With recent legislation changing the way public companies report their financial statements, most notably Sarbanes-Oxley, private companies and their accountants have also started to search for improved financial reporting and analysis tools. While the legal ramifications of reporting may not be the same, these businesses also need reliable financial statements, analyses and forecasts when raising investment capital or applying for loans. And it is just as important for a closely held private business to have a clear understanding of their present financial condition and know how to better prepare for future growth or market changes.
Small businesses and professional accountants who provide these services to their clients are increasingly switching from manual spreadsheet forecasting and analysis to specialty financial statement analysis software, as well as budgeting and forecasting applications. These various areas, although related, are distinctly separate, and the assorted software that provides services in these areas approach the three functions in varying ways. While many of the programs claim to perform one or two of the tasks, they may not perform all (such as in-depth analysis and forecasting, but not budgeting). The actual capabilities of the various programs depend on the needs of a professional and his or her clients. The software in this arena also varies widely in their cost range, from less than $100 to several thousand dollars, and they require varying degrees of accounting knowledge in order to use. Some are intended only for use by seasoned public or in-house accountants while others are much more general in nature and are geared toward small business principals for their personal use.
- Whitebirch Software
- Michael Hoffmann, president and CEO of Whitebirch Software (www.projectedfinancials.com), which produces scenario-based financial modeling software Projected Financials, said this genre of software 'simplifies creating, comparing and documenting what-if scenarios' in a fraction of the time of using traditional spreadsheet modeling.
- Read Full Review
- Viper Industries
- Viper Industries (www.vigi.com) develops several software products in this arena, including cash flow planning, forecasting, analytical review and a program that offers multiple functions. The company's new Advisor 5 is one of the only programs on the market that combines analysis, projection, cash flow, industry and ratio analyses into a single application. The program also has features such as break-even analysis, balance sheet analysis and amortization schedules that help to more accurately interpret, analyze and prepare client plans. All of Viper's programs are designed by CPAs for accounting professionals, either to be used within the accounting practice or for their clients to use, according to Steve Bowhey, president of Viper.
- Read Full Review
- ACUMEN Financial Solutions
- ACUMEN Financial Solutions, a division of Three D Graphics Inc., also offers executive-level business financial planning through its corporation-focused ACUMEN software (www.acumenfs.com), allowing users to 'quickly see the effects over time of changing variables, such as a product price or added sales expenses,' said Elmer Easton, CEO of ACUMEN Financial Solutions. The program offers an intuitive user interface that makes it easy for a CEO or CFO to explore the potential problem areas in the company's financials without requiring sophisticated spreadsheet manipulation or other extremely technical tools, he said.
- Read Full Review
- Granville Publications
- Up Your Cash Flow from Granville Publications (www.cashplan.com) is one of the original cash flow budgeting programs, allowing users to create forecasts and business plans quickly. The program offers more than 140 variable manipulation categories, such as multiple sales configurations, AR options, and variations of financing, payroll, expenses, contractors and others. It also offers strong scenario planning and reporting for either accountants or business professionals to use to offer management advice, secure financing, or help businesses make fast company budgets, manage cash flow and reach desired levels of profitability.
- Read Full Review
- Gerke & Associates
- BizBench financial ratio benchmarking software from Gerke & Associates (www.BizBench.com) uses client summary financial data to produce customized business performance reports. Joe Weston, a senior consultant with Gerke, said the program allows CPAs to begin to develop Profit Improvement strategies for their clients as part of a larger consulting, planning and strategizing relationship. 'The format and the direction of the analysis provided by BizBench are geared toward positioning accounting professionals as business advisors to their clients by giving the CPA insight into a client's financial performance compared to others in the same industry,' he said.
- Read Full Review
- New Horizon Technologies
- A relatively new addition to the budgeting and forecasting software market is three-year-old Plan Guru from New Horizon Technologies (www.nhorizontech.com). This very inexpensive product ($99) is available in versions for professionals, forecasters and consultants, offering slightly different feature sets for each depending on their traditional needs. Available features include projections, forecasts and budgeting, cash flow analysis, financial ratios, breakeven analysis, and AICPA engagement compliance tools. The program can import existing budget models from Excel and can also import financial data from many accounting products, including Peachtree and QuickBooks. Data can be exported back into Excel or Word, or produced as a *.PDF for electronic transmission. The software can forecast up to five years out, with monthly, quarterly and annual projections available for the first three years.
- Read Full Review
- ACCPAC CFO
- ACCPAC CFO (www.accpac.com) is a high-end diagnostic and analysis program that offers a very strong set of variable features to help professionals interpret financial data. The system includes scenario planning via 'what-ifs' such as changing receivables averages and goal seeking to reach breakeven or other milestones, as well as fast creation of budget and forecast reports. CFO is integrated with ACCPAC's Advantage Series and Pro Series General Ledger software and imports information from CaseWare, helping to eliminate the rekeying of data. The program can also pull financial data from Excel templates.
- Read Full Review
- CaseWare International Inc.
- CaseWare International Inc. (www.caseware.com) recently released its newest component for Working Papers. CaseWare Scenarios is a new type of collaborative analysis tool using key financial performance data including business drivers of a company. It is an optional component that extends Working Papers' ability to provide detailed analysis on actual financial and performance data, offering over 70 key data elements in a standardized income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, supplemented with key business drivers and analytics. It also offers an integrated view of all elements that can be displayed in a single screen for a comprehensive view of the overall business. CaseWare Scenarios allows users to create unlimited scenarios using actual historical data as a starting point, incorporating 'what if' and goal seeking functionality. It is easily integrated into any existing Working Papers engagement file thereby taking immediate advantage of the client data without having to import or input additional information.
- Read Full Review
- PricewaterhouseCoopers
- AMMBIT, from PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.ammbit.com), is geared toward mid-sized private businesses and is available in versions for corporate professionals and professional public accountants. The software, whose name is an acronym for Advanced Middle Market Business Intelligence Tool, provides benchmarking of client performance to peers and competitors within their industry, providing valuable insight into how the business can improve operations, increase revenue, control costs and, ultimately, increase or achieve profitability. AMMBIT has financial and operational metrics gathered from more than 3,000 company data sets with sales between $1 and $500 million in over 280 industries.
- Read Full Review
- Atlas Business Solutions
- Atlas Business Solutions (www.abs-usa.com), which produces the business planning technology in QuickBooks Premier 2003, also has a stand-alone product called Ultimate Business Planner 2.0. Ultimate Business Planner offers more than a thousand business plan samples, startup resources, Small Business Administration loan information and links, and the ability to import QuickBooks financial and company information, which can then be analyzed or used for financial forecasting and business planning. The program, focused primarily on startup companies and existing businesses that are planning for expansion and are in the process of acquiring financing, allows users to easily create business plans with reports and charts, evaluate new business ideas and strategies, and project outcomes based on variables.
- Read Full Review
- Palo Alto Software
- Palo Alto Software (www.paloaltosoftware.com) produces several planning modules for financial management and business planning, including Business Plan Pro and Cash Compass, both of which are available in CPA versions. Business Plan Pro offers more than 400 sample business plans, thousands of industry profiles and Excel-style financial tables. It also offers financial spreadsheets that include sales forecast tables, in-depth personnel planning tools and the ability to perform short- or long-term planning to create financial projections. The software also has a database of venture capital resources and SBA loan information and loan applications. Cash Compass, which is downloadable from the company's website, is geared toward small and medium-sized businesses, providing financial performance management, including monitoring cash flow, managing budgets and forecasting by month or year. The application allows import from QuickBooks or Business Plan Pro, which allows quick access to key financial information and forecasting.
- Read Full Review
- SageWorks, Inc.
- ProfitCents from SageWorks, Inc. (www.profitcents.com) is a web-based financial statement analysis program for financial professionals that provides comprehensive, client-ready reports that help explain a company's financial condition. ProfitCents uses industry comparisons, ratio analyses and trend analyses to develop the report after the professional inputs client industry and key income statement and balance sheet data. SageWorks Chairman and CEO Brian Hamilton, a noted expert on the analysis of corporate financials, noted the ability of financial analysis programs to help public accountants assist their clients, while at the same time providing a new service and strengthening their client relationships. 'Technological advances have provided new ways for financial professionals to set their firms apart and generate more revenue,' he said. 'Sageworks' web-based solutions are designed to provide an unbiased method to looking at a company's financial scenario.'
- Read Full Review
- FRx Software Corp.
- FRx Software Corp. (www.frxsoftware.com), a Microsoft subsidiary, produces Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics ' FRx 6.7, a financial reporting program geared toward mid-sized corporate businesses and organizations with complex accounting systems that pull data from multiple sources. The latest version of the program includes a new add-on module, Report Manager, which allows users to pull together documents needed to deliver a comprehensive report book, as well as improvements to its built-in Currency Translation module and upgraded support for the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) 2.0 specification. FRx allows output of reports directly into Microsoft Excel where users can select specific data elements for further analysis and insight using Microsoft Excel PivotTable and PivotChart functionality.
- Read Full Review
- Net Worth Express
- Net Worth Express (www.networthexpress.com) helps develop personal financial statements for use in applying for and maintaining credit with financial institutions, according to Bay Gruber, president of the company. 'A CPA is often the first resource a person turns to when needing to create a personal financial statement. Net Worth Express gives CPAs an easy way to create the statement with a client-ready and financial institution-ready statement that is easy to read and is completely based on GAAP,' he said. 'The program automatically formats all of the schedules and balance sheets so that it flows and guides the user through data entry using a menu-driven interface with step-by-step guidance.'
- Read Full Review
- Jian Software
- Jian Software
BizPlanBuilder from Jian Software (www.jian.com) houses a collection of more than 400 sample business plans and Excel spreadsheet models that can be edited or exported to Word or other word processors. Users select a plan in the appropriate industry and edit the variables; the program takes care of the calculations and produces a business plan written from an investor/lender's point of view. The company also develops additional software and publications for promoting and growing small businesses.
- Read Full Review
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2010 Cygnus Business Media
