Best Financial Modelling Software for 2026
For all types of businesses
Scenario building and modelling answers your what ifs in an instant. Find out which software can help you figure out your financial future the best.
Updated: January 29, 2026
Quick Answer
The best financial modelling software depends on your company's stage and complexity. Compass AI leads for SMBs and fractional CFOs seeking AI-powered forecasting at an accessible price point. Cube Software excels for teams wanting spreadsheet familiarity with automation benefits. Datarails works best for Excel-native finance teams managing multiple entities. Finmark shines for early-stage startups needing simple, intuitive modelling. Prophix One serves mid-market to enterprise organizations requiring robust, scalable FP&A capabilities.
Our number one recommendation is to always try it before you buy it. If there’s a free trial or guided demo available, then take it and make sure to use the software to its fullest extent.
Financial modelling might seem like something exclusive to expert finance teams and large enterprises, but the reality is very different. Modern tools make it possible for small and mid-sized companies to map out potential financial outcomes through robust financial modelling software.
At its core, financial modelling answers "what if" questions before they become reality. It eliminates running based on guesswork and works based off of historical data to build towards your future. The difference between guessing and knowing often comes down to whether you're building these scenarios in a dynamic model or just hoping for the best, as well as to what extent the user is allowed to control their scenarios. One side relies heavily on assumptive data, the second side tends to incorporate the user’s input into the projection, while the third side still works best within manual Excel sheets.
Nevertheless, whether you’re a busy business owner, a cluttered CPA or part of a savvy startup, financial modelling ensures you know where you, your business or your clients are heading to in financial terms.
What We're Comparing
Compass AI
Cube Software
Datarails
Finmark
Prophix One
Detailed Analysis
Why Financial Modelling Software Matters More Than Ever
Let's be honest: building financial models in spreadsheets is like navigating a roadtrip with a paper map from 2006 while everyone else is on Google Maps. Sure, it works, but in reality some things have moved on and are looking a bit different now than 20 years ago.
The uncomfortable truth about traditional financial modelling is this — it doesn't scale. When your entire forecasting process relies on copying and pasting between tabs, linking formulas across multiple files, and manually updating assumptions every time something changes, you're building on shaky ground. A missing comma here, an outdated assumption there, and your entire fundraising deck could be showing investors the wrong runway.
Modern financial modelling software addresses these challenges head-on. Rather than spending weeks building models that break the moment your business changes, the right platform gives you dynamic forecasting, automated data consolidation, and scenario planning that adapts in real-time.
What Growing Companies Need from Financial Modeling Software
Not all financial modelling software is created equal. What works for a pre-seed startup burning through its first $500K won't cut it when you're managing $5M+ ARR across multiple revenue streams. Here's what actually matters:
1. Real-Time Data Integration
Manual exports from QuickBooks, Stripe, and payroll systems are productivity killers. Your financial modelling software should pull data automatically from your accounting systems, payment processors, and HRIS—maintaining a single source of truth without the copy-paste nightmare.
2. Multi-Scenario Forecasting That Actually Works
Your financial future isn't fixed, so why should your model be? Modern financial modelling software lets you build and compare unlimited scenarios side-by-side. This should naturally include the best case, base case and worst case scenarios.
3. Collaborative Planning Capabilities
Financial modelling can be a solo sport, and it often is, but why should it be? Different roles have different needs, and more often than not, your scenario needs multiple inputs and assumptions. Ensuring that more than one person has insight under the hood makes for a healthy engine.
4. AI-Powered Insights That Go Beyond Dashboards
Dashboards are great, but what you really need are actionable insights. Modern financial modelling software uses AI to identify trends, flag anomalies, and recommend specific actions. "Your burn rate increased 23% this quarter—here's why and what you can do about it" beats a static chart any day.
5. Fast Setup and Time-to-Value
If it takes six months to implement your financial modelling software, you'll be operating blind during a critical growth period. Look for platforms that get you modelling within days, not quarters, while still providing the depth you need as you scale.
The Real Cost of Not Having Proper Financial Modeling Software
Beyond the obvious inefficiencies, inadequate financial modelling processes carry hidden costs:
Missed Fundraising Windows: When it takes two weeks to update your financial model for investor meetings, you can't move quickly on hot opportunities. By the time you've finished modelling different term sheet scenarios, your opportunity has moved to another company.
Strategic Blindness: We always mention guesswork being the bane of any business decision, and we really mean it. Even with a clear idea, running on feelings with no data means you’re throwing darts at a board, while upside down and blindfolded.
Expensive Mistakes: Hiring too fast because your model didn't account for seasonal revenue variations. Missing your cash zero date by three months. Raising too much money (or too little) because your scenarios weren't accurate. These mistakes are costly and can spell doom quite easily.
Team Burnout: Your finance team didn't sign up to be spreadsheet janitors. When your best people spend 60% of their time maintaining broken Excel models instead of providing strategic insights, they start looking for opportunities elsewhere.
Investor Confidence Erosion: Nothing kills investor confidence faster than showing them outdated financials or scrambling to answer basic questions about your unit economics. Professional financial modelling software signals operational maturity.
The Top 5 Financial Modeling Software Platforms for 2026
Now, let's examine the platforms that are actually making a difference for growing companies. We've selected tools that cover the spectrum from early-stage startups to established mid-market companies.
1. Compass AI
Best for: Small to mid-sized SaaS companies, fractional CFOs, founder-led businesses
Pricing: $49/month (discounted from $99/month)
Trial: 14 days, free of charge
Key Features:
- AI CFO Assistant (24/7): Conversational AI that answers financial questions, generates insights, and recommends actions based on your company's specific context and data
- Multi-Scenario Forecasting & What-If Analysis: Model unlimited business scenarios with AI-powered predictions based on your historical patterns and industry benchmarks
- Custom Dashboard & Reports: Build the exact views you need without technical expertise—your financial story, your way
- Complete Business Context Integration: Upload strategic plans, business documents, and operational data so AI understands your unique business model
Why Compass AI Stands Out:
Compass AI transforms financial modelling from a static quarterly exercise into a dynamic, real-time system powered by AI that actually understands your business. Unlike traditional FP&A tools built for enterprise finance teams, Compass AI is designed for companies between $500K and $10M in revenue who need Fortune 500-grade financial intelligence without the Fortune 500 price tag.
With an extremely fast setup time, Compass AI offers robust scenario building features that are based on AI, but still work alongside users to create accurate projections. This includes creating a variety of different cases, showing actuals vs budgeted, having the option to adapt and edit projections on the spot and more.
2. Cube Software
Best for: Mid and large sized companies with established finance teams who love spreadsheets
Pricing: Starts at $32,000/per annum (pricing scales with company size)
Trial: Contact for demo
Key Features:
- Native Excel & Google Sheets Integration: Continue working in the spreadsheets you know while gaining the power of a modern FP&A platform
- Automated Data Consolidation: Connect ERPs, CRMs, HRIS, and accounting systems for automatic data rollups and drill-downs
- Multi-Scenario Analysis: Seamlessly model how changes to key assumptions affect overall outputs without rebuilding spreadsheets
- AI-Powered Forecasting: Generate predictive models for revenue, expenses, and seasonality based on historical data
Why Cube Software Stands Out:
Cube bridges the gap between spreadsheet familiarity and modern FP&A automation, making it ideal for finance teams who aren't ready to abandon Excel but need more than manual processes can deliver. The platform's two-way sync ensures your Excel models stay connected to live data without forcing your team to learn an entirely new interface.
What sets Cube apart is its focus on the "spreadsheet-first" approach. Your team continues building financial models the way they always have, but Cube handles the data consolidation, version control, and collaboration challenges that plague traditional spreadsheet workflows.
3. Datarails
Best for: Excel-native finance teams managing multiple entities and complex consolidations
Pricing: Custom pricing (typically $30K+ annually with implementation costs)
Trial: 14 days (Growth Plan)
Key Features:
- Excel-Native FP&A Platform: Continues working in Excel while automating consolidation, reporting, and planning
- FP&A Genius (AI Assistant): Generates analysis, narratives, and visual outputs using conversational AI trained on your financial data
- Multi-Entity Consolidation: Handles 40+ entities with complete audit trails and currency management
- Version Control & Audit Trails: Maintains detailed logs of all changes for compliance and transparency
Why Datarails Stands Out:
Datarails excels at solving the specific pain point of financial consolidation for companies managing multiple entities, currencies, and complex structures. If you're consolidating financials from multiple ERPs with different chart of accounts, Datarails automates what would otherwise consume days of manual work each month.
The platform's commitment to Excel is both its greatest strength and a potential limitation. Finance teams get to keep working in their preferred environment without learning new interfaces. But this approach can create performance bottlenecks with large datasets and complex models — some users report slower performance compared to purpose-built platforms.
Also worth mentioning is that Datarails isn’t a simple plug-and play type of solution. It typically requires a few months at minimum to get up and running.
4. Finmark
Best for: Early-stage startups and small businesses needing simple, intuitive financial modelling
Pricing: Starts at $50/month (scales with annual revenue; custom pricing above $3M ARR)
Trial: 30 days free trial of full Pro plan
Key Features:
- Intuitive Financial Modeling Interface: Build accurate models without spreadsheet expertise or complex formulas
- Scenario Planning & Comparison: Create and manage multiple financial plans, comparing them directly in your dashboard
- Automated Actuals vs. Budget: Instantly compare budget to actuals with integrations to QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, and Gusto
- Custom Dashboards & Reports: Generate board-ready reports and operational dashboards without manual formatting
Why Finmark Stands Out:
Finmark solves a critical problem for early-stage founders: making financial modelling accessible without requiring an MBA or finance background. The platform takes complex financial concepts and distills them into an intuitive interface that founders can actually use.
Where Finmark really shines is in reducing the anxiety that comes with financial planning for non-finance founders. Building a financial model in Excel is intimidating—one wrong formula can cascade through your entire model. Finmark eliminates this stress by handling all calculations automatically, letting founders focus on assumptions and strategy rather than spreadsheet mechanics.
5. Prophix One
Best for: Mid-market to enterprise organizations requiring robust, scalable FP&A
Pricing: Custom pricing (contact for quote)
Trial: Contact for demo
Key Features:
- Comprehensive Financial Performance Platform: Unified solution for budgeting, forecasting, planning, reporting, and consolidation
- Driver-Based Financial Modeling: Build sophisticated models that automatically update based on key business drivers
- AI-Powered Automation & Insights: Automate workflows, reconciliations, and variance analysis with AI assistance
- Advanced Scenario Planning: Create and test unlimited scenarios with stress testing and best/worst case analysis
Why Prophix One Stands Out:
Prophix One represents the enterprise-grade approach to financial modelling—comprehensive, scalable, and built for organizations with complex financial operations. Unlike simpler tools aimed at startups, Prophix handles the intricacies of multi-entity consolidation, international operations, and sophisticated reporting requirements.
The platform's driver-based modelling capabilities enable finance teams to build models that automatically cascade changes throughout the organization. Adjust a single assumption about sales headcount, and watch the impact flow through commissions, office space requirements, equipment needs, and ultimately cash flow. This level of sophistication is essential for mid-market and enterprise organizations.
Our Verdict
The right financial modelling software depends entirely on your company's stage, complexity, and budget.
For SMBs and fractional CFOs seeking AI-powered forecasting with exceptional value, Compass AI delivers Fortune 500-grade capabilities at startup-friendly pricing. The fast setup and action-oriented insights make it ideal for companies between $500K and $10M in revenue.
For established teams who love Excel, Cube Software provides the perfect bridge—keeping your spreadsheet workflows while adding automation, version control, and collaboration. Expect to invest significantly more ($20K+ annually), but for the right team, the ROI justifies the cost.
For complex multi-entity consolidations, Datarails excels at automating what would otherwise consume days of manual work. The Excel-native approach keeps finance teams in their comfort zone, though implementation time and costs are substantial.
For early-stage founders building their first real financial model, Finmark's intuitive interface and startup-focused features remove the intimidation factor. It's the fastest path from "I need a financial model" to "I have a working financial model" without spreadsheet anxiety.
For mid-market and enterprise organizations requiring comprehensive FP&A capabilities, Prophix One delivers the sophistication, scalability, and compliance features that complex businesses demand. The investment in time and money is significant, but so are the capabilities.
As always, we encourage you to dig even deeper by exploring where available, figuring out if your budget fits the price point and trialing if possible.
As always, we encourage you to dig even deeper by exploring where available, figuring out if your budget fits the price point and trialing if possible.