Fathom Review
Fathom is a cloud management reporting, KPI analysis, three-way forecasting and consolidation tool from The Access Group, built for accounting firms and small to mid-sized businesses that run Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB.
Independently scored, one dimension at a time. Every dimension is sourced, and we say whether a claim is published, reported, or estimated.
The pricing page publishes a calculator in seven currencies: $59 a month for 1 company up to $805 for 50, plus Portfolio from $67 for 100 companies (checked 30 September 2026). Billing is monthly with no minimum term, and consolidated and benchmark groups are free. Only 51 or more companies and standalone divisions need a quote.
The US Xero App Store listing shows 4.95 out of 5 from 618 reviews, and its most recent reviews single out the support team (checked 30 September 2026). The contact page lists phone lines in the US, Australia and the UK, and Fathom runs free weekly webinars and a free advisor certification. AF found no paid support tier or named customer success model for small accounts on the pricing page.
Setup is self-serve inside a 14-day trial with no credit card, and the Xero import pulls the chart of accounts and monthly statements in a few clicks, per the help centre. The free advisor certification averages 6 hours, per the certification page. Desktop ledgers need a Windows-only connector, and mapping charts of accounts across many entities stays manual.
Native read connectors cover Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB Business with automatic daily updates, plus Sage Business Cloud, FreeAgent, Access Financials and Google Sheets; QuickBooks and MYOB Desktop use a Windows connector and Sage 50 is a file upload. NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Business Central, SAP, Salesforce and data warehouses are absent from the integrations page (checked 30 September 2026).
The Fathom Limits help article caps each company at 8 years of monthly data and 3,000 accounts, with 200 active KPIs and unlimited users. The consolidation FAQ allows 300 entities per group but only 50 in multi-currency. Above 50 companies the price becomes an Enterprise quote, and everything runs at monthly granularity (checked 30 September 2026).
ISO 27001 was announced on 8 October 2024, and a fathomhq.com blog post dated 13 August 2025 announces a SOC 2 Type 2 report; the pricing FAQ still says Type 1, so ask for the current report and its audit period. The pricing FAQ lists optional 2FA, encryption at rest and in transit, and role-based access. Four user roles with advanced permissions, a Forecast Value Audit report, 25 forecast snapshots and a log of the last 20 deleted companies cover basic control. AF found no budget approval workflow, no edit history on plans and no data-residency choice in public docs (checked 30 September 2026).
Forecasting links P&L, balance sheet and cash flow with drivers, microforecasts, scenarios and rolling updates. New forecasts cover 3 years and can be extended to the rest of the current financial year plus 5 years, per the help centre (updated 13 October 2025). The forecasting FAQ says the method is indirect and the periods are monthly, quarterly or annual, never daily or weekly, with one main forecast per company. AF found no workforce module, no multi-dimensional modeling and no spreadsheet add-in.
Commentary Writer reached the Pro plan on 12 February 2026 and traces each figure to its source, but it reads at most six selected report components at trial balance level. There is no public API, developer portal or MCP server: api.fathomhq.com returns 404 and the MCP registry lists only the unrelated meeting note-taker under the Fathom name (checked 30 September 2026).
Low-cost, self-serve reporting for Xero and QBO firms; no weekly cash forecast and no API
Written by the Audit Friendly research team. No vendor edits, no sponsored placement.
Fathom is a reporting layer that sits on top of Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB and a few UK ledgers. It turns the monthly trial balance into branded management reports, KPI analysis, a three-way forecast and consolidations of up to 300 entities. Pricing is published per connected company, starts at $59 a month and runs month to month. Accounting firms get the most from it: consolidated and benchmark groups are free, and the Portfolio plan covers 100 clients for $67 a month.
The catch is depth and openness. Forecasts are monthly and use the indirect method, so there is no weekly or 13-week cash view, and each company has one main forecast with scenarios layered on top. Consolidation has no native minority interest, and Fathom itself says the output is not audit-ready. There is no public API or MCP server, no NetSuite or Sage Intacct connector, and company data cannot move between Fathom accounts.
Before signing, ask for the current SOC 2 report and its audit period: a fathomhq.com blog post dated 13 August 2025 announces a SOC 2 Type 2 report, while the pricing FAQ still says Type 1. Confirm the hosting region for your data, the price of any standalone divisions, and an Enterprise quote if you will pass 50 companies. Agree an exit plan too, because data is deleted within 30 days of cancelling and templates and forecasts do not export as a working model.
- Accounting firms producing monthly branded management reports for 10 to 50 Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB clients
- Franchise groups and multi-entity small businesses that need consolidations with eliminations and franchisee benchmarking
- Owner-managed businesses that want a monthly three-way forecast and KPI tracking without maintaining it in Excel
- Finance teams that run a weekly 13-week cash forecast or need daily cash positions
- Companies on NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Business Central or SAP, which have no native Fathom connector
- Teams that want an AI agent or BI tool to read and write plans through an API or MCP server
The jobs a finance team actually hires Fathom for
Jobs, mapped to how finance teams actually buy.
Monthly management reports across a client base
Firms build one branded template with commentary, KPIs and charts, then schedule delivery to each client. Gold covers 25 companies for $450 a month. Reports export to PDF and Excel.
A three-way monthly forecast for an owner-managed business
Quick Start builds a baseline by applying a linear regression to each account line, then drivers and microforecasts model hires and asset purchases. P&L, balance sheet and cash flow stay linked. The method is indirect and monthly, and extending past 3 years cannot be undone without deleting the forecast.
Group consolidation with eliminations
Groups can mix Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB and Excel entities and translate across 97 currencies with custom rates. Multi-currency groups cap at 50 entities. Minority interests need an Excel workaround.
Oversight of a whole client base
The Insights Dashboard flags clients that miss thresholds, with drill down and PDF summary reports. Portfolio keeps 36 months of history per company. Any company can be upgraded to Pro for forecasting and custom reports.
Franchise and branch benchmarking
Head office compares and ranks franchisees or branches on the same KPIs. Benchmark groups do not count as billable companies. Only the underlying companies are billed.
AI-drafted variance commentary
The tool reads the selected tables and charts plus saved business and report context, then drafts commentary with each figure traceable on hover. It works at trial balance level only. An admin enables it for the organisation.
Watch the same task in each tool
Forget the 40-row feature grid. Pick a finance workflow and see how this tool and its closest peers actually do it, with our verdict on who wins for whom.
Compare on what matters
What it actually costs
Here's what it really costs: published rates where a vendor lists them, aggregated quote data where they don't, plus a path to your own number.
Every Pro feature for one company; each extra company adds $59 a month. The calculator moves you to Silver once that is cheaper.
Every Pro feature for 10 companies, plus $31 a month per extra company.
Every Pro feature for 25 companies, plus $17 a month per extra company; about $18 per company at 25.
Every Pro feature for 50 companies; the calculator hands off to Enterprise at 51.
Everything in Pro with volume pricing quoted for the whole portfolio and help mapping companies, users and groups before a move.
Insights Dashboard, metric drill down and summary reports for oversight of a client base; 36 months of history, no forecasting or custom reports.
Same Portfolio features for up to 300 companies.
Same Portfolio features with no cap on companies.
Groups are not counted as billable companies; only the underlying companies are billed.
A division imported as a standalone company is charged as a company; support quotes the price.
AI commentary is listed among Pro features; not available in Portfolio summary reports.
What it actually takes to go live
Fathom's cash flow forecasting FAQ says forecasts use the indirect method and run in monthly, quarterly or annual periods, with no daily or weekly option (checked 30 September 2026). Teams that manage liquidity week to week need a separate 13-week tool. Each company has one main forecast; scenarios layer on it, and snapshots cap at 25 per company or group.
The consolidation FAQ says Fathom does not natively support partial ownership or minority interests and points to an Excel import workaround. It also says consolidated statements are not audit-ready because Fathom is a management reporting tool. Multi-currency groups cap at 50 entities against 300 for single currency (checked 30 September 2026).
The help centre says company data cannot be moved between Fathom accounts, and that KPIs, reports and forecasts live in Fathom rather than in the ledger. After cancellation, account data is deleted within 30 days. Export reports, forecasts and the Forecast Value Audit report before leaving (help articles checked 30 September 2026).
AF found no public API, developer portal or MCP server on 30 September 2026. Connectors cover Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB, Sage Business Cloud, Sage 50, FreeAgent, Access Financials, Excel and Google Sheets, with no NetSuite or Sage Intacct. The Desktop Connector for QuickBooks and MYOB Desktop runs on Windows only.
Fathom announced ISO 27001 and a SOC 2 Type 1 report on 8 October 2024. A fathomhq.com blog post dated 13 August 2025 announces SOC 2 Type 2, and the Commentary Writer page repeats it. The pricing FAQ still says Type 1, so a reviewer who reads only that page gets the older answer. The blog says customers can request the SOC 2 report from support or their account manager; check its audit period before relying on it (checked 30 September 2026).
The vendor's FAQ says Commentary Writer cannot read transactions, cannot use outside data, does not keep chat history and does not work in templates or Portfolio summary reports. It handles up to six report components per request. Review every draft before it reaches a board (checked 30 September 2026).
Scored on what an outside agent can actually reach: the documented API, how it authenticates, and whether the vendor ships an MCP server.
Exists: No. On 30 September 2026 AF found no first-party MCP server, no public API and no public developer documentation. developer.fathomhq.com does not resolve, api.fathomhq.com returns 404, app.fathomhq.com/mcp redirects to a not-found page, and docs.fathomhq.com redirects to a Microsoft sign-in, so nothing there is public. A public MCP registry search for "fathom" returns eight entries: four for the unrelated Fathom AI meeting note-taker and four unrelated utilities, none from Fathom or The Access Group.
Scope: None. Data flows one way, from the ledger into Fathom, through native Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB, Sage and FreeAgent connectors. It leaves only as exports: reports to PDF or Excel, tables to Excel, and the forecast plus its audit report to Excel.
Turnkey: Not applicable. The fathomhq GitHub organisation holds four forked open-source libraries and no SDK, and none of the 250 article titles on the help centre home page mention an API or webhooks (checked 30 September 2026).
In-product AI: Commentary Writer became available on the Pro plan on 12 February 2026, per the What's New page. An admin switches on AI Features, then the tool drafts commentary on up to six selected report components and links each figure to its source. The vendor's FAQ says it works at trial balance level only, keeps no chat history and cannot use outside data. Fathom says it runs on the Access Evo platform using OpenAI models hosted through Microsoft, and that customer data is not used for training.
Fathom, kept current
Consolidated groups can now be analysed by division, using default groupings or custom division groupings.
Bulk actions for drivers, a higher microforecast limit, a more interactive cash flow grid and more detail in downloads.
AI commentary for Pro reports moved to Available status. It drafts commentary on selected report components with traceable figures.
Fathom added a direct FreeAgent connector on all plans, widening its UK small-business ledger coverage.
Static saved versions of a forecast enable actual versus budget versus forecast reporting, up to 25 snapshots per company.
Users can save frequently used Insights Dashboard configurations; the limits article allows up to 20 saved views.
Fathom FAQ
An accounting firm with 25 client companies on Fathom Pro pays $450 a month on the published Gold tier, about $5,400 a year (Audit Friendly estimate from the published rate, checked 30 September 2026). Each extra company on Gold adds $17 a month.
A single business pays $59 a month on Starter, and a group of 10 entities pays $315 a month on Silver. From 51 companies Fathom quotes an Enterprise price. Firms that only need oversight can put clients on Portfolio at $67 a month for 100 companies, $189 for 300 or $405 for unlimited.
Prices exclude sales tax and are set separately in seven currencies, so check the calculator in your own currency.
Fathom is month to month with no minimum term; cancelling stops renewal at the end of the billing cycle, per the pricing FAQ. Only the account owner can cancel, and account data is deleted within 30 days unless the cancellation is undone.
Data leaves as exports: reports to PDF or Excel, tables to Excel, and the forecast plus its Forecast Value Audit report to Excel. Company data cannot be transferred between Fathom accounts, and KPIs, templates and forecasts live in Fathom, so a move means rebuilding them elsewhere.
Most teams set themselves up. Connecting Xero or QuickBooks Online takes a few clicks during the free 14-day trial, and Fathom imports the chart of accounts plus monthly P&L and balance sheet. Plan on days to two weeks to map accounts, pick KPIs and build a report template (Audit Friendly estimate).
No partner is required. Fathom offers a free advisor certification that averages 6 hours, free weekly webinars, a help centre and phone support in the US, Australia and the UK.
Not directly. AF found no public API and no MCP server for Fathom on 30 September 2026, and the MCP servers listed under the Fathom name belong to the unrelated meeting note-taker. Claude can work on exports: give it the Excel report or forecast download and it can draft commentary, check variances or write a board narrative.
Inside the product, Commentary Writer (Pro plan, available since 12 February 2026) drafts commentary on up to six report components and links each figure to its source. Per the vendor's FAQ, it cannot see transactions, cannot use outside data and keeps no chat history.
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