When looking for a business plan software with performance tracking to start or grow your business, there are a number of excellent options out there for you to choose from. When sitting down at a restaurant, the more items you can select from on a menu, the more difficult it can be to make a choice.
As you may know by now if you’ve read our article “Brixx vs Float – A Cash Flow Forecasting And Scenario Planning Showdown”, here at Brixx, we enjoy a bit of healthy competition and have done some of the heavy lifting for you by researching the leading forecasting software and business planning tools available and comparing them to what we have to offer.
In this post, we take a closer look at LivePlan – business planning software that helps you plan, fund and grow your business. According to their website, LivePlan easily helps you write a business plan, secure funding, and get insights to help you reach your business goals.
We compare the key features of both LivePlan and Brixx in the article below.
In this post, I’ll be covering:
- Comparing key features
- Comparing available integrations
- Comparing pricing structures
- Final thoughts
Be sure to take Brixx for a test drive with the bike shop demo or sign up for a free 7-day trial to explore our array of features.
Read our full series of comparison posts here:
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“Brixx vs Float – A Cash Flow Forecasting And Scenario Planning Showdown”
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“Brixx vs Fluidly – A Funding, Forecasting, Planning And Invoice-Chasing Showdown”
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“Brixx vs Futrli – A Financial Prediction, Forecasting And Reporting Showdown”
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“Brixx vs Poindexter – A Simple Financial Modelling Software Showdown”
Comparing key features
We’ll begin our comparison of LivePlan and Brixx by looking at their key features. While we have more insight into the functionality of our own software, we’ve decided to play fair and compare only the features as listed on the LivePlan and Brixx websites. Each software speaks more about their features on their website, where you can dive into some more details but for the purpose of this comparison, we’ll stick to a quick overview.
LivePlan
- Business planning
- One-page plans
- Step-by-step guidance
- 500+ sample plans
- Automatic financials
- Lender-ready themes
- Financial performance tracking and forecasting
- Sharing and collaboration
- Solutions for entrepreneurs and small businesses; public accountants; SBDC, WBC, VBOC; educators; enterprises; incubators and accelerators; and offer a LivePlan + Quickbooks bundle
Brixx
- 10 year Cash flow projections and cash flow tracking
- Professional reports with automated double entry accounting (P&L and Balance Sheet)
- Forecast calculators
- Multiple scenario testing
- Forecast vs actuals comparison
- Move any part of the plan on a drag and drop Timeline
- Create a visual representation of your business
- Allows for teams, sharing and live collaboration
- Solutions for startups, businesses and accountants
One of Brixx’s most popular features is it’s teamwork, sharing and collaboration options. Paul Denning, Yamaha’s World Superbike – Team Principal, shares how the team places importance on teamwork and collaboration to complete their goals.
When looking at the financial forecasting capabilities of each of these platforms, LivePlan’s main focus is on their ability to help companies and startups produce business plans to help them succeed, resulting in their financials being less flexible than Brixx’s. However, LivePlan does offer the ability to produce forecasts up to 5 years in length versus Brixx, which allows you to produce forecasts up to 10 years ahead. Depending on what your main reason is behind your choice of platform, forecast length should be something to be taken into consideration based on your company’s needs.
We know that businesses are often on the fence, debating whether to use a more traditional financial forecasting method like Excel or Google Sheets versus a specialized financial forecasting software like Brixx or a business plan and performance tracking tool like LivePlan. Take a look at our article “Excel And Google Sheets vs Software For Financial Forecasting” for some tips to help you decide.
Comparing available integrations
Automation is king in today’s digital world and having seamless integration options puts business planning tools like LivePlan and Brixx far above those without.
LivePlan
Brixx
Both the LivePlan platform and the Brixx tool offer add-on options for the Xero accounting system. Boasting a seamless Xero setup and integration, each of these tools aid in the planning, projection and management of business cash flow. Not sure how to use Xero with a tool like Brixx? No problem, we go over this integration in the video below.
LivePlan business plan software currently has an additional integration available versus Brixx but we are excited to announce that we will soon begin work on an integration with Quickbooks. We expect Brixx to quickly become a staple Quickbooks business forecasting tool for startups, businesses and accountants alike once this integration is released.
Don’t worry, we’ll keep you updated on our Quickbooks accounting integration – keep your eyes on the Brixx Blog or join our newsletter by visiting the Brixx website.
Comparing pricing structures
When looking at choosing a business planning and performance tracking software, finances are of utmost importance as you’d want to get a quality tool for a price that won’t make your accountant cringe at year-end. We’ve taken a look at the various packages offered by the LivePlan tool and Brixx to help give you an overview of pricing structures.
For convenience, all pricing structures are reflective of annual billing amounts, with the monthly payment structures available on each of the LivePlan and Brixx websites.
LivePlan For Businesses
Standard – $180 (approximately £130) per year, billed annually
- Step-By-Step Instructions
- One-Page Pitch Builder
- 500+ Sample Plans
- Full Financial Forecast
- Automatic Financial Statements
Premium – $360 (approximately £260) per year, billed annually
- Includes everything in Standard, plus:
- Industry Benchmark Data
- LiveForecast
- Financial Forecast Scenarios
- Key Performance Indicators
- Syncs with Xero & QuickBooks
- Performance Dashboards
- Milestone Planner
Brixx For Business
Startup – £99 per year, billed annually
- 1 organisation
- 1 plan
- 1 year forecasts
- Unlimited sharing
- Full report suite
- Financial dashboard
- 3-way forecasting
Business – £199 per year, billed annually
- 1 organisation
- 3 plans
- 1 – 5 year forecasts
- Unlimited sharing
- Full report suite
- Financial dashboard
- 3-way forecasting
- Actuals vs Forecast
- Xero integration
Professional – £299 per year, billed annually
- 1 organisation
- 5 plans
- 1 – 10 year forecasts
- Unlimited sharing
- Full report suite
- Financial dashboard
- 3-way forecasting
- Actuals vs Forecast
- Xero integration
- 40-min onboarding Call
Additionally, both LivePlan and Brixx offers a version of a free trial. LivePlan offers a 60-day money back guarantee that acts as a free trial and Brixx offers a 7 day free trial.
Both the LivePlan business planning software and Brixx offer Partner Programs for accountants, bookkeepers and business coaches alike with preferred pricing structures and additional features.
LivePlan For Accountants
The LivePlan for Advisory Program $720 (approximately £525) per year, billed annually
As a member you receive
- 3 Companies (+1 free!)
- Additional Companies are $180/year (If 20+ companies are needed, you can contact LivePlan support)
- Unlimited users
- 1 Free company for your practice
- Full access to LivePlan
- Onboarding support
- Co-branded reports and software
- Quarterly CPE webinars
- Sales resources for your firm
- Priority support
- LivePlan Method resource guides
- Option to get certified as a LivePlan Expert Advisor
Brixx For Accountants
The Brixx Partner Program
- 10 Plans – £499.00 year, billed annually
- 15 Plans – £748.50 year, billed annually
- 20 Plans – £998.00 year, billed annually
- 30 Plans – £1 347.30 year, billed annually (10% Off)
- 40 Plans – £1 796.40 year, billed annually (10% Off)
- 50 Plans – £2 245.50 year, billed annually (10% Off)
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- Unlimited organisations
- 1 – 10 year forecasts
- Unlimited sharing
- Full report suite
- Financial dashboard
- 3 way forecasting
- Actuals vs Forecast
- Xero integration
- 40-min onboarding call
- Account Manager
As a partner you are able to:
- Deliver additional services and advice to your clients
- Save time building business plans
- Collaborate and share business models with clients
- Develop further revenue and profit streams
- Differentiate your business with Brixx Partnership
- Promote your business with the Brixx Partner assets on your website
When comparing these two heavyweights, their pricing structures are some of the most reasonable when looking at what’s on offer. Depending on what kind of tool your business or practice is looking for, we’re prepared to call this comparison round a draw.
You can read more about the Brixx Partner Program and its benefits in our article “Financial Forecasting For Accountants – The Brixx Partner Program”.
Final Thoughts
LivePlan may be our most interesting competitor yet as they specialize more in business plans designed to help you fund and grow your business with forecasting and modelling options available within the platform as additional features. But here at Brixx, we welcome the challenge of showcasing how our financial modelling and business planning software can benefit your startup, business or accounting practice. In terms of getting more bang for your buck, Brixx certainly seems like the logical choice when it comes to financial forecasting and business scenario planning and with the Quickbooks accounting integration in the works, who knows where the future will lead!
Enjoyed our comparison of the LivePlan business plan and performance tracking software? If you haven’t already, take a look at the rest of our comparison posts:
- “Brixx vs Float – A Cash Flow Forecasting And Scenario Planning Showdown”
- “Brixx vs Fluidly – A Funding, Forecasting, Planning And Invoice-Chasing Showdown”
- “Brixx vs Futrli – A Financial Prediction, Forecasting And Reporting Showdown”
- “Brixx vs Poindexter – A Simple Financial Modelling Software Showdown”
Be sure to visit the Brixx Blog for more heavyweight showdowns between Brixx and leading cash flow management; financial forecasting; and scenario modelling tools like Fluidly, Futrli and Poindexter which we’ll be releasing over the upcoming weeks. Remember to take advantage of our free 7-day trial or take Brixx for a test drive with the bike shop demo.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Brixx Partner Program for accountants; bookkeepers; business coaches; or anyone looking to manage multiple clients in tandem – read our “Financial Forecasting For Accountants – The Brixx Partner Program” blog post.
