The Best Financial Forecasting Software for UK Businesses in 2024

Ideally, financial forecasting software will help you keep up with all of those forecasting needs—or at least the ones you deem necessary for your business to thrive. It should allow you to look forward, while automating the manual work that makes frequent forecasting impossible for many FP&A teams (like gathering actuals).   

What you look for in financial forecasting software will differ depending on your own organisational goals and needs, but the best solutions will: 

• Have an intuitive interface that’s easy for team members throughout your organisation to learn without the need for excessive IT interference 

• Integrate with the solutions you already use 

• Pull in both your plan numbers and actuals to support reforecasting and the creation of rolling forecasts 

• Have well-rated customer support, so you know all your questions will be answered promptly along the way 

You’ll also want to look for forecasting software that can integrate with not only your financial systems, but operations systems too, to support your more complex forecasting processes that may involve other departments in your business outside of Finance (like manufacturing forecasting at the unit sales level, for instance). 

This way you can continue to spread your usage—scaling your forecasting to create a more agile and resilient organisation as a whole. 

Let’s look at some of the top forecasting software solutions available in the UK and see how they stand up to these demands. 

Top Forecasting Software Providers in the UK Reviewed  

1. Vena  

Vena’s FP&A platform offers out-of-the-box forecasting capabilities, allowing businesses to incorporate not just financial data but operational data as well—all in a single solution. It supports a variety of forecasting needs—including budget forecasting, cash flow forecasting, sales forecasting, demand forecasting, revenue forecasting and headcount forecasting.  

Featuring a familiar native Excel interface, Vena provides the flexibility to support your most complex forecasting and scenario modeling needs. It features pre-built but customizable Excel templates and intuitive visual workflows to make collaboration with other members of your finance team and beyond easy. 

Vena's intelligent reporting and analytics solution, Vena Insights, embeds Power BI to further support forecasting needs with machine learning technology. Vena also features a generative AI assistant, Vena Copilot, which can help you optimise your forecasts by answering complex business questions with just natural language.   

In BARC’s 2024 Planning Survey—the largest survey of planning software users—Vena was ranked first for project length, customer satisfaction and product satisfaction, and number two for price to value. It was their number one recommendation overall, with 100% of users satisfied and 90% of surveyed users calling Vena’s price to value excellent or good. 

Pros and Cons

Pros 

• Native Excel user interface is easy for FP&A professionals to use 

• Scalable to a full scope of financial and operational planning use cases 

• Rates well on price to value and product satisfaction  

Cons 

• There can be a learning curve when it comes to getting started and setting up models  

• Large and complex files may be slower to load 

• Has a robust implementation process which requires a solid upfront plan  

Best For 

Vena is ideal for businesses that prefer an Excel interface and have pre-built forecasting processes based in Excel, as well as for companies looking for a solution provider with deep expertise in a variety of industries, able to support specific use cases that generic offerings can’t. 

2. CCH Tagetik  

CCH Tagetik is a corporate performance management solution with robust forecasting functionality. It connects financial and operational data to enable data-driven decision making, supporting rolling forecasts and empowering sales forecasting, cash flow forecasting and demand forecasting.  

CCH Tagetik enables FP&A and extended planning and analysis (xP&A) processes—which extends FP&A processes across the organization. 

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked CCH Tagetik first for price to value and third for customer satisfaction, but the solution fell to number six for product satisfaction and number nine (out of 10) for project length. 

CCH Tagetik has offices in Italy and the United States, but none in the UK.  

Pros and Cons 

Pros 

• Flexible and easy to integrate 

• Scalable across use cases 

• Rates well on price to value 

Cons 

• While there is an Excel add-on, users report it can be sluggish  

• Can be overly complex and difficult to navigate 

• The implementation can be lengthy, and it’s difficult to customise  

Best For  

CCH Tagetik is good for businesses that hope to scale their usage across a variety of functions and use cases and need a tool that will enable that.  

3. Board  

An enterprise planning platform, Board has solutions designed to empower teams across the business—including finance, supply chain operations and human resources. It supports budget forecasting, sales forecasting, cash flow forecasting, demand forecasting and capacity planning. 

For finance, Board is focused on enabling the planning cycle, improving collaboration, delivering better insights and expanding planning beyond finance—with solutions for business intelligence, performance management and predictive analytics. 

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked Board fourth for product satisfaction, but the platform fell to number eight for customer satisfaction, number nine for price to value and came in last for project length. 

Board has a headquarters in the UK, as well as Switzerland and the United States, with additional locations around the world. 

Pros and Cons  

Pros 

• Features easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality 

• Easy to customise to your business needs 

• Flexible across business-wide use cases 

Cons 

• Takes time and expertise to get up and running 

• New users can experience a steep learning curve 

• Can be slow when trying to process large volumes of data 

Best For  

Board is best for organisations that want to facilitate teams across the business and have dedicated support to help implement the technology and train new users. 

 4. Datarails    

A financial planning and analysis platform, Datarails automates data consolidation and reporting and empowers rolling forecasts. It enables budget forecasting and cash flow forecasting, with data visualization and financial reporting functionality.  

Datarails features a central relational database and Flex add-in that lets you connect with Microsoft Excel 2010 and higher, to take advantage of the familiar Excel interface (however you won't be able to use all of Excel’s functionality through this connector). Datarails also has a connector for Google Sheets. 

Datarails has locations in New York City and Tel Aviv, but has no UK-based offices. 

Pros and Cons

Pros 

• Easy to use for most users 

• Offers an intuitive Excel interface through the Flex add-in 

• Customer support team gets positive reviews 

Cons 

• Can be difficult to scale as your business grows 

• Has limited workflow and collaboration features 

• Can be complicated to integrate into a Mac environment 

Best For 

Datarails is a good fit for finance teams looking for basic revenue forecasting functionality who heavily rely on Excel or Google sheets. 

5. Workday Adaptive Planning 

Empowering rolling forecasts, as well as budgeting, planning, modeling and more, Workday Adaptive Planning is an enterprise performance management (EPM) platform. It offers functionality for sales forecasting, demand forecasting, revenue forecasting and capacity planning. 

Workday Adaptive Planning also provides data visualization, AI, machine learning and automation capabilities. 

Headquartered in the United States, Workday has locations around the world—including one in London. 

Pros and Cons  

Pros 

• Has scalable solutions across multiple use cases  

• Offers structured templates and reports 

• Has integrations with Workday HCM and Core Financials 

Cons 

• Can be complicated to implement and configure 

• Not intuitive for many users 

• Reporting and dashboarding are limited 

Best For  

Workday Adaptive Planning is ideal for businesses that are already using Workday HCM and looking for a forecasting solution they can expand to use cases throughout the organisation. 

6. Jedox  

A planning and performance management platform, Jedox features an “Excel-like” interface and an add-in for Excel 365. It supports rolling forecasts and empowers sales forecasting, revenue forecasting and cash flow forecasting. It can also be used for scenario modeling, planning, budgeting and analysis.  

The Jedox integrator offers predefined connections for ERP, CRM, HCM and SCM systems, with the ability to connect to databases, BI and analytics platforms. The Jedox platform also offers automation, AI and ML functionality. 

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked Jedox number six for price-to-value and customer satisfaction, number seven for project length and number eight for product satisfaction. 

Jedox is headquartered in Germany and has offices around the world—including one in London. 

Pros and Cons

Pros 

• A flexible platform with a central database 

• Offers an Excel add-in and Excel-like interface 

• Has dynamic, customizable reporting  

Cons 

• Can be over-complex to implement  

• There’s a learning curve for new users 

• Some customers have reported slow performance   

Best For   

Jedox is good for businesses that want to move away from Excel and have the resources available to have an in-house expert for implementation and training. 

7. Planful  

Planful’s financial performance management platform supports rolling forecasts, enabling revenue forecasting, demand forecasting, cash flow forecasting and capacity planning. The platform also offers budgeting, planning and scenario analysis functionality, with some machine learning features for anomaly detection and predictive analytics. 

Largely designed for enterprise businesses, Planful’s automation and collaboration features help speed up financial processes, with pre-built templates and managed workflows that help drive business insights across a variety of use cases.  

Planful has an office in London, UK, as well as locations in the United States, Canada and India. 

Pros and Cons  

Pros 

• Easy to collaborate and share data and analysis 

• Easy to customise and view data in different ways 

• Scalable, secure and compliant  

Cons  

• Requires some IT and technical support to maintain 

• There’s a learning curve for new users 

• The Excel add-in is limited, with no way to easily export live reports  

Best For 

Planful is best for larger companies with FP&A teams that want to work more collaboratively within their business. 

8. Prophix  

 Prophix’s financial performance platform, Prophix One, provides solutions for cash flow forecasting, revenue forecasting and sales forecasting. It supports rolling forecasts, as well as other FP&A processes like budgeting, planning, reporting and analysis.  

Prophix helps automate workflows and data integrations, and offers templates, AI features and personalized dashboards. It has pre-built connectors for CRM, ERP and HRIS systems, as well as an add-in for Microsoft 365 and APIs to connect to other business systems.  

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked Prophix fourth for project length and number five for customer satisfaction, but it fell to number seven for both product satisfaction and price to value. 

Headquartered in Canada, Prophix has locations around the world, including an office in London. 

Pros 

• Has a flexible interface, customizable to individual business needs  

• The customer service team gets good reviews 

• The Microsoft 365 add-in integrates with tools like Excel and PowerPoint 

Cons  

• IT involvement is needed to use the technology effectively 

• Prophix does not have a native Excel interface—just an add-in that can connect with existing workbooks to collect inputs from outside finance 

• Some customers have reported formatting limitations with dashboards 

Best For 

Prophix is ideal for teams looking to mostly move away from Excel, especially mid-size and smaller companies with users that aren’t highly tech-savvy. 

9. Solver  

A corporate performance management solution, Solver enables multi-year financial forecasts, labour forecasts and industry-specific forecasts. It also offers additional functionality for budgeting, consolidation and analysis, helping businesses consolidate data from sources across the organisation.  

Solver also offers flexible reporting and dashboards, with a central data warehouse that lets you draw from financial and operational data. It has integrations with QuickBooks, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce and more, with a File Import connector that allows you to upload Excel or CSV files. 

Solver has offices across Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific—including an office in London. 

Pros and Cons  

Pros 

• Solver’s File Import connector allows users to import Excel or CSV files into Solver 

• Offers a range of reporting templates 

• Doesn’t require a lot of IT intervention 

Cons 

• There’s a learning curve to get started 

• Visualization capabilities aren’t very robust 

• Data can take some time to process 

Best For 

Solver is good for organisations that want some Excel compatability but don’t need a native Excel interface and don’t require specialized forecasting functionality across use several cases.  

10. Anaplan  

Anaplan’s FP&A solution allows your team to plan across use cases, with tools for budget forecasting, sales forecasting, cash flow forecasting, demand forecasting, revenue forecasting, headcount forecasting and capacity planning. It empowers rolling forecasts, planning and modeling functionality, and is ideal for large-scale organisations planning across multiple departments.  

Anaplan’s modular approach means departments can plan separately, then connect models to compare and calculate bigger goals. Their Data Hub centralises your data and creates a single source of truth.  

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked Anaplan third for project length, price to value and product satisfaction, and fourth for customer satisfaction. 

Among its offices around the world—including a global headquarters in the United States—Anaplan has two locations in the UK. 

Pros and Cons 

Pros 

• Flexible across industries and use cases 

• Easy to use for business users 

• Users can be assigned different levels of access 

Cons  

• Integrations are limited 

• The price can be prohibitive for some businesses 

• Processing large models can be sluggish 

Best For 

Anaplan is best for larger enterprises with multiple use cases and an extensive IT team to help support implementation. 

11. Oracle Cloud EPM Planning 

Oracle Cloud EPM Planning is a full suite of products with use cases for planning, budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting, financial close and more. The platform supports companies in their business-wide planning with features for predictive cash forecasting and sales forecasting.  

The platform aims to “connect every part of your business with a plan that is fully integrated across finance, operations, and lines of business.” Oracle Cloud EPM Planning also makes use of AI to power forecasts and monitor plans and variances. 

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked Oracle Cloud EPM fifth for project length and price to value. They fell to ninth place, however, for product satisfaction and customer satisfaction. 

Oracle’s offices are located around the world and include multiple field offices across the UK. 

 Pros and Cons  

Pros 

• Supports multiple integrations into source data repositories with both Oracle and non-Oracle databases 

• Customisable to your business needs 

Cons 

• The pricing model can be cost-prohibitive for some  

• Some users report performance issues when the scale of data increases 

• The implementation can be challenging, requiring a high degree of technical support to set you up for success 

Best For   

Oracle Cloud EPM Planning is best for enterprise companies already using Oracle’s cloud ecosystem, who are looking for a platform they can customise for their unique use cases. 

12. IBM Planning Analytics  

IBM Planning Analytics gives finance teams forecasting and budgeting capabilities, as well as analytics and financial reporting. It supports rolling forecasts, with functionality for sales forecasting and demand forecasting, as well as advanced financial modeling, driver-based forecasting and embedded AI predictive forecasting. 

With an Excel add-on and embedded AI and data visualization capabilities, the platform also features pre-built applications for financial, demand, workforce and IT planning. APIs and open data protocols allow for custom integrations between systems.   

In their 2024 Planning Survey, BARC ranked IBM Planning Analytics second for project length and fifth for product satisfaction, but it fell to seventh for customer satisfaction and eighth for price to value. 

IBM has locations worldwide, with a UK head office located in Portsmouth.  

Pros 

• Flexible and customizable 

• Powerful forecasting and analysis functionality  

• A robust integration with Excel   

Cons 

• Onboarding users can be lengthy  

• Steep learning curve for non-technical users 

• Use cases outside planning, budgeting and forecasting are limited 

Best For  

IBM Planning Analytics is best for businesses looking for a familiar brand name but that don’t expect to expand their usage outside of forecasting, budgeting and planning. 

13. Centage

Centage’s FP&A software helps enable cash flow forecasting, sales forecasting, revenue forecasting and headcount forecasting. It offers rolling forecasts, budgeting and predictive planning, with consolidation, scenario planning, dashboarding and workforce planning functionality.  

Centage features formula-free, drag-and-drop functionality for teams that want to move away from an Excel interface entirely. It offers integrations with GL and ERP solutions and user-based permissions and security. Data can be imported from Excel and reports can be shared via Excel. 

Centage is headquartered in the United States, with no locations in the United Kingdom. 

Pros and Cons  

Pros  

• Comprehensive reporting capabilities 

• Customer service gets positive reviews 

• Rates well for security and compliance 

Cons 

• The learning curve for new users can be steep 

• Integrations can be challenging 

• Running and exporting reports can be slow and cumbersome 

Best For  

Centage is good for businesses that want to move away from an Excel format, and like a drag-and-drop, formula-free alternative. 

Be Ready for Anything With Powerful Forecasting   

Choosing the right financial forecasting software for your business means understanding what exactly your team needs—now and in the future. You want a solution that will scale with you, supporting the forecasting use cases that will empower your business goals and drive continued success going forward. 

Hopefully this list gives you a solid starting point as you move down the path of researching and narrowing down the right financial forecasting solution for your organisation. As you do, we wish you only the best of luck in your search! 

Learn how Vena can help you achieve your business goals. Request a demo today.