Latest episode
FP&A software shortlisted on whether the group also has to consolidate.
We compare 6 FP&A platforms and the kind of finance team each is built for.
FP&A software holds the budget, the forecast and the scenarios for a finance team and reads the actuals from the ledgers beneath. The 6 platforms here are Anaplan, Workday, Pigment, Planful, Abacum (FP&A software) and Vena. The first question for any shortlist in 2026 is whether the group also has to consolidate on the same platform.
- The 1 question
- Groups with eliminations as well as a plan need a platform that also closes the books. Teams with a plan alone need FP&A software.
- The order
- We have not ranked the list, since each platform suits a different group structure.
- Where we sit
- Constancia is an EPM consultancy and an official partner of Abacum and OneStream (EPM software). We check the actuals before we recommend either.
6 FP&A platforms are built for 6 different shapes of finance team.
| What it is | Also consolidates | The structure it suits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anaplan | Connects data and workflows to role-based agents for scenario planning and analysis. | Through Fluence, which Anaplan acquired. | A large group planning across finance, sales and supply chain with a modelling team of its own. |
| Workday | Cloud planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis in 1 place. | Yes, in its own consolidation module. | A group already on Workday for HR or finance, planning headcount beside the P&L. |
| Pigment | Integrated business planning across finance, sales, HR and supply chain. | Not as a statutory consolidation. | A fast-growing group replacing a workbook estate with 1 planning model across several functions. |
| Planful | Financial performance management software that connects the data, runs the calculations and sends out the results. | Yes, with a consolidation module. | A mid-market group wanting planning, the close and the board pack from 1 vendor. |
| Abacum | FP&A software built around AI, with more than 700 integrations into the systems a group already runs. | No. Abacum sits beside the consolidation the group already has. | A finance team in a group of 250 people or more whose close is settled and whose plan is not. |
| Vena | Microsoft-native financial and operational planning, built around Excel. | Yes, on top of Excel templates. | A finance team that keeps its Excel models and adds control, workflow and a database behind them. |
Anaplan fits a group that plans in several functions and staffs a modelling team to build the models.
Anaplan is a modelling engine that connects data and workflows to role-based agents, and more than 2,800 companies use it. Each function's plan is a model the group's own team builds.
Anaplan suits a large group with several planning functions and a team to own the models, because the models are the product.
Anaplan covers consolidation through Fluence, which it acquired and now sells as part of its own range.
Workday suits a group already running Workday for HR, because the headcount plan arrives from that system.
Workday Adaptive Planning runs cloud planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis in 1 place, and more than 7,000 companies plan on it.
Groups already on Workday for HR or finance get the headcount and the actuals straight from Workday itself.
Groups on another ERP can use Workday Adaptive Planning too, with the data loads built and owned like any other integration.
Pigment suits a fast-growing group replacing a workbook estate with 1 planning model across several functions.
Pigment is an integrated business planning platform with agentic AI, for teams planning across finance, sales, HR and supply chain.
Pigment suits a group growing fast enough to outgrow its workbooks in 3 functions at once.
With 3 functions planning on 1 Pigment model, a change to the sales plan reaches the finance plan the same afternoon.
Planful fits a mid-market group wanting its plan, close and board pack from 1 vendor.
Planful is a financial performance management platform that connects the data, runs the calculations and sends the results to everyone who needs them. More than 1,500 companies run on it.
Planful suits a mid-market group with a consolidation to run and a plan to build, on 1 platform from the first plan to the final board pack.
Planful pulls data from the ERP, the HR system and the CRM, and pushes reports to PowerPoint and Excel.
Abacum fits a finance team whose consolidation is settled and whose plan still lives in workbooks.
Abacum connects a CFO's data, workflows and teams, with more than 700 integrations into the systems a group already runs.
Abacum suits a finance team in a group of 250 people or more whose close already runs in a system. In those groups, the budget, the forecast and the commentary still live in workbooks 3 people edit.
Constancia is an official Abacum partner with certified consultants. We check that the actuals can carry the plan before the model is built.
Vena fits a team that keeps its Excel models and adds a database, workflow and control behind them.
Vena is a Microsoft-native planning platform that runs planning, decisions and the close in the tools a finance team already uses.
Vena suits a finance team whose templates hold its institutional memory and that wants version control without leaving Excel.
Thousands of finance teams plan on Vena, and most keep the Excel templates they already trust.
The consolidation question comes first when choosing FP&A software, before any feature comparison.
Groups with eliminations, several currencies and a plan should look at platforms that close the books as well. OneStream, Planful and Workday are on that list.
Teams with a settled close and an unsettled plan should look at Abacum, Pigment and Vena.
The second question is who owns the models. Anaplan and Pigment suit a group with a modelling team, and Abacum and Vena are built for finance to run alone.
Any platform here will replace 4 workbooks holding 4 versions of the headcount plan with 1 version. The entity list underneath has to be right for the numbers to agree.
We answer the questions people ask most about FP&A tools.
Is there an AI tool for financial analysis?
Every platform on this page now sells 1, from Anaplan's role-based agents to Abacum Intelligence, which is trained on financial planning logic. Each tool reads the model it sits on, so its answers are only as consistent as that model's definitions.
What is Vena software?
Vena is a Microsoft-native planning platform. The planning models stay in Excel, and Vena adds the database, the workflow and the version control behind them. Vena suits finance teams that want to keep their templates.
We also explain FP&A, compare consolidation platforms and describe our Abacum partnership.
FP&A
The 4 activities in FP&A and the actuals that cap what any platform can do.
Read about FP&AFinancial consolidation software
6 consolidation platforms compared, for groups that also have to consolidate.
Read the consolidation listAbacum
What we build on Abacum and the finance teams it fits.
Read about Abacum
See more on our
Subscribe on YouTube
Every Sunday, 6am
The Sunday Close.
Our weekly newsletter on AI in finance.
Yours to enjoy with your Sunday morning coffee.
- AI in finance observations from Alex (CEO) and Brad (COO)
- Newest video from our YouTube channel
- AI in finance trends we have spotted each week
Tell us the date you are working to.
The people who would do the work read every message and reply inside 2 working days.