Budget/Planning software

Or does everyone use Excel?

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I work for a Small business, although growing rather rapidly. 

We currently do all of our budgeting, planning and Cash flow forecasting using Excel, but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a bit of software that would make the process less manual and possibly more professional looking.  We run Sage line 50, and I have found it quite painful to get what I want out of it.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received!

Replies (16)

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RLI
By lionofludesch
15th Jul 2016 12:45

I can't remember the last time I got asked to do a cash flow forecast. My clients aren't sophisticated enough, I'm afraid.

If I was, I'd use Excel. No point in me investing in software I'd never use. Excel can be a bit clunky and - actually - I'm surprised at the low quality of standard templates on there. But it'll do the job.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By kevin01
15th Jul 2016 12:57

Sadly, my boss is obsessed with cash! Which is fair enough as it's his company.
Yes, the standard templates aren't particularly great - in the past I've created my own which work ok
Thanks

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By tom123
15th Jul 2016 13:22

Kevin, like you I work in the SME sector. I have always done cash flow forecasts in Excel -
I presume you mean the 13 week rolling type, that gets updated with actuals etc, rather than a cash flow statement.

I did try once using Access, but that got too fiddly.

Daily & Weekly reports are always going to be a bit rough & ready - you need the ability to quickly make changes each day as events happen.

I can't see a way of doing this kind of thing any other way.

Transactional software (such as L50) is only backward looking, so I don't really have any connection between the two here.

I tend just to check that my current debtors unwinds on it's own line, and also current creditors.

I have a look at open purchase orders for future spend - and beyond that is freehand.

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By Portia Nina Levin
15th Jul 2016 13:39

This is the planning tool that I find most useful:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CmgKmf-hL._SL1000_.jpg

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By KWest
15th Jul 2016 15:05

We use Figurewizard.

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
16th Jul 2016 14:25

Hi
We are doing more and more of this type of work.

We use a cloud software called Liveplan you do pay for it but the hours that our saved using it means it pays for itself. It is great for cashflows and applying for grants and overdrafts and client pitches.

Liveplan works by you starting with your actual P&L and putting in the opening balance sheet. It completes budgets forecasts, cashflows and business plans. You can also link it to your live Xero or quickbooks or you update your actuals manually. It allows you to adjust time scales of invoices getting paid and adjusts all the figures in a second.

We have used it for clients pitching to their customers. he customer support is very good. I like the instant chat facility.

We have had great feedback from the banks and the clients.

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Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
16th Jul 2016 14:15

Sorry here is the link

https://www.liveplan.com/

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By Claire Owen-Jones
16th Jul 2016 19:59

It may be worth looking into Float which is a cash flow software. It links to Xero and Quickbooks but I'd be surprised if you couldn't import information from Excel.

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By Goldleaf47
17th Jul 2016 10:19

Interesting question which I think breaks into two parts:

1) Forecasting
For forecasting I still use Sage Winforecast which is simply the best tool (even if unsupported by Sage) for financial forecasts.

I often have to run forecasts for funders who want to flex or scenario plan. This is best done live using Winforecast (as you can sell during the process and explain why a risk can be mitigated) but often the funder wants to flex in private. On that basis, I will build an Excel model - and be reminded of Excel's shortcomings! Critically it's a really slow process to do it properly and I am reminded how few people model properly using separated assumptions or control accounts.

The next piece is a short term, rolling cashflow in Excel. Too many people enter numbers into boxes and lose any ability to explain why the guess turned out wrong. If you use a database approach to cashflow then you ought to be able to explain to the funder why the guess was wrong (price, volume and/or terms taken - and who). This adds a huge amount of credibility if the business is under pressure.

2) Data
The last piece was a comment in the question about getting information out of Sage. I find Sage the best product for this is you're prepared to use EIRT (Excel Integrated Reporting Tool) which is bundled as part of the Sage install.

At a basic level, this cuts out manual data entry for reporting or reconciliations but at a high level allows full departmental reporting, comparison to budgets or forecasts, and consolidation. If you're really clever then you code descriptions to assist fast reconciliations. I'm surprised how many people don't use this EIRT function and my trials with the likes of Xero are undermined by the lack of this function.

Matt

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Replying to Goldleaf47:
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By kiwilondon99
18th Jul 2016 10:55

matt - what operating system do you use winforecast on ? [ surely not win10 ? ]

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Replying to kiwilondon99:
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By Goldleaf47
19th Jul 2016 11:09

I do use Win10 but you use a system setting for compatibility. It won't use XLSX either; I use an XLS data collation step to retain XLSX functionality in the, say, sales model.

These workarounds are inconvenient but...compared to the trials I've had of other stuff and the potential costs for some of it, it's the least bad answer.

Goodness knows what I'll do when the workarounds stop!

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Replying to Goldleaf47:
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By kiwilondon99
09th Sep 2016 14:57

@goldleaf47
thanks - how exactly did you get winfct to load/ operate in win environment
are you on 32 or 64 bit win10

pm me if preferred - thanks

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Replying to kiwilondon99:
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By Goldleaf47
13th Sep 2016 21:24

KiwiLondon,

I'm using 64 bit Win10.

For backward compatibility, right click the shortcut or .exe file, go to the compatibility tab and select the operating system you prefer/need.

Matt

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Replying to kiwilondon99:
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By Goldleaf47
13th Sep 2016 21:24

KiwiLondon,

I'm using 64 bit Win10.

For backward compatibility, right click the shortcut or .exe file, go to the compatibility tab and select the operating system you prefer/need.

Matt

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
19th Jul 2016 12:09

There is a new version of winforecast available now called Force5 forecasting which is ideal for winforecast fans but is pricy at around £1250 plus £300.
I have not had any jobs with good enough fees to justify the price tag for it.

I use liveplan for a lot of things these days it costs about $10 per month while your plan is live then the cost stops when you archive it. Its very good as it produces a full formatted business plan which looks quite good and drops summary graphs and bar charts into the exec summary which looks quite good and professional and is quick to use.

I did spend a bit of time a while back developing a standard model in Excel but I do prefer a already balanced system like the 2 above.

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By Colin Maher
21st Jul 2016 10:56

Hi There,

Can I add Pastel Software in to the mix, Please click on the link to see the features http://www.pastel.co.uk/subnav1/pastel-partner/
If you would like to discuss this please give me a call.
Kind regards,
Colin Maher
Pastel UK & Ireland

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