A comparison of the top 6 Abacum competitors and alternatives in 2024

Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) software is used to automate financial processes, such as data consolidation, budgeting, forecasting, planning, and reporting. A good FP&A software helps improve the efficiency of finance teams, by ensuring they have access to accurate data in real time on a single platform, as compared to multiple unwieldy spreadsheets, and can create more insightful management and board-ready financial and business performance reports.

When choosing an FP&A software, it is important to consider factors, such  as, usability, scalability, integration capabilities, and analytical features that cater to your unique business needs.

Abacum is a popular FP&A solution known for its budgeting workflow automation, scenario analysis acceleration, and bottom-up and top-down forecast consolidation capabilities. However, as your business grows and reporting becomes more complex, you may find that Abacum does not offer the required level of granularity.

In this article, we've compiled a list of 6 alternatives to Abacum that could better support your company's growth and financial complexities.

Abacum software review

Abacum was developed with flexibility and scalability in mind. It helps business leaders and finance teams make their budgeting cycle more efficient with faster revenue forecasts, effective headcount planning, and vendor level budgeting. The platform delivers real-time insights and predictive analytics, aiding faster and more informed decision-making. It is helpful for businesses looking for an FP&A software that combines strong automation with rapid implementation. 

However, for businesses that require more advanced analytics, Drivetrain might be a better fit as it offers a full suite of features, including easy integration with disparate systems, dynamic dashboards, and customizable reporting templates, and is also purpose-built for growing B2B and SaaS companies and has. Conversely, Abacum offers less than 50 integrations, limited templates for financial modeling, and customers may require in-depth training to use the software optimally.

Key features

• Automated budgeting: Ensures End-to-end process automation, from data collection to report generation.
• Scenario analysis: Users can create multiple scenarios and compare assumptions to make informed decisions.
• Headcount planning: Streamlines headcount planning and forecasting for your company, ensuring optimal resource allocation.
• Easy collaboration: Multiple users can be added to a workflow, allowing seamless collaboration and data sharing.
• Cloud-based integration: Users can access financial reporting and analysis functionalities through Excel and Google Sheets from anywhere, anytime.

Pros

• Efficiency: Automates data consolidation from various sources to ensure accurate and efficient analysis.
• Ease of use: Streamlines calculations and reporting with its central repository for formulas and KPIs.
• Integrations: Ensures easy integration with some existing tools
• Features: Offers dashboard customization to meet specific user needs to visualize complex financial insights.
• Customer support: Team is quick to reply and helps users resolve any issues or doubts.

Cons

• Steep learning curve to use all features/functions
• Not intuitive for non-technical users as customizing reports requires SQL-like formulas.
• Few integrations that require additional development for customizations
• Lack of daily/weekly reporting makes it hard to spot and fix potential issues proactively.
• Compliance is limited to only SOC 2 Type II
• Limited features (certain features or functionalities are either not available yet or are in development stages)

Explore the top competitors and alternatives to Abacum

While Abacum works for mid-market companies looking for a best-in-class budgeting solution, its limited integrations and features might not meet all the business and financial requirements  for companies looking to scale and grow rapidly — with more than just spreadsheets.

While numerous FP&A tools are currently flooding the market, in this section, we have provided a side-by-side comparison of the top 6 alternatives to Abacum, to ensure you select the one that best caters to your business needs. We have also highlighted the different features, pros, and cons to help you make an informed decision. Let’s take a look!

Drivetrain

Unlike Abacum, Drivetrain is purpose-built to meet the specific needs of fast-scaling SaaS and B2B companies. Drivetrain offers the full range of FP&A features that business leaders and finance teams require at any time, making it a top contender among modern FP&A tools. 

With over 200+ integrations across different systems and apps, Drivetrain enables users to easily consolidate your financial and business data (without IT support) into a single source of truth and track all key financial and non-financial metrics in real time. This also eliminates the risk of errors in manually and reconciling data from different sources. The insights generated can be easily shared across teams for faster and more informed decisions. 

On its remarkably intuitive platform, finance teams and non-finance users can easily collaborate and create multidimensional models in familiar spreadsheet formats, which is 10 times faster than building models from scratch. Drivetrain also allows users to proactively identify bottlenecks and discover opportunities with advanced one-click root-cause analysis. 

Security is a priority at Drivetrain, with multiple encryption layers and strict access controls to maintain the integrity of financial data.

Key features and capabilities

• User interface: An intuitive platform with powerful FP&A features and familiar spreadsheet functionality in an easy-to-navigate design.
• Native integrations: Over 200 direct integrations with popular tools and platforms, streamlining data consolidation and eliminating manual entry.
• Predictive forecasting: Uses AI and predictive analytics to derive insights for accurate, real-time financial forecasts tailored to your business and market conditions.
• Multidimensional modeling and analysis: Supports complex, multidimensional financial models to predict business performance across different time periods, products, regions, customer segments, or departments.
• Scenario planning and what-if analysis: Users can easily compare multiple scenarios to test assumptions and make informed decisions.
• Role-based access control: Customizable user permissions ensure secure access to sensitive financial data based on team roles.
• Automated reporting and dynamic dashboards: Allows users to generate automated reports and offers real-time insights with customizable dashboards.

What users say about Drivetrain 

“Everything you can do in Excel, you can do better in Drivetrain (and then some). It uses a similar cell-based structure and formula language so the transition is seamless. Drivetrain can connect to all my upstream datasources to build the sort of real-time reporting I need.” – G2 Review

“The documentation/training manuals were initially limited, although made up for by the one-on-one support. The Drivetrain team is now rolling out more training materials and step-by-step guidance in the system, which I believe will help clients self-learn.” – G2 Review

Cube

Cube is a 3rd-generation spreadsheet-native cloud-based FP&A platform, designed to help finance teams streamline their budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes. It allows users to leverage “cubes”, that is multidimensional databases (product, region, etc.) to analyze their data in detail. 

Key features and capabilities

• Automated data consolidation: Ensures users can collect data from numerous sources for automated rollups and drilldowns.
• Customizable dashboards: Allows users to build and share customizable dashboards.
• Spreadsheet integration: Allows bi-directional integration with Excel and Google spreadsheets.
• User-based controls: Ensures that the correct data goes to the right people at the right time with user controls, validations, and an audit trail.
• Centralized formulas and KPIs: Stores all calculations and formulas in a central location.

What users say about Cube

“Our favorite feature is also our biggest frustration. The Google Sheet add-in in extremely slow and occasionally times out with large queries. If you make a duplicate of a file, you will need to reselect your range to pull a query. It is slow and frustrating, but we are happy to have the connectivity.”  – G2 Review

Mosaic

Mosaic is more of a financial BI tool for mid-sized businesses, rather than a comprehensive FP&A solution. It has a number of integrations that automate data consolidation and transform insights into accessible visuals. But, it's not very flexible with financial modeling and has limited customization capabilities. 

Key features and capabilities

• AI-powered insights: Uses AI to deliver advanced analytics and insights.
• Financial reporting: Allows users to generate detailed financial reports with easy-to-understand visuals.
• Scenario planning: Allows users to model multiple financial scenarios and outcomes based on different variables and assumptions.
• Collaboration: Ensures easy communication and collaboration among users and teams.

What users say about Mosaic 

“Saves time when it comes to annual budgeting, vendor spend analysis, month end close review, building new financial modeling scenarios, reviewing historical trends, etc….In certain respects it's not yet as flexible / dynamic as a tool like excel which makes it difficult for a company like ours with a complex revenue model.” – G2 Review

Vena

Vena was developed as an Excel add-in for Microsoft 365 and comes with Power BI embedded to enhance functionality. It is primarily for users who prefer to use spreadsheets for financial modeling and planning, but have more complex FP&A and business needs that spreadsheets alone cannot resolve. Some of Vena’s specific features are compliance reporting, and financial close. 

Key features and capabilities

• Financial reporting: Automates financial reporting processes so that users can spend more time on analysis and insights, and less on manual work.
• Regulatory compliance: Eliminates the complexities and manual errors associated with regulatory reporting.
• Scalability: Supports growing companies with its flexible architecture that handles increasing complexity through robust financial planning tools.
• Real-time collaboration: Ensures cross-functional alignment across users/teams with real time data sharing.
• Data integrity and auditing: Maintains transparency by allowing tracking changes and providing audit trails.

What users say about Vena

Vena's use of an Excel based user interface makes user adaptation and training super easy…You are still writing extensive formula that can be difficult to troubleshoot and audit. - G2 Review

Pigment

Pigment is an integrated business planning software favored by executives, finance teams, and revenue teams that need dynamic financial planning tools. Pigment uses AI for data querying, pattern identification, and automated analysis. Its visual and intuitive interface simplifies model building and analysis. Its drag-and-drop feature allows quick scenario creation, and the clean design enhances user experience.

Key features and capabilities

• Financial planning and forecasting: Supports agile financial planning with quick adjustments and re-forecasting to adapt to changing external and internal conditions.
• Scenario modeling and what-if analysis: Allows users to create, test, and compare financial scenarios for informed decision-making.
• Enterprise-grade security and permissions: Offers strong role-based access controls and compliance with data security regulations like SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2, Type 2, CSA STAR 1, GDPR and CCPA.
• Customer support: Guides users through onboarding and effective use of the platform with the help of an attentive customer support team.

What users say about Pigment 

"The beginning of the implementation wasn’t easy because it required learning a whole new language: formulas, aggregation rules etc’…however, the team from pigment did everything they could to make the process much easier and explain the processing logic behind the formulas and rules. During the implementation, the team from Pigment put a lot of effort into ensuring the process was as smooth as possible.” – G2 Review 

Runway

As a cloud-based FP&A solution, Runway is a strong option for startups and fast-growing small companies that need an agile, easy-to-use tool to manage their financial planning and cash flow. It focuses on key startup metrics like runway projection, unit economics, and burn rate. Further, Runway’s Ambient Intelligence feature integrates seamlessly into users' workflows, anticipating their needs rather than responding to commands or performing specific tasks.

Key features and capabilities

• Integrations: For such an early-stage company, it offers a number of integrations to collate data from various sources.
• Cash flow and burn rate management: Adept at managing cash flow and burn rate to help users plan their funding rounds based on current spending and revenue.
• Scenario planning and forecasting tools: Gives companies tools to test funding or hiring strategies, manage cash reserves, and assess risks.
• Granular access controls: Customized access to sensitive financial data for employees and external stakeholders.

What users say about Runway

“[Runway] does have a learning curve, and it took a not-insignificant amount of time to understand it. But again, their documentation and support are excellent, and after spending a week or two with the product, it became extremely intuitive.” – G2 Review

Choosing the best Abacum alternative

FP&A tools enable SaaS finance teams to:

• Automate financial processes by centralizing data and workflows
• Integrate with ERP and CRM systems to consolidate and analyze data from key metrics
• Enhance scenario planning by considering multiple growth and risk factors
• Collaborate with other departments on budgets, targets, and forecasts for financial transparency
• Consolidate data and use AI analytics for informed decision-making 

Abacum is a good fit for mid-market companies looking to streamline financial workflows without complex modeling. However, it lacks the depth and flexibility required by rapidly growing SaaS companies. 

As businesses scale, they require more advanced features, integration and customization to manage complex financial models, data analysis, and board reporting, which Drivetrain offers.

Learn more about Drivetrain here or request a free demo.