.avif)
TL;DR
- Many teams start out with Excel for their cash flow forecasting and often start looking for cash flow forecasting software when the risks and/or manual work associated with Excel begin to outweigh its benefits.
- Cash flow forecasting software enables finance teams to predict future cash flows, which is critical to ensuring solvency and for financial planning.
- Choosing the right solution often starts with evaluating those that target your market segment, as enterprises, mid-market companies, and small businesses typically have very different needs.
- Within those sectors, key features to prioritize commonly boil down to factors such as the size of your team, the complexity of your business, and the technologies you need to integrate with.
- Based on extensive research, we’ve identified eight of the best tools on the market today for small businesses, mid-market companies, and enterprises.
- Drivetrain leads for fast-growing teams looking for an agile, scalable solution. Anaplan is well-suited for extremely large enterprises with dedicated admin teams. Vena works best for teams that want to stay in their familiar Excel environment. Fathom is a solid option for small finance teams focused on monitoring cash performance and overall financial health.
Best cash flow forecasting software at a glance
In a rapidly evolving business landscape, cash flow can mean the difference between survival and failure—even for profitable companies. Recently, it was reported that more than 60% of enterprises that fail are actually profitable; they’ve simply run out of money. While this seems incredible, it is perhaps less so when viewed within the context of Aon’s 2025 Global Risk Management Survey: Cash flow and liquidity risk has become one of the top ten global business risks and is expected to stay in the top 10 through 2028.
Statistics like these underscore how critical cash flow forecasting has become for every company in business today, regardless of its size. And it demands technologies that are up to the task.
“Cash flow modeling and forecasting is obviously one of the most important tools and abilities that anyone can have at any size company—whether you're talking about a start-up, a mid market company, a Fortune 500—and in every industry.” –Carl Seidman, Microsoft MVP, CSP, CPA
There are plenty of solutions out there that promise to streamline this critical aspect of your business. But it takes a lot of time to narrow down your options. This guide might save you some of that.
We’ve evaluated several cash flow forecasting tools to identify some of the best solutions on the market today. We’ll tell you who they’re best suited for, their best features and capabilities for cash flow forecasting, and any tradeoffs you might need to consider if you decide to evaluate them further. We’ve also looked at their AI capabilities to highlight those most useful for cash flow forecasting.
| Cash flow forecasting software | Best for | G2 rating* | Time to ROI* | Time to implement* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Drivetrain | Enterprises and Mid-market companies | 4.8/5 | 6 months | 2 months |
Anaplan | Very large enterprises | 4.6/5 | 15 months | 6 months |
Workday Adaptive Planning | Enterprises | 4.3/5 | 21 months | 5 months |
Vena | Mid-market companies | 4.5/5 | 18 months | 5 months |
Prophix | Mid-market companies | 4.4/5 | 17 months | 4 months |
Fathom | Small businesses | 4.6/5 | No data | No data |
Float | Small businesses | 4.4/5 | 4 months | <1 month |
Excel | Small businesses | 4.7/5 | 13 months (average as per G2 but far lower for finance pros) | 2 months (average as per G2 but far lower for finance pros) |
*Source: G2 (retrieved February 15, 2026).
How we built this list
The FP&A software tools covered in this guide were selected based on dozens of conversations with finance leaders over the past six months. Our finance experts regularly speak with CFOs and finance leaders to understand the issues they and their teams encounter on a day-to-day basis. We ask them about their tech stack, including the FP&A software they’re using, the technologies they’re integrating with it, what’s working well, and what isn’t.
The technologies discussed here are the ones that emerged as best-fit solutions for one or more market sectors. With our list in hand, we performed a detailed review of vendor websites, including feature descriptions as well as publicly available product documentation and demos.
We further evaluated each platform on a structured review of verified user feedback from third-party software review sites, including G2, Capterra, and Gartner Peer Review, as well as relevant practitioner discussions on Reddit and other public finance forums.
What is cash flow forecasting software?
Unlike cash management software, which is designed to help companies monitor and control the cash they currently have, cash flow forecasting software helps them predict how much cash they’ll have in the future.
Specifically, cash flow forecasting software helps to predict liquidity during a given time horizon (e.g., 13 weeks or 12 months). It relies on historical data, along with all expected income and expenses, to model future cash inflows and outflows.
With cash flow forecasting software, an organization can plan for future resource needs, ensuring they have enough cash to cover upcoming requirements like product enhancements, hiring new employees, expanding into new markets, etc., when they need it.
How do cash flow forecasting tools integrate with accounting software?
Managing your cash flow is all about money flowing into your business and money flowing out. Your accounting software is the tool that captures all of it—every financial transaction your business makes.
That’s a lot of data to manage manually, which is why accounting software is typically one of the first finance management tools businesses invest in. It’s also why integrating your cash flow forecasting software with your accounting software is critical. Manual extraction from thousands of invoices/payments is error-prone and slow. These two types of tools integrate with each other either via direct APIs connections or via third-party middleware such as Boomi.
Integrating your cash flow forecasting tool with your accounting software eliminates this manual work, significantly reducing error so you have accurate data for forecasting, not to mention a lot more time for analysis.
When you’re evaluating different cash flow forecasting platforms, the first question you need to ask is whether it will integrate easily with your existing accounting software tool.
What are the benefits of cash flow forecasting software?
Effective cash flow forecasting supports strategic decision-making, allowing businesses to anticipate and navigate financial challenges, manage debt more efficiently, and identify opportunities for investment and growth.
For finance teams tasked with it, moving from spreadsheets to cash flow forecasting software can transform the way a business manages its cash flow offering:
- Improved accuracy with actuals flowing in real time
- Real-time insights on cash position
- Scenario planning capabilities that enable faster decisions
- Faster and more reliable cash flow modeling, reporting, and analysis
How to choose the best cash flow forecasting software
A near-universal truth in business is that the larger a company grows, the more complicated it becomes to run. This is why businesses usually need increasingly sophisticated software tools as they scale.
We designed this guide to help you choose the best cash flow forecasting software for your unique business, wherever you are in your growth journey.
How to choose the right enterprise cash flow forecasting software
Performance and scalability are top-of-mind concerns for enterprises. The flexibility to create and maintain customized, complex models is also a key question because, depending on which software you choose, you may have to rely on IT teams or external consultants for maintaining your cash flow model.
The table below presents some of the most common cash flow forecasting realities enterprises face today, along with related capabilities that are non-negotiable for those dealing with them.
| Cash flow forecasting challenges for enterprises | Essential cash flow forecasting features and capabilities to look for |
|---|---|
| Cash flows across multiple entities, currencies, and intercompany flows | Multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation with automated intercompany elimination for accurate liquidity tracking |
| Very large datasets impacting cash flow accuracy | High-performance architecture for handling unlimited data volumes |
| Cash flow driven by operational factors | Flexible engine for driver-based forecasting linked to operational KPIs and impacts on cash flow |
| Need for frequent scenario testing to identify cash flow risks | Fast scenario tools for quick risk and liquidity analysis and decision-making |
| Inputs from multiple departments | Role-based access controls, audit trails, and support for secure, real-time collaborative cash flow forecasting |
| Regulatory and audit compliance in cash flow reporting | Enterprise-grade security for compliant, audit-ready data, including SOC 1/2, ISO 27001, GDPR compliance with SSO and encryption |
How to select the best cash flow forecasting for mid-market companies
As you would expect, the cash flow forecasting realities are different for mid-market businesses. They’re dealing with considerably smaller finance teams that need to chase down data from multiple departments to create their forecasts. Depending on their growth trajectory, they need solutions that support frequent and highly flexible cash flow forecasting.
The table below captures these and other characteristics of mid-market businesses and the kinds of features they need to look for in a cash flow forecasting solution.
| Cash flow forecasting challenges for mid-market companies | Essential cash flow forecasting features and capabilities to look for |
|---|---|
| Limited team resources delaying cash flow monitoring | Intuitive UI requiring minimal training and providing self-serve tools for fast implementation and updates |
| Unpredictable growth and/or volatility affecting cash flow projections | Quick what-if analysis to stress-test cash flow under different scenarios |
| Expansion into new areas disrupting cash flows | Scalable multi-entity and multi-currency support and modeling for growing business needs |
| Inputs from multiple teams for accurate planning | Accessible UI for business teams to facilitate collaboration and integrate cash flow inputs |
| Need for fast cash position insights for agile decision-making and frequent board updates | Interactive dashboards for real-time, shareable visibility |
How to select the right cash flow forecasting solution for small businesses
Excel can be a good place for many small businesses to get started with their cash flow forecasting. The truth is, though, that it’s not very well-suited to the task.
This is because cash flow forecasting requires data from a lot of different systems, including accounting/ERP systems, billing and payroll systems, and all the banks you do business with. In Excel, this requires exporting one CSV after another and aggregating them all into one spreadsheet model. So, updating your model is always an error-prone process that can take a ton of time.
Despite these drawbacks, Excel can be a solid choice for small businesses with very simple cash flow models that require data from just a few systems. Excel’s lack of versioning is also less problematic for very small finance teams, where collaboration is typically easier.
Because it remains a popular option, we have included Excel in this guide, along with a couple of other top tools for small business cash flow forecasting.
The best cash flow forecasting software on the market today
Between our conversations with finance leaders and our own research, we found that scale often serves as a reliable initial filter for evaluating FP&A platforms and pretty closely aligns with the cash flow forecasting challenges discussed above.
But scale alone isn’t the only factor to consider. Once the core requirements of cash flow forecasting based on the size of your business are checked off the list, the choice of which software to adopt often boils down to who ultimately will “own” the model.
Enterprise teams often face a trade-off. Many enterprise-level platforms require IT support or consultants to build and maintain financial models, which can create bottlenecks. Others are designed for finance teams to own independently—building, adjusting, and running scenarios without constant technical overhead. Both approaches work. Which one works for you will depend on your team's capacity and preferences.
The trade-off for mid-market teams often comes down to feature depth and usability. While they typically prioritize platforms that don’t require specialized expertise to use, as they grow, their cash flows become more complex. For fast-growing businesses in particular, this introduces the ugly spectre of potentially having to replatform much sooner than expected. If you’re a mid-market company, the best solutions for you will likely be those that can provide a robust set of features while remaining manageable in terms of implementation and ongoing use.
Small businesses typically operate with very small finance teams and require tools that provide basic yet effective cash flow forecasting capabilities without overwhelming complexity. Key features small businesses should look for in a cash flow forecasting software include easy integration with their business systems for automated data consolidation, along with flexible forecasting templates and good customer support.
The reviews below reflect these realities, covering top-rated and respected solutions across this spectrum: platforms built for finance team autonomy, those requiring technical support, and those that grow with your business.
Drivetrain is an AI-native FP&A software offering robust capabilities for global, enterprise-level cash flow forecasting across multiple entities. Built on modern technologies, it offers performance at scale, powering complex, multi-dimensional modeling with unlimited drivers and dimensions and fast what-if analysis of any number of scenarios.
- G2 rating: 4.8/5
- Best suited for: Enterprises that require the agility that finance-owned FP&A provides and fast-growing mid-market businesses that need an intuitive, easy-to adopt platform that will scale with them.
- AI features in Drivetrain that support cash flow forecasting:
- Natural-language prompts for making a complex dataset forecast-ready in seconds
- AI-powered model generator to create customizable baseline cash flow models in seconds
- Advanced AI algorithms to enhance predictive modeling of cash flow
- Advanced analytics tools for detailed cash flow trend analysis
- Automated anomaly detection and alerts based on user-defined thresholds
- What users like about Drivetrain: “I like how flexible and intuitive Drivetrain is compared to traditional FP&A tools. It allows us to build and adjust financial models without being locked into rigid templates, which is especially helpful as our business evolves. The real-time scenario modeling is a big plus. We can quickly test different assumptions and immediately see the impact on revenue, cash flow, and profitability.” - User on G2
- What users dislike about Drivetrain:“There's a learning curve at first, especially if you're coming from pure spreadsheet workflows. Some of the more advanced features took me a bit to figure out.” – G2 review from verified Drivetrain user
Anaplan is one of the earliest enterprise performance management (EPM) platforms on the market. It offers comprehensive reporting tools for detailed cash flow insights, and its cash flow models are customizable.
While Anaplan is very flexible, it is a highly complex platform that requires a dedicated internal team or external support to build and maintain the models and data flows needed for cash flow forecasting. This is a tradeoff for enterprise teams that value the agility that comes with finance-owned models should consider carefully.
- G2 rating: 4.6/5
- Best suited for: Very large enterprises managing liquidity across global entities, currencies, and complex operating structures.
- AI features in Anaplan that support cash flow forecasting:
- Uses ML to generate predictions based on historical data and various business drivers
- Employs ML to automatically detect patterns in connected datasets
- Allows users to query multiple models simultaneously to identify interrelated drivers
- What users like about Anaplan: “The user experience and confidence in the data management and planning capabilities of the tool highlight the most important features of Anaplan. Anaplan is a trusted tool in the EPM space.” – G2 review from verified Anaplan user
- What users dislike about Anaplan: “Anaplan's innovation has not kept up to pace with other tools in the market, and the drawbacks of the tool like sparsity and toaster for model builders are no longer acceptable.” – G2 review from verified Anaplan user
Workday Adaptive Planning functions as the EPM solution within the broader Workday suite of tools. The platform supports cash flow forecasting with cash flow models that can be customized to suit the unique needs of the business. It also offers scenario planning and driver-based modeling.
Models often require third-party support to build, and users note that it can take time to fully leverage the platform’s modeling features, in part, because the formula builder uses a proprietary syntax that imposes a steep learning curve.
- G2 rating: 4.3/5
- Best suited for: Enterprises already invested in the Workday ecosystem and that want to standardize planning processes across departments.
- AI features in Workday Adaptive Planning that support cash flow forecasting:
- Natural language queries for exploring various cash flow scenarios
- Integrated AI anomaly detection to flag outliers and inconsistencies in forecasting data
- Uses ML to combine and analyze internal data with market and economic data
- What users like about Workday Adaptive Planning: Adaptive Planning integrates seamlessly with Workday Financials, allowing for rapid planning and forecasting of current and accurate data without the need for manual uploads of historical data and its inherent risks. – G2 review from verified Workday Adaptive Planning user
- What users dislike about Workday Adaptive Planning: The UI seems pretty dated. It's hard to have to go to each sub-level and have to refresh at each change. For example, to change an accounts forecast, I have to go to COS, make edits, save, go to Revenue, make edits save, and then check the final output to see if what I did had the desired effect. You can mitigate this somewhat with linking but I'd like to see faster loading between these sheets or easier navigation between sublevels of the same level. Maybe a side-by-side option where you can see what changes to rollup will occur with changes to a level. – G2 review from verified Workday Adaptive Planning user
Vena is an Excel-based planning platform that offers centralized data management, version control, and auditability that Excel cannot alone provide. It brings cash flow forecasting and other workflows directly into Excel via an add-in.
Users report good support for training, but that the learning curve is steep, especially when it comes to more advanced features. This can slow finance teams down, making it less ideal for fast-growing businesses where agility is critical.
- G2 rating: 4.5/5
- Best suited for: Mid-market teams reluctant to give up their Excel models.
- AI features in Vena that support cash flow forecasting:
- Driver-based planning and predictive forecasting directly in Excel through a chat interface
- Performs variance analysis, trend detection, and scenario simulations in real time
- Built-in financial analysis to flag trends and anomalies
- What users like about Vena:“The ability to have our financial statements automatically update each month is a huge improvement over our manual Excel files. Vena's budgeting/forecasting capabilities are really strong and allow for creating multiple scenarios.” – G2 review from verified Vena user
- What users dislike about Vena: Some features can be complex to set up at first, and there is a learning curve for new users. Performance can occasionally be slower with large data sets, and more customization options would be helpful. – G2 review from verified Vena user
Prophix is best-known for its strong consolidation and close management, which offers strong governance and structure.
Prophix is designed for stability. So, businesses that need to make frequent changes to their models or that need to reforecast often should consider the potential tradeoff in terms of their decision-making agility in rapidly shifting markets.
- G2 rating: 4.4/5
- Best suited for: Mid-market companies that are moving from spreadsheet-based processes and want a more structured planning environment for cash flow forecasting and other finance workflows.
- AI features in Prophix that support cash flow forecasting:
- Automatically identifies key drivers and emerging trends directly within forecast reports
- Automated predictive forecasting using historical data patterns and live data
- Agentic AI provides instant visibility into cash inflows, outflows, and variances
- What users like about Prophix: “We’ve been using Prophix for a few budget cycles now, and it’s made a big difference in how we manage forecasting and reporting. The main benefit is getting out of manual spreadsheet work. Prophix lets us consolidate data in one place, build reports that are repeatable and distributable, and give division leads better visibility into their numbers.” – G2 review from verified Prophix user
- What users dislike about Prophix: “The product struggles with processing assumptions entered to build forecast or budgeted balance sheets and cash flow statements. Users are required to find creative ways to reduce the processing time, which can lead to increased manual work required.” – G2 review from verified Prophix user
Fathom is an all-in-one financial reporting, analysis, and forecasting tool for small businesses, with an intuitive UI and a short learning curve.
The platform supports forecasting with tools for tracking key performance indicators related to cash flow and offers automated cash flow alerts for proactive cash flow management across multiple business units. It supports indirect cash flow reporting and good cash flow visualizations; however, users report limitations in their ability to customize reports.
- G2 rating: 4.6/5
- Best suited for: Small finance teams focused on monitoring cash performance and overall financial health.
- AI features in Fathom that support cash flow forecasting:
- AI-powered report commentary based on system data
- What users like about Fathom: I use Fathom for forecasting, budgeting, and financial analysis and reporting, and I find it to be a real time saver compared to spreadsheets. I like its interface and ease of use, which doesn't sacrifice crucial features for accuracy. The reporting is easier and more streamlined, and the initial setup was easy. – G2 review from verified Fathom user
- What users dislike about Fathom: I don't think Fathom handles and forecasts accruals very well. It struggles with things like revenue recognition and prepaid expenses — basically anything that needs to be accrued over time. It just doesn't do a great job with these. We often need to use some workarounds to get it to work, and while the support team has helped us find solutions, they're not always ideal. – G2 review from verified Fathom user
Float is purpose-built for cash-flow forecasting. Key forecasting features include 13-week rolling forecasts, cash runway projections, and basic scenario modeling (what-if analysis). It integrates with the most popular small business accounting tools, like Xero and QuickBooks, and automatically imports unpaid invoices and bills to help businesses forecast bank balances.
- G2 rating: 4.4/5
- Best suited for: Small businesses that need short-term cash flow forecasts for better tracking and visibility of short-term liquidity.
- AI features in Float that support cash flow forecasting:
- Our research identified one third-party review suggesting that Float offers ML-based anomaly detection and trend analysis. However, we were unable to confirm this based on the company’s website or through verified user reviews. Businesses considering Float should therefore independently verify these and/or any other AI features of interest to them.
- What users like about Float: “Float automatically pulls in all of the data from your accountancy software, giving you an excellent base cash flow to start. It then provides the ability to create different scenarios to quickly see how additional income (such as a new client signing on) or expenditure (taking on a new employee) changes will alter the flow of cash through the business. Being able to "see" what the future may look like from a financial point of view is essential in smaller agencies, where those changes can have a much more significant overall impact. – G2 review from verified Float user
- What users dislike about Float: “Sometimes the remaining balances on an unused budget can cause false forecasts. I would like to have a feature to be able to click a button to remove the unused item through the month.” – G2 review from verified Float user
One of the reasons so many small businesses start out using Excel for their cash flow forecasting is that it provides a flexible, formula-driven environment to model, analyze, and visualize future cash inflows and outflows.
Excel-based modeling and forecasting is best suited for early-stage finance teams comfortable with building and maintaining cash forecasting models manually. While this does require a lot of manual effort, for small businesses with relatively simple models, the flexibility it provides can make that tradeoff worth it.
- G2 rating: 4.7/5
- Best suited for: Small finance teams and single-entity businesses with relatively simple models and only a few data sources.
- AI features in Excel that support cash flow forecasting:
- Microsoft Copilot for generating formulas, building models, and analyzing variance between actual and projected cash flows
- Leverages Microsoft’s AI models to provide AI-assisted data exploration with the Analyze Data function
- What users like about Microsoft Excel: “Microsoft Excel is one of the most widely used spreadsheet applications in the world. Part of the Microsoft Office suite, it is essential for data analysis, organization, calculation, and presentation. With advanced features such as pivot tables, complex formulas, and data visualization tools, Excel is trusted by professionals across industries. Whether you're managing simple data sets or handling complex financial models, Excel is a powerful tool that offers a wide range of functions.” – G2 review from verified Microsoft Excel user
- What users dislike about Microsoft Excel: “Excel can be frustrating when spreadsheets grow too complex, making errors harder to detect and fix. Collaboration is limited compared to cloud tools, and large datasets often slow performance. Charts are basic, and formulas can be error-prone. Overall, Excel struggles with scale, teamwork, and advanced visualization needs.” – G2 review from verified Microsoft Excel user
Which one is the best software for cash flow forecasting?
The value proposition of the platforms we’ve covered here—the strengths, weaknesses, and potential tradeoffs—will vary based on the unique needs of your business. That said, the right-fit tool will depend to a large degree on the size of your team, the complexity of your business, and the technologies you need to integrate with.
For example, Anaplan is best suited for extremely large enterprises that desire flexibility and have the dedicated resources necessary for ongoing maintenance. In contrast, Drivetrain is well-suited to fast-growing teams looking for a flexible, yet scalable forecasting solution with an intuitive UI and short learning curve.
For mid-market teams that want to stay in Excel, Vena can be a solid choice, while those needing a more structured planning environment may find Prophix a better option.
Float offers immediate benefits for small businesses that need to carefully manage liquidity risk, while Fathom provides a more robust FP&A solution overall.
What makes Drivetrain different
Drivetrain empowers finance teams to own their FP&A—building and maintaining models that can be as sophisticated as they need, all while scaling from mid-market to enterprise-level complexity and workloads. This approach bridges a common gap: enterprises get the flexibility they need, while mid-market and fast-growing companies avoid the cost and disruption of replatforming as they grow.
The platform also handles the practical side of FP&A well. With 800+ native integrations, teams can connect their data sources directly to Drivetrain, ensuring their forecasts are always current. With AI-powered anomaly detection, teams have confidence in the numbers, and scenario planning lets them test multiple what-if scenarios quickly. These are all critical capabilities for real-time cash flow planning and risk management for mid-market businesses and enterprises today.
AI and future cash flow forecasting trends
Traditional cash flow forecasting relies on static assumptions, deterministic rules, and a limited number of drivers. These constraints stem from the extensive amount of time it takes to pull together all the data needed from disparate systems and the practical difficulty of building and maintaining multivariate models.
Today, AI has replaced static assumptions with adaptive, probabilistic models and, as a result, has revolutionized cash flow forecasting.
Powered by real-time data flows, ML models can process enormous amounts of data to produce a range of possible outcomes in minutes. And because they continuously learn and adjust with new data, forecasting accuracy improves as time goes on.
In 2026, strategic CFOs are harnessing AI to get real-time, actionable insights into their cash flows from increasingly accurate forecasts in minutes, not days or weeks. And they’re positioning themselves well to leverage AI in finance as it continues to evolve.
FAQs about cash flow forecasting software
.svg)
