Cash planning software: 9 tools compared

The vendors differ less in their features than in one underlying decision: where do the numbers come from? The bank account, the bookkeeping, or the systems revenue is created in? Almost everything else follows from that. Nine tools compared, with prices and what each is for.

Why a spreadsheet stops being enough

A cash plan in Excel works on the day it is built. After that it falls behind in three steps:

• 01It goes staleBalances, open invoices and new contracts would have to be maintained continuously. In practice that happens quarterly — and under pressure, not at all.
• 02It gets inaccurateThe longer the sheet lives, the more special cases it holds — deferred payments, one-offs, corrections. Formulas get overwritten, rows get forgotten.
• 03It hangs on one personWhoever built the file understands it. Nobody else does. If that person is out, the plan is frozen.

The point at which companies switch is usually not dissatisfaction but an occasion: a hire, a bank financing, a tight week in which nobody could say whether the money would last.

Three approaches, three data sources

The vendors on the market group by their data source. The difference sounds technical, but it decides which questions a tool can answer at all.

Bank-based: planning from account movements

Tools: finban, Tidely, Commitly, flowpilot, Agicap

This group connects to the bank accounts, categorises the transactions and carries them forward. Recurring payments are recognised; planned in- and outflows you add by hand.

Strength

A day-accurate balance, very fast setup, a low entry price. For the question “will the money last the next few weeks”, this is the most direct route.

Where it stops

The balance is the last link in the chain. What arrives in the account was decided weeks earlier. The revenue side is carried forward rather than derived — and profit and cash cannot be told cleanly apart, because accruals, cost of goods and prepayments are invisible in a payment stream.

Accounting-based: planning from the ledger

Tools: Finokapi, helu.io, Corporate Planner, LucaNet, Jedox

This group works on DATEV, Lexware, Agenda or the ERP. It knows accounts, cost centres and open items — so not only what was paid, but what is due.

Strength

A clean commercial basis, budget-versus-actual, profit and liquidity shown apart. Open items look further ahead than bank transactions because they carry receivables with their due dates.

Where it stops

The centre of gravity is analysis and extrapolation. Where future revenue comes from is generally an assumption you make yourself. Entry prices are higher, and at the top end an implementation project comes with them.

Model-based: planning from the drivers

Tools: Foreqast

This group starts in the systems revenue is created in — shop, CRM, time tracking, ad accounts — and derives which payments will arise from them. Orders, deals or billable hours become invoices, invoices become payments received, each with its own delay.

Strength

The revenue side is calculated rather than estimated. Because the model knows the relationships, decisions can be played through beforehand: what does a hire, a bigger ad budget or a departing client do to the cash?

Where it stops

It assumes the driver data sits in systems that can be connected. And without a bank connection there is no balance accurate to the cent as of today.

Which approach when

Five questions before you buy

• 01Which planning horizon?Four weeks and four quarters are different jobs. The short term is a balance question; the long term is a model question.
• 02Cash alone, or profit too?The two can point in opposite directions for months. Anyone with stock, prepayments or annual invoices needs both views.
• 03Where does the planned revenue come from?Is it carried forward, estimated, or derived from drivers? That is the biggest quality difference between tools in the same price bracket.
• 04How much upkeep does it cost?Transaction-based planning scales with the number of line items. Model-based scales with the number of assumptions — and that stays the same when revenue doubles.
• 05Who works in it?If your tax advisor or bookkeeper needs access, user limits are a real cost problem rather than a footnote.

The 8 tools compared

These are entry prices from the vendors' own pages and public directories, checked on 24 August 2026. “not published” means the vendor publishes no price. Verify them yourself before deciding — the sources are listed at the end.

Disclosure: this is our own product.

The only forecast that does the arithmetic on your decision.

Which tool for which company?

• Solo or a pair, an overview is enough → finban
• An SME with several bank accounts → Tidely or Commitly
• Mid-market with several entities and payment runs → Agicap
• Bookkeeping in DATEV, reporting in front → helu.io or Finokapi
• A group with a finance department → Corporate Planner, Jedox, LucaNet
• Predictable revenue drivers from a shop, subscriptions or projects → Foreqast
• You want to cost a decision before you make it → Foreqast

Bank-based and model-based approaches do not exclude each other. Some companies run a bank-based tool for the four-week view and a model for the twelve-month plan.