What is Budgeting & Forecasting Software?

Budgeting and forecasting software assists with the creation and management of detailed financial plans. Historical data and estimates of future market conditions are used to approximate a company’s future revenues and expenses.

Like many budgeting programs, business forecasting software reduces the opportunity for potential human error. Because budgets are formulated by the recording of business data, human error can drastically affect the budgeting process. With the right system, however, automated data capture and systematic reminders can ensure that the user knows when to input key business information for budget analysis.

Effective business budget software can also automatically import data directly from integrated accounting applications, including the general ledger, ERP system and HR system. This automated importing strengthens consistency and completeness for data analysis that is reliable and error-free. In addition, the ability to connect and interact with other programs ensures reliable consolidated data collection, as well as a variety of different ways to complete the budgeting and forecasting process.

Collaboration in budget formulation becomes much easier with the use of budgeting and forecasting solutions. When certain areas of a company’s budget are headed by different individuals, manual collaboration can be troublesome. But with business forecast systems, the budget approval process can be standardized to improve organization and communication.

Hypothetical forecasting also allows for the inclusion of complex or often-forgotten factors like inflation. These scenarios improve general awareness of potential obstacles ahead, providing greater foresight in budget formation.

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Although some of the most important points of the budgeting and forecasting process are the same across industries, different organizations have different priorities and requirements in finding the right system. Here are the main categories of buyers:

  • Small businesses. Small and new businesses may want to pay particular attention to a user-friendly interface or more intuitive presentation styles, which can produce easily understandable graphs and charts. Budgeting is a critical feature here, but often forecasting capabilities and needs are somewhat limited, due to costs and lack of historical data.
  • Mid-sized and growing businesses. Slightly larger and rapidly growing businesses can benefit from a system that adds forecasting features to help predict future growth and sales based on past patterns. A common mistake for growing businesses is to assume that last year’s surge will carry over into this year. However, many different factors play a part, and the ability to predict changes in those factors can prevent massive overinvestment in your company’s infrastructure.
  • Large corporations. Large companies with dozens or hundreds of different departments create a whole other level of complexity in the budgeting and forecasting process. They need something that can handle multiple types of expenses and multiple sources of revenue, all coming from different users in different departments. This information needs to be integrated in a seamless, intelligent way.
Budgeting & Forecasting Software3

Budgeting010-min

Budgeting & Forecasting Software5-min

Few Questions when Selecting Vendor?

We have the answers to all your questions. we always find the right balance among price, quality, and project requirements so we can offer the best solution for your particular situation.

There are a number of considerations when selecting budgeting and forecasting software :

  • Is the system user-friendly: accessible charting/graphing capabilities, online user forums, troubleshooting applications?
  • Does it provide a variety of hypothetical situations for forecasting things like inflation?
  • Can the program involve multiple users for collaboration purposes (i.e., intra-software messaging, multiple users by department, automated combination or comparison of multiple budget submissions)?
  • Does the solution effectively provide reminders for adhering to deadlines?
  • To what degree is the software capable of interacting with important accounting applications or modules, such as general ledger, HR etc.?
  • Does the price range justify the features?
  • Does the program encourage and give reminders for frequent data entry to ensure precise and consistent information storage?
  • Does the software effectively analyze past business performance?