Program & Project ManagementEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Top 9 Business Performance Management Software For Small Businesses

Supriya Deka profile picture
By Supriya Deka

Published
12 min read

Business performance management software monitors performance across the enterprise to help achieve one or more business goals.

To run a successful business it is necessary to strategize a roadmap of where you want to be. You need to track critical data that impacts your company’s performance. For example, if your company’s focus is to increase profits, tracking metrics such as sales revenue, total goods sold, and cost of goods can be helpful for the company strategy. This is where business performance management (BPM) comes into play.

Business performance management software provides insights on different metrics on your employees, suppliers, and customers to evaluate business processes. It lets you improve the organization processes to achieve the business goals.

The software automates data collection and reporting to provide performance dashboard and real-time updates to key performance indicators. This can help managers identify risks and respond in a timely manner.

To help you make the right software choice, we list the top nine BPM software based on two parameters: user ratings and popularity. Each parameter is weighted and scaled to a value between 1 and 50.

User ratings: This parameter considers the overall user ratings of products based on reviews written in the last 24 months. Users rate products on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

Popularity: The popularity parameter considers the average monthly search volume for a standardized set of keywords for each product, as derived by a proprietary search methodology, as well as the position of the vendor’s domain on the search engine results page (SERP) for each keyword. This is a measure of user interest and relevance used as a proxy for popularity.

Note: Products are listed in descending order of their total scores (i.e., summation of user ratings and popularity scores). If two or more products have the same score, they are listed alphabetically. (Read how we selected these products.)

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1. QuickBooks Online Advanced: Customizes and automates workflows

  • User rating: 44/50

  • Popularity score: 50/50

QuickBooks Online Advanced is a cloud-based business management solution. It helps businesses monitor and enhance productivity with insights on KPIs (key performance indicators) such as sales, profit margins, revenue, profitability, and cash flow.

The software allows you to customize and automate workflows, which reduces manual errors. You can delegate tasks to your employees by assigning tasks directly from QuickBooks. The changes in task progress get reflected in real time.

The performance center creates custom charts based on different periods with metrics unique to your business. Customizable dashboards drill down transaction-level details such as finances, sales, investors, and accounting. You can also compare business performance with your peers in the industry benchmark dashboard. Such centralized dashboards can identify what's working for your business and what’s not.

QuickBooks Online Advanced provides mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. It offers product documentation in the form of webinars and FAQs. Customers can reach the support team through community forums, chat, and help desk support.

Key Features

  • Inventory tracking
  • Task management
  • Reporting
  • Expenses and transactions
  • Expense tracking
  • Access Controls/Permissions

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

$90/month

Device compatibility

Screenshots

QuickBooks Online Advanced

Dashboard in QuickBooks Online Advanced

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

2. Wrike: Aligns goals across teams

  • User rating: 45/50

  • Popularity score: 38/50

Wrike is a cloud-based project management solution that unifies business processes. It streamlines workflows by letting you plan and centralize projects, share resources, and monitor progress all in one platform.

The software provides organization-wide shared calendars, dashboards, and Gantt charts to organize your team and visually manage your projects and their progress. The report building capability of the software allows you to create custom reports and gain real-time visibility into the performance of all processes. You can gain insights on roadblocks and team progress to improve forecasting.

Wrike’s Work Intelligence™ leverages artificial intelligence to help set up intelligent automation based on millions of anonymized data points. It provides automated prioritized lists, real-time predictions of risks, and suggestions for remediations. This can help minimize delays, reduce lags in communication, and free up more time to work on tasks that matter most.

The software provides a mobile app available for both iOS and Android devices. Support options include community forums, help center chat, web form, and phone support.

Key Features

  • Project management
  • Gantt chart
  • Task management
  • Collaboration
  • Kanban boards
  • Time tracking

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

$9.80 per user per month

Device compatibility

Screenshots

Wrike

Gantt Chart in Wrike

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

3. OneStream: Unifies key finance processes

  • User rating: 48/50

  • Popularity score: 34/50

OneStream is a corporate performance management solution that helps organizations to simplify financial consolidation, reporting, budgeting, planning, and analytics. The software is deployed on-premise or in the cloud.

OneStream software allows you to detect trends and financial signals to large volumes of operational data to fasten the decision-making process. The software automates manual steps with real-time data updates and ad-hoc reporting. The reporting tools embedded in the software allow users to reduce the risk of manual errors, eliminate manual data movement, and create self-service reporting.

The tool leverages predictive intelligence technology to help you with advanced planning and forecasting for your business. The technology offers self-service capabilities to generate forecasts and visualize critical information. This allows your finance team to validate corporate and operational plans, reduce biases, and increase dialogue with business partners to enhance decision-making.

OneStream supports an HTML5 mobile interface optimized for mobile consumption. The software offers a Windows app that eliminates browser compatibility issues. It provides product documentation in the form of FAQs and a step-by-step product guide. Customers can reach out to the support team through community forums, a web form and phone.

Key Features

  • Financial reporting
  • Planning
  • Budgeting and forecasting
  • Account reconciliations
  • Sales planning
  • Profitability analysis

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

Contact vendor

Device compatibility

Screenshots

OneStream

Analytics in OneStream

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

4. Quantive: Allows you to take 360-degree feedback

  • User rating: 49/50

  • Popularity score: 28/50

Quantive (formerly Koan) is an objectives and key results (OKR) and status tracking platform to help teams manage their goals and track statuses collaboratively.

The software lets you set objectives and goals that are visible across teams. Quantive provides real-time visibility into the progress of your team, so you can address the top priorities and challenges. The software lets you collect feedback, communicate achievements, and prioritize tasks via its integration with Slack.

Quantive lets you collaborate, track performance and align tasks whether you are in the office or working remotely. It provides collaborative OKRs that get integrated into weekly tasks. It helps you make sure that teams are collectively working towards a common purpose.

Quantive has a mobile application for Android devices. Customers can reach out to the support staff through email or web form.

Key Features

  • Goal tracking
  • Insights
  • Performance management
  • Collaboration
  • Feedback management
  • Benchmarking

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Upgrade price

$6 per user per month (billed annually)

Device compatibility

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

5. Prophix: Automates budget planning and workflows

  • User rating: 47/50

  • Popularity score: 26/50

Prophix offers a cloud-based corporate performance management solution for financial forecasting, budget analysis, and management reporting.

The platform offers automation for data collection, evaluation, and consolidation needs to boost productivity. The budgeting capabilities of the software centralize your data from other systems such as CRM, ERP, and payroll software into a single platform. This enables automatic data consolidation to reduce human errors. The software allows for collaboration with other decision-makers and creates reports on key parameters to adjust your budget for optimal results.

Prophix’s Virtual Financial Analyst is an artificial intelligence powered-assistant that can help you detect anomalies and automate financial planning and analysis with just a click. The software can also detect anomalies and risks in your ledgers and provides data visualization to provide you with insights and trends.

The software offers Prophix Mobility, a web and mobile interface for users to navigate on any mobile device. Its support options include an online help (product documents), training courses, help center, a feedback forum, email, and phone support.

Key Features

  • Budgeting/forecasting
  • Financial consolidation
  • Dashboard/reporting
  • Workflow and automation
  • Collaboration
  • Audit trail

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

Contact vendor

Device compatibility

Screenshots

Prophix

Reporting in Prophix

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

6. Jedox: Automates planning, forecasting, and reporting

  • User rating: 46/50

  • Popularity score: 23/50

Jedox is an enterprise performance management solution that helps businesses enhance planning, forecasting and reporting—all in one platform. The software is deployed in the cloud, on-premise or hybrid.

The system integrates multiple data sources such as HR, sales, finance, and other teams across the organization. This helps centralize and automate the planning process, ensure collaboration, and manage business performance. Jedox offers self-service reporting capabilities for ad hoc requests, saving time for more crucial tasks.

Jedox AIssisted™ leverages the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The software automates the forecasting process with predictive analytics to drive better decisions based on intelligent recommendations.

Jedox offers a mobile application for iOS and Android. Its support options include email support, phone support, a help center, and a knowledge base.

Key Features

  • Collaboration
  • Financial consolidation
  • Reporting and analysis
  • Access control permission
  • Goal tracking
  • Budgeting/forecasting

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

Contact vendor

Device compatibility

Screenshots

Jedox

Reporting in Jedox

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

7. Profit.co: Enhances employee engagement and performance

  • User rating: 50/50

  • Popularity score: 16/50

Profit. co is an OKR solution that helps organizations manage tasks and employee performance to prioritize goals, save time and execute strategies. You can create strategies at every level within the organization while also aligning with overall company goals.

The software allows you to manage your employees, processes and performance on a single platform. It provides a dashboard to help different departments understand company goals and how they can contribute to them. The dashboard offers real-time progress and heatmaps to identify problems. You can create weekly check-ins and reviews to ensure progress and that challenges identified are addressed timely.

You can also export reports from the dashboard to track achievements and progress made for different departments within the company. Additionally, employees can tag and mention their colleagues to collaborate on tasks aligned with specific goals. You can reward team members through rewards and points based on their progress.

Profit.co offers a mobile application for Android, iOS, and Windows mobile platforms. Its support options include email support, phone support, a help center, web forms, FAQs, and a resource center (webinars, OKR University, eBooks, and KPI library).

Key Features

  • Performance and task management
  • Employee engagement
  • 360-degree feedback
  • Collaboration
  • Customizable dashboard
  • Gamification

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

$7per user per month (billed annually)

Device compatibility

Screenshots

Profit.co

Strategic alignment in Profit.co

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

8. Axiom Software: Enables budgeting, forecasting, and scenario modeling

  • User rating: 46/50

  • Popularity score: 19/50

Axiom Software is a cloud-based enterprise performance management solution that assists organizations and professionals with budgeting, forecasting, planning, reporting, and scenario modeling.

The platform’s dashboard allows you to capture all goals and initiatives, define KPIs (key performance indicators), monitor progress, and evaluate initiatives. Analyzing and monitoring key parameters—such as cost, volume, and profitability trends—across business lines can help organizations optimize performance. Users can model scenarios and see their impact on operational budgets and forecasts.

You can generate reports and let the platform share them automatically with stakeholders with real-time access to insights. The message stream feature within the reporting dashboard allows you to capture comments in the context of any report or process.

Axiom software is available for Android and iOS devices. Customers can reach out to the support team by filling up a web form.

Key Features

  • Budgeting and forecasting
  • Reporting
  • Cost management
  • Role-based access
  • What-if scenarios
  • Ad hoc reporting

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

Contact vendor

Device compatibility

Screenshots

Axiom Software

Reporting in Axiom Software

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

9. ConectoHub: Provides automated reports and insights

  • User rating: 48/50

  • Popularity score: 9/50

ConectoHub is a cloud-based OKR and work management platform that aligns strategic planning and initiatives with business goals. You can also adjust your goals with daily tasks and projects in order to monitor progress on a real-time basis.

With ConectoHub, you can create tasks and projects and schedule them to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or at any frequency you need. You can prioritize tasks and sub-tasks, set deadlines and never miss out on updates. The software provides you with a list view to navigate projects, a Kanban view of your workload, and Gantt views to visualize project schedule and plan over time.

Additionally, the software provides an advanced search feature to locate tasks, projects, persons, teams or tags in your workspace. The tool offers reporting capabilities to analyze anomalies, opportunities for growth, and productivity.

AlumnForce offers a mobile app for Android and iOS. Its support options include email and phone support. Customers can also reach out to the support team by filling up a web form.

Key Features

  • Task management
  • Project management
  • Performance management system
  • Team management
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Collaboration

Trial/Free Version

  • Free Trial
  • Free Version

Starting price

$3 per user per month (billed annually)

Device compatibility

Screenshots

ConectoHub

Reporting in ConectoHub

* Analysis accurate as of May 2, 2022

What features do business performance management tools offer?

The core features of business performance management software include:

  • Budgeting/forecasting: Set goals in terms of expenses for your business. The software should also allow users to analyze historical data trends to predict future business results.

  • Dashboard: Visualize keys metrics relevant to your business process or objective in charts and graphs format.

  • Key performance indicators: Evaluate your company’s performance based on critical indicators or metrics. Examples can be customer retention rate, website visitors, sales volume, revenue, and cost of goods sold, depending upon the organization needs.

  • Reporting/analytics: Generate valuable insights into trends and other data. This helps create strategies to improve business operations such as sales, inventory management, and warehousing.

All the products listed in this report include the core features mentioned above.

Besides these core features, business performance management platforms also offer certain common features:

  • Activity tracking

  • Data integration

  • Data visualization

  • Financial management

  • Goal tracking

  • Performance metrics

  • Self-service data preparation

  • Strategic planning

How to choose the best business performance software for your business

These considerations can make it easier to select software for small business owners:

  • Check the user interface: The software tool you choose should provide you with an intuitive and easy to navigate interface, even for beginners. It should have a simple interface that is easy to understand. You should be able to learn the ways of planning, scheduling, task and team management, and monitoring faster within the system. This will help reduce training costs and change management costs. While analyzing the product, ensure that tutorials and training support are available for new users.

  • Check for implementation requirements: Many business performance software platforms are deployed either on-premise or in the cloud. If you require a faster implementation with a low maintenance cost, real-time access to reports, and scalability, you should opt for cloud-based BPM software. If your organization is looking for complete control over the data and software platform with dedicated security, you should opt for an on-premise software tool. In this case, you will have a dedicated IT team to support and maintain the system.

  • Check for advanced functionalities: Although it is crucial to look for a BPM system that caters to your needs, it is also important to consider some advanced functionalities that can help you with your future needs. Having advanced functionalities that leverage technologies such as predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning can be a bonus. These can be continuous forecasting and insight generation, automation of financial planning, real-time prediction of risks and anomaly detection.

Common questions to ask when choosing business performance software

These are some common questions you can ask vendors when purchasing a business performance platform:

Does your software integrate with other tools?

While looking for a business performance management tool, you should check the platform’s integration capabilities. It is critical that your current systems integrate with the BPM platform of your choice. You need to monitor and plan your business strategies based on data from different departments. These departments use separate tools to manage or store data, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), Finance, human resource information system (HRIS), and sales management platform. Integrating the data from different tools in one single platform will help align decisions taken at many levels with the organization’s goals and vision. Individuals and departments can tie their objectives and targets to the overall company goals within the software. This will help monitor and track the progress towards achieving the set organizational goals and avoid deviations.

What security features does your software have?

Since your BPM tool consists of data across the organization, you cannot overlook the security aspect. You will need features such as role-based access, user authentication and single sign-on, and action level security (such as restricting access to report, export, or permanent deletion of data). Ask your shortlisted vendors if these security measures are available in their business performance management system.

Is your software scalable?

Your business will grow, and so will the data. The BPM or corporate performance management platform you choose should be able to load multiple, varied sources of data across the enterprise. You should be able to add as many users as you need. Ask the vendor whether their BPM platform can be scaled up without compromising efficiency.

How did we choose these products? We didn’t—you did

To find your ideal software match, you need information you can trust—so you can save time, stay on budget, and focus more energy on growing your business. It’s why we vet and verify all our user reviews and recommend only the tools endorsed by people such as you.

In other words, our product recommendations are never bought or sold, or based on the opinion of a single individual—they’re chosen by your peers, reflecting the views and experiences of our independent base of software reviewers.



At Capterra, we objectively select and rank products based on a methodology developed by our research team. Some vendors pay us when they receive web traffic, but this does not influence our methodology.

To be considered for this list, products must meet the following criteria:

  • Product has at least 20 unique product reviews published on Capterra within 24 months of the start of the research process for a given report (March 2022).

  • Product shows evidence of offering business performance management functionality as demonstrated by publicly-available sources, such as the vendor’s website.

  • Product serves North American users, as demonstrated by product reviews submitted from that region.

  • Product is relevant to software buyers across industries or sectors—in other words, no “niche” solutions that cater exclusively to one specific type of user, as determined by our analysis of user reviews and/or market research.

  • The product achieves a minimum normalized overall user-review rating, after normalizing and weighting review recency (see description under “Scoring” section).

  • Product achieves a minimum popularity score.

Scoring:

To arrive at a final Rating score per product:

  • Scores are calculated for the Ratings dimension based on overall average user ratings.

  • Average product ratings are normalized for recency and volume of reviews.

  • Scores for each dimension are scaled to a maximum of 50.

Products are represented, included, and/or scored solely based on user ratings and popularity data and are independent of any relationship that Capterra has with vendors.


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About the Author

Supriya Deka profile picture

Supriya Deka is a market research specialist at Capterra. She helps small businesses identify the best software fit for their needs by conducting secondary research and analyzing user reviews. She covers and provides insights into emerging technology trends in different industries, and her work has been published in Emerald Insights. She enjoys local cuisines and practicing yoga.

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