Troubleshooting Steps
Fathom integrates directly with the data from your source accounting system. If the results in Fathom aren't tying back to your accounting data, there are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot this.
📝 Note: If you're comparing Fathom to a company sourced from Xero, then Fathom imports the Standard P&L and Balance Sheet from Xero. It's best to compare the values in Fathom to the Standard P&L and Balance Sheet and not a customised P&L or Balance Sheet.
💡Smart Tip: If you're looking at a consolidated group, follow the above workflow for each of the underlying companies and then update the consolidated group.
1. Update your Company Data
The first step is to check that Fathom has been updated to include your most recent accounting data.
To trigger a manual update:
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You can bulk update several cloud-sourced companies at once from the My Companies page.
Cloud-sourced companies on a Fathom Pro plan also have the options to import month-to-date data and turn on automatic updates, to ensure the data in Fathom stays up to date.
📝 Note: If you have automatic updates turned on and have made recent changes to your data, you will still have to trigger a manual update. Automatic updates ensure your data is updated once every 24 hours, not every time you make a change in the source accounting system.
Learn more about the options for updating data from our Update Data article.
2. Review Adjustments
Companies on a Fathom Pro plan can make financial adjustments in Fathom. If adjustments have been made to your actuals in Fathom, then they will not match with your source accounting system.
To see if any adjustments have been made:
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If you have made any adjustments that need to be removed, you can delete them here.
You may see adjustments that you cannot delete. These are auto-adjustments for income tax that Fathom created as part of the company's forecast. If you would like to remove these adjustments, then you can turn off auto-adjustments in forecasting.
💡Smart Tip: Adjustments may also be made at the consolidated group level. If you're viewing a consolidated group, check the adjustments in both the underlying companies and the group itself.
3. Cash vs Accrual Method
To troubleshoot differences in results between Fathom and your accounting system, you need to ensure you are viewing your data consistently on a cash or accrual basis.
For most accounting systems, Fathom will automatically pull in data based on the accounting method specified for your company. Companies sourced from Xero will always be assigned the accrual method upon import. For Sage 50 Accounts companies, you select the accounting method when first importing the company.
Example: You’ve set up the company as 'Accrual' method in your accounting system (Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB), but you are viewing the Profit and Loss in the 'Cash' method. Fathom will pull in the accrual data, but you will be comparing it to the cash accounting method Profit and Loss.
For companies on a Fathom Pro plan, you can see which accounting method Fathom uses in 'Company Profile' of the company's Settings.
You can change the accounting method in Fathom for companies sourced from QuickBooks and Xero. It is not possible to change the accounting method for companies sourced from MYOB, and companies imported via Excel will simply match the values imported on the Excel spreadsheet.
4. Review the Chart of Accounts
When importing financial data from a source system, Fathom does its best to match and classify accounts correctly. Account classifications (e.g. Revenue, Expense, Assets, Liabilities, etc.) determine how financial results are calculated in Fathom..
Companies on a Fathom Pro plan can re-classify accounts on the Chart of Accounts in Fathom.
To review and change account classifications in Fathom:
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View the classification guidelines to see a detailed explanation about each account classification. Go to the 'Chart of Accounts' article for more detailed instructions on reclassifying accounts.
📝 Note: Reclassifying accounts is not available for a consolidated group. You will need to reclassify the accounts in the underlying companies, and then update the consolidated group to reflect these changes.
Still not matching?
If you are still experiencing discrepancies in your results between Fathom and your accounting system, please contact Fathom support at support@fathomhq.com.
To help us resolve the issue as fast as possible, please send through two reports:
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Learn more