Most small businesses don’t have a full finance team.
They have one person doing five jobs, trying to forecast cash flow while running operations and answering customer emails. It’s not a spreadsheet problem. It’s a time and clarity problem.
And that’s what the right FP&A software solves.
Why this isn’t just for “big companies”
Small businesses move fast, and operate with tight margins. They can’t afford to wait until the end of the month to figure out what’s going on.
But most still use static spreadsheets to plan, because it’s familiar. And it feels flexible.
But that system breaks under pressure:
- One manual error throws off the whole model
- Forecasting takes hours
- Planning becomes reactive
The job isn’t just to “make a report.” It’s to see cause and effect: what changed, why it changed, and what to do next. And to do it all before the numbers show up too late.
What the right tool can unlock
The best FP&A software gives you back your time. And it shows you where the business is headed without making you dig for the answer.
It helps you:
- Forecast cash flow clearly
- Plan headcount with confidence
- Track burn and revenue in real time
- Make decisions based on what’s actually happening
The shift is simple: less time managing data, more time steering the business. For a small, scrappy finance function, that leverage is the difference between reacting and actually running the plan.
What to look for
1. Modeling that makes sense
You shouldn’t need a manual. The interface should feel obvious.
Runway’s modeling uses human-readable logic, so even non-finance teammates can forecast and understand what’s happening. It’s built for a clear model owner who needs to answer “what if?” questions quickly without rebuilding spreadsheets.
2. **Collaboration by default**
Your sales lead should be able to adjust pipeline assumptions. Marketing should be able to see how campaign spend rolls up to cash. You don’t need to collect inputs. You just need the model to stay shared.
Runway lets you lock structure while letting teams own their piece of the plan, so Finance isn’t chasing updates across copies of the same file.
3. Reporting that’s actually useful
Dashboards should be live, visual, and easy to interpret. You should know how your business is doing in seconds.
The best tools keep reports tied directly to the model, so when assumptions change, your board and leadership views update automatically. No separate “deck project” every month.
4. Integrations that work
If you’re exporting from QuickBooks or Gusto just to paste into a model, the tool isn’t helping. Good FP&A platforms pull in real data, automatically, and keep it fresh.
That means your finance team can spend their time asking “what does this mean?” instead of “did this CSV import correctly?”
5. Scalability without friction
Your needs will change. You’ll hire more people. You might raise a round, or need investor-ready reports fast.
The right tool doesn’t slow down when the complexity ramps up. It should handle more entities, new revenue lines, and changing headcount plans without forcing you to start over or hire consultants.
Where the tools stand
Runway
- Built for small, scrappy finance teams inside companies of any size that move fast and need clarity across functions.
- Integrated with 750+ systems, it’s designed to grow with you.
- Comes with driver-based modeling, live dashboards, human-readable formulas, and real-time collaboration.
- Use it to create multi-scenario what-if analyses in seconds, without duplicating files.
- Best fit when you already have or want a single model owner who needs more leverage on their time, not a heavier enterprise system.
LiveFlow
- Works on top of Google Sheets.
- Live data sync from QuickBooks and others.
- Real-time dashboards, multi-entity consolidation, and 100+ reporting templates.
- Good for early-stage teams who want real-time dashboards inside a familiar interface.
- Best when your main goal is “get GL data into Sheets quickly,” not when you need a new modeling surface for complex scenarios.
Jirav
- All-in-one FP&A suite. Handles budgets, forecasts, headcount planning, and investor reporting out of the box.
- Integrates with accounting, payroll, and ops tools.
- Built with accounting firms and small businesses in mind.
- Template-driven approach works well if your business fits the standard patterns; less ideal if you expect your model structure to change frequently.
Causal
- Automate forecasts and build business plans fast.
- Collaborate, track versions, and use customizable dashboards.
- Useful for teams building business plans without a heavy finance background.
- Great for quickly spinning up models; can require more work to manage complex, multi-entity, or deeply operational scenarios.
Cube
- Works inside Excel and Google Sheets but adds robust FP&A features: scenario analysis, consolidation, multi-currency support, real-time collaboration, and automated flows.
- If your team lives in spreadsheets but needs better workflows and controls, Cube can be a good bridge.
- Best when you’re committed to Excel/Sheets as your primary surface and want more control around an existing, stable model.
How to pick the right tool
Choosing FP&A software is all about fit. Not “are we big enough?” but “where does our current process break?” Start with your process: where’s it slow, and where are mistakes happening?
- Are you spending hours formatting reports?
- Are you updating models by hand every time a number changes?
- Are decisions delayed because no one knows which spreadsheet is the right one?
- Is there a single person who feels responsible for the model, or does everyone own their own copy?
Shortlist 3-5 tools that fit your needs and budget. Test demos. Discuss your use case with their teams. Notice how intuitive the interface feels, how quickly you can model real scenarios.
Then think about where you want to go. Planning for growth? Raising capital? Hiring quickly?
Your FP&A tool should make those steps easier. As your model gets more complex, the right platform should feel more valuable.
Grow faster with modern FP&A software
Most small businesses wait too long to fix their finance tools. By the time the spreadsheet becomes unbearable, you’re already behind.
The right software makes planning faster, more efficient, and collaborative. And for the person owning finance, it turns FP&A from “updating numbers” into “running live simulations of the business.”