# Top 4 Open Source Budgeting Software | Capterra > Looking for affordable budgeting software? Check out these top four open source budgeting tools that can help you manage your finances. Source: https://www.capterra.com/resources/open-source-budgeting-software --- Accounting BasicsFinance & Accounting # Top 4 Open Source Budgeting Software By Preksha Buttan Preksha Buttan Writer Experience I am a writer at Capterra, where I've been providing expert insights to help small businesses find the right software solutions since Janua... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/pbuttan/) Published January 7, 2023 8 min read ## Understand your financial standing and create budget forecasts using a budgeting tool. As a finance manager, if you feel restricted with your current budgeting software and want to customize the solution for your unique business needs, open source budgeting software is for you. With the help of your IT engineering team, you can get hold of a budgeting software source code and create personalized budgeting software for your organization. There are several paid budgeting software solutions available on the market that enable you to create a budget forecast. However, an open source tool allows you to customize the solution and solve financial challenges specific to your business. In this article, we highlight the top four open source budgeting software products for small businesses, in alphabetical order, based on verified software reviews. [Read more](#methodology). What is open source software? Open source software (OSS) is software with a publicly distributed source code, released under a specific license, often free of charge. IT application/software programmers use the source code to create a particular software solution, modify it, or enhance its functionality. ## 1\. Jedox: Automatically generates financial statements Jedox is a business planning and performance management platform that automatically creates financial statements and reports. The tool allows you to automate report generation by defining the required metrics in the system. Besides, this financial software has data analysis capabilities and also integrates with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Power BI, and other business intelligence tools for advanced data analysis and visualization.  **Product features of interest****:** - **Financial planning**: Simplifies financial planning by integrating data from source systems, such as financial accounting and [ERP](https://www.capterra.com/enterprise-resource-planning-software/), and preparing financial reports using customizable logic. - **Automated forecasting**: Predicts budget requirements by integrating, analyzing, and identifying trends in past data automatically. - **Cost allocation**: Offers pre-defined financial logic models to determine cost. The tool also automatically converts multiple currencies to make cost data comparable. - **Financial consolidation**: Provides a unified view of financial performance by combining separate financial statements, intercompany transactions, and more for reporting purposes. **Open source license:** Jedox offers downloadable software development kits (SDKs). **Open source technical support options (Free):** Knowledge base, release notes, and documentation. **Cost to upgrade****:** Available from vendor upon request. #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Device Compatibilty #### Screenshots _Financial controlling in Jedox_ \* Analysis Accurate as of November 7, 2022 ## 2\. Sage 50cloud Accounting: Eliminates manual data entry Sage 50cloud Accounting is an accounting software solution for small businesses that helps eliminate manual data entry processes with automatic bank reconciliation. The tool connects with your bank feeds and automatically creates entries for purchase orders, invoices, payments, and more, providing visibility into your accounts and finances. **Product features of interest****:** - **Cash flow and invoicing**: Provides a picture of your finances, including account balance and cash expected to come in or go out. - **Inventory management**: Helps you keep an eye on your stock levels by tracking transactions, costs, and quantities and alerts you when there's no or low stock. - **Payroll**: Allows you to pay your employees by tracking employee time off and taxes. The tool also allows you to issue paychecks based on the total hours worked. - **Reporting**: Offers 150 customizable report templates that you can use to visualize financial data.  **Open source license:** Sage 50cloud Accounting has a downloadable repository of open SDKs. **Open source technical support options (Free):** Knowledge base and email. **Cost to upgrade****:** $34.30 per user, per month (billed annually). #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Device Compatibilty #### Screenshots _Bank feeds in Sage 50cloud Accounting_ \* Analysis Accurate as of November 7, 2022 ## 3\. Sage Intacct: Features an AI-powered general ledger  [Sage Intacct](https://www.capterra.com/p/76/Intacct/) is accounting and financial management software that comes with an AI-powered general ledger (GL) that aids the automation of multiple accounting processes. The tool automatically captures transactions, creates entries, and generates dashboards that you can drill down into to track finances. **Product features of interest****:** - **Budgeting**: Simplifies budget planning and forecasting by integrating data from multiple systems such as ERP and generates reports, allowing you to analyze it and make decisions. - **Accounts payable**: Automates accounts payable processes by connecting with banks, vendors, and payment platforms to make payments. - **Accounts receivable**: Sends out invoices via email and offers more payment options so that you get paid faster and maintains a record of every payment. - **Cash management**: Shows all your payments and transactions so you get a picture of your cash flow and working capital. **Open source license:** Sage Intacct maintains multiple open source libraries. **Open source technical support options (Free):** Developer tools including Postman, web services schemas, and customization services cheat sheet. **Cost to upgrade****:** Available from vendor upon request. #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial \* Analysis Accurate as of November 7, 2022 ## 4\. Xero: Accepts payments in over 160 currencies Xero is an accounting software solution for small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers. The tool helps you pay bills and claim expenses and connects with banks so that transactions can be made. The tool is capable of accepting payments in over 160 currencies and supports currency conversion and informs you about its effect on cash flow and profit.  **Product features of interest****:** - **Bank reconciliation**: Helps keep financial records up-to-date by reconciling bank account transactions every day. - **Online invoicing**: Allows you to create customized invoices and share them with customers online. The tool automatically reminds customers about due payments. - **Purchase orders**: Lets you create and send purchase orders online. You can use the tool to track orders and deliveries and convert purchase orders into bills to be paid. - **Sales tax**: Helps calculate sales tax on every transaction and maintains a record that can later be used to prepare sales tax returns.  **Open source license**: Xero offers SDKs in various programming languages. **Open source technical support options (Free):** Documentation and developer forum. **Cost to upgrade****:** $11 per user per month (billed monthly). most affordable #### Trial/Free Version \* Analysis Accurate as of November 7, 2022 ## How to choose the right open source budgeting software - **Evaluate business requirements**: As obvious as it is, check whether the budgeting software you’re considering fulfills your business requirements. You may need it for budget forecasting or money management; whatever you need a budgeting tool for, check if the software offers those features. - **Analyze automation capabilities**: Automation in a budgeting tool will handle trivial tasks for you. It will automatically create and send invoices and payment reminders to customers. It will also generate financial reports for you regularly, helping you save time and manual effort. - **Consider employee experience**: Make sure the budgeting tool you're considering is intuitive and easy to use for your employees. Keep your employees' skills and learning curve in mind while finalizing a solution. ## What is the cost to upgrade from free open source budgeting software to a paid one? If you wish to customize budgeting software, you can use the existing source code to develop a budgeting tool with features specific to your business. However, if you wish to leverage the features offered by the vendor, you always have the option to switch to a paid version of the tool. Most budgeting software products in the market are priced per month and can be divided into three pricing tiers based on their starting price.  **Price ranges:\*** - $10 - $15 - $16 - $37 - $38+ _\*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering found on vendor websites on November 7, 2022. These ranges correspond to the 25th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of pricing information gathered from vendor websites of sample products._ #### Hidden costs associated with open source budgeting software Most open source software solutions offer their source code at no cost, making it effectively free. But even though there is no upfront cost, you may have to incur costs that may be associated with the development and long-term maintenance of the tool. This can include fees of the software developer. Moreover, the developer will also require additional software to work on the code, and this will increase the cost you’ll have to incur.  ## Frequently asked questions when selecting open source budgeting software When should you upgrade from open source software to a paid model? With open source software comes the great responsibility of continuously developing and maintaining the tool. However, if you feel you are spending too many resources while trying to maintain the code or if the features offered by the vendor serve your business requirements without any modifications, you can switch from open source software to a paid model. What kind of customer support is available with open source software? Although you can expect community support, knowledge base, and release notes to be available at no cost, some tools may offer paid support, such as priority phone support or chat with representatives. This option benefits the most in case of time-sensitive issues. What are the licensing terms of the open source tool? Open source licenses act as a legal agreement between the author of the budgeting software code and the user. This agreement dictates the terms and conditions of how the user can use, study, modify, and distribute the tool. There are various types of open source licenses, including GNU General Public License, Lesser General Public License, and Apache License, and all these licenses have different terms and conditions. Understanding the licensing of the tool will ensure you use the code fairly. What are the benefits and drawbacks of open source software? The biggest benefit of open source software is that it offers flexibility. It gives you the freedom to modify the tool to make it a perfect fit for your business. The availability of the source code free of cost is another advantage. However, hiring a developer for the implementation and long-term maintenance of the tool will cost you money. Open source software is prone to cyberattacks as the code is open to everyone, and attackers can easily inspect the code to look for vulnerabilities. Who should consider adopting open source software? If your business has a strong software development team, adopting open source software can benefit you the most. It will give you the flexibility to modify the code and make its functionalities fit your business needs. Having an in-house software developer will also make maintenance of the tool easy. ## Capterra's 2026 Software Buying Trends Report ### Download our 2026 Software Buying Trends Report to see how successful software adopters avoid disappointment and how your business can, too. * * * **Methodology** To be considered for this list, products have to: - Have at least 20 unique product reviews published on Capterra within the past two years, with an average rating of 3.0 or higher. We selected the four products with the highest ratings to feature in this article. - Offer an open source, stand-alone version of the software with the source code freely available that can be modified and redistributed. - Meet our budgeting software market definition: “Budgeting software automates the coordination of an organization's financial resources and expenditure. Budgeting solutions allow for timely and accurate data management and analysis in order to give an overall picture of a business's growth and profitability.” The “best functionality” tool is identified based on the highest user ratings for functionality that a vendor received based on user reviews as of November 7, 2022. The “most affordable” tool is identified based on the lowest pricing a vendor offered on their website in terms of cost to upgrade as of November 7, 2022. Read more about our editorial independence. Product research for this article was contributed by [Liann Mosier](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/lmosier/). * * * Looking for Budgeting software?Check out Capterra's list of the [best Budgeting software](https://www.capterra.com/budgeting-software/) solutions. ### Was this article helpful? * * * ## About the Author [### Preksha Buttan](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/pbuttan/) Preksha Buttan is a writer at Capterra. 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