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Phocas is a strong Australian business intelligence and planning platform. Here is how it compares with the other ways a $10m to $100m business can see its forecast against actuals, and where each one fits.
Short answer. If you want a self-service analytics tool that your team will run, Phocas or Power BI fit. If you only need a P&L forecast from Xero or MYOB, Fathom, Spotlight or Calxa cost a few hundred dollars a month. If you want your forecast tracked against actuals across accounting and operational systems, built and kept running for you on infrastructure you own, that is what Forebrite does.
| Option | Best for | Who runs it | Data it uses | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phocas | Manufacturers, distributors and retailers that want sales, margin and budget analysis in one platform | Your team, after Phocas connects the data. Phocas says most businesses are fully connected in 6 to 8 weeks | 54 named connectors, including MYOB, Xero, NetSuite and Unleashed. Phocas claims 200+ data sources | Not published. Quote after a demo |
| Power BI | Businesses on Microsoft with someone to build and maintain reports | Your team or a Microsoft partner | Most systems, through connectors your team or partner sets up | Pro licence A$21.00 per user a month, paid yearly, ex GST. The build is extra |
| Fathom, Spotlight, Calxa | Xero or MYOB businesses that want P&L, balance sheet and cash flow reporting and budgets | You or your accountant | The accounting ledger. Fathom imports other data from Excel or Google Sheets | Spotlight from A$65 a month ex GST. Calxa Premier5 A$341 a month inc GST |
| FP&A platforms (Datarails, Cube, Planful, Vena) | Finance teams that build and own their planning models | Your finance team, often with an implementation partner | Accounting and ERP, plus spreadsheets | Mostly quoted in USD. Planful's median is US$40,352 a year on Vendr |
| Forebrite | Businesses that have a forecast and no one to track it against actuals | Forebrite builds it and keeps it running | Accounting and operational systems together: orders, sites, freight, hours | $5k then $15k, then $1k p/m + infra, AUD |
Phocas is headquartered in Sydney, works with more than 2,800 businesses and took a majority investment from Accel-KKR in October 2025. It is built for mid-market manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and it covers more ground than a forecast against actuals view: sales and margin analysis by customer and product, rebates, CRM, financial statements, rolling forecasts, what-if scenarios and approval workflows. Its natural language assistant, Ask Phocas, answers questions about your data.
Choose Phocas if your sales and finance teams want to explore the data themselves, if rebates matter to you, or if you need budget approvals across several companies. It is a mature product with a large Australian customer base.
The reasons below come from BARC's independent review of Phocas and from Phocas's own pages, not from us.
Forebrite builds a forecast against actuals dashboard on your own systems, your accounting and your operational data, and keeps it running for you. You need no data team and no one inside the business to learn a tool.
We cannot say. Phocas does not publish prices and quotes each business after a demo. Forebrite publishes its prices in AUD: $5k for Phase 1, $15k for Phase 2, then $1k p/m + infra.
Yes. If your sales team uses Phocas to explore sales and margin, keep it. Forebrite can sit alongside it as the forecast against actuals view that draws on your accounting and operational systems.
Forebrite runs in your own AWS account, so the data and the infrastructure are yours. You hold a licence to the code for your own business, so you can extend it and build your own tools on top. The licence does not allow reselling it.
30 days. Phase 1, days 1 to 14, ends with a prototype dashboard on your own key metrics. Phase 2, days 15 to 29, builds the full version.
No. Forebrite tracks the forecast you already have against actuals. If you need budget approvals, group consolidation or rebates, a planning platform or Phocas will suit you better.
Related: Phocas pricing and Fathom and Spotlight alternatives.