Automated cash forecasting with open banking APIs in Dublin in 2026

The verdict in three sentences

An SME finance director in Dublin juggling 4 or 5 banks rebuilds a 13-week cash forecast in Excel every Monday, which takes 4 to 6 hours of repetitive work. A cash management SaaS costs EUR 150 to 600 a month, while a custom tool with PSD2 aggregation, automatic categorisation and scenarios costs EUR 25,000 to 60,000 in Dublin (EUR 20,000 to 45,000 in a French city like Marseille). Either way, the main benefit is a cash squeeze alert 6 weeks ahead, enough time to negotiate a facility or speed up collections.

What PSD2 bank aggregation automates

Under the PSD2 directive, a licensed provider can read the accounts of all your banks through secure APIs, with your consent renewed every 180 days. Transactions arrive nightly, are categorised automatically (customers, suppliers, payroll, VAT, Revenue, loans) and matched with customer and supplier invoices from your accounting system or ERP. The forecast combines actuals, known due dates and recurring assumptions.

SaaS or custom: 2026 comparison

The ranges below are 2026 estimates observed in Ireland.

SaaS suits most SMEs below EUR 20 million in revenue. Custom makes sense with an unconnected industry ERP, strong seasonality (construction, wholesale, tourism) or specific forecasting rules, such as actual payment delay calculated customer by customer.

The features that make the difference

Three features separate a decorative dashboard from a real steering tool: calculating each customer's actual payment delay from history, an automatic alert when the projected balance drops below a threshold (for example EUR 150,000) within 6 weeks, and a Monday comparison between last week's forecast and actuals, to measure reliability. A forecast that is 90% accurate over 4 weeks is a good target.

Mini case study

Aoife, CFO of a building materials wholesaler in Dublin (EUR 28 million revenue, 5 banks), spends 5 hours every Monday on her forecast. She picks a custom tool at EUR 42,000 plus EUR 700 a month, because her industry ERP is not linked to any SaaS on the market.

Time saved: 4 h 30 a week x 46 weeks = 207 hours a year, about EUR 16,500 at EUR 80 per loaded hour. Financial gain: with a 6-week warning, she negotiates a short-term facility instead of paying penalty interest on an unarranged overdraft. On a one-off need of EUR 400,000 for 2 months, the rate gap (about 4 points) is worth EUR 2,700, and chasing 3 late customers early cuts working capital by about EUR 250,000. With about EUR 10,000 a year of financing costs avoided on that released working capital (at 4%), the annual gain reaches EUR 29,000, or EUR 21,000 net of running costs: payback in about 2 years.

FAQ

Are bank APIs secure?

Yes. Access goes through a provider authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland or another EU regulator, read-only, with strong authentication and consent renewed every 180 days. No payment can be issued.

Are all Irish banks compatible?

The main retail banks and most digital banks are. Accounts abroad or invoice finance facilities sometimes need a file import, which adds EUR 1,500 to 4,000 to a custom project.

How reliable will the forecast be?

After 3 months of calibration, 85 to 95% reliability over 4 weeks is realistic. It naturally drops over the 13-week horizon.

Does our accountant need to be involved?

Not for the tool itself, but their chart of accounts drives categorisation. Plan 2 to 4 hours with them at the start.

Can we start with SaaS and move to custom later?

Yes, that is often the right path. A year of SaaS at EUR 300 a month validates the forecasting rules before investing EUR 25,000 or more.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of banks, accounting software or ERP and forecasting horizon: we will compare SaaS and custom and price the right option. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.