Can I merge two companies in Fathom?

If the source accounting system for your company in Fathom changes (e.g., from Excel to a cloud-based system or from MYOB to Xero), we recommend you delete the old company in Fathom and import it again from the new system.

It's not possible to merge two files from differing sources in Fathom. However, if historical data must be retained for reporting and combined with the new source, a workaround using consolidated groups.

Merging Process

The approach is to leave the old company in place and have it finish in a certain month (e.g. June). The new company should be imported starting from the next month (e.g. July). Then, a consolidated group will be created that combines the two companies.

There are a few things to take note of when using this approach:

Retaining both companies will mean an additional cost for a second company.
Both companies must be on a Fathom Pro plan to be part of a consolidated group. Consolidated groups in Fathom are free of charge.
In each company, you should use KPIs sourced from the KPI Library so that they flow up to the consolidated group.

Balance Sheet Carry-forward

In a normal consolidation, companies that finish before the consolidated group finish date will have their balance sheet 'carried forward'. Results from the last period in the company are copied into any future empty periods.

When combining data for the same company this is unhelpful and will result in an incorrect balance sheet.

This can be solved by adding one more period to the old company and 'zeroing' out the balance sheet. Alternatively, you could add an Excel elimination company to perform the zeroing out.

Example:

You wish to merge a new Xero file with your old Excel file that contains historical data.

The Excel file contains data from July 2016 to June 2019, and the Xero file has data from July 2019 to June 2020.

The 'Cash & Equivalents' in the Excel balance sheet for June 2019 is $1,000,000.

'Cash & Equivalents' in the Xero balance sheet for July 2019 is $1,500,000.

When viewing July 2019 results in Fathom in the consolidated group, 'Cash & Equivalents' will show $2,500,000. This is because the Excel file's balance sheet is being carried forward to later periods.

To fix this, modify the Excel import to include a column for 'Jul 2019'— input '0' as the value of all accounts.

Now, the value of '0' will be carried forward, and your consolidated Balance sheet will display the correct value going forward.

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