Comparison

Cash forecasting software, compared

Almost every cash forecasting tool builds its forecast from your accounting system, so the first question is whether your books are up to date. If they are, Float or Cash Flow Frog will project them forward with little work. If they are not, and all you need is how many months of cash are left, a runway tool that takes direct input gets you there the same day.

Plans, prices and integrations were checked on each vendor's own site on 27 September 2026.

Runway or cash forecast: which one you need

A runway number is cash divided by net burn. With €90,000 in the bank and €22,500 a month more going out than coming in, you have 4 months, and that number moves every time you hire, lose a customer or cut a tool. You can keep it with direct input and no books at all.

A cash forecast answers a narrower, harder question: will there be enough in the account in a given week. Say €60,000 of payroll and a €25,000 tax payment leave in week two, and the €45,000 invoice that covers them is paid in week four. The balance drops to €5,000 in between, while runway still reads four months. Seeing that needs invoice and bill dates, which means an accounting system and a tool that reads it.

Most pre-seed and seed companies need the first every week and the second only when cash gets tight or collections get lumpy. Buy for the question you have now.

What to look for

Where the numbers come from. Ledger sync, bank feed or direct input. This decides setup time, upkeep and what breaks when a connection drops.
Horizon and grain. A weekly 13-week view catches timing collisions; a monthly 12-month view answers runway. Some tools only do one.
What-ifs without rebuilding. You should be able to add a hire, a price change or a lost customer and see the new line next to the old one.
Who keeps it true. Accounting-connected tools go stale when the bookkeeping lags; direct-input tools go stale when you stop recording. Pick the failure you will notice.

Eight options

Tool	Best for	Connects to
Plainhub	Founders who need a live runway number, not a treasury tool	Nothing. You type the events yourself
Float	Businesses on Xero or QuickBooks Online that want a 13-week and 12-month view	Xero, QuickBooks Online (Sage Intacct listed as coming soon)
Fathom	Accountants and small businesses that want reporting with the forecast	QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB, Excel, Google Sheets
Agicap	European SMBs and mid-market firms with cash across several banks and entities	Banks and ERPs
Cash Flow Frog	Small businesses whose books are already in an accounting package	QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero, Sage Intacct, Odoo, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, banks
LivePlan	A business plan for a lender or investor, with the forecast inside it	QuickBooks, Xero
Jirav	Companies with a finance lead or an outsourced CFO firm	Accounting, workforce and operational data
A spreadsheet	Total control at zero cost	Whatever you paste into it

1. Plainhub

Connects to: Nothing. You type the events yourself

Best for: Founders who need a live runway number, not a treasury tool

Keeps runway, burn and MRR live from what you record, and shows the cash-out date today and for up to three draft plans. It projects in a straight line from this month, so there is no 13-week view, no invoice timing and no growth curve. Pro is €29.99 a month, Max €59.99.

2. Float

Connects to: Xero, QuickBooks Online (Sage Intacct listed as coming soon)

Best for: Businesses on Xero or QuickBooks Online that want a 13-week and 12-month view

Builds the forecast from your accounting data. The Essentials plan, for companies under £2m in revenue, lists a 13-week cash flow, 12-month forecasts and 8 scenarios at €115 a month billed monthly, with a 14-day free trial. It needs bookkeeping that is up to date.

3. Fathom

Connects to: QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB, Excel, Google Sheets

Best for: Accountants and small businesses that want reporting with the forecast

Reporting, forecasting and consolidation, priced per company: Starter covers one company at $59 a month, in Australian dollars before GST. Three-way cash flow comes with the Pro tier. A lot of reporting if all you need is a runway number.

4. Agicap

Connects to: Banks and ERPs

Best for: European SMBs and mid-market firms with cash across several banks and entities

Bank-connected cash management: forecasting, payments, collections and bank reconciliation on one platform. More than a company with one bank account and one entity needs.

5. Cash Flow Frog

Connects to: QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero, Sage Intacct, Odoo, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, banks

Best for: Small businesses whose books are already in an accounting package

Builds a rolling forecast up to 36 months out from your accounting data, with a chat box for what-if questions. 14-day free trial. Like Float, it is only as current as the ledger behind it.

6. LivePlan

Connects to: QuickBooks, Xero

Best for: A business plan for a lender or investor, with the forecast inside it

Plan builder, forecasts, pitch and plan against actual. Standard is listed at $20 a month billed monthly. Built for the funding document more than for weekly cash management.

7. Jirav

Connects to: Accounting, workforce and operational data

Best for: Companies with a finance lead or an outsourced CFO firm

Driver-based forecasting of the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow, with separate offers for accounting and CFO firms and for businesses. Real planning software, and it expects someone whose job is finance to run it.

8. A spreadsheet

Connects to: Whatever you paste into it

Best for: Total control at zero cost

Right the day you build it and quietly wrong after that. Still the best answer for an unusual model, and the weakest for a number you need to trust every week.

Where Plainhub fits, and where it does not

Plainhub is for the runway question. You record money as it happens, in plain words, and runway, burn and MRR stay current, with no accounting system, bank login or reconciliation. A founder with no finance function gets a number to trust on day one instead of after a bookkeeping project.

It is the wrong tool for the week-six question. It does not know invoice or bill dates, has no 13-week view, does not consolidate entities and does not project growth. For that, use Float or Cash Flow Frog on top of clean books, or Fathom if you also want the reporting. The longer version of that boundary is in when you need a Fathom alternative and when you don't.

To sanity-check a number before choosing anything, the cash flow forecast tool and cash runway calculator are free and need no signup.

Common questions

Which tool is best for forecasting cash runway?

If runway is the only question, you do not need a full cash forecast: cash divided by net burn, kept current, answers it, and a runway tool like Plainhub or the free runway calculator does that. If you need to see a specific week where payroll leaves before a big invoice lands, you need a 13-week forecast built from your books, which is what Float and Cash Flow Frog do.

Do I need accounting software to forecast cash flow?

For Float, Fathom, Cash Flow Frog and Jirav, yes, because they build the forecast from your ledger, and an empty or stale ledger gives an empty or stale forecast. Tools that take direct input, and spreadsheets, work without one.

How far ahead should a cash flow forecast go?

Thirteen weeks is the usual operating horizon, close enough to be accurate and long enough to act on. For runway and fundraising you also want a twelve-month view, which answers a different question from the same numbers.

Is there free cash flow forecasting software?

The dedicated tools here are paid. Float, Fathom and Cash Flow Frog advertise 14-day free trials. Plainhub has no trial, but its demo runs without signing up, and the cash flow forecast tool and runway calculator on this site are free. A spreadsheet template costs time instead of money.

How much does cash forecasting software cost?

From the vendors' own pricing pages: LivePlan Standard $20 a month, Fathom Starter $59 a month in Australian dollars, Float Essentials €115 a month billed monthly, Plainhub €29.99 or €59.99 a month. Agicap and Jirav start with a demo.

Runway without the bookkeeping project

Type what you spend and what comes in, and Plainhub keeps runway, burn and MRR live, in any of 155 currencies. Seven questions show your first runway number, with no card.

Build your model Try the free forecast tool