Overview of Abacum
Abacum is one of the newer FP&A solutions on the market and was founded in 2020 by Julio Martinez and Jorge Lluch Valdecasas. They were both CFO's who saw a big gap in midmarket companies' financial planning, as the amount of data and reporting needs are always growing, while the tools to help with that weren't keeping up. With their solid finance backgrounds, they wanted to create a solution that blended the ease of spreadsheets with the power of enterprise tools, creating a platform just right for FP&A professionals.
Abacum has raised over $40 million, and they are shaking up how companies handle finance by encouraging a more collaborative and strategic approach to financial planning.
Key Features
Abacum has been operational since 2021, streamlining the automation of complex tasks within its platform. They have recently launched their 4th Generation FP&A Tool – Abacum Intelligence – which incorporates advanced AI capabilities for forecasting, report summaries, and AI-driven recommendations. This latest tool offers insights powered by AI that revolutionize the way stakeholders utilize data, fostering deeper understanding, better decision-making, and greater autonomy.
It includes two few different aspects:
AI Summaries
These automatic summaries provide performance analysis and insights for each chart or table, enabling finance teams to operate more efficiently with AI insights that clarify plan deviations, uncover root causes, and offer explanations.
AI Forecasting
This feature allows for the rapid generation of forecasts based on actual data, significantly transforming the planning workflow. It uncovers hidden patterns and dependencies, eliminates the tediousness of maintaining rolling forecasts, and assists budget owners in planning with accuracy. With Abacum Intelligence, your FP&A team can fully realize its strategic potential.
Abacum Integrations:
Xero
Workday
Quickbooks Online
Oracle Netsuite
BambooHR
Tableau
Looker
Salesforce
Snowflake
many other ERPs
Pros and Cons of Abacum Based on Users’ Reviews
Businesses that are scaling often hear that they should leverage data to fuel their growth. But here’s the catch: most data analytics tools are built for large enterprises with deep pockets and big IT teams, making them tough for smaller businesses to access.
That’s where Abacum and other FP&A software for small and medium sized businesses comes in.
Here are the pros and cons based on customer feedback from software review sites such as G2.
Pros
Integration into different parts of the company
A few users mentioned that Abacum has transformed their reporting functions by integrating the software into an every day tool that different members of the finance team and management can use.
Satisfaction from management teams
Another positive subject that came up multiple times is satisfaction from management teams. They are feeling more satisfied because they can make strategic decisions faster and with more confidence. In general, these are the ratings from G2:
User friendly platform and smooth integrations
Many recommend Abacum not just for its capabilities, but also for the integration and success team. They’ve had smooth integrations with applications like QuickBooks Online and Salesforce, which saves them a lot of time.
The platform's user-friendly design has been a hit, and the support from the implementation team gets pretty good reviews as well. It helps them unify their financial information and create custom dashboards. Some standout features include direct connections to ERP software, solid implementation support from experienced pros, and an easy-to-use interface that takes the stress out of traditional spreadsheets.
Cons
Difficulty creating templates
Because Abacum is a relatively new platform, users also shared a few mixed feelings about it. They find creating new report templates a bit tricky and feel it needs some training.
Lack of integrations
While Abacum covers the main integrations mentioned above, quite a few users reported a lack of integrations with smaller or lesser known ERPs.
UI Issues
A few users also noted that the user interface (UI) on Abacum needs some improvement. One user said the UI needs more in terms of visualization while another said it needs to be more user friendly.
While there are some areas to improve—like better integrations, more robust reporting features, template locking, data range adjustments at the Space level, and improved user management for admins, users do point out that Abacum is responsive to criticism and tries to improve. Overall these are the ratings for things that need to improve on G2:
Pricing
Abacum doesn't list its rates on its website, but they have three different plans to fit various business sizes. You need to reach out to their sales team for a demo and price quote.
Starter
Ideal for smaller teams looking to automate their FP&A processes.
Real-time automated reports with financial and operational metrics.
Basic modeling, forecasting, and budgeting workflows.
API connections to your ERP, HRIS, and CRM Data Connectors.
Scale
Perfect for organizations seeking to scale their financial planning.
Everything included in Starter, plus:
Unlimited multidimensional models.
Advanced forecasting and scenario planning.
Collaborative budgeting workflows.
Enterprise
Designed for larger organizations with more complex requirements
Everything included in Scale, plus:
Dedicated Slack to Customer Success Manager
Priority access to award-winning Support Team
Final Thoughts
Abacum is making waves as an innovative FP&A platform designed specifically for midmarket companies. It combines the ease of spreadsheets with the power of enterprise tools and the user-friendly design and AI features help make financial planning smoother and more collaborative, especially for businesses dealing with big datasets.
However, there are some areas so improve. It's lack of connections to ERPs, user management features, and UI design are all issues that users note.
Check out our list of the top 10 FP&A software.