Budgeting processes are essential to any business regardless of its size and complexity. In the corporate world, proper budgeting is one of the factors that determine the success or failure of an investment or business. Therefore, understanding the budgeting processes and other tools and software used in businesses is essential. Budgeting serves the following purposes among others; enhances control of business finances which is done by identifying the current capital, give expenditure estimates and forecasts of the future revenue (Myers 1984). Control of finances ensures that all business activities are executed as per the planned budget to avoid future problems.
Budgeting enables investors to focus on cost reduction, and business cash flows to improve profitability and increase in returns on investment (Horngren 2009). A good budgeting plan ensures that the business finances enough to finance its current commitments. Besides, this plan enables businesses to meet their objectives and make informed financial decisions. More so, a good process ensures that future projects are run smoothly without financial difficulties.
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A reasonable budget restricts any expenditure that adds no value to its strategic objectives. It also provides an opportunity for sharing the business vision with staff members and collaborating teams, to channel their efforts towards the business objectives. This inclusion of various business teams in the budget review process makes them feel part of the business. Hence they can work hard to achieve its goals.
The budgeting and financial planning process is not an easy task, and it requires the use of various software and tools. The operations range from simple to complex, where some require complex methods and software to execute. Conversely, it is essential to explore some of the tools that can aid to effective budgeting in various spheres of the corporate world. Some of the software and tools include; Scoro, adaptive insights, quick books, Centage, Prophix, Maxi plan, Bill quick, among others.
Scoro software
Scoro software is a business management tool which helps in budgeting tasks such as quoting, billing and advanced reporting. It is also convenient for making work schedules, tracking and project management tasks. The software’s primary function is controlling accounting information, managing tasks and calendar events among other business aspects. This software allows several business operations that can lead to control and tracking of finances. These tasks include; creation and issuing of invoices and tracking of billable projects and expenses. Also, it provides comprehensive financial reports thus making accounting and finance easy.
As a cloud-based business software, it is user-friendly and it used by small and medium-sized firms especially those in information technology, advertising, management, and finance-related sectors. Some of its other features include collaboration, sales automation and customer relations management (CRM). The cost of this software depends on the pricing plan one prefers. It has four pricing plans namely, The Express plan whose price starts from $11 per month, The Premium plan costing $33, The Plus plan at $22 and Ultimate plan with $55 per user on a monthly basis. Therefore, it depends on the users’ preferences and needs to decide on the type of program to buy.
Scoro has operated from the year 2013 in London, United Kingdom and it has clients across the globe such as DPD, DTZ, and Sotheby’s among others. It was accredited by Movie Digital Studio who were impressed by the flexibility and user-friendliness of the software.
Adaptive insights software
Adaptive Insights software is another essential tool in business management and budgeting. It is a cloud-based business management software with its headquarters at Mountain View in California. The company was founded in the year 2003 to offer software as a Service delivery, which is a platform for budgeting planning as well as future forecasts. Besides, it provides business intelligence and also data visualization services.
The operations of this software resemble Microsoft Excel, and enterprises in small and medium-sized firms use it across the world. It has the capability of providing all financial solutions needed in businesses by creating efficient and elaborate financial processes. Besides, it ensures a good collaboration with business partners, analysis and performance reports on a regular basis. Some of its major finance features include; robust consolidation which allows users to automate and speed financial statements and improvement of journal entry services.
Adaptive insights also offer great planning by establishing drive-based models, always fresh data systems that reduce planning cycle periods (Sedgley et al., 2002). It is user-friendly because clients can easily interact with other finance business partners to save time. Furthermore, its easy-to-use workflows and EPM tool on the web make the system very easy and convenient for clients.
Financial intelligence and analytics is another feature that enables users to understand their businesses better by comparing phases and enhance good decision making and forecasting through a well incorporated transactional data to the users. In-memory calculation engine is another computing feature found in Adaptive Insights software. These features allow the company to have a consistent performance regardless of the number of users, complexity and the amount of the firm’s data. Besides, it has an integrational framework that enables users to easily connect to other platforms such as enterprise resource planning (ERP).
About the pricing, Adaptive Insight for Finance is a licensed program and any small, medium-sized businesses, as well as other enterprises, can request the pricing details which are only available upon request. More than 3,500 firms use the software across the world, and it has offices in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States among others. These worldwide customers are a clear indication that businesses around the world have the trust of this business platform.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is a software package in accounting which Intuit developed the year 2002. This software was designed to solve accounting challenges in small and medium-sized businesses. Besides, it provides on-premises accounting methods as well as cloud-based applications that involves business payments, management, and payment of bills and payroll services. Intuit company was established in 1983 in Mountain View USA. Intuit launched this software in 2002 to provide industry-specific solutions to small and medium-sized businesses.
QuickBooks creation was targeting markets in the US, but of late it has expanded its services to other international markets such as Canada, Australia, among others. This software has several features like remote payroll assistance, electronic payment, mapping features, online banking, and reconciliation. Additionally, marketing features and emailing services through Outlook Express are also available. QuickBooks Point of Sale replaced retailer’s register to track inventory customer information, reporting and provision of other essential information in business management.
The prices of QuickBooks varies with the type one chooses depending on the features. There are four types of QuickBooks namely; simple start, essentials plus which is the most common and self-employed. Their prices range from $5 to $30 depending on the type. Since it is used in the international markets, it is accredited by various consumers around the world as one of the best accounting tools.
Maxiplan software
Maxiplan is a tool for planning budgeting and forecasting of the business financial performance and proving good basis for management and decision making. It offers an integrated system for budgeting, planning, and forecasting. Maxiplan provides useful features for fast creation of business models, data entry and importing it to various financial systems. More so, it reviews the data and offers consolidated budget reports and forecasting by use of corporate intranet.
Some of the benefits of this software to businesses are; reduce budget and forecasting periods, data automation inputs, increased visibility to management, quick reaction to dynamic market conditions, monitoring of results, and many more benefits. Maxiplan software was developed about 20 years ago by Maxiplan software limited company. It is located at Knightsbridge in London to provide budgeting, planning and forecasting solutions. Maxiplan is easy to use and can be manipulated to meet customers’ needs. The target markets are worldwide.
BillQuick software.
This software offers flexible and reliable project management solutions as it enhances timely billing. It has been in operation for the last 23 years, and it has about 35000 users globally with its headquarters in Torrance and others offices Ireland and Australia. Besides, it offers solutions to business intelligence and business accounting that supports a variety of industries. Accurate time tracking enhances this software to increase revenue by minimizing business overheads. More so, the customer services are useful because there is are the free exchange of data via emails, smartphones, and computers.
BillQuick software is compatible with other related financial and budgeting software such as Intuit thus making it possible for easy retrieval of information by those partners. Businesses commonly use this solution with professional services requiring built-in accounting among other customer management services.
The pricing of this software is dependent on the feature needed, and it can be paid monthly, quarterly as well as annually with prices ranging from as low as $7.95. The annual plans are made to avoid problems associated with changes in demand as seasonal changes. The target market also includes IT consultants and other specific industries such as legal and accounting, government departments, engineering among other professional sectors.
Prophix software
Prophix is another software used in financial accounting and control. It offers integrated financial planning and also forecasting of business performances. More so, it provides financial reporting, cash flow planning, and profitability analysis to ensure that the business finances are used for the right purposes and amounts. Budget planning is done by reducing risks and increased automation. More so, Prophix offers automation and accuracy of data and also enhances the consolidation of financial systems by adding essential processes and controls. Prophix software was established in 1987 by a privately owned company in Canada as its headquarters. It has about 3000 customers all over the world.
From the analysis of various budgeting software, it is evident that a good budgeting planning system enhanced by application of better methods for financial management. Therefore, all businesses should use various software to help them manage data, track business information as well as forecasting the future market trends.
References
Horngren, C. T. (2009). Cost accounting: A managerial emphasis, 13/e . Pearson Education India.
Myers, S. C. (1984). Finance theory and financial strategy. Interfaces , 14 (1), 126-137.
Sedgley, D. J., & Jackiw, C. F. (2002). The 123s of ABC in SAP: using SAP R/3 to support activity-based costing (Vol. 9). John Wiley & Sons.
