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12 apps to help you predict your cash flow

small business owner managing using cash flow app

Cash flow is the lifeblood of small businesses, and how you manage it can be the difference between keeping your doors open or closing your business entirely. Over the years, I’ve spoken to many accountants and bookkeepers that have seen profitable small businesses get into financial trouble because of poor cash management. Below, I’ve created a list of some of the best cash flow apps available to help you predict your cash flow.

Many of these cash flow apps will sync to QuickBooks Online to pull in your historical data, then allow you to put in your expected revenues, payroll, and upcoming expenses (aka bills that you have to pay).

Once you’ve entered the data, you can project the future cash balance of your checking account.

Pay your business bills with a credit card to improve cash flow even if your vendors don’t accept cards.Start now

If your checking account goes into the negative, you have a potential cash flow emergency and you need to take action.

Cash flow tools let you see the impact of how each, and more importantly when, the bills you are paying will impact the cash balance in your checking account. You’ll also be able to simulate the effect of different payment terms or possible financing options. Using tools like these will allow you to literally see the future and create an optimized plan to keep your business running.

Pairing your optimized cash flow plan with Melio will help you turn that plan into action. In Melio you can schedule business payments to match your plan. Using Melio you can even pay some bills using your credit card allowing you to set your own terms and possibly add up to 45 days of additional float, which will help you smooth fluctuations of cash in your checking account.

Having a good reading of your cash flow can help reduce a lot of stress you may have as a small business owner and allow you to focus on other important aspects of growing your company.

CashFlowTool

Price: $42 a month

CashFlowTool is the #1 rated cash flow app on the QB Marketplace which automatically syncs with QuickBooks (Online or Desktop) and instantly builds a 6-month future cash flow forecast. You can see all your future inflows and outflows, see your cash flow by day, week and month and perform what-if scenarios (hiring, new equipment, etc) to quickly see the impact on future cash flow.

CashFlowTool also has a built-in anomaly detector to watch over your business, analyze your cash details, and alert you to the things that actually matter (unexpected bills, cash shortages, etc). KPI dashboards show your top business metrics and of course, you can share and export your forecast into Excel. Cash flow has never been easier to see and manage.

Cash Flow Frog

Price: $31 a month

Running a business is hard. Very hard. As a business owner, you have a million things on your mind. Cash flow planning shouldn’t be one of them.

Cash Flow Frog takes cash flow planning off your back. It integrates with your company’s QuickBooks Online data, and it is always up-to-date. Use Cash Flow Frog to plan ahead, never get stuck with salaries or accounts payable you can’t pay. Generate reports to your investors, collect accounts receivable more easily, and take a big step ahead towards a (financially) greener future.

Float

Price: $59 a month

Float provides a quick and easy solution to cash flow forecasting. Gone are the days of spending hours every month trying to bring your spreadsheet up to date only for it to go out of date the next time you process a transaction. As Float automatically reads all of your bills, invoices, and actuals in QBO, it provides you with an always up-to-date, accurate cash flow forecast in a matter of minutes.

Smansha

Price: $0 a month

Smansha integrates with QuickBooks Online to help put an end to your cash flow problems. The in-app cash flow forecasts create a picture of your current and future cash statuses projecting cash fluctuations before they happen. Through daily, weekly, and monthly forecasts, cash flow calendars, and customizable what-if scenarios, you can visualize your business finances in clear, intuitive ways so you take action and reshape your cash flow.

Moreover, Smansha identifies when extra cash is needed and matches you with a range of high-caliber lenders. You’re presented with the most competitive options for your particular financing needs. Applying will not affect credit scores, and all quotes are free.

Jirav

Price: $250 a month (bulk pricing for partners)

Jirav delivers smarter financials and faster insights, helping you understand where your business has been and predict where you’re going. The cloud-based platform connects your accounting, HR, CRM, and billing systems together to automatically update shareable online dashboards, monthly reporting packages, and sophisticated financial plans and budgets in real-time. If you’re using Excel for reporting and forecasting, you’ll save hours every month with Jirav.

LivePlan

Price: $15 a month

LivePlan is a powerful profit and cash forecasting tool, equipped with industry benchmarks and the ability to run multiple financial scenarios all wrapped into a concise, visual dashboard that syncs with your accounting data (QuickBooks or Xero). LivePlan helps your business survive and thrive based on more than just guesswork.

Understand your cash flow, collaborate with your management team, report to stakeholders, and help everyone understand the story behind the numbers. Plus, LivePlan is the only profit and cash forecasting app that also helps you build a business plan for lending and investing needs. Take control of the planning, pitching and management process, and never be surprised by your numbers again with LivePlan.

Spotlight Reporting

Price: $295 a month

Built for accountants, Spotlight Reporting has been designed by accountants with decades of experience in advisory and consultancy. For accountants and businesses wanting reporting that delivers deeper insight and clarity for better decision making, there are no better reporting solutions available.

Whether you operate in a vibrant busy small business, an accounting firm with a fast-growing client base, or a business that delivers regular Board packs, Spotlight has an award-winning range of time-saving features available to you. We help you quickly create reports, run them on-demand and instantly share with your client or team.

Helm

Price: $49 a month

Cash management and cash flow forecasting are an integral part of any business, especially during these uncertain times. Helm makes those processes easier, faster, and more intuitive, all while building deeper client relationships when you advise them on what matters most. Helm automatically creates dynamic, forward-looking cash forecasts. Receivable projections consider how individual customers have traditionally paid. Payable predictions mimic how each supplier has historically been paid. Revenue and expense information is automatically populated based on past history. And with a highly intuitive interface, all of Helm’s automated logic can be quickly and easily manipulated to your needs.

‍Fathom

Price: $44 a month

Fathom is a financial analysis and management reporting tool that helps you to assess business performance, monitor trends, and identify improvement opportunities. Creating insightful analytics, reports and dashboards have never been easier! Fathom enables you to boost efficiency and stay engaged with clients. Easily measure and monitor the financial and non-financial metrics which matter most to your business. Whether you call it business intelligence, performance management, or analytics… the goal of Fathom is the same: to help you understand what’s happening in your business and how to take action when needed.

Dryrun

Price: $200 a month

:Manage cash, model ‘what if’ scenarios, and forecast sales with this simple-to-use but powerful tool built for business owners and their advisors. Flexible & scenario-based, Dryrun helps compare scenarios to avoid risk and grow. Import invoices, bills, transfers, deposits, POs and estimates, purchases, customer, due date, amount, and bank balance.

FUTRLI

Price: $35 a month for Flow, $49.99 a month for Advisor

There are two products:  Predict and Advisor

Perdict: Customer & supplier prediction and management with invoice insurance and credit scores for Xero and Quickbooks.

Advisor: All-in-one forecasting and reporting for businesses using Xero, Quickbooks, MYOB or Excel upload.

Automated Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cashflow calculations. Multiple forecasting methods, Flexible payment term profiles, Wizards (loan, formula, etc.), Multiple assumptions per account line, Import existing budgets & forecasts, create from trends & prior year’s figures, Duplicate budgets & create what-ifs, Automated sales tax calculations, Duplication & full customization, Rolling forecast visualization, Non-financial KPI measurement, Pre-built PDF templates, pages & reports, Performance snapshot tracking, Powerful formulas, Customisable charts, cards & tables, Scenario v scenario visualization, Export to PDF, Excel & CSV

Microsoft Excel

Price: Included in Microsoft Office (you probably already own it)

You can build your very own custom cash flow forecast or use one of the existing templates. Just search for “cash flow” in Excel to find them.

*This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice.
**Melio does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice, and you should consult with a professional advisor before making any financial decisions.