FP&A Software Development

FP&A software for the business model finance actually plans.

We build driver-based budgets, forecasts, scenarios, actuals, variance, and management reporting when a standard planning platform cannot represent the organisation's revenue, cost, entity, or review model. The first release focuses on one planning cycle, transparent calculations, owned inputs, and reconciled outputs.

See our work

Bring the problem, the current workflow, or the existing code. We reply with a practical next step within one business day.

The brief

Start with what is not working.

Good software decisions begin with the constraint, not a list of features or a preferred technology.

01

Does the planning platform publish a forecast while finance keeps the real driver logic in a parallel workbook?

02

Do business owners submit numbers without a common definition, version, assumption, or route back to actuals?

Plain answer

FP&A software supports budgets, rolling forecasts, driver-based scenarios, actuals, variance analysis, and management reporting. RaftLabs builds it when a standard platform cannot fit a material revenue, cost, entity, or review model. A focused release for one planning cycle starts at $35,000 and usually takes 12 to 16 weeks.

The planning platform held the totals. The workbook held the business.

Revenue depended on project stages, cost depended on utilisation, and hiring changed delivery capacity. The standard model flattened those relationships into input rows, so finance rebuilt the real forecast beside it. The team had two plans and one board deadline.

Focused delivery baseline

starting first release
$35K
One planning cycle and bounded driver model
typical focused timeline
12-16 weeks
Includes reconciliation and parallel run
initial operating boundary
One cycle
Expand after drivers and variance are accepted

RaftLabs does not currently publish a named FP&A outcome case. These figures describe delivery scope, not promised forecast accuracy or faster close. The first release should measure manual model repair, input delay, definition disputes, version conflicts, reconciliation differences, forecast error by horizon, and the time required to explain material variance.

Build custom FP&A software when a material driver or review model cannot fit a standard planning platform.

Start with one planning cycle and the decisions it must support. Do not copy every workbook tab into a new interface.

A fit
01

Revenue, cost, capacity, entity, currency, or scenario logic needs repeated work outside the current tool.

02

Business inputs, assumptions, approvals, actuals, variance, or management outputs require a specific controlled flow.

03

Finance and business owners can approve definitions, calculations, versions, sources, access, and acceptance.

Not a fit
01

A standard FP&A platform can meet the model, connector, collaboration, reporting, and support needs.

02

The immediate need is a near-term cash forecast, treasury operation, or accounting-system replacement.

03

No owner can approve drivers, definitions, actuals, scenarios, or a prior period for comparison.

Choose the right finance planning route

NeedBest fitBoundary
Plan revenue, cost, headcount, capital, and management outcomesFP&A softwareDrivers, budgets, scenarios, actuals, variance, and reporting
Forecast near-term receipts, payments, and liquidityCash flow forecastingCash events, timing, assumptions, and forecast variance
Control bank positions, payments, debt, and FXTreasury managementConnectivity, liquidity, authority, exposure, and settlement
Record transactions, journals, balances, and closeERP or accounting systemAuthoritative financial records and posting

Scope

What belongs in a focused FP&A release

  • 01

    Driver and dimensional model

    Define entities, products, customers, projects, departments, accounts, time, currencies, operational drivers, calculations, and ownership at the grain each decision needs.
  • 02

    Inputs, assumptions, and workflow

    Collect business submissions through approved templates or forms, apply versions and effective dates, route review, explain overrides, and lock accepted stages.
  • 03

    Forecasts and scenarios

    Run a base plan and named alternatives without overwriting assumptions, show the drivers behind a change, and preserve the comparison used for a decision.
  • 04

    Actuals and variance

    Load approved accounting results, map them to the planning model, reconcile totals, separate timing and operational differences, and route material variance to an owner.
  • 05

    Management reporting and audit

    Publish approved statements, bridge views, commentary, and exports with role access, source drill-through, versions, change history, and repeatable board-pack outputs.

How it works

From planning drivers to accepted forecast

  1. Phase 1
    01

    Define decisions, drivers, and owners

    Choose planning horizon, cadence, entities, dimensions, revenue and cost drivers, inputs, scenarios, approvals, outputs, owners, and acceptance examples.

  2. Phase 2
    02

    Reconcile definitions and actuals

    Verify ERP and accounting sources, mappings, timing, currencies, eliminations, calculation rules, access, versions, history, and accepted prior periods.

  3. Phase 3
    03

    Build the bounded planning cycle

    Create input workflows, driver logic, assumptions, scenarios, approvals, actuals, variance, reporting, exports, audit, and exception handling.

  4. Phase 4
    04

    Parallel-run and release

    Compare with the approved plan and actuals, explain differences, test scenarios and access, train owners, and govern the next cycle.

Risk

What the FP&A specification must settle

Definition ownership
Name who approves every driver, dimension, calculation, mapping, actual, scenario, output, and future change.
Versions and scenarios
Separate working, submitted, approved, forecast, budget, and scenario states so one update cannot rewrite a prior decision.
Actuals and consolidation
Approve source periods, mappings, currency, eliminations, late adjustments, reconciliations, and the point a result becomes final.
Model confidence
Back-test where possible, show assumptions and sensitivity, explain uncertainty, and prohibit a forecast from being presented as a guaranteed outcome.

Scope and price

A focused FP&A release starts at $35,000.

Begin with one planning cycle, a bounded driver model, inputs, scenarios, one actuals source, variance, reporting, and audit.

A wider planning and finance platform can grow toward $70,000 to $130,000; the first cycle proves the model before expansion.

Starting investment

Starts at $35,000

A focused release usually takes 12 to 16 weeks. More entities, currencies, source systems, models, workflows, consolidation rules, or historical periods extend the plan.

Drivers stay inspectable

Every material calculation, source, assumption, version, and override remains visible to the finance owner.

Actuals still reconcile

The planning layer maps back to approved accounting results and documents every accepted difference.

Related finance software services

Common questions

FP&A software supports financial planning and analysis through budgets, forecasts, driver models, scenarios, business input, actuals, variance, and management reporting. It should connect the plan to source definitions and approved accounting results while keeping assumptions, versions, and ownership visible.

FP&A plans revenue, cost, headcount, capital, profit, balance-sheet effects, and management outcomes across a business horizon. Cash flow forecasting focuses on when receipts and payments affect liquidity, often over a shorter daily or weekly horizon. They may share assumptions but answer different decisions.

ERP and accounting systems record authoritative transactions, journals, balances, and close results. FP&A uses those actuals alongside operational drivers and assumptions to plan future outcomes and explain variance. The planning layer should reconcile to approved actuals without becoming a second general ledger.

Buy a standard platform when its driver model, spreadsheet interface, ERP connector, consolidation, scenario, collaboration, reporting, security, and support fit the organisation. Custom software is justified when a material business model, calculation, workflow, integration, or audience cannot be configured safely.

A focused release starts at $35,000 and usually takes 12 to 16 weeks. It covers one planning cycle, a bounded driver model, inputs, scenarios, approvals, one actuals source, variance, reporting, access, parallel run, and handover. More entities, models, currencies, history, or consolidation rules increase scope.

Work with us

Bring the planning model finance still runs beside the platform.

Share the decisions, horizon, drivers, entities, inputs, actuals, scenarios, approvals, outputs, and accepted prior cycle. We will define a focused first release.

  • Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
  • Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
  • Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
  • 60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
  • All conversations are NDA-protected.