You keep using Excel
You upload your cost plan and your actual spend from Excel templates. You can export the summary back to Excel at any time. Nobody has to learn a new way to enter numbers.
Capital expenditure planning and reporting software
Simple capital reporting that you can set up and use today.
CAPEXdesk keeps your budget, your commitments, your actual spend and your forecast together in one place. You can use it alongside your accounting system and your cost management system, or you can use it on its own with Excel. It does not replace either of them.
You can set up CAPEXdesk and start using it on the same day, with no payment card. To book a demo, use the button (it opens your email app with the details filled in) or WhatsApp Jason on +44 7961 188666.
Built by a real estate, investment and infrastructure CFO with 15 years in the sector. You load figures from SAP, Oracle or Unifier through Excel, and CAPEXdesk never changes anything in them.
For finance leads, project and development teams, and owners — from one project to a large portfolio.
What it is
CAPEXdesk fills the gap between your accounting system, your cost system and your spreadsheets.
Your accounting system records what you have spent. Your cost system manages your contracts. Neither was built to hold a capital plan, a forecast or an approval process, so that work usually ends up in spreadsheets. CAPEXdesk gives that work a proper home.
Your other systems stay as they are Read-only
Information only flows into CAPEXdesk. It never sends anything back, so your accounting and cost systems are never changed.
You see three separate figures for spend
CAPEXdesk shows what you have committed, what has been incurred and what you have paid. Committed is money you have agreed to spend. Incurred is the value of the work that has been done. Paid is money that has left the bank.
Where it fits
It works with the systems you have, or with none at all.
There is no direct connection to those systems: figures come in through Excel, and nothing is ever sent back.
You have an accounting system, such as SAP or Oracle.You load your actual spend from it through Excel, and CAPEXdesk compares that spend with your plan.
You have a cost or contract system, such as Unifier.You upload your commitments from it using Excel, and CAPEXdesk reports them against your budget and forecast.
You have both.CAPEXdesk brings the two sets of numbers together in one report.
You have neither.You enter your plan and your spend using the Excel templates, and you manage everything in CAPEXdesk.
Screenshots
See what you are getting.
Screens from the CAPEXdesk beta version, with example data. The figures are for illustration only.
Example data. The figures are for illustration only. Select a screen to enlarge it.
Why this exists
Reporting on capital projects has always been harder than it should be. Accounting systems record what has been spent, and cost systems manage contracts. Both do their job well. Neither gives a simple view of the whole cost of a project that a finance lead can pick up and use. As a result, the work ends up in spreadsheets.
CAPEXdesk fills that gap. It does not replace those systems. You bring their numbers in through Excel, and you manage your capital projects in one place with very little training.
— Our founder, a real estate, investment and infrastructure CFO with 15 years in the sector
The summary
You can see every project on one page.
The summary compares your budget, your forecast and your actual spend. You can look at the whole portfolio, or you can open any project to see the detail underneath.
- You see the approved budget, the forecast and the difference between them side by side.
- You see committed, incurred and paid amounts as three separate figures.
- You choose once whether to report on a cash basis or an accruals basis.
- You can export the whole page to Excel exactly as it appears on screen.
This is the CAPEX Summary S-curve. The figures are for illustration only.
How it works
There are seven steps, and each one is approved before the next begins.
These are the steps that every capital project already follows. CAPEXdesk records a name and a date against every approval. When a plan changes, a new version is created and the old version is kept.
- Nothing moves to the next step until someone has signed it off.
- With more than one approver, nobody can approve their own work.
- Old versions are always kept, so you can see the full history.
- You can trace every figure back to the file it came from.
1 Project structure — your list of cost headings
2 Budget — your cost plan, approved
3 Commitments — the money you have agreed to spend
4 Uncommitted — the part of your forecast not yet agreed
5 Actual spend and forecast — what you have spent, and what is left
6 Cashflow — your budget month by month
7 Adjustments — a change to an approved budget, with the reason
You stay in control
Approval flows provide control and governance over all inputs and updates.
You decide who can do what
Each person is an Administrator, Approver, Editor, Contributor or Viewer, and can be limited to one project or part of the work breakdown. Only people with approval rights can approve. Administrators change any of this at any time.
You choose the approvers
Each submission goes to the approver you pick, from people entitled to approve for that project. Where your process needs two sign-offs, a second approver acts after the first.
Routes that grow with the change
For month-end packages, administrators set up approval chains: ordered steps, by role or named group, with value thresholds so larger changes need more sign-offs. When your process changes, a new chain replaces the old one, and the old one stays on record for approvals already made.
Nobody approves their own work
Where a company has more than one approver, the person who prepared an entry cannot approve it, and nobody can approve two steps of the same chain. A company with a single approver can approve its own entries; the history records that as a self-approval, with the reason.
Control
When you close a month, it stays closed.
Once a month is closed, nothing new can be added to it. You can also freeze the plan at an important milestone, so that later changes are measured against what was agreed at the time.
- You can close a month for the whole portfolio or for one project.
- Only an approver can close a month, and their name is recorded.
- A frozen plan keeps the real figures from the day it was frozen.
- Closing is permanent, and the screen says so before you confirm. A later correction is recorded as a named, approved restatement.
January 2027 Closed
February 2027 Closed
March 2027 Open
April 2027 Open
May 2027 Open
Reporting
Your board report is created from the approved numbers.
You do not need to rebuild the report by hand each month. CAPEXdesk creates it from the version that has been approved.
Report packs
You choose a version, and CAPEXdesk creates the report as an Excel workbook that your directors already know how to read.
Version compare
You can see what changed between two versions and the reason for each change. Any difference that cannot be explained is shown clearly.
Change history
You can see every change, who made it and when they made it. You can filter the history and export it. Nobody can alter or delete a record without it being noticed.
Security
Security is part of the design.
CAPEXdesk is a new product. The protections below are part of the design, not a later addition.
A change history that cannot be altered
Every change is recorded. The database refuses edits and deletes on those records.
Kept apart, and in known places
Each client has its own database, never mixed with another client’s. Yours is hosted in the European Union, in Frankfurt. Uploaded files and backups are stored in London. UK–EU data adequacy arrangements allow the Frankfurt hosting for customers in the United Kingdom.
Two-step sign-in, and your data stays yours
Users with higher access must sign in with a second step. Your data is encrypted when it is stored and when it is sent, and you are signed out after a short time. You can export the summary, any approved version and the full change history to Excel at any time, without asking us.
FAQ
Common questions
Who can approve what, and can we change it?
You decide. Administrators give each person a role, limit it to a project or part of the work breakdown if needed, and change it at any time. When an entry is sent for approval, you pick the approver from the people entitled to approve it, and add a second approver if your process needs one. For month-end packages, administrators can also set approval chains with more steps as the change gets larger.
Can we use it without any other system?
Yes, you can. You enter your plan and your spend using the Excel templates, and you manage everything in CAPEXdesk.
Where is our data kept?
Your data is kept in its own database, hosted in Frankfurt in the European Union. Uploaded files and backups are stored in London. UK–EU data adequacy arrangements allow the Frankfurt hosting for customers in the United Kingdom.
Can a figure be changed after it has been approved?
It cannot be changed without a record. A new version replaces the old one, both versions are kept, and the change is recorded in the history.
What does it cost?
CAPEXdesk is free during the initial launch beta version. We will give you at least 30 days' notice before it becomes a paid service.
How do we start?
You create a company, set up your project structure and upload a cost plan. You can also book a demo, and we will walk you through it using your own numbers.
How long does it take to set up?
You can set it up and start using it on the same day. This is true whether your organisation is large or small.
Free during the beta version. Start today, or we can walk you through it.
CAPEXdesk is free during the initial launch beta version, and you do not need a payment card. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice before it becomes a paid service. Create a company and load a cost plan yourself, or book a demo and we will show you the product using your own numbers.
Or WhatsApp Jason on +44 7961 188666. The button opens your email app with the details filled in; nothing is sent until you press send.