Planful vs Accounting Seed

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Our analysts compared Planful vs Accounting Seed based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Accounting Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Planful Software Tool

Product Basics

Formerly Host Analytics, Planful is a financial planning and analysis cloud platform. It accelerates end-to-end FP&A. Suitable for midsize to large-scale businesses, it helps by centralizing data and managing financial and operational processes.

It helps users plan and manage reviews, approvals and submissions and generates workflow status reports to check the performance of every department. It helps analyze asset performance by using financial budgeting and forecasting techniques with its capital planning feature. It is a scalable solution that allows companies to check the effect of projects on the overall bottom line.
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Accounting Seed streamlines financial processes for mid-sized to enterprise businesses, particularly those in professional services, non-profits, and project-based industries. Built on the Salesforce platform, it leverages CRM integration and robust customization options to cater to specific needs. Key benefits include automated workflows, multi-currency support, and real-time financial reporting. Popular features range from billing and revenue recognition to inventory management and project accounting. User reviews praise its intuitive interface, scalability, and reporting capabilities. Pricing follows a tiered subscription model based on user count and desired functionality. While considered a premium solution, its feature set and integration capabilities often outweigh the cost for businesses seeking a comprehensive financial management system.

Pros
  • Easy to use interface
  • Robust reporting features
  • Seamless Salesforce integration
  • Customizable dashboards
  • Strong customer support
Cons
  • Limited customization options
  • Occasional bugs or glitches
  • Steeper learning curve for some features
  • Can be slow at times
  • No mobile app
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$1,250 Monthly
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$750 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Insights

  • Conduct Ad hoc Analysis: Simplify complex ad hoc analysis by quickly creating financial and operational models while simultaneously checking the impact of these models on the bottom line. 
  • Close Books Faster: Decrease the time it takes to close books by automating data collection, aggregation and validation. Make data secure and compliant with standards and protocols.  
  • Improve Collaboration: Collaborate in a more efficient manner with current data and real-time insights. Get the power to make quick and accurate decisions with more confidence.  
  • Get Insights: Make well-informed decisions by gaining insights from across an organization to drive long-term value and growth. Automate manual processes to gain more time for strategic planning processes, analyzing and collaborating rather than worrying about spreadsheets.  
  • Automate Manual Processes: Save time and reduce errors by automating manual financial processes. Ensure that all financial processes are done with minimum manual effort and run more efficiently.  
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  • Better SalesForce Integration: Integrate with SalesForce CRM and use the SalesForce Product Object. Use it as a standalone product if the system is hooked to the complete platform. 
  • Improved Invoicing: Make use of multiple invoice formats with built-in approvals. Set up recurring bills for improved security and compliance and to minimize the possibility of errors. 
  • User-friendly Reporting: Create user-friendly or fully formatted financial reports using SalesForce. Easily track the company’s performance regularly with custom reports. 
  • Time Tracking and Expenses: Manage accounting with built-in time cards. Track and report on expenses using the app. 
  • Better Accessibility: Access and conduct business from anywhere in the world with the mobile app. 
  • Eliminate repetitive tasks: Automate repetitive tasks and personalize the system using point-and-click automation. Leverage the feature to personalize with codes if the automation doesn't work for certain use cases. 
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  • Modern Tools: Combine the need for structured and dynamic planning to empower organizations to make well-informed decisions in a quick and strategic manner.  
  • Financial Consolidation: Accelerate month-end closing cycles with financial consolidation. Enhance financial planning and reporting by leveraging data from a single source of truth. Get pre-built consolidation functionality for currency conversion and reporting, currency translation adjustment calculations and posting. Implement functional, administrative and setup changes without the need for IT experts. Boost teams’ agility when reacting to changes in organization, strategy, regulation and accounting protocol. Ensure trusted and consistent global reporting by automatically mapping financial data. Keep tabs from start to end on balances, and analyze financial data across consolidation activities.  
  • Structured Planning: Save time and reduce errors by automating labor-intensive financial planning activities. Avoid costly and disruptive customization fees, save time and reduce risk of error with predefined planning and reporting templates. Automate integration from any ERP, CRM or HCM. Create a single source of financial truth by automatically collecting, aggregating and validating financial data. Ensure consistency and accuracy by creating and modifying structured financial reports and elevating financial conversations. 
  • Dynamic Planning: Analyze, plan and make confident decisions with dynamic planning. Build custom-tailored financial models. Leverage customization across processes, functions and use cases. Configure planning experiences and give users the flexibility to plan for anything. Connect data sources from separate systems in one unified, cloud-based platform. Boost financial decision making with a single source of truth. Get insights and make course corrections with real-time data refreshing. Inculcate companywide collaboration culture by providing the right data at the right level to the right person.  
  • Integration: Automate data integration to reduce manual intervention and easily transform data with over 200 pre-built connectors. Adjust to automatic data processing with a growing integration platform. Check status and activity of deployed integrations from a centralized place. Ensure data integration process flows are repeatable, automated and secure, and provide audit trails required by internal and external auditors. Understand changes in data with multiple validation points across integration workflows. 
  • Reporting: Leverage reporting formats and delivery options to meet financial, management and ad hoc needs. Ensure data accuracy and transparency with self-service reporting and automated report distribution. Automate collection and aggregation of financial and business data into a single cloud-based platform. Ensure everyone is working with current and accurate information derived from a single source of truth. Boost financial IQ with self-service reporting capabilities. Create a more agile environment with impactful financial decision making. 
  • Annual Operating Plan: Build collaborative financial plans that align with business objectives. Turn annual plans into quarterly or monthly rolling forecasts, and check models for different scenarios to determine how to realign and adjust strategies.  
  • Workforce Planning: Plan accordingly for workforces by connecting HR, finance and operational data together. Create a headcount plan that can be adjusted to changing marketing requirements. Gain insight to build winning strategies and utilize employees as strategic assets. Boost financial IQ to understand and influence impacts on the financial health of workforce costs.  
  • Cash Flow Forecasting: Assess the impact of decisions by gaining complete control and visibility over finances. Reallocate cash by identifying trends and understanding levers. Mitigate cash flow risk by adjusting investment opportunities.  
  • Scenario Analysis: Analyze every option by planning across multiple case scenarios and assessing key drivers. Bring agility by optimizing current period results. Gain the flexibility to discover deeper insights across a broad range of models. Align executives and business partners with data-driven decisions. Check the impact of plan changes from every level with immediate results. 
  • Rolling Forecasts: Adjust to sudden changes, keep forecasts current and business agile with continually rolling planning periods. Automatically keep tabs on the impact of actuals on forecasted trends. Improve risk analysis by quickly identifying opportunities and risks as business landscapes evolve. Align rolling forecasts by collaborating across different departments. Gain real-time insights to redirect resources and priorities and align them with business objectives.  
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  • Billing: Create an invoice, start a project or make a recurring billing plan without tedious integration. Customize recurring billing to business requirements. Configure and personalize the system for simple, smarter billing and payment management. 
    • Bookkeeping: Make sure that the business has relevant tax data and error-free and consistent bookkeeping with Avalara. Ensure seamless high-level security transactions without any fee structure with Stripe. Manage billing at the contract level by monitoring past, present and future activity. Make billing simpler with automatic subscription renewals. 
  • Accounts Receivable: Bridge the gap between invoices and payment cycle for a productive cash flow. Automate collection notices and monitor customer activities, aging balances in real-time with configurable dashboards and reports. 
    • Single-View Visibility: Maintain visibility of the project lifecycle and manage customer communication with custom processes. Compile accounts receivable data from any date or time and gain real-time visibility. Get a single view of billing quotes and incoming sales orders. Eliminate the need for repetitive billing work and get paid faster. 
  • Revenue Recognition: Free up the finance department’s time with a CRM-integrated customizable revenue management system. Enhance financial accuracy and make well-informed decisions by recognizing patterns, establishing connections and classifying financial data. 
    • Customizable Accounts Receivable: Customize accounts receivable for revenue recognition based on policies and procedures to ensure an efficient process. Streamline business workflow by automating revenue recognition. Minimize dependency on multiple IT resources with custom configuration. Record and edit contracts natively without the need of any additional integration software. 
  • Recurring Payments: Eliminate repetitive manual calculation with usage-based billing and built-in tiered payments. Customize the solution according to the business model. Make single or batch billing records from single or multiple sales opportunities. Create invoices from sales orders at any stage of completion with a click. Use time cards or expense reports to create bills. 
  • Paying Vendors: Customize the purchasing process and link a purchase order with a manufacturing or construction order as the business demands. Analyze stock level and purchase inventory without the hassle of integration points. Make transactions easier with the connectivity to over 14,500 banks and credit card companies. 
  • General Ledger: Gain complete control of charts of accounts set up with the analytical and intuitive financial management software. Manage user configuration without coding or customization and automate back-office operations with ease. 
  • Multi-Currency: Pay foreign vendors and receive payments in any currency. Keep track of the gain and losses based on fluctuations in the exchange rates with the standard pronouncements. Save time and money by automating conversions for transactions. Create compliant reports in multiple currencies. Minimize the possibility of errors with automated financial consolidation tools. 
  • Multi-Company: Manage budget for multiple companies in a single database. Share sales quotes and opportunities, vendors, charts of accounts, projects and accounting periods between different entities. Get real-time insights by switching between companies and local account views. Boost visibility and control with flexible, multi-company reports. 
  • Bank Reconciliation: Clear bank transactions and make quick reconciliations with minimal data entry using Bank Direct Connect. Ensure correct and up-to-date information by tracking changes with the audit trail function. 
    • Statement Management: Get statements from any bank and reconcile checking, savings and credit card accounts. Efficiently manage bank errors, keep an eye for frauds and maintain accurate cash flow. 
  • Sales Order Management: Save time and money with a streamlined sales order process. Make a sales order from the inventory in the CRM. Reserve products for a particular customer’s orders by designating the items. Capture packaging and shipping details from a single interface. 
    • Purchase Orders: Generate purchase orders directly from sales. Monitor and manage warehouse and inventory directly into one integrated system. Build a customized solution with kitting, serialized and non-serialized inventory, historical inventory balance reporting, multi-warehouse and multi-location environments. 
  • Project Accounting: Consolidate general ledger and project accounting into one system. Eliminate confusion and wasted time with an integrated general ledger and connected project system. Manage resources and gain rich insights from the financial reporting dashboards. 
    • Project Tracking: Keep track of the individual project and monitor overall business health. Analyze past projects and make the right project bid. Effectively track and manage the lifecycle of the project from beginning till the end. 
  • Tax Accounting: Organize and store accounting data in one cloud-based platform. Ensure compliance, accuracy and efficiency with Avalara integration, providing 360-degree sales tax compliance control. 
    • Real-time Data: Get access to financial data in real-time and gain optimal flexibility for VAT reporting, tax calculation. Get an automatic sales tax calculator. Create VAT returns with Avalara VAT reporting and digitally transmit it to the tax authorities. 
  • Data Security: Keep data safe with secure API, strong SalesForce IT infrastructure, two-factor authentication, user permissions, real-time event monitoring. Make sure your business is safe and the data is secure with a reliable, flexible solution. 
  • Point and Click Configuration: Create translation for the configuration with the translation workbench. Update data fields with workflow rules and process builders. 
  • Integration: Credit disbursement, collection tracking and customer interaction can be managed with SalesForce CRM integration, while Stripe integration helps with online payment collection. 
  • Drag-and-Drop: Drag-and-drop editing allows the managed reports configuration allowing for a future data export to Excel. Track expenses, reports and budgets with a consolidated general ledger. 
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Product Ranking

#116

among all
Accounting Software

#281

among all
Accounting Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Accounting Seed
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Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Banking And Cash Management Budget And Expense Management Financial Statements And Revenue Management General Ledger And Chart Of Accounts Integration And Extensibility Inventory Management Journal Entries Mobile Support Multi-company Accounting And Asset Management Platform Capabilities Project Accounting Reporting And Analytics Tax Management 100 85 100 91 100 100 69 94 100 100 73 89 100 90 96 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 82 reviews
Great User Sentiment 337 reviews
86%
of users recommend this product

Planful has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 82 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

84%
of users recommend this product

Accounting Seed has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 337 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

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4.2 (25)
4.29 (41)
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Awards

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SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Accounting Seed and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Accounts Payable and Mobile Support.

Accounts Payable Award
Mobile Support Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Streamlined Financial Close: Planful helps automate routine tasks like data consolidation and report generation, which can significantly reduce the time it takes to close the books each month. This efficiency is often praised by users in fast-paced environments.
Improved Forecasting Accuracy: The platform's forecasting tools leverage historical data and predictive analytics to generate more accurate forecasts. Users appreciate this feature as it allows for better-informed decision-making and resource allocation.
Enhanced Collaboration: Planful provides a centralized platform for finance teams to collaborate on budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. This feature improves communication and transparency within the department, leading to more cohesive financial strategies.
Customizable Reporting: Users frequently highlight the ability to create custom reports tailored to their specific needs. This flexibility allows finance teams to analyze data from multiple angles and gain deeper insights into their financial performance.
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Streamlined Workflows: Automates tasks, reduces manual data entry.
Seamless Salesforce Integration: Unifies financial and customer data.
Real-time Insights: Provides instant visibility into key metrics.
Improved Reporting: Customizable dashboards and reports for better decision-making.
Scalability and Flexibility: Adapts to growing businesses and diverse needs.
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Steep Learning Curve: Many users find Planful's interface to be complex and unintuitive, requiring significant time investment to learn the system's intricacies. The abundance of features can be overwhelming for new users, leading to frustration and a slow adoption rate within organizations.
Customization Challenges: While Planful offers customization options, implementing them often requires advanced technical skills or reliance on the vendor's professional services, which can be costly. This limitation can hinder organizations with unique workflows or reporting needs from fully tailoring the software to their specific requirements.
Reporting Limitations: Some users report that generating specific or ad-hoc reports can be cumbersome in Planful. The system's pre-built reports may not always cater to every organization's needs, and creating custom reports may require technical expertise or additional support.
Performance Issues: A segment of users has mentioned experiencing slow loading times and occasional system lags, particularly when working with large datasets or complex reports. This can impact productivity and user satisfaction, especially for organizations with high data volumes or demanding reporting requirements.
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Limited Customization Options: May not fully adapt to specific needs.
Occasional Bugs or Glitches: Can disrupt workflows and require support.
Steeper Learning Curve for Some Features: Complex functionalities might require training.
Can Be Slow at Times: Performance issues can impact user experience.
No Mobile App: Lacks on-the-go access and data management.
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Planful has garnered a reputation for its robust financial reporting and analysis capabilities, particularly excelling in budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation. Users appreciate the software's ability to handle complex financial models and its flexibility in generating custom reports. The platform's intuitive interface and user-friendly design have also been praised, making it accessible to both finance professionals and non-financial users. However, some users have noted that the initial setup and implementation process can be time-consuming and may require significant support from Planful's team. Additionally, while Planful offers a wide range of features, some users have expressed a desire for more advanced functionality in areas such as workforce planning and project accounting. Compared to competitors like Adaptive Insights and Vena Solutions, Planful stands out for its comprehensive financial consolidation capabilities and its ability to handle large volumes of data. Its reporting and analytics tools are also considered to be more user-friendly and customizable. However, Adaptive Insights may be a better choice for organizations seeking a more cloud-based solution with stronger integrations with other business applications. Vena Solutions, on the other hand, may be more suitable for companies with complex financial modeling needs due to its Excel-based interface. Overall, Planful is best suited for mid-sized to large enterprises with complex financial reporting and analysis requirements. Its strengths lie in its budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, and reporting capabilities, making it an ideal choice for organizations looking to streamline their financial processes and gain deeper insights into their financial performance. However, companies with limited IT resources or those seeking a more cloud-based solution may want to consider alternative options.

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Accounting Seed users share a love-hate relationship with the software. For many, its Salesforce integration shines brightest, with "it truly ties into Salesforce seamlessly" and "no need for an API connection" being common praises. This unified data view across sales and finance wins favor in companies wanting clear customer-to-financial insights. However, some find its customization options "cluttered and confusing," particularly when compared to rivals like Xero or QuickBooks. Users lament "frustrating input screens" and a "steeper learning curve" for complex features. Reporting is another battleground. Some rave about "robust reporting features" that provide "real-time insights," while others criticize "a rework is receiving a rework" and "not integral to any accounting software." Compared to Intuit's FinancialEdge, Accounting Seed's reporting flexibility seems to fall short for some. Despite these frustrations, praise for the user interface and support persists. "Easy to use interface" and "strong customer support" are frequent positives, contrasting with complaints about clunky competitors like Sage. Efficiency gains are also highlighted, with users enjoying "reduced manual work" and "streamlined financial processes." Overall, Accounting Seed seems to be a mixed bag. Its Salesforce integration and user interface charm some, while its reporting and customization limitations disappoint others. For companies prioritizing user-friendliness and real-time financial insights, it's a contender. But for those needing highly customizable reporting or slick on-the-go access (no mobile app yet!), other options might be a better fit.

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Screenshots

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