Pigment vs Planful

Requirement evaluated: Variance explanations captured in the system against the variance they explain, not in a separate document

For a $140M recurring-revenue company like yours running 60 cost centers and quarterly board packages, Pigment addresses this requirement through two complementary mechanisms, both operating inside the platform rather than in a separate document. First, natively within the BvA table view: the budget vs. actuals table displays GL accounts alongside actuals, forecast, variance, and a dedicated 'reason for that variance' column, with an additional commentary field where users can type explanations directly in the same view. Users can add a note in the commentary column at the vendor or GL line level, and can tag colleagues such as HR directly from that cell. …

Limitations: A community thread from approximately 2023 noted that multi-dimensional comment archiving by period, version, and P&L line was not fully supported at that time, and that text formatting within a text cell of a metric had constraints; this was flagged as an enhancement request rather than a resolved feature. …

Requirement evaluated: Variance explanations captured in the system against the variance they explain, not in a separate document

For your two-person FP&A team preparing quarterly board variance packs, Planful's Dynamic Commentary stores the explanation inside the platform, attached to the data cell it explains, rather than in a separate Word or PowerPoint file. Users add cell-level comments in Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web or SpotlightXL. Comments can be posted for combinations of dimensions at leaf level, rollup level and calculated members, and can include @mentions, #tags and hyperlinks (Planful help: Using Dynamic Commentary in Excel Reports). …

Limitations: Comments attach to a data intersection (scenario, time and dimension members), so the explanation sits against the variance cell only when the variance is a calculated member or formula line in the report. …

Requirement evaluated: Multi-currency translation using period-appropriate rates with the translation adjustment calculated, not entered

For your 5 entities reporting in USD, GBP and EUR, Pigment handles translation in two places. In the planning model, you keep an FX rates Metric by Currency, Month and Version, and formulas roll those rates up to quarter or year-end for balance-sheet views (Pigment Community FX conversion thread). In the Financial Consolidation offering, Pigment's financial consolidation tools automate FX rate applications, translating local currency data to the reporting currency using period-end and average rates. …

Limitations: Pigment's own page names only period-end and average rates; historical-rate equity translation and the CTA calculation are documented by a partner and reviewers, not in Pigment's own documentation that I found, so confirm both in a demo. …

Requirement evaluated: Multi-currency translation using period-appropriate rates with the translation adjustment calculated, not entered

For your five entities (US, UK, Germany) rolling up from NetSuite, Planful's Consolidation module translates local-currency books into common and reporting currencies. Admins load exchange rates by type (for example EOM and Avg) in Currency Setup and assign them to accounts. Planful's documentation describes closing rate for balance sheet accounts, weighted average for P&L, and historical rates for historical accounts and retained earnings (Using the closing exchange rate for all Balance Sheet accounts; the weighted average exchange rate for the Profit and Loss Account; historical exchange rates for Historical Accounts and Retained Earnings). The consolidation run does the CTA calculation. …

Limitations: Rate tables must still be maintained or loaded (the consolidation prerequisites include updating foreign currency exchange rates), so the rates are inputs but the CTA is not keyed. The setup (rate types per account, historical rate handling for equity, CTA Sets and target accounts) …

Requirement evaluated: Rolling 12-month or 18-month forecast that re-extends automatically as each month closes

For your two-person FP&A team moving off linked Excel workbooks, Pigment handles the roll through its Calendar, where the 'Actual vs forecast' option adds a Period type property that marks each month as actual or forecast (Pigment Community, 'Set up your Calendar'). A 'Switchover date' metric marks the point where months stop being actuals and become forecast. It is a predefined metric that marks when months switch from actual to forecast, and it can be updated manually or with formulas. …

Limitations: The roll is a model design you configure, not a packaged rolling-forecast switch. Someone must build the switchover formula, relative-window metrics and scheduled NetSuite saved-search imports, and extend the calendar date range as years pass, which the Modeler Agent or a Pigment partner can speed up. …

Requirement evaluated: Rolling 12-month or 18-month forecast that re-extends automatically as each month closes

For your NetSuite-fed, 60-cost-center model with quarterly reforecasts and a board that wants a rolling 12-month view, Planful's Structured Planning uses Forecast or Plan scenarios with a Projection Start Date. Months before that date are treated as closed periods and filled from the Actual scenario, which is loaded from your ERP. When the Projection Start moves, an administrator runs 'Refresh Closed Period Data' from Scenario Setup to pull in the newly closed month. Planful's own FAQ says it does not automatically roll time periods forward in templates, scenarios or reports unless they are configured to. …

Limitations: The roll is achievable but is not automatic out of the box. Someone has to advance the Projection Start and refresh closed-period actuals each month, or an admin has to build Process Flow and substitution-variable automation. …

Requirement evaluated: Model multiple products or pricing tiers with independent growth rates and cross-sell attach assumptions

For a $140M recurring-revenue company with several products and tiers, you would create a Product dimension in Pigment and build metrics broken out by that dimension. Pigment's own example does this: a Product dimension with price as a property, and a sales metric by product that is multiplied by that price (Pigment KB, 'Pigment Compared to Excel'). Growth is handled with growth-rate hypotheses applied to a metric, for example a hypothesized 20% year-on-year rate applied to last year's monthly data (Pigment KB, 'Forecasting Approaches in Pigment'). Because the growth input is a metric by product, each product or tier can carry its own rate. …

Limitations: Pigment documents the product dimension and per-product growth inputs, but I found no prebuilt attach-rate or cross-sell template. Your two-person FP&A team would have to design and maintain that logic, including how attach rates are defined between product pairs. …

Requirement evaluated: Model multiple products or pricing tiers with independent growth rates and cross-sell attach assumptions

For a $140M recurring-revenue software company, Planful addresses multi-product revenue modeling through two layers. In Dynamic Planning, the team builds a Revenue Forecast model with a Product dimension covering each SKU or pricing tier; dimension members can be added at any time without regenerating the model, and the formula engine computes revenue at the intersection of Quantity, Price, Product, and Scenario, enabling per-product-tier calculations (Planful Dynamic Planning Model Dimensions and Formulas help articles). …

Limitations: Cross-sell attach rate modeling requires custom formula configuration in Dynamic Planning rather than a turnkey attach-rate input field, so the FP&A team or an implementation partner must design and maintain that logic. …

Requirement evaluated: Compare scenarios side by side in a single report, including variance between any two

For a two-person FP&A team running quarterly reforecasts and board scenario presentations, Pigment provides a dedicated Compare Scenarios workflow. The Compare Scenarios functionality lets users manipulate data, configure views, and pivot scenarios side-by-side in Metrics and Tables, Boards, and Block Pages. Users select multiple scenarios simultaneously via checkboxes in the Scenario selector, and scenarios are displayed in the order they are selected. …

Limitations: Pigment's native formula engine cannot perform calculations across live Scenarios directly: a formula in Scenario A cannot reference or sum values from Scenario B. …

Requirement evaluated: Create and retain multiple named scenarios from one base model without copying the model

For a team that runs one annual budget, quarterly reforecasts and board-level downside and upside cases off a single NetSuite-fed model, Planful treats each case as a named scenario inside the same planning application rather than a separate workbook. An admin goes to Maintenance > Administration > Scenario Setup, clicks Add, picks a Scenario Type such as Forecast, and enters a Scenario Code and optional Scenario Name. Data is then seeded from a reference scenario into the new one, and overlapping periods are mapped by default. The Reference Scenario option can also copy templates, notes, sublines and dynamic journals. …

Limitations: Each scenario is a seeded data version tied to a fiscal year, not a lightweight overlay of changes on the base. A Budget scenario cannot be converted to a Forecast, and scenarios must be forwarded before users can see them. In-template Compare Scenarios are capped at 6 references. …