Nearly every small business goes through difficult financial times at some point, so it’s wise to prepare for these rainy-day situations in advance. How well you prepare makes a difference in the long-term success of your business. Understanding your monthly budget and developing a plan to stick to it may save your enterprise from failing in tough times.

You don’t need to pay big money for robust budgeting and financial planning tools online to help you plan for your business's rainy days. You might consider using one of these free online budgeting tools that can get you started saving money right now.

Free Online Budgeting Tools

Mint

With an estimated 10 million users worldwide, Mint for Canada may be the biggest free online budgeting tool in the industry. It’s ideal for your small business and individual accounts because it gathers all of your financial data and categorizes your spending. This online budgeting platform has a secure data-encrypted platform for linking any of your business’ checking, savings, and credit card accounts. You can let Mint organize your spending into categories, create a budget for your business based on your actual spending, or try out proposed budgets. It’s great for creating charts and graphs detailing your business’ financial situation, identifying any unusual account activity, pinpointing areas where you might be going over budget, and showing you where you can save money for that rainy-day fund.

Budgeto

Budgeto is the ultimate budgeting tool for small business owners that are new to financial planning. The app also automatically sets up corporate taxes, sales taxes, wage costs, depreciation rules, and more depending on the location of your small business.

Budgeto allows for multi-scenario situations that will allow you to see the potential impact on your cash budget. You can also register multiple users, making it easy to share with bankers, accountants, or employees.

You can synchronize all you financial reports from QuickBooks with Budgeto. Once you link your QuickBooks account, your accounting data will be automatically imported to the right place, allowing you to build your budget from your actual numbers. You can easily adjust trial balances, add new accounts, and more.

LivePlan

For budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting that will help your small business grow, look no further than LivePlan . The app will allow you to quickly build forecasts and smart budgets without spreadsheets. You can also compare your progress and budget with similar businesses with built-in industry benchmark data. Their user-friendly interface will allow you to identify and track key metrics so you can make smarter decisions when it comes to budgeting for your small business.

LivePlan syncs with your QuickBooks data in real-time, giving you an instant update on key budgeting numbers, like your cash flow, expenses, and other financial reports. You can easily create smart budgets, forecasts and visual financial reports with all the information from your QuickBooks account.

Spotlight Reporting

Spotlight Reporting is the perfect tool for budgeting your business. The app offers detailed reports and displays complex data in an easy to understand way. It offers chart customization options and multi-currency options, allowing you to plan your budget no matter what your industry, or size of business.

Connect your QuickBooks account with Spotlight Reporting to get a complete picture of your company’s finances. Sync your income, expenses, inventory and more to get the most accurate forecasting and budgets.

You can be prepared for stormy weather business-wise with a little effort and wise planning. Free online budgeting tools help you save money for your business’ rainy days. Always know exactly where your business stands. Make smarter business decisions now with QuickBooks.