Best FP&A software for biotech companies (2026)
The right biotech FP&A tool depends on which problem is hurting. Generic FP&A platforms (Vena, Workday Adaptive Planning, Anaplan, Jirav, Mosaic) add workflow and control around a model you build yourself. Clinical-finance specialists (Auxilius, Condor) automate clinical trial accruals and the audit around them. Oracle ClearTrial serves clinical operations planning at larger companies. Whole-company biotech platforms (Exigyn) connect clinical spend, headcount, OpEx, three statements and cash runway in one prebuilt model. Spreadsheets remain the right answer for a single-program company with one budget owner.
Disclosure: this guide is published by Exigyn. We describe other products by what their vendors say they are built for, and say where ours doesn't fit.
What biotech FP&A needs that SaaS FP&A doesn't
- Spend planned by program, indication and study, not by product line
- Clinical trial accruals driven by enrollment and the schedule of assessments, not invoices
- CRO budgets, amendments and change orders, versioned for the auditor
- Headcount gated by milestones, so hires slip when readouts slip
- Cash runway to the next milestone, in base and downside cases
- Non-dilutive and partnership revenue: grants, collaboration revenue (ASC 606), milestone payments, royalties
The options at a glance
| Tool | Built for | Company-wide plan | Clinical accruals | Runway & scenarios | Public pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheets | One program, one owner | You build it | You build it | You build it | Free |
| Vena | Control and workflow around Excel models | Yes, you build the biotech logic | You build it | You build it | No |
| Workday Adaptive Planning / Anaplan | Enterprise planning, any industry | Yes, with configuration | You build it | Yes, with configuration | No |
| Jirav / Mosaic | Mid-market FP&A, life-sciences templates | Yes | You build it | Yes | No |
| Auxilius | R&D accrual and forecast automation | No (clinical scope) | Yes | Clinical forecast | No |
| Condor | AI platform for biopharma R&D finance and clinical ops | No (R&D scope) | Yes | R&D forecasting and scenarios | No |
| Oracle ClearTrial | Clinical operations study planning and benchmarking | No | No (planning, not close) | Study budgets | No |
| Exigyn | Whole-company biotech model run by AI agents | Yes, prebuilt | Yes | Yes, incl. probabilistic runway | Yes ($500 / $1,500 per month) |
How to choose
- "Our problem is control around the model we already have." Vena, or spreadsheets with discipline.
- "Our problem is the clinical accrual and the audit." Auxilius or Condor. Both publish SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 reports and offer services alongside the software.
- "Clinical, headcount, runway and the board deck live in different places, and a scenario takes a week." Exigyn, or a strong modeler with a lot of time.
- "We have a clinical operations planning team inside a large Oracle footprint." ClearTrial.
- "We are a large commercial company planning across many business units." Adaptive Planning or Anaplan.
Short profiles
Vena. A general-purpose FP&A platform whose interface is Excel. Existing models move over with little retraining, and consolidation, approvals and audit trails come with it. Biotech-specific logic (enrollment-driven clinical cost, milestone-gated hiring) is built by the team.
Auxilius. Clinical trial financial management: R&D accruals and close, forecasting, investigator spend and vendor management, serving emerging biotech through large pharma. SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2, single-tenant environments, and a Veeva EDC integration. Company-wide planning lives elsewhere.
Condor. An AI platform for biopharma R&D finance and clinical operations that integrates CTMS, EDC, ERP and IRT data and layers AI agents for accruals, close, forecasting and change orders on a deterministic financial engine. SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2. R&D-focused; headcount, G&A and the full three statements live elsewhere.
Oracle ClearTrial. Study cost planning and benchmarking for clinical operations and outsourcing teams, usually at larger companies with an Oracle relationship.
Exigyn. One connected model for a biotech: programs and studies, CRO budgets and enrollment-driven accruals, headcount and workforce, department OpEx, CapEx and prepaids, grants and partnerships, three statements, budget vs. actuals, and cash runway with scenarios and milestones. AI agents operate it through the web app, Excel and the Model Context Protocol (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini), with every change audited and writes gated by role permissions and optional human approval. Live in a day with a sample biotech loaded. Where it doesn't fit: teams that want to keep their existing Excel model and only add control (Vena), teams that want a services-led clinical accounting partner, or buyers who require the vendor's own SOC 2 report today (Exigyn runs on SOC 2 Type II–audited infrastructure providers but does not yet have its own attestation). It is not an ERP; actuals come from QuickBooks Online or NetSuite.
Five questions to ask in any demo
- Show closed months locked to actuals, on our data.
- Show an accrual driven by enrollment, including screen failures and a milestone line.
- Load a protocol amendment. What happens to patients enrolled before it?
- Slip our readout two quarters. How long until we see the new runway, headcount and P&L?
- Who can change a number, and where is that logged?
FAQ
Do biotech companies need FP&A software?
Not at seed or early Series A, when one person owns a single-program model. Usually yes once there are several programs or CROs, more than one budget owner, or a board asking for scenario analysis faster than the spreadsheet can produce it.
What is the difference between clinical trial accruals software and FP&A software?
Accruals software estimates and books the cost of trial work performed in a closed period. FP&A software forecasts the whole company forward: spend, headcount, statements and cash. Biotechs need both; some tools specialize in one, some connect them.
Can general FP&A tools handle clinical trials?
Yes, if the team builds the clinical logic: enrollment curves, SOA-driven site costs, CRO grids and amendment versioning. That build is usually where implementations take months.
Exigyn ships with a preloaded sample biotech company: runway, clinical accruals, headcount and budget vs. actuals in one model. Free 14-day trial, no credit card.
