Connected planning (xP&A) software: buyer guide (October 2026)

The short answer

Pick by who will build and change the models.

If you will fund model builders, inside or through a partner, and want one platform for finance, sales, workforce and supply chain plans, choose a model-building platform such as Anaplan or Pigment. If finance owns planning and also wants consolidation, reporting or an Excel front end in the same product, choose a multidimensional platform such as Board or Jedox. If your ERP or HR system already comes from Workday, SAP or Oracle, start with that vendor's planning product, such as Adaptive from Workday (called Workday Adaptive Planning until September 2026) or Oracle Cloud EPM Planning. You gain prebuilt links to that vendor's data and one supplier.

Whichever you choose, run the proof of concept on your own data and your own hardest model.

Why connected planning (xp&a) software matter

A strategic decision changes operational plans as well as the budget. Entering a market means a hiring plan, a sales capacity plan and a supply plan. Each lives with a different team, often in a different spreadsheet.

When those plans are not connected, finance learns late that the hiring plan does not fit the budget, or that the sales quota assumes more reps than HR will hire. Scenario questions from the board, such as what a 10% price cut does to margin and headcount, take days to answer because every model must be updated by hand.

Connected planning software puts financial and operational plans on one platform with shared data and drivers. A change in one plan flows through to the others and to the P&L. Gartner named the idea extended planning and analysis (xP&A) in a 2020 report.

Who buys it

CFOs, FP&A leaders and finance systems teams at mid-sized and large companies, often with sales operations, HR or supply chain leaders as co-owners.

Typical triggers: a planning process run on hundreds of linked spreadsheets, a legacy on-premises planning tool reaching end of life, an ERP or HR system replacement, an acquisition that adds entities and currencies, or a CEO who wants scenarios answered in hours rather than weeks.

Before you buy: what teams do without one

Most companies start with Excel workbooks linked to an ERP export, plus separate sales, headcount and supply plans owned by each function. That works while the model is small enough for one person to maintain.

Others stay with the planning module of their ERP or an FP&A tool built for finance only, and exchange files with other functions.

A connected planning platform pays once plans from 3 or more functions must agree on the same drivers, scenario requests outrun the team's capacity, or the spreadsheet model has become a key-person risk.

What good looks like

Capability	What good looks like	Why it matters
Modeling engine	Multidimensional models that handle your largest data set, many versions and scenarios, and recalculate quickly as users enter data.	Model size and calculation speed decide whether the platform can hold supply chain or sales detail, not just the P&L.
Cross-functional coverage	Finance, workforce, sales and supply plans on one platform, sharing dimensions such as products, regions and cost centers.	This is the difference between xP&A and a finance-only FP&A tool.
Data integration	Native connectors to your ERP, HR and CRM systems, scheduled loads, and clear data lineage back to source.	Every connected plan depends on data loaded from ERP, HR and CRM systems.
Scenario modeling	Versions and what-if scenarios that flow through all connected plans to the P&L, balance sheet and cash.	Scenarios answer the board's what-if questions on price, volume and headcount.
Who can build models	Finance or business analysts can change models without code, with certification paths for model builders.	Changes that need a partner add cost and delay.
AI and agents	Forecasts, variance explanations and model-building help with visible logic, plus connections to enterprise AI tools such as MCP servers.	Finance needs to see how an AI answer was produced before using it.
Excel and reporting	An Excel add-in for power users, and dashboards and board reports built from live model data.	Power users can work in Excel while the data stays in the platform.

How connected planning (xp&a) software are built, and who sells each kind

Vendors in this category can take a labeled Spotlight slot on this guide. How Spotlight works

Model-building platforms

Cloud platforms where model builders design planning models for any function on a shared engine. Finance, sales, workforce and supply chain plans connect through common dimensions.

Fits: Large companies that want one platform for many planning processes and will fund model builders.

AnaplanLarge enterprises planning finance, supply chain, sales, workforce and retail on one platform.
PigmentCompanies that want finance, sales, HR and operations on shared models, with AI agents and an MCP server.

Multidimensional planning and analytics platforms

Planning engines that combine budgeting and forecasting with reporting, analytics and often consolidation, with Excel or web front ends.

Fits: Finance-led teams that want planning, analysis and reporting in one product.

BoardFinance, retail and supply chain teams that want planning, consolidation and merchandising plans on one platform.
JedoxFinance teams that want an Excel add-in front end plus planning, consolidation and ESG reporting.
IBM Planning AnalyticsTeams with TM1 skills or Excel-heavy models that want a multidimensional engine, from 5 users.

Planning from your ERP or HCM vendor

Planning products sold by the vendor of your core finance or HR system, with prebuilt links to that system's data.

Fits: Companies standardized on Workday, SAP or Oracle that value native integration and one supplier.

Adaptive from WorkdayCompanies that want financial, workforce and operational planning from the vendor of their HR or finance system.
SAP Analytics CloudSAP customers that want budgeting and forecasting on governed data connected to SAP source systems.
Oracle Cloud EPMOracle ERP customers that want connected planning next to close, consolidation and reporting from one vendor.

How to choose

Who builds the models

Some platforms need trained model builders or partners for most changes. Others let finance analysts change models. Ask for the skills profile of the people who maintain customer models.

Scale of the largest model

Test with your largest dimension, such as SKUs by store by week, not with a P&L. Some platforms price on memory or model size, so scale also drives cost.

Native links to your core systems

ERP and HCM vendors' planning tools link natively to their own systems. Independent platforms rely on connectors. Count the systems you must connect.

Breadth beyond planning

Some products add consolidation, close, reporting or ESG reporting. Decide whether you want one product for these or separate tools.

Partner ecosystem

Most implementations run through partners. Check how many certified partners work in your industry and region.

Ownership and roadmap

Several vendors are owned by private equity, and suites follow their parent's ERP roadmap. Ask what the roadmap commits to for your use cases.

How pricing works

Most vendors in this category do not publish prices. They quote annual subscriptions after a demo, and implementation is usually a separate contract with the vendor or a partner.

The price is built from several units. Users, often split by role such as model builder, planner and viewer. Model size or memory: IBM, for example, prices Planning Analytics as a Service by user licenses and gigabytes of RAM, with a minimum of 5 users and 16GB. Use cases or modules, such as finance, supply chain or sales planning, each quoted separately. Add-ons such as Excel add-ins, connectors and premium support.

Compare quotes on the same inputs, and ask for the cost of year 3 at your expected scale.

Model	How it works	Watch for
Users by role	Different prices for model builders, planners who enter data, and viewers.	How many people will need full planner licenses once sales, HR and operations join.
Users plus model size	Licenses plus a charge for memory, workspace or model size.	Cost growth as you add detail, versions and scenarios.
Per use case or module	Separate prices for finance, supply chain, sales, workforce or retail solutions, plus add-ins and connectors.	The cost of extending planning beyond finance.
Bundled with ERP or HCM	Planning sold as part of a wider contract with your ERP or HR system vendor.	Discounts tied to the bundle that disappear if you separate contracts later.

Implementation

Pick the first use caseStart with one process, usually the financial budget and forecast, and the one operational plan that most affects it, such as headcount.
Design dimensions and data flowsAgree shared dimensions (entities, products, regions, cost centers) and the integrations from ERP, HR and CRM. This step decides whether plans can connect later.
Build and test with real dataBuild the model, load history, and run a parallel cycle against the old process before switching.
Extend to other functionsAdd sales, workforce or supply plans one at a time on the shared dimensions, and check licensing at each step.
Build internal ownershipTrain internal model builders so routine changes do not depend on a partner.

Confirm before you sign

The proof of concept ran on our data, including our largest model.
License types and counts cover every function we plan to add in 3 years.
Model size, memory or workspace limits are stated in the contract, with overage prices.
Connectors to our ERP, HR and CRM systems are included and named.
The implementation partner has delivered our use case in our industry, with references.
We know which model changes our team can make without the partner.
Excel add-in, reporting and AI features are included in our tier.
Security, data residency and SSO meet our IT requirements.
Price increases at renewal are capped in the contract.
We can export models, data and history if we leave.

Questions to ask in a demo

Build a headcount plan that flows into the P&L, live, using our cost centers. How long did it take?
Load our largest data set. How long does a recalculation take when 50 users enter data at once?
Change a driver in the sales plan and show where the impact appears in finance and supply plans.
Show the AI explaining a forecast variance. Where does it show the logic and the data it used?
Which changes can our finance analysts make, and which need a certified model builder?
How is our price built: which users, which model size, which modules? Quote year 1 and year 3.
Which partners have implemented this use case in our industry, and how long did it take them?
What is on the 12-month roadmap for our use case, and what has your owner committed to?

Frequently asked questions

What is xP&A?

xP&A stands for extended planning and analysis. It means taking the planning methods finance uses for budgets and forecasts and extending them to sales, workforce, supply chain and operations, on shared data and drivers. Gartner gave the idea its name in a 2020 report on cloud FP&A solutions. Vendors also call it connected planning or integrated business planning.

What is the difference between connected planning and FP&A software?

FP&A software is built for the finance team's budget, forecast and reporting cycle. Connected planning software adds operational plans, such as sales capacity, headcount and supply, on the same platform, so a change in one plan flows to the others and to the P&L. Many products now sell both, so ask which functions customers actually run on the platform.

How much does connected planning software cost?

Most vendors do not publish prices as of October 2026. Quotes depend on users by role, model size or memory, the number of use cases or modules, and add-ons. IBM publishes a price estimator for Planning Analytics as a Service, priced by users and RAM. Implementation is usually a separate cost. Ask for year-3 pricing at full scale.

Which vendors does Gartner cover in financial planning software?

Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Financial Planning Software, published December 1, 2025, covers 14 vendors: Anaplan, Board, IBM, insightsoftware, Jedox, OneStream, Oracle, Pigment, Planful, Prophix, SAP, Vena, Wolters Kluwer and Workday. The placements are behind Gartner's paywall.

Who owns Anaplan?

Thoma Bravo, the private equity firm, completed its acquisition of Anaplan on June 22, 2022, in an all-cash deal valued at about $10.4 billion, and took it off the New York Stock Exchange. Anaplan still sells under its own name and lists its global headquarters in Miami. Ask any vendor in this category about its owner's plans and its pricing policy at renewal.

Sources

Written by Stratrix editors from public sources and checked claim by claim by a second AI model against those sources. Vendors named in the editorial sections did not pay to be included. Spotlight listings are paid and labeled. Methodology and corrections

Connected planning (xP&A) software: 3 approaches and who each fits