Got questions about LivePlan? Here are answers to the ones we hear most often. If your question isn't addressed here, please contact us.
You sure can. If you're using an Android or other tablet device it should work too, though we don't do routine testing on them.
LivePlan is fully supported and tested on the following browsers:
For Windows:
For Mac:
Sure, feel free to give it a try. Other current browsers like Opera should be fine, though you may find minor issues since we do not test the app in those browsers.
The one browser version that is known to be a problem is Internet Explorer 6, which was developed before modern web apps existed and cannot run LivePlan effectively. If you have to use Internet Explorer 6 for some reason, though, check out Google Chrome Frame. It's a free, easy-to-install plug-in that updates the browser's rendering engine to improve your browsing experience and enable you to securely use apps like LivePlan.
No, sorry. Because LivePlan is a web application, you need to be connected to the Internet to use it. The good news is that you can use it from any computer or device with Internet access, so your software isn't stuck on a single PC. But currently we do not support offline access.
Yes, users with older Macs are still in luck. This is tricky, since these machines typically cannot run the current version of the major browsers. The following browsers are good bets:
That depends. Do you want the other person to be able to edit and change the plan, or just read it? And how comfortable is this person with digital technology? If you're just looking for feedback on a finished document, the easiest thing for your reader is probably to send them a PDF. If you want somebody to see changes as you make them or to check your progress regularly, you can issue them a guest pass. And if you have a business partner with his own perspective to add on the financials or strategy, you can add them as one of your included paid users, who can fully change anything in the content of the plan.
LivePlan makes it easy for you to collaborate with other users in your account, even working on the same plan at the same time. LivePlan prevents users from overwriting each others' work by allowing only one user at a time to edit a particular section. Other users will see that section of the plan as locked.
LivePlan automatically backs up your data every few seconds, and every time you click “I’m Done” for a particular task. All your plan and account information is saved securely in our online servers, ready for you and your invited users to access when you need it.
You can always print a copy of your plan as a PDF file to save to your computer, if you know you will be without Internet access for a while and want the content handy. But there's no need to save your data offline for backups.
The easiest way to produce your LivePlan plan document is to use the print to PDF feature, which outputs your plan content in a standard file format that can be read by Adobe Reader or other free reader programs.
You can also export a copy of your plan to Microsoft Word (2003 or later). That's useful if you want to have more control over the document's look and feel or add images, custom tables, and so on. Just remember that once you export to Word, any changes you make in LivePlan will not be reflected in the Word document. The Word export is a snapshot of the plan.
No, LivePlan is an entirely new product and is not interoperable with Business Plan Pro. The two products use fundamentally different technologies. At this point, you can copy the text of any plan created in Business Plan Pro and use your browser's paste functionality to insert it into your LivePlan, but financial data cannot be carried over.
No, there is no importing function for financial data in LivePlan. If this is an important feature to you, please let us know. We're always looking for feedback on how we can make LivePlan exactly what you need.
Palo Alto Software, Inc. collects standard customer information (name, email address, company name, credit card company, credit card number, expiration date, and credit card billing address) during the LivePlan signup process and in other customer communications with us by email or phone. We understand how important this information is to you. We are committed to keeping it strictly confidential. Your privacy is not for sale. We will never sell, rent, or otherwise abuse the private information you have trusted us with. Read our complete privacy policy.
You can read all about our security measures here, but the short answer is that your business plan is safe with us. We've undergone a full security audit by a leading data security testing firm that specializes in doing hacker-style attacks to find vulnerabilities. We're happy to report that LivePlan got a clean bill of health and will continue to do everything we can to protect your information.