Best Financial Planning Tools for Small-Business Owners (2026)

Short Answer: Owners usually choose between software that reports their numbers and a consultant who says what to do with them, at $100 to $400 an hour or $3,000 to $12,000 a month for a fractional CFO. For an owner-run business of 1 to 10 people facing a real decision, such as a hire, a price change, a second location or an S-Corp election, we think Occam's Model is the best fit. It runs the analysis a finance consultant would, on your own books, from $82.50 a month billed yearly ($99 monthly). Pick LivePlan if you mainly need a business plan for a lender, or Float if cash timing is your only problem and your Xero or QuickBooks books are clean.

We make Occam's Model, so weigh our first place accordingly. We've tried to make the rest of this list useful even if you never use our product: every software price below was checked on the vendor's own pricing page in September 2026, and each option gets a plain "who should pick this" line.

Who This List Is For

This comparison assumes a business like a landscaping company, a salon, a café, a clinic with staff, or a small agency: real costs, maybe a few employees, and an owner who runs the work and does the finances at night. If you're a venture-backed startup with a finance hire, or an accounting firm serving clients, the ranking changes, and we note where.

How We Picked

We judged each option on what matters to that owner:

• Can a non-finance owner get a useful answer in the first session?
• Does it work from the books you already have, or does it need a clean chart of accounts first?
• Does it connect the business to the owner's own pay and taxes?
• Can you test a decision (a hire, a price change, a second truck) before making it?
• Does it tell you what to do, the way a consultant would, or only show what happened?
• What does the answer cost compared with paying a consultant for it?

The Options at a Glance

1. Occam's Model: Best for a Consultant's Analysis Without the Retainer

Occam's Model does the work owners usually hire a finance consultant for, and it starts where a good consultant does: with the owner's life. You enter what your household needs, and its tax engine works out the pre-tax pay and business profit that covers it, including self-employment tax, with the business taxed as a sole proprietorship, an S-Corp or a C-Corp. Then it reads the books you already keep (a QuickBooks or Xero export, or your own spreadsheet) without asking you to build a chart of accounts first.

From there it grades the business, shows where profit goes before it reaches the bank, and lets you test a decision, such as a price increase or a cost cut, against your real numbers before you make it. For a new business or a next stage, it models the business you want at month 24 and the path to get there. On paid plans an AI advisor on the main screens explains any number (one credit per question), and a higher plan adds a finance expert who answers within 24 hours.

• Price: free tier with no card; $82.50/mo billed yearly or $99 monthly; with an expert, $416/mo billed yearly or $499 monthly.
• Pick it if: you run the business, you're facing a decision or formalizing how you manage the money, and you want the analysis a consultant would do without the monthly retainer.
• Skip it if: you need accounting or bookkeeping (it works alongside QuickBooks or Xero, not in place of them), a live bank feed, multi-entity consolidation, or tax rules outside the US.

2. A Finance Consultant by the Hour: A Person Who Owns the Answer

An independent finance consultant or CPA advisor reviews your numbers and tells you what to do. A June 2026 guide from a CPA firm puts most engagements at $100 to $400 an hour. One decision, such as pricing a new service or deciding whether to hire, can take several hours once the consultant has learned your books, and the next decision starts a new bill.

• Price: about $100 to $400 an hour.
• Pick one if: you face one large decision and want a person accountable for the answer.
• Skip it if: decisions keep coming. Occam's Model's paid plan costs $99 a month, less than a single hour at most consultants' rates, and the plan with an expert adds one who can open your numbers.

3. A Fractional CFO: The Person, at a Price

A part-time CFO brings judgment no software has. Guides from bookkeeping firms put typical retainers at $3,000 to $12,000 a month, which is out of scale for most businesses under a few million dollars in revenue.

• Price: about $3,000 to $12,000 a month.
• Pick one if: you're raising money, buying a business, or need someone in the room every week. For the analysis alone, Occam's Model's plan with an expert pairs the software with an expert who answers within 24 hours, for $416 a month billed yearly or $499 monthly.

4. LivePlan: Best for Writing a Business Plan

LivePlan walks you through writing a business plan and produces the financial statements a bank or investor expects to see, with industry benchmarks to sanity-check your assumptions.

• Price: $15/mo billed yearly or $20 monthly, including up to 10 forecast scenarios.
• Pick it if: the plan document is the goal, for an SBA loan or a pitch.
• Skip it if: you already run the business and want help deciding what to change week to week. It's built around the plan, not the live business.

5. Float: Best for Dedicated Cash Forecasting

Float connects to Xero or QuickBooks and projects your bank balance 13 weeks out, with up to eight scenarios.

• Price: $105/mo billed yearly or $130 monthly; 14-day trial, no card.
• Pick it if: your books are clean and cash timing is your whole problem.
• Skip it if: you also need a profit plan, owner pay, or a model of a new business. It only covers cash, and at that price it's a lot for a small shop. Cash Flow Frog covers similar ground from $33/mo billed yearly.

6. Fathom: Best When Your Accountant Runs the Reporting

Fathom turns accounting data into polished reports, KPI dashboards and three-way forecasts. It's sold to accounting firms, which use it to report to their clients.

• Price: firm plans from $67/mo; you get it through your accountant, not directly.
• Pick it if: your accountant or bookkeeper already uses it and will walk you through it.
• Skip it if: you want a tool of your own. There's no plan for a business owner working alone.

7. Brixx: Cheapest Do-It-Yourself Scenario Model

Brixx is a visual forecasting tool where you lay out revenue, costs and scenarios yourself.

• Price: $20/mo billed yearly or $25 monthly.
• Pick it if: you know what a forecast should contain and want a cheaper, sturdier home for it than a spreadsheet.
• Skip it if: you want the tool to tell you what matters. The entry tier covers one plan and one year, and you build the structure.

8. QuickBooks and Xero Built-Ins: Good Enough for the Next Few Months

If you already pay for accounting software, check what's included before buying anything. Xero's US plans include a short-term cash forecast (30 days on Early, up to 180 on Established), with prices changing on October 1, 2026. QuickBooks Online adds budgets and planning on Plus ($140/mo) and cash-flow forecasting on Advanced ($340/mo).

• Pick them if: you only need to see the next month or three coming.
• Skip them if: you need to model a decision or a new business. Neither is built for that.

9. ProjectionHub: One-Time Projections for a Loan

ProjectionHub sells industry-specific projection templates, and a service that builds the projections for you.

• Price: free templates; all templates $499 one-time; done-for-you projections $750.
• Pick it if: you need one set of projections for an SBA application and won't revisit them.

10. A Spreadsheet Template: Free and Fully Flexible

Free templates, such as SCORE's financial projections workbook, give you complete control. The cost is your time and the risk of a broken formula nobody catches.

• Pick it if: you're comfortable in Excel and your business is simple.

What About Finmark and Causal?

Both show up in older lists. Finmark was acquired by BILL in 2022 and its site now redirects to BILL. Causal joined Lucanet in 2024 and no longer offers standalone sign-up. If you were using either, the alternatives above cover the same ground at the small-business end.

Common Questions

Do I need financial planning software if I have QuickBooks?
QuickBooks records what happened. Planning software helps you decide what to do next. If your decisions are small and your cash is comfortable, QuickBooks alone can be enough.

What's the cheapest way to do financial projections?
A free spreadsheet template. Among paid tools, LivePlan and Brixx start around $15–$20 a month billed yearly. Occam's Model and ProjectionHub have free options too.

Is financial planning software a replacement for an accountant?
No. Your accountant keeps your books accurate and files your taxes. A planning tool uses those books to help you make decisions between tax seasons.

What should a small-business owner look for in a planning tool?
Whether it works from the books you already have, whether it connects the business to your own pay and taxes, and whether you can test a decision before making it.