Vena
Excel-native FP&A: pull GL actuals into CubeFLEX, then budget, forecast, and report in Microsoft Excel. The books stay in the ledger.
Best for
A mid-market finance team that already lives in Excel, has a real GL or ERP, and wants a governed budget and forecast without leaving the spreadsheet.
Not ideal if
A 1–50 person DIY owner who only needs invoices, bank rec, and a P&L. Vena is not the ledger, and a quote-only Professional/Complete deal plus implementation is the wrong spend for that job.
Standout
Native Excel (Windows and Mac) on CubeFLEX, so department contributors stay in the grid they already use while actuals come in from the GL.
About Vena
Vena is Excel-native FP&A software, not a ledger. You connect an ERP or general ledger such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or QuickBooks. Actuals (general ledger entries, trial balances, and transactional data) load into CubeFLEX, Vena's OLAP database. You then budget, forecast, and report in Microsoft Excel through the Vena 365 add-in. Nothing posts back as the books of record. You still close and lock the period in the source system.
That is the opposite of Kick, which replaces the file. Jirav is a lighter 3-statement planning layer on QuickBooks Online or Xero, with published business prices from $10,000 a year. Fathom is a management-report pack on those ledgers from $59 a month. Float is a cash-flow forecast next to Xero or QuickBooks. Vena is the heavier Microsoft-native planning suite: department contributors stay in Excel, workflows and version control sit on a central model, Complete adds Power BI dashboards (Vena Insights), and close templates cover consolidations and account recs. Mid-market finance teams buy it when the annual plan already lives in Excel and workbook versioning has broken.
People who stick already have a finance lead (or an implementation partner) and want to keep Excel as the planning surface. On r/FPandA, shops in the tens to hundreds of millions of revenue say Vena works when someone owns the model and the implementation is careful. They also say a sloppy Excel model becomes a sloppy Vena model, and the first go-live often takes many months, not the weeks on the marketing FAQ.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Excel-native planning is why they pick it
Finance leads at ~$200M shops say if the company already lives in Excel, Vena is a workable step up from emailed workbooks.
It gets better once someone owns the model
Users who stick say the first months are clunky, then the process improves when a Power User understands the templates.
A careful partner implementation can work
A controller at a $200M retailer described a third-party build (statements, budget template, month-end calendar, Power BI) as a smooth process.
What they hesitate about
Implementation overruns the sales promise
One r/FPandA review said go-live took about 8 months after a forecast of 2 months. Another $50M manufacturer thread called the first months awful.
Bad Excel logic just moves into Vena
Commenters say if huge, breaking workbooks are the problem, pasting that logic into Vena does not fix it. You still need someone who understands the business on the build.
Small teams cannot staff the lift
A five-person accounting team over three companies called it a heavier lift than sold, with no one dedicated full-time and a steep Vena-specific learning curve.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- Partial
- Xero
- Partial
- Multi-entity
- Yes
- Inventory
- No
- 1099s
- No
- Payroll
- No
Close and lock the period in QuickBooks, Xero, or the ERP. Vena can run close workflows, recs, consolidations, and tax-provision templates on imported actuals. It does not become the general ledger.
Share Excel or PowerPoint packs from Vena, or invite the accountant as a View Only user. That is an FP&A pack, not a year-end tax file. The CPA still needs the ledger.
Images
Features
Pull GL actuals into CubeFLEX
Connect Dynamics 365 Business Central, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks, SAP, Acumatica, or Xero. Official pages say Vena loads general ledger entries, trial balances, and transactional data into CubeFLEX. Xero is also named as a Microsoft Fabric connector on compare pages. The books stay in the source system.
Plan in native Excel on Windows and Mac
Install the Microsoft-certified Vena 365 Excel add-in from the Office store. You keep Excel formulas and templates. CubeFLEX is the central database, so contributors are not emailing workbooks. Official copy: Windows and Mac on Microsoft 365.
Collect budgets with workflows and seat types
Power Users own the model. Contributors enter their slice and move through approvals. View Only users read reports. Reminders, validation rules, and a task dashboard replace the email chain. The license mix is part of the quote.
Refresh forecasts and run what-if scenarios
Build top-down, bottom-up, or hybrid budgets. Official pages say you refresh forecasts from imported actuals and model unlimited what-if scenarios for hiring, spend, and timing. This is a planning cycle, not a weekly cash calendar.
Close templates on top of the ledger
Financial close pages list consolidations (partial ownership, intercompany, multi-currency), account reconciliation checklists, tax provisioning, and a journal-entry template. You still lock the period in the GL. This is not a replacement ledger.
Copilot, Insights, and APIs (plan gates)
Professional includes the Vena platform, a customer success manager, standard support, the customer portal, and Vena Copilot. Complete adds Vena Insights (Power BI), premium support, a sandbox, and Expert Managed Services. Import APIs are included. Export APIs are an extra fee on both plans.
Pricing
Contact sales. Official /resources/pricing (fetched 12 Sep 2026) names Professional and Complete and three seat types (Power User, Contributor, View Only). It prints no dollars. CTA is Request a Demo. Not-for-profit and Dynamics 365 Business Central users may be eligible for unpublished discounts. Import APIs are included; export APIs are extra. Implementation is a project, not a self-serve signup. A 5-person, ~500-transaction shop that only needs a checking register is not in this sales cycle. Third-party blogs quote $5,000–$40,000 a year plus implementation; those are not official list prices and should not ship.
Professional
The published starter package for a finance team that wants the Excel platform, Copilot, and a customer success manager. No public dollar.
- Vena Platform (Excel integration, CubeFLEX, modeling, workflow, reporting)
- Customer Success Manager
- Standard support (online, telephone, 24/7 monitoring)
- Customer Portal (docs and training)
- Vena Copilot
- Integrations included; Insights, sandbox, and Expert Managed Services are add-ons
Complete
The fuller package when you want Power BI dashboards, a sandbox, premium support, and a dedicated Vena expert. No public dollar.
- Everything in Professional
- Vena Insights
- Premium support (24/7, faster response)
- Sandbox environment
- Expert Managed Services
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Vena
Jirav
Pick Jirav instead if you want a 3-statement plan on QuickBooks Online or Xero with published business prices from $10,000 a year, and you do not need a Microsoft-native Excel suite.
Fathom
Pick Fathom instead if you want management reports, commentary, and consolidations on QuickBooks Online or Xero. Fathom's published Pro Starter is $59 a month.
QuickBooks Online
Stay in QuickBooks Online if native reports plus a spreadsheet forecast are enough. Vena sits next to the file; it does not close the books or replace QBO.