There are several financial planning platforms available to choose from — but most tools weren’t built with small-business owners in mind. Popular platforms like Pry and Finmark were created for FP&A teams and founders preparing to raise capital at technology startups.

If you're a small business owner outside of the startup world, your needs look very different:

• You don’t want to maintain a giant spreadsheet.
• You don’t want to build a complex financial model.
• You do want CFO-quality insights automatically generated and delivered in an easy-to-understand format — without hiring an expensive financial expert.

This is exactly why we built RunSmart — a tool purpose-built for small business owners who want clarity and confidence without the complexity, headaches, or manual inputs.

Below is a comparison of RunSmart, Pry, and Finmark across the categories that matter most.

Key Differences at a Glance

RunSmart

Designed for small business owners. Automatically analyzes your QuickBooks data, evaluates your financial health, generates rolling 1–5 year forecasts, and delivers monthly PDF reports — all without requiring a finance background.

Pry

Built for funded technology startups and FP&A teams. Strong for complex custom modeling, fundraising, and scenario planning — but requires users to build custom formulas and is difficult for the average business owner to use without formal finance training.

Finmark

Geared toward technology startups needing top-down forecasting templates. Good for pitch decks and basic planning, but lacks the depth in operational metrics and detailed insights most small business owners expect.

Comparison Table: RunSmart vs. Pry vs. Finmark

CategoryRunSmartPryFinmarkPrimary AudienceSmall business owners in any industry (non-finance users)FP&A teams at funded technology startupsFounders at early-stage technology startupsEase of UseExtremely simple — no modeling or manual number crunchingComplex — requires custom formulas, financial modeling expertise, and spreadsheet skillsSimple but template-limitedData SourceDirect QuickBooks Online integrationQBO + other integrationsQBO + other integrationsForecastingRolling forecasts generated automaticallyRequires building a custom financial modelTemplate-driven projections requiring user inputBusiness Health Insights✔️ Built-in diagnostics & KPI health scores❌ Manual interpretation❌ Manual interpretationHeadcount & Payroll Planning✔️ Strong✔️ Strong⚠️ BasicLoan Planner✔️ Built-in & designed for loan-readiness❌ Not included❌ Not includedMonthly PDF Reports✔️ Automated & delivered to you❌ Manual exports⚠️ LimitedCollaboration✔️✔️✔️Pricing$59–$249
(based on features)~$50–$600+
(based on average expenses)~$50–$250+
(based on annual revenue)

Detailed Breakdown

1. Who Each Platform Was Built For

RunSmart:

Purpose-built for small business owners who need clear visibility into:

• current financial health
• hidden risks
• what’s improving vs. declining
• why changes happened
• how the future looks over the next several years

RunSmart delivers CFO-quality insights without requiring CFO-level skills.

Pry:

Mainly designed for FP&A teams and financial analysts at funded technology startups. It’s powerful, but it assumes users know how to:

• build custom formulas
• maintain interconnected models
• understand financial statement interactions
• work across multi-tab modeling structures

This makes Pry very difficult for the average small-business owner without a finance background.

Finmark:

Built for early-stage tech startups that need quick, top-down forecasts for pitch decks or early planning — not meant to produce deep insights or uncover hidden trends or risks hidden in your financial data.

2. Approach to Insights & Explainability

RunSmart uses deterministic, proven algorithms to:

• assess numerous KPIs across profitability, liquidity, solvency, capitalization and efficiency
• detect early warning signs
• explain what changed and why
• highlight areas that need attention

Pry and Finmark place interpretation entirely on the user — which works fine for finance teams who know how to decipher financial data, but not for the average business owner who simply needs clear answers.

3. Forecasting Philosophy

RunSmart:

Automatically generates rolling forecasts based on your historical data and updates them every month after syncing with QuickBooks. No manual setup, no modeling, no formulas.

Pry:

Provides deep flexibility but at the cost of complexity:

• users must construct and maintain a model
• forecasting knowledge is required
• small modeling errors can cascade throughout the plan

Finmark:

Uses simple templates to estimate the future — fine for new tech startups or exploring business ideas, but too shallow for fully operational small businesses.

4. Reporting

RunSmart sends monthly PDF reports directly to your inbox that include:

• performance trends
• KPI insights
• actual vs budget
• month-over-month changes

Pry and Finmark offer reporting, but neither provides a hands-off, automated monthly reporting package tailored to small businesses.

Which Platform Should You Choose?

Choose RunSmart if:

• You’re a small-business owner
• You don’t want to build financial models
• You want CFO-quality insights in plain English
• You want clarity, confidence, and automatic forecasts without needing a finance team

Choose Pry if:

• You’re a funded technology startup
• You have a CFO, FP&A team, or outsourced finance support
• You need custom modeling flexibility for fundraising

Choose Finmark if:

• You’re early-stage or pre-revenue
• You need top-down projections from simple inputs
• You’re building a pitch deck or validating an idea