Contents
The Layout of the Main Grid
Once you create a forecast, you’ll be taken to the main forecasting grid, accessed by the Telescope icon on the left sidebar. The main grid houses the forecast Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, the Drivers grid, and the Cash Flow Statement.
In the main grid, you can view up to 12 months of actuals or past financial data and forecast data 3 years beyond the current financial year. These periods can be viewed by scrolling from left to right on the main grid, allowing you to see how the actuals are flowing into the forecast.
💡Pro Tip: You can extend your forecast to 5 years beyond the current financial year.
From the main grid, you can modify the forecast values and change how they impact balance sheet accounts.
💡Pro Tip: The layout of the P&L and Balance Sheet is determined in ‘Step 3 - Chart of Accounts’ in the entity’s Settings, including the classifications of accounts, whether or not headings and subheadings exist, and which accounts are housed under those headings or subheadings.
You can click on a heading to expand or collapse it, allowing you to view individual account movements or the overall subtotals.
Within the main grid you can also see the impact of any microforecasts you have added to the baseline forecast. Showing the breakout of the associated financial results with these events. You can toggle between all of the scenarios that have been set up to seamlessly compare financial outcomes.
Forecast Chart of Accounts
Profit & Loss
By clicking on a cell or line item, you can view and change how it is calculated. A menu will open on the right, showing the value rule used to calculate your forecast values and the applied timing profiles.
Clicking on an account name allows you to view the Settings for that account. From there, you can change account linkages and any tax rules applied to this account.
Balance Sheet
On the Balance Sheet, clicking on a cell opens a menu on the right to review impacts from the Profit & Loss and any microforecasts that contribute to the Balance Sheet account. From the menu on the right, you can click the Magnifying Glass icon to see a detailed view of the movements that impact the Balance sheet.
From this menu, you will also be able to add schedules or journals to account for one-off or recurring Balance Sheet movements, including loan repayments and depreciation calculations.
Drivers Grid
The Drivers grid will display all non-financial data & metrics used within the forecast as variables in formulas. You can add new drivers and their data from the Drivers Grid or via an Excel import. Like the Profit & Loss, clicking a cell will reveal the rule used to calculate future values.
Cash Flow Statement
The Cash Flow Statement is not interactive like other areas of the main grid. You can scroll from left to right, but you cannot modify values.
Instead, the changes you make in the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet will impact the Cash Flow Statement, and the statement will update accordingly. This way you can always check in on your operating, financing, and investing cash flow streams while forecasting in Fathom.
Formatting the forecasting grid
The classifications of accounts, order of accounts, and headings on the Chart of Accounts are all determined in the Chart of Accounts Settings for the company or group.
You also have additional formatting options for the forecasting grid, including:
Displaying subtotals (i.e. Gross Profit, Operating Profit, etc.)
Accessing the additional formatting options
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Hiding Nil Values
If you turn on the Hide Nil Rows option, any line items will all zero values in the actuals and the forecast will be hidden in the forecasting grid.
This can help you de-clutter the forecasting grid.
Viewing Gross Profit, Operating Profit, EBIT, EBITDA & Net Income
Turning on P&L Subtotal Rows adds subtotals to the forecasting grid, including Gross Profit, Operating Profit, EBIT, EBITDA, and Net Income.
You can choose the Standard or EBITDA layout for subtotal rows.
Showing account codes
Turning on Account codes adds account codes to the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet in the forecasting grid.
You'll also see account codes displayed in the microforecast grid and be able to view them in the formula builder when building a formula value rule.
📝 Note: If you have not imported account codes for a company or group, you will not have the 'Account codes' formatting option.
Viewing Quarterly and Yearly Totals
To switch between viewing monthly, quarterly, and yearly totals for the forecast, select the bolded and underlined ‘Monthly’ at the top right of the main grid. This will reveal a dropdown menu where you’re able to toggle the view.
It is only possible to set value rules, timing profiles, schedules & journals at the monthly level of the forecast.
Next steps
Continue the 'Forecast Creation & Setup Workflow' by choosing from one of the next steps below:
What you want to do: | Where to go next: |
Tailor and customise your forecast with value rules | |
Import or create drivers to use as variables in formula value rules | |
Forecast Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Unearned/Deferred Revenue, and Prepaid Expenses |
Additional knowledge & common questions