Farmer accountancy firm ifac, with the support of Bank of Ireland, has this week launched a new digital financial management and planning tool for farmers called FarmPro. Essentially, FarmPro is a bespoke software programme that specialises in real-time financial advice and forecasting for farmers.

The farm finance tool was first developed in New Zealand by agri-software company Figured and has over 25,000 users globally.

FarmPro links a farmer’s day-to-day bookkeeping with their farm bank account to provide farmers with a real-time visualisation of cashflow on their farm throughout the year.

The software also provides a very useful forecasting tool, which allows the farmer to plan for different scenarios that their business may be hit with, such as a sharp drop in milk or beef prices.

Farmers can then visualise the impact this would have on their farm finances and budget accordingly.

Additionally, the programme is very useful at forecasting the impact a new loan or finance repayment will have on monthly cashflow on the farm if the farmer is planning a capital investment in a new building or machine.

In its simplest form, the software acts as a sort of virtual chief financial officer (CFO) for the farm by running up-to-date cashflow reports, monitoring budgets and forecasting the farm’s financial performance.

Head of farm support at ifac Philip O’Connor says the programme gives farmers control of their farm finances like never before and allows them to make decisions based on a live set of farm accounts.

Another important feature of the software, according to O’Connor, is that the financial data of the farm, such as spending and profits, are broken down to €/litre or €/ha metrics, so the farmer can easily understand the performance of the farm.

FarmPro also offers a benchmarking feature (subject to GDPR permissions), where a farmer can benchmark the financial performance of their farm against other farmers, such as those in their discussion group.

This allows the farmer to compare their profit margins, feed spending and cost control against other farms if they so wish.

Costs

The cost of the FarmPro package varies from about €6/month up to €100/month for each user, based on the spec of the software package and service offering the farmer requires.

However, ifac and Bank of Ireland are subsidising the cost of the highest spec software and service package for their existing clients to €70/month.

Ifac is also supporting a free introductory offering called FarmPro Intro, which includes free access to data reports with no advice provided for 2020 only. It’s also worth noting this is a tax deductible expense for the farm.

Ifac has been testing the software since January this year with a number of its farmer clients and the feedback to date has been very positive.

Both ifac and Bank of Ireland are now set to begin rolling out this new software package to all clients this week and are hoping for significant uptake of the product.

“What we’ve noticed at ifac is that a lot of our farmer clients are not that confident when it comes to the financial management side of their farm,” said ifac CEO John Donoghue.

“They might deal with their accountant or bookkeeper once or twice in the year and that’s it. But with FarmPro, this tool allows the farmer to see real-time financial data for their farm and up-to-date information,” he added.

Head of agri with Bank of Ireland Eoin Lowry says the product has the potential to improve Irish farm incomes and wellbeing.

“Our on-farm research identified the challenges our shared customers faced in managing their finances, but now FarmPro provides them with an intuitive cashflow management tool, enabling easy access to the right information and ifac advice, giving farmers the confidence to make the best on-farm decisions,” said Lowry.