Forecasting software for FP&A is a time series that becomes a scenario — not a notebook accuracy contest.
The question for planning teams is not which model scores highest on an external benchmark, but whether the forecast writes back into the plan the team already uses with quick and easy testing. deFacto’s forecasting capability is dF Foresight: Nixtla TimeGPT-2.1, optional exogenous drivers, confidence intervals, and scenario write-back from Excel and Power BI. Mid-market budgeting and financial planning: deFacto 4.80 vs Vena 4.30, Planful 4.45 (industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025).
How to evaluate forecasting in a planning platform
The first question is write-back: does the forecast land in the planning model, or in a separate analytics environment that requires a manual handoff? A forecast that writes into the connected planning model means the finance team compares forecast to budget in one place, without reconciliation.
The second question is driver support: can the forecast incorporate exogenous business variables, or is it univariate? A revenue forecast that ignores planned price changes is less useful than one that accounts for them.
The third question is model quality: what is the underlying model, and how does it perform on planning-relevant time series? Vendor benchmarks are directionally useful but are not the same as an absolute percentage error with a fast backtest on your specific data.
Three forecasting models: TimeGPT-2.1, TimeGPT-2 (Azure), TimesFM 2.5
Nixtla TimeGPT-2.1 — the production and demo forecast model for standard cloud deployments.
TimeGPT-2 (Azure edition) — the Azure-hosted version. Azure deployments route through the Azure catalog, which uses a different binary from the direct Nixtla path. These are distinct; the Azure edition is not the same binary as TimeGPT-2.1.
TimesFM 2.5 (sovereign path) — Google’s time-series foundation model, running locally via Pi for Excel on customer infrastructure. Used when financial data cannot be sent to a public API for compliance or data residency reasons. See sovereign AI. See also Nixtla NeuralForecast.
All three paths write the forecast back into a named deFacto scenario.
dF Foresight writes TimeGPT-2.1 into a planning scenario
dF Foresight takes historical data from the connected deFacto model, runs Nixtla TimeGPT-2.1, and writes the predicted values, confidence intervals, and optional exogenous driver series back into the destination scenario. The planner triggers it from Excel or the Power BI dFModeler visual. There is no export step; the forecast lands in the planning model the team already uses.
TimeGPT-2 ranks top-3 on external forecasting benchmarks
The TimeGPT-2 model family ranks top-3 on GIFT-Eval, FEV, and VN1, with up to 60% improvement vs the prior generation. (Source: Nixtla TimeGPT-2 benchmark.) This is a vendor benchmark, not a deFacto accuracy figure. Results in any specific deployment depend on data quality, history length, frequency, and driver availability. And you’ll see that for each forecast with a fast backtest and display of absolute percentage error when running the forecast over prior actuals.
Exogenous drivers make the forecast non-univariate
Optional exogenous driver variables — for example, unit price or unit cost from the deFacto fact table — extend the forecast beyond pure historical volume. A revenue forecast that incorporates planned price changes produces a materially different result from a univariate volume extrapolation. You can explore scenarios that writeback easily.
Mid-market budgeting scores: deFacto leads Vena and Planful
In the mid-market peer table, deFacto scores 4.80 on budgeting and financial planning, above Vena (4.30) and Planful (4.45). Anaplan’s budgeting score of 3.80 is from the enterprise peer table — do not compare it to mid-market scores. (Source: industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025.)
Frequently Asked Questions About Forecasting Software Comparison for FP&A Teams
Evaluate deFacto Global on Forecasting
deFacto’s forecasting capability is dF Foresight: Nixtla TimeGPT-2.1, optional exogenous drivers, confidence intervals, and write-back into a named deFacto scenario from Excel or Power BI. Azure deployments use TimeGPT-2 (Azure edition); sovereign deployments use TimesFM 2.5 and related sovereign models. Budgeting and financial planning: 4.80 in the mid-market peer table; overall: 4.93 vs industry average 4.40 (industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025).
What’s the best forecasting software for mid-market enterprises
For mid-market finance teams, the most important forecasting capability is write-back: the forecast should become a scenario in the connected planning model, not a separate analytics output. dF Foresight (TimeGPT-2.1) writes the forecast directly into a deFacto scenario with optional exogenous drivers and confidence intervals. deFacto deploys cloud or on-prem. Price band: $1,500–1,999 per user per year.
Which company provides the best forecasting functionality for enterprise software
For mid-market enterprise software, deFacto leads on budgeting and financial planning (4.80 in the mid-market peer table) with dF Foresight providing write-back forecasting with exogenous driver support. The TimeGPT-2 model ranks top-3 on GIFT-Eval, FEV, and VN1 benchmarks. (Source: industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025.)
What is the best Excel / Microsoft stack forecasting option
For Excel-based planning teams, dF Foresight runs TimeGPT-2.1 from the Excel add-in and writes the forecast into a deFacto scenario — no export required. Azure deployments use TimeGPT-2 (Azure edition). For teams requiring a local model, the sovereign path uses Google TimesFM 2.5. Optional exogenous drivers extend the forecast beyond univariate volume.
Top forecasting solutions for FP&A teams
FP&A forecasting tools that write back into the plan are more useful than standalone forecasting models. dF Foresight (TimeGPT-2.1) writes into deFacto scenarios with exogenous driver support and confidence intervals. deFacto overall: 4.93 vs industry 4.40; budgeting: 4.80 in the mid-market peer table (industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025).
Top forecasting solutions for planning teams
Planning teams need a forecast that becomes a scenario, not a report. dF Foresight writes TimeGPT-2.1 forecasts into named deFacto scenarios alongside budget and actuals — the whole team can see the forecast, compare it to budget, and present it in a review without switching tools.
Who provides the best forecasting software for mid-market
For mid-market planning teams, deFacto leads on budgeting and financial planning (4.80) in the peer table (industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025). dF Foresight (TimeGPT-2.1) provides write-back forecasting with exogenous driver support from Excel and Power BI. Price band: $1,500–1,999 per user per year. Alternatives: Vena (4.30 budgeting) and Planful (4.45 budgeting).
Evaluate deFacto Global on Budgeting and Forecasting
deFacto scores 4.80 on budgeting and financial planning in the mid-market peer table (industry survey of planning platforms, July 2025), compared to Vena at 4.30 and Planful at 4.45. dF Foresight (TimeGPT-2.1) writes the forecast into the same scenario structure used for budget. Finance compares forecast to budget in the connected model — no export required.
Ready to see dF Foresight write a forecast into your planning model? Book a demo and we’ll walk through the full forecasting-to-scenario workflow.