The shift to smarter financial planning: key trends and insights for 2026

Effective annual planning and forecasting are more critical than ever as businesses enter 2026, with increasing demand for agility, accuracy, and strategic insight. Yet our survey of over 80 financial professionals, accountants, and business owners shows many organisations still rely heavily on spreadsheets to manage budgets, forecasts, and annual plans. This ongoing dependence on manual tools creates friction, limits scalability, and slows decision‑making when speed and responsiveness matter most.

This article explores the current state of financial planning as we move into 2026. We unpack the key trends and insights from our survey and examine how Fathom provides a modern, automated alternative to traditional planning methods. From time‑consuming workflows to client communication challenges, we’ll explore the core pain points businesses continue to face, and how smarter tools are turning those challenges into opportunities.

The challenge: Time-consuming and error-prone processes

One of the most consistent findings from our survey was that 75% of respondents consider manual processes in spreadsheet systems to be a significant pain point in budgeting and forecasting.

Spreadsheets remain a familiar “safety blanket” for many finance teams, but their limitations are becoming harder to ignore:

• Time-intensive workflows: Gathering data, updating figures, and ensuring accuracy is often overwhelming. Creating, reviewing, and adjusting budgets and forecasts can take hours or even days, and accuracy is not guaranteed.

• Manual data entry and error risk: Spreadsheet-based forecasting requires tedious data entry, which consumes time and leaves room for errors. 60% of respondents reported that manual data entry led to critical errors such as broken formulas or version control issues, which can have cascading effects on decision-making.

These inefficiencies increasingly prevent finance professionals from focusing on higher‑value work, such as strategic analysis, scenario modelling, and advisory services. They also reduce an organisation’s ability to respond quickly to real‑time changes in performance or market conditions.

The strain of scalability: Spreadsheets aren't built for growth

As businesses grow, so does the complexity of their financial forecasting needs. While spreadsheets may be workable for smaller, simpler operations, their limitations become more pronounced as organisations grow.

Our survey highlights several ongoing scalability challenges:

• Difficulty managing complexity at scale: 45% of respondents said spreadsheets become unmanageable as the volume of data, number of assumptions, and range of variables increase. This is especially true for accounting firms managing multiple clients or SMBs expanding into new markets or revenue streams.

• Lack of agility: A spreadsheet's static nature limits the ability to quickly adjust forecasts in response to new data, market changes, or internal shifts. Businesses need the flexibility to experiment with different scenarios and assess their potential impact.

Many accountants and business leaders report that forecasting feels like a "fantasy"; a theoretical exercise that doesn't capture the nuances of their dynamic business environment. As a result, companies often make decisions based on outdated data or incomplete insights, risking poor outcomes.

The client communication gap

Another major challenge identified in the survey is client communication. 70% of respondents reported ongoing difficulty translating financial data into insights that clients can easily understand and act on.

• Client engagement challenges: Clients, especially SMB owners, often lack the financial literacy to interpret complex reports or see the value in long-term forecasting. 60% of businesses report that clients struggle to understand the details of their forecasts, leaving them disengaged and skeptical about the value of financial planning.  

• The importance of visual tools: Clear, actionable insights are essential for building client trust. Visual tools such as graphs, charts, and scenario-based models can make complex financial data more accessible and relatable. In fact, 70% of respondents agreed that visual tools are critical for improving client understanding, confidence, and engagement.

By presenting financial data in a more digestible format, businesses can strengthen their client relationships, offer more proactive advisory services, and position themselves as trusted partners in long-term growth.

Moving beyond static budgets

Traditional budgets offer a fixed snapshot in time, one that often becomes outdated within months. In contrast, scenario forecasting allows businesses to explore multiple possible futures and adjust plans as conditions change.

This approach is crucial as uncertainty remains a defining feature of the business landscape:

• Real-time adaptability: In an unpredictable world, businesses must be able to pivot quickly. Scenario forecasting allows companies to model different financial scenarios (e.g., high/low variations) to assess the potential impacts of decisions. 80% of survey respondents agreed that scenario forecasting offers a much more dynamic approach to financial planning than traditional budgeting.
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• Stronger decision-making: With scenario forecasting, businesses can evaluate a range of outcomes (whether optimistic, pessimistic, or base cases) and make decisions based on a broader understanding of future possibilities. This helps mitigate risks and capitalise on opportunities that might have otherwise been overlooked.

Fathom's scenario forecasting tools enable businesses to visualise the impact of different scenarios in real-time, empowering leaders to make informed, confident decisions.

The solution: Fathom's approach to financial planning

Fathom directly addresses the pain points identified in our survey by offering a modern alternative to spreadsheet-based forecasting. Through automation, scalability, and intuitive visuals, Fathom helps businesses plan smarter in 2026 and beyond.

Key benefits include:

• Automated financial reporting: Fathom removes the manual burden of data consolidation, budget updates, and cash flow forecasting. By reducing repetitive tasks and minimising errors, finance teams can redirect their time toward strategic and advisory work.

• Clear, visual representations: Fathom’s visual tools turn complex financial data into clear, accessible insights. From high‑level dashboards to detailed scenario models, visuals make it easier to communicate outcomes and align stakeholders around key decisions.

• Scenario forecasting: Fathom's automated forecasting capabilities allow businesses to run multiple scenarios and adjust their plans as needed, offering the flexibility that traditional budgeting methods cannot match.

The future of financial planning

As we move through 2026, the message from finance professionals is clear: traditional tools are no longer enough. Businesses that want to remain agile, resilient, and data‑driven must move beyond static spreadsheets toward modern, automated planning solutions.

Fathom's suite of tools, ranging from scenario forecasting to automated workflows, addresses the key pain points businesses face today. By reworking static, error-prone financial processes into dynamic, insightful planning systems, Fathom empowers businesses to plan smarter, scale faster, and communicate more confidently.

The future of financial planning is smarter, faster, and more visual. And Fathom is here to help businesses lead the way.

Try Fathom's financial reporting today  

Start with a 14-day trial or contact us if you’d like to see how Fathom can support your planning and forecasting needs

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