evaluates three distinct approaches: Causal's modern interface designed for financial professionals without extensive technical backgrounds, Jedox's sophisticated platform capable of complex multi-departmental modeling, and Microsoft Excel with its almost universally recognized spreadsheet environment with built-in scenario analysis features. Understanding how these vendors address implementation timelines, integration capabilities, and user accessibility enables informed selection based on specific organizational priorities.

Software/ Platform
Price	$$	$$	$
G2 ratings	4.6	4.4	4.7
Time to implementation	2-4 weeks	4-6 months	1-2 weeks
Out of box integrations	19+	17	NA
Quick-start template
Multi scenario planning
Cashflow forecasting
Collaboration with role-based-access
Ease of use

Causal

Causal positions itself as a modern alternative to traditional spreadsheets for scenario planning and financial modeling. Its strength lies in the ability to create multiple scenarios with plain-English formulas, reducing complexity and error risk common in spreadsheet-based planning. The platform's direct integrations with accounting systems (QuickBooks, Xero) and other data sources ensure models remain current with minimal manual intervention, which is critical for accurate scenario planning in dynamic business environments.

For small businesses, Causal's approach to scenario modeling provides significant value through its structured modeling system and visual outputs. The platform organizes models by inputs, calculations, and outputs, maintaining clarity even with complex scenarios. Its ability to work with ranges rather than fixed values allows users to explore the full spectrum of possible outcomes, which is essential for effective risk assessment in scenario planning. The shareable interactive dashboards make scenario planning outcomes accessible to stakeholders outside of the finance team.

Pros:

Interactive modeling capabilities make scenario planning intuitive
Visual interface helps communicate complex financial data to stakeholders
Quick implementation and minimal setup requirements
Strong integration with common startup tools (QuickBooks, Stripe, etc.)
Built-in templates specifically designed for startup metrics and SaaS modeling

Cons:

Advanced features have a steeper learning curve
Advanced analytical features are lacking
Integrations can be challenging for some third-party software
Template customization options are limited
Reporting templates may require significant modification

Key scenario planning features in Causal:

Interactive modeling with dynamic variables
Driver-based forecasting capabilities
Scenario modeling with real-time updates
Revenue and expense modeling
Bottom-up and top-down planning approaches
SaaS metrics tracking and analysis

Jedox

Jedox is an FP&A platform with robust scenario modeling capabilities across multiple business departments. Its strength in scenario planning stems from its ability to handle complex multi-dimensional models that can analyze numerous variables simultaneously.

For businesses requiring sophisticated scenario planning, Jedox delivers value through its unified planning environment where finance, sales, HR, and operations can collaborate on interconnected scenarios. Its Excel integration helps reduce resistance from users familiar with spreadsheets while providing significantly more power for complex scenario modeling. The platform's in-memory processing enables rapid calculation of complex scenario models with large datasets, allowing businesses to explore more scenarios in less time.

Pros:

Handles complex organizational structures in scenarios
Provides robust security and compliance features
Enables cross-departmental scenario planning

Cons:

Steeper learning curve than specialized solutions
Higher total cost, including implementation and training

Key scenario planning features in Jedox:

Multi-dimensional modeling capabilities
Advanced data integration with enterprise systems
Excel-compatible interface for familiar interaction
Comprehensive role-based security for collaborative planning

Microsoft Excel

Excel continues to be widely used for scenario planning due to its accessibility, familiarity, and flexible modeling environment. Its Scenario Manager provides built-in functionality for creating and comparing multiple sets of input values, while its extensive formula capabilities can model virtually any business calculation. For many small businesses, Excel represents the most accessible entry point to formal scenario planning.

For budget-conscious small businesses, Excel offers a cost-effective approach to scenario planning without additional software investment. The flexibility to build models from scratch allows customization to specific business needs. However, this flexibility creates challenges in maintaining data currency and model integrity. Excel's limitations for scenario planning primarily relate to manual data management and limited collaborative capabilities, which can lead to outdated information and version control issues when multiple stakeholders are involved in the planning process.

Pros:

Low-cost solution for most businesses
Highly flexible modeling environment
Quick implementation for basic scenario models

Cons:

Manual data updating creates a maintenance burden
Limited collaboration capabilities cause version control issues
Complex models become difficult to audit
Not ideal for high-growth businesses

Key scenario planning features in Microsoft Excel:

Built-in Scenario Manager for defining multiple scenarios
Data tables for sensitivity analysis
Extensive formula capabilities for custom calculations
Familiar interface with minimal learning curve

The 4 best AI-enabled EPM software

Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining Enterprise Performance Management by elevating how organizations plan, monitor, and optimize financial performance. Today’s EPM platforms leverage AI to improve forecast precision, automate workflows, and empower business users to make faster, smarter decisions with minimal dependency on analysts.

From predictive modeling to natural language querying, the leading solutions integrate machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to unify data, surface insights, and drive continuous planning across the enterprise. Here’s how the top AI-powered EPM platforms are transforming enterprise finance.

Each platform offers unique AI-driven features designed to enhance enterprise performance management practices and drive better financial outcomes. Let's take a look at the specific ways these solutions are implementing AI to advance EPM.

Drive AI by Drivetrain

Drive AI takes Drivetrain's already powerful EPM capabilities to the next level, equipping finance teams with a suite of AI-powered tools designed to streamline workflows, enhance analysis, and improve decision-making. This suite includes AI Transforms, AI Analyst, Model Generation, and AI Alerts—each designed to address specific pain points in the FP&A process.

One of the biggest challenges for finance teams is data preparation. Gathering data from various sources and transforming it into a usable format for analysis can be incredibly time-consuming. Drive AI’s Transforms feature changes that. It automatically transforms complex datasets in seconds, eliminating tedious manual work and enabling faster, more efficient planning and reporting.

Imagine needing to analyze data by a specific dimension not readily available in your source system. Previously, this would involve exporting data, manipulating it in Excel, and then re-importing it. With AI Transforms, this process happens automatically within Drivetrain, saving you time and reducing errors.

Drive AI goes beyond streamlining data tasks with AI Analyst, a conversational intelligence tool that allows users to interact with the platform using natural language. Need to know last quarter's revenue or identify your top-performing sales reps? Simply ask the AI Analyst. This intuitive interface provides instant answers, uncovers hidden insights, and even assists in writing formulas for complex models, making financial modeling accessible to everyone, not just finance experts.

Building accurate and insightful financial models is crucial for any successful EPM process. Drive AI’s Model Generation tool simplifies this by automatically building baseline models using data from your existing business systems. This not only saves time but also leverages advanced AI algorithms to enhance the accuracy of your predictive models, whether you're forecasting cash flow or planning for future growth.

Finally, Drive AI extends Drivetrain’s existing automated alerts system with AI Alerts, providing an extra layer of confidence in your data. Now, you’re not only alerted when key metrics deviate from expectations but also when potential issues arise with your source data. This proactive approach ensures you’re always working with the most accurate and up-to-date information, allowing you to make critical decisions with confidence.

AI features to enhance EPM:

Universal AI-assisted search feature
AI-driven data transformations
AI-generated modeling applications
AI-enabled formulas
Anomaly detection and notification

Anaplan Intelligence

Anaplan Intelligence consists of four AI-powered solutions designed to enhance enterprise performance management: Coplanner, Optimizer, Predictive Insights, and PlanIQ.

CoPlanner serves as Anaplan's conversational AI interface, employing a language learning model (LLM) to deliver context-aware financial insights. Finance teams can pose natural language questions about their financial data, and CoPlanner provides responses that consider the full context of their financial models and data relationships. A significant advantage is CoPlanner's ability to analyze data across multiple financial models simultaneously, enabling comprehensive analysis of interconnected financial metrics.

Optimizer powers Anaplan's AI-driven financial scenario planning and analysis capabilities. Financial teams can define specific financial objectives (such as profit maximization or cost reduction) and set multiple variables or constraints to guide the planning process. The tool employs linear programming methods to identify optimal financial solutions. While linear programming is a mathematical optimization technique rather than true AI, it proves particularly effective for structured financial scenario planning where constraints and variables are clearly defined.

Predictive Insights utilizes ML to identify patterns in financial and operational data from connected business systems (ERP, CRM, HRIS, etc.) and applies advanced analytics to improve forecast accuracy across various financial metrics. Similarly, PlanIQ leverages machine learning to generate financial predictions based on historical data and business drivers. PlanIQ's no-code approach makes sophisticated financial forecasting accessible to finance professionals without requiring technical expertise in data science or programming.

AI features to improve EPM:

Time series forecasting
Automated insights
Automated scenario building

Arc AI by Mosaic

Arc AI by Mosaic leverages NLP to transform how finance teams interact with their financial data and planning tools. Finance professionals can query financial metrics, variance analyses, and performance insights using natural language questions. The system interprets these queries within the context of financial planning and analysis, delivering precise responses that help finance teams quickly access and analyze information without requiring extensive technical knowledge of the platform.

AI-assisted reporting accelerates the financial reporting process by enabling finance teams to specify desired insights and metrics through simple queries. Arc AI automatically aggregates data from multiple sources (such as ERP, CRM, and other business systems), performs relevant financial analyses, and generates customized financial reports aligned with specific reporting requirements. This capability streamlines the creation of budget vs. actual reports, forecasting analyses, and other critical FP&A deliverables.

AI features to improve EPM:

Automated insights
Ability to easily query the data
Automatic sharing of insights via Slack

Pigment AI

Pigment AI integrates NLP through a conversational interface to enhance enterprise performance management workflows. The platform intelligently recommends visualization formats for different types of financial data and metrics, such as waterfall charts for variance analysis or trend lines for revenue growth. The AI-powered assistance helps new users quickly navigate the platform's EPM capabilities, accelerating time to value for finance teams.

The system employs machine learning to analyze historical financial data and provide data-driven insights based on user queries. During planning cycles, Pigment AI offers intelligent suggestions to help finance teams refine their projections across various business dimensions. Teams can explore different aspects of their financial data using suggested analytical prompts (such as "analyze department-wise budget variances" or "identify top expense drivers") and dive deeper with follow-up queries. These AI-driven insights can be seamlessly incorporated into budget models, forecasts, and other planning processes within the Pigment platform, enabling more informed financial decision-making.

AI features to improve EPM:

Intelligent data visualization
Ability to drill down into the data using AI prompts
AI-suggested prompts to help refine projections

Why Drivetrain is the best EPM software for your business

It is also an exhausting process involving BI tools and the organization's IT team, as well as longer wait times to get access to performance metrics in real time. Stakeholders and decision makers have no option but to settle for basic reports instead of insightful, actionable, and customized results. To achieve the agility that businesses need today, CFOs and their finance teams require a user-friendly, self-service solution that enables them to customize and build these reports themselves.

That solution is Drivetrain, a simple yet powerful strategic finance software that fully supports enterprise performance management. Drivetrain provides a highly sophisticated and powerful calculation engine but also offers the familiarity and ease of Excel spreadsheets through an Excel-like UI.

The platform combines best-in-class modeling and reporting templates with dynamic, interactive dashboards, pre-calculated and custom metrics, and detailed reports. You can quickly analyze your actuals vs. budget on demand, and create detailed variance reports or compare your actuals vs. forecast, all without any external support for IT teams or data analysts.

Using Drivetrain, finance teams can more effectively and efficiently manage the financial consolidation and close process by aggregating financial and business data from different source systems, tracking current business performance, and deriving actionable business insights, all in real time.

How to choose the right enterprise performance management software for your business

What is enterprise performance management software?

Enterprise performance management software is used to do budgeting, create forecasts, and facilitate other types of FP&A activities that help manage the financial performance of a business. Such tools typically provide data analytics, reporting, and forecast modeling so organizations can analyze, understand, and plan strategically for the business. EPM software helps companies align business strategy with business execution.

Top 5 benefits of enterprise performance management solutions

A comprehensive third-generation FP&A software enables finance leaders and teams to track and optimize business performance and make data-driven decisions. In this section, we have outlined some of the key benefits businesses can expect when they start using financial performance management software.

1. Automated data consolidation

Most of the EPM tools on the market today support large volumes of data, automating its consolidation from several different source systems. This saves FP&A teams the trouble of manually pulling and reconciling from different sources, as well as removes the hassle of cut-and-paste and human error it can introduce into your data. error, which makes data consolidation more time and effort-friendly and far more accurate.

2. More accurate forecasting

3. Real-time insights

4. Better collaboration across different teams

Consolidating data from multiple sources and making it easily accessible to all stakeholders who need to see it are table stakes for effective EPM. This drives better strategic alignment across departments as teams are able to view and work on the same data set more confidently and efficiently, without worrying about the errors of data consolidation and validation, as well as version control. It also helps to achieve alignment faster by eliminating disagreements about whose data is the “right” data, shifting the conversation instead to how to best achieve business goals and objectives.

5. More time for strategic initiatives

By handing off the data-related burden of consolidating data from multiple sources to an EPM tool and making it available in one place, CFOs and their teams have far more time to think strategically about the business and explore what the data is telling them. With the detailed insights derived from financial performance management tools, they can better predict and evaluate the potential risks and rewards of different initiatives and scenarios and make more informed decisions to improve efficiency and profitability.

Features

In earlier sections, we detailed the features as well as the pros and cons of the five best EPM tools in the market today. The information we have compiled here will help you gain a better understanding of the specific features you should look for in an EPM software, depending on your company’s unique needs.

1. Native integrations

Drivetrain has 800+ native integrations that finance leaders and teams can use to automatically sync financial and business data from integrated systems into one central platform. Creating a single source of truth ensures that forecasts are always up-to-date.

2. Predictive forecasting

3. Integrated planning and budgeting (modeling capabilities)

Modern financial forecasting tools help automate the labor-intensive planning and budgeting processes, centralize all the planning and financial data, improve collaboration across teams, and boost productivity. Finance teams can quickly and easily produce budgets and forecasts, model what-if scenarios, and generate detailed reports, all on a single platform.

4. Automated reporting and interactive dashboards

Similar to financial reporting platforms, EPM software should automate and streamline the financial reporting process by eliminating manual entries and reducing the risk of errors. This will save hours of work for finance teams while at the same time, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of reporting. This ensures that any report, such as collections reports, marketing funnel reports, headcount analysis reports, variance reports, can be generated quickly and are reliable.

An EPM software should also provide a real-time view of all the core financial and SaaS metrics businesses use to measure their performance. Assuming the system can track them, customizable and interactive dashboards allow finance teams to monitor easily and more effectively, to determine at a moment’s notice answers to questions that arise regarding company performance, and to enable rapid decision-making.

5. Collaboration with access control

Any enterprise performance management software should provide a single source of truth, consolidating and reconciling data across systems, and facilitate seamless collaboration across all teams. Collaboration features allow multiple users to work on forecasts simultaneously and share insights with relevant stakeholders within the organization. User access controls and other permissions ensure that only authorized users are allowed to view and manage sensitive financial information.

6. Onboarding, training & customer success

Onboarding, training, and customer success are possibly the most important features to derive maximum value from any EPM software. Reliable customer support and comprehensive training, along with easy access to best practices and resource documents, ensure that users can effectively utilize and leverage the software for their business requirements, as well as address any issues as they occur.

What are the different types of business budgeting software for SaaS?

Budgeting is a core function of SaaS finance teams, and most are still using spreadsheets to create their annual budgets. However, spreadsheets have some pretty big limitations in terms of using them for budgeting. Accuracy is a big one. Everything, data and formulas, have to be entered into a spreadsheet manually, which makes them inherently error-prone.

And of course, when every department has its own budget and uses its own methods and spreadsheets for forecasting costs and revenue, reconciling them all to create a budget everyone can agree on can take weeks. By the time you’re done, there is also no easy way to be certain that none of those numbers have changed in the meantime.

These fundamental issues are what gave birth to the category of what we now know as modern FP&A software (aka strategic finance software) and have driven its continued evolution. Our feature comparisons indicate the maturity of each of these tools in terms of their FP&A features. Here we’ll take a look at the degree to which each solution relies on spreadsheets.

These are some of the challenges that led to the creation, and continued development of what is now known as modern FP&A software. If you’re ready to trade in your spreadsheets for a purpose-built solution for business budgeting and planning, this section will help you understand the different types of all 16 of the FP&A tools we’ve covered in this review in terms of the degree to which each relies on spreadsheets.

Source: Adapted from FP&A software classifications developed by Paul Barnhurst (The FP&A Guy).

Software/ Platform	Market Sector	Web application that replaces spreadsheets	Web application that integrates with spreadsheets	Application that uses spreadsheets for calculations	Application that uses spreadsheets for calculations
Drivetrain	Enterprise & Mid-market
Anaplan	Enterprise
Workday Adaptive Planning	Enterprise
Oracle BPCS	Enterprise
Pigment	Enterprise
SAP Business Planning	Enterprise
Datarails	Mid-market
Vena	Mid-market
Mosaic	Mid-market
Abacum	Mid-market
Cube	Mid-market
Causal	Startups & Small business
Budgyt	Startups & Small business
Fathom	Startups & Small business
Finmark	Startups & Small business

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