Compared: Calxa
A Calxa alternative for monthly management reports, without a subscription
Calxa is built around budgeting and cash flow forecasting, with reporting, scenarios and consolidations on top, and suits Australian and New Zealand businesses, not-for-profits and their accountants. If you mainly need a monthly board report from whatever system the client uses, paid per report, Magic MIS is the simpler fit. Magic MIS wrote this page.
Free to create. No subscription.
What Calxa does well
From its own site:
- Budgeting imported from the accounting system or a spreadsheet, or built with a wizard.
- Cash flow and three-way forecasting, and scenario modelling.
- Group consolidations.
- Reporting and KPIs, with report bundles delivered on a schedule.
- Integrations with Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB Business, and enterprise systems; a manual option for organisations without a connection.
- Not-for-profit features such as program budgets and grant acquittals, and unlimited users on its higher plans.
Side by side, as of October 2026
| Item | Calxa | Magic MIS |
|---|---|---|
| Core job | Budgeting and cash flow forecasting, plus reporting | Monthly management accounts and board reports |
| How data gets in | Live connections, or manual | The trial balance you export, from any system |
| Forecasting | Cash flow, three-way, scenarios | Budget against actual and a simple projection |
| Consolidation | Yes | No: one company at a time |
| Report delivery | Scheduled report bundles | Present, a checked Excel workbook, a read-only shared board |
| Commentary | Not presented as an AI feature on its home page | The AI writes words only; the engine fills every number |
| Users | Unlimited on higher plans | One login per account |
| Pricing model | Monthly subscription tiered by organisations | Prepaid credits, no subscription |
We don't quote Calxa's prices.
When Calxa is the better choice, and when Magic MIS is
Calxa fits when budgets and cash flow forecasts are the centre of the service; when you need scenarios, three-way forecasts or consolidations; when you run a not-for-profit tracking programs and grants; and when you want live data and scheduled bundles going out to many clients.
Magic MIS fits when the board report is the job, the same pack each month, written up; when clients are on many systems, including ones that only send an Excel trial balance; when you don't want another per-organisation subscription; when every number must be defensible, each opening to its working and ledgers; and when you want a checked workbook of your own.
Magic MIS's AI drafts commentary as sentences with blanks, and the calculation engine fills each blank from the ledgers; a draft containing a figure of its own is rejected. Where to act gives suggestions to consider, not tax, legal or audit advice.
What a monthly board report should contain
- One page of headline numbers: revenue, gross margin, net profit and cash, against last month and last year or budget.
- Profit and loss for the month and year to date, with the year starting in July if that is how the books are kept.
- Balance sheet, with debtors, creditors and GST or BAS liabilities visible.
- Cash: the balance, the movement, and runway if reserves are being spent.
- KPIs: a small fixed set, such as gross margin, overheads as a share of revenue, debtor days, creditor days and the current ratio.
- Budget against actual: the three largest variances, each with a reason.
- Commentary and what to act on.
If one to seven is the job, a monthly pack is enough. If the board also wants scenarios and three-way forecasts, add a forecasting tool such as Calxa.
Where the Calxa information came from
Read on 29 October 2026 from calxa.com: the home page, /product/features/, /product/integration/ and /pricing/. Check their site for changes. Calxa is a trademark of its owner. Magic MIS is not affiliated with or endorsed by Calxa.
What businesses and practices comparing them ask
Does Magic MIS work with MYOB?
Yes, from the trial balance you export from MYOB or any other system, as Excel or CSV. There is no live connection.
Can it replace Calxa's budgeting?
No. You can enter a budget and see budget against actual, but Magic MIS isn't a budgeting or forecasting tool.
Does it use Australian conventions?
Each company sets its financial year start (July for most Australian companies), the currency its books are kept in and how its dates are written.
How is it priced?
Prepaid credit packs, no subscription. Each action shows its standard price before it runs.
Who can see the files?
Each file is encrypted under a key belonging to that company alone, and no person on our side can open it.
Read next
- Spotlight Reporting alternative: monthly management accounts per reportAn honest Spotlight Reporting comparison: where Spotlight is the stronger tool, and where a monthly pack from any system's trial balance, paid per report, fits better.Read
- The monthly board report for Australian businesses, and how to build itWhat an Australian monthly board report covers — P&L for the month and year to date, balance sheet, cash, GST owed, KPIs and commentary — built from the trial balance.Read
- Board pack and board packet: the monthly financial report for the boardWhat a monthly board pack contains — management accounts, KPIs, variances, commentary — how long it takes by hand, and how to produce it from a trial balance each month.Read
Build next month's board report from the trial balance
Create an account, load last month's trial balance, and get the report — paid per action.
Prepaid credits, no subscription.