# Cash flow forecasting for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "cash flow forecasting software" and as "cash management tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/treasury/cash-flow-forecasting/2026-11/smb

**Standing:** Float leads with 24% of first choices; verdict contested. 54 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Float](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/float/index.md) | 24% | 4% | 56 |
| 2 | [Cash Flow Frog](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/cash-flow-frog/index.md) | 20% | 0% | 41 |
| 3 | [Pulse](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/pulse/index.md) | 13% | 0% | 26 |
| 4 | [QuickBooks Cash Flow Planner](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/quickbooks-cash-flow-planner/index.md) | 9% | 18% | 28 |
| 6 | [Xero Cash Flow Forecasting](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/xero-cash-flow-forecasting/index.md) | 6% | 12% | 16 |
| 16 | [Fathom](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/fathom/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 26 |
| 17 | [Dryrun](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/dryrun/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 18 |
| 21 | [Jirav](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/jirav/index.md) | 0% | 17% | 12 |
| 63 | [Vena](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/vena/index.md) | 0% | 30% | 10 |
| 121 | [Anaplan](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/anaplan/index.md) | 0% | 70% | 10 |
| 122 | [Microsoft Excel](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/microsoft-excel/index.md) | 0% | 73% | 15 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 122 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Float; alternatives Cash Flow Frog, Fathom
- GPT-5.4 mini: Float; alternatives QuickBooks Cash Flow Planner, Xero Cash Flow Manager
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Float; alternatives Cash Flow Frog, Dryrun, Fathom, Helm
- Perplexity Sonar: Float; alternatives Chaser, G-CashFlow, Jirav, Upflow
- Grok 4.20: Cash Flow Frog; alternatives Drivetrain, Fathom, Vena, Xero's Built-in Cash Flow Tool
- Mistral Small: Cash Flow Frog, Float; alternatives Commitly, Tidely, Xero Short Term Cash Flow Tool
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Cash Flow Frog; alternatives Fathom, Float, Pulse
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Cash Flow Frog; alternatives Float, Jirav, QuickBooks Live Plan, Xero Planner
- Kimi K2: Cash Flow Frog; alternatives Float, Pulse
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Float; alternatives Cash Flow Frog, Fathom, Futrli
- MiniMax M2.5: Cash Flow Frog; alternatives Cash Flow Tool, Fathom, Xero Short Term Cash Flow Tool
- GPT-6 Luna: Float; alternatives Cash Flow Frog
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Float; alternatives Cash Flow Frog, Tesorio, Upflow

## Sources the answers cite

76 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- takethehelm.app: 36 answers, 41 citations
- cashflowfrog.com: 31 answers, 55 citations
- prophix.com: 31 answers, 35 citations
- drivetrain.ai: 28 answers, 28 citations
- floatapp.com: 25 answers, 40 citations
- xero.com: 21 answers, 39 citations
- tesorio.com: 20 answers, 20 citations
- fitsmallbusiness.com: 18 answers, 18 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://takethehelm.app/blog/the-top-5-cash-flow-forecasting-tools-for-small-businesses (30 answers)
- https://drivetrain.ai/solutions/cash-flow-forecasting-software (28 answers)
- https://prophix.com/blog/best-cash-flow-forecasting-software (26 answers)
- https://tesorio.com/blog/best-cash-flow-forecasting-software-in-2026-reviewed-and-compared (19 answers)
- https://cashflowfrog.com/business/small-business (18 answers)
- https://cashflowfrog.com/blog/best-cash-flow-forecasting-software (16 answers)
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/top-cash-flow-forecasting-tools (16 answers)
- https://g-accon.com/the-best-cash-flow-forecasting-software (14 answers)
- https://melio.com/blog/10-apps-to-help-you-predict-your-cash-flow (13 answers)
- https://tidely.com/en/blog-posts/liquidity-software-comparison (13 answers)

## Warned against

- Microsoft Excel: 11 of 15 labels negative. "Basic Spreadsheets (e.g., Excel or Google Sheets without Automation) - Why avoid or be cautious: These are prone to human errors" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Google Sheets: 7 of 9 labels negative. "Basic Spreadsheets (e.g., Excel or Google Sheets without Automation) - Why avoid or be cautious: These are prone to human errors" (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Anaplan: 7 of 10 labels negative. "Small businesses should generally avoid or approach with caution the following categories of tools and specific software approaches" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- QuickBooks Cash Flow Planner: 5 of 28 labels negative. "avoid tools with poor user adoption (like QuickBooks Cash Flow Planner in recent data)" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Float at 24%.

- Float: 35% to 24%, −11. Cleared the floor by 1 point · rank 1 of 122, unchanged.
- Pulse: 4% to 13%, +9. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 5 → 3 of 122.
- QuickBooks Cash Flow Planner: 0% to 9%, +9. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 24 → 4 of 122.
- Cash Flow Frog: 16% to 20%, +4. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 2 of 122, unchanged.
- Agicap: 4% to 0%, −4. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 7 → 20 of 122.
- Chaser: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 6 → 11 of 122.
- Xero Cash Flow Forecasting: 7% to 6%, −1. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 3 → 6 of 122.
- Fathom: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 21 → 16 of 122.
- Dryrun: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 22 → 17 of 122.
- Jirav: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 27 → 21 of 122.
- Futrli: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 23 → 30 of 122.
- Vena: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 82 → 63 of 122.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/finance.