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How divisions work in a Consolidated Group
🎉 Beta feature: The 'Divisions in a Consolidated Group' feature is currently in beta. To enable this functionality, you must turn on the beta flag.
When you create or update a consolidated group that includes companies with imported divisions, also referred to as tracking categories, classes, locations, jobs, or cost centres, they will flow through and combine at the consolidated group level.
For a guide to importing divisions, view our Get Started with Divisions article.
Divisions will be automatically merged when they share the same Name and Type, forming default division groupings.
Type refers to how the division is categorised in your accounting system (e.g. Department, Location, Class, etc.). A division’s name is also derived from the financial source.
Example: You have four business locations. Each location has a division or tracking category called ‘Marketing’, which is assigned as a ‘Department’ in Xero (the source accounting system). You import each location into Fathom as a single entity, including its divisions.
You create a Consolidated Group comprising the four location companies; the ‘Marketing’ divisions are automatically combined into a single default division grouping.
If your companies use different currencies, division totals are converted into the group’s currency, using the same methodology as the group’s financials and then combined.
A Consolidated Group’s default divisions can be added to custom groupings, enabling you to consolidate divisions with different names or types, including those from differing source systems.
📝 Note: If you have eliminations configured in your Consolidated Group, these will not be reflected in division totals. Eliminations will be reflected in the underlying companies’ financial totals when viewed within the group and the overall Consolidated Group’s totals.
Once you have set up your Consolidated Group and any custom division groupings, they can be included in reports. View our dedicated article for a guide: Report for a Consolidated Group
View and audit a consolidation’s default divisions
In the Source Data section of a Consolidated Group’s Settings, you can view the group’s default division groupings, organised by type within the Default tab. The right-hand column indicates how many companies contribute a matching division to each grouping.
Groupings with more than one matching company contain divisions that have been automatically merged based on matching names and types.
If there are no divisions visible here, you first need to make sure you have imported them for the underlying companies in the group: Get Started with Divisions
To review which companies are contributing to each division, you can download an audit report.
To download the default divisions audit report:
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The downloaded Excel document details each default division grouping and every underlying company with a contributing division.
Create custom division groupings
🎉 Beta feature: Does your consolidated group's Settings look different? The 'Divisions in a Consolidated Group' feature is currently in beta. To enable this functionality, you must turn on the beta flag.
A Consolidated Group’s default divisions can be organised into custom groupings to create additional consolidated division totals, which can be included in your reports.
These groupings can be used to consolidate divisions with different names and types, including across accounting sources.
When creating a custom grouping, you choose from the consolidation’s default division groupings.
Example: You have five business entities sourced from QuickBooks Online, Xero, and MYOB; Each entity has a division called ‘Marketing’.
The businesses have been imported into Fathom as single entities, including their divisions, and you have created a Consolidated Group comprising the five companies.
As there are a variety of division types due to the different accounting sources, you create a custom grouping titled ‘Marketing’ and add all the default ‘Marketing’ divisions to the grouping. This grouping can now be reported on.
They also enable you to nest and layer a Consolidated Group’s divisions.
Example: You have five business entities within the Global Horizon Group; each entity uses divisions to report operations by city location:
Horizon UK - London, Manchester, and Birmingham
Horizon USA - Seattle, New York, and Philadelphia
Horizon Canada - Ottawa and Toronto
Horizon Germany - Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin
Horizon France - Paris and Lyon
Each business has been imported to Fathom as a single entity, including its divisions, and you have created a Consolidated Group comprising all five companies called ‘Global Horizon Group’.
At the consolidated group level, you create a custom division grouping titled ‘EMEA Region’ and add all the relevant city divisions to the grouping (e.g. Manchester, London, Birmingham, Munich, Düsseldorf, etc.). You repeat the process, adding the relevant cities to a second grouping titled ‘AMER Region’.
The ‘EMEA Region’ and ‘AMER Region’ groupings can now be added as totals to a financials table in reports.
For a guide on how to add custom groupings to your reports, visit: Report for a Consolidated Group
To create a custom grouping:
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To review a consolidation's custom division groupings, you can download an audit report to Excel by clicking ‘Audit report’ in the top right-hand corner of the ‘Custom’ tab page.
Edit and delete custom groupings
To edit or delete a custom division grouping:
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Remove inactive divisions from a custom grouping
When a division that is part of a custom grouping is no longer linked to an underlying company, an alert will appear to notify you that the division is inactive.
This occurs when there is no longer a matching division in an underlying company. For example, if a division has been deleted, or if its name or type has been changed.
To remove an inactive division from a custom grouping:
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Divisions can be added in the same way by checking the divisions you would like to include and updating the group.
Common Questions
How can I add divisions to a Consolidated Group’s report?
Divisions, both default and custom groupings, can be added to Consolidated Group reports within tables, enabling you to show financial statements broken down by division.
For a step-by-step guide, visit: Report for a Consolidated Group
Can I view KPIs by division within a Consolidated Group?
Custom KPIs referencing divisional data, which can be created and tracked at the individual company level, cannot be viewed within a Consolidated Group.
It is only possible to view a company’s financials by division within group reports: Report for a Consolidated Group
Can I track budgets for divisions in a Consolidated Group?
Divisional budgets can only be viewed and tracked at the individual company level; they cannot be accessed in a Consolidated Group unless the divisions have been imported as standalone entities.
View our dedicated article for more information: Add budgets for divisions
Can I nest or layer divisions in a Consolidated Group?
Divisions within a Consolidated Group can be nested or layered by combining default divisions with custom groupings. This enables you to report financial totals at both the default divisional level and an additional custom level.
See an example of how custom groupings work here: Create custom groupings
For an example of how this would look in a report, see: Financials by division
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