This feature is included with Fathom Pro - the plan with access to all of Fathom's features. Companies on Portfolio can be upgraded to Fathom Pro at any time.

Import a budget from Excel

You can choose to import a budget from your source accounting system (Xero, QuickBooks Online, or MYOB Business).

Alternatively, you can import your budget data from Excel (.xlsx or .csv) anytime. This is useful if you import your financial data from QuickBooks Desktop, MYOB Desktop, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, Sage 50 Accounts, FreeAgent, or Excel. If you use other tools to create your budget, you can also import it into Fathom via Excel.

Add a budget to your company via Excel

You can import an Excel budget for your company by selecting ‘Settings’ for the company on the ‘My Companies’ page.

Go to Source Data in the company’s Settings.
Under the Budgets section, click Add a budget.

📝 Note: If you already have a budget imported into Fathom from your source accounting system or your Fathom forecast, then you’ll need to remove that budget before being able to click the ‘Add a budget.'
Choose Excel
In the following screen, you’ll see our import guidelines for importing from Excel. We recommend downloading our detailed Import Guidelines, which provide step-by-step instructions on creating your Excel file.
Select the option to 'download an import template’. You can open this in Excel and enable editing to enter your accounts and values.

💡Smart Tip: Classifications (Column A) are 3 or 4-letter codes that allow Fathom to determine the type of account. View this article for more information on Account Classifications.
Once you’ve created your budget import file in Excel, return to Fathom.

❗ Notice: You'll need to ensure that the budget is contained in the first worksheet of the spreadsheet for the import to be successful.
Select the option to ‘Choose a file to upload.’
Then, select your budget import file.
When the import is complete, return to Source Data.

The budget should now be added to your company from Excel.

💡Smart Tip: You can also save the forecast you create in Fathom as your company’s budget. View the following article for more details on saving your forecast as your company’s budget.

Continue setting up your company in Fathom

Can you use account codes in an Excel budget import?

When adding a budget from Excel, we revert to the account name and then to the account code. If the account name is specified, we match the values to an account name. The account names must match the Chart of Accounts.

Build or add a budget from the company’s forecast

If you don't have a budget to import into Fathom, you can create one for your company using our forecasting tool. You can save your main forecast or a forecast scenario as your company's budget in Fathom.

You can either completely replace your current Excel budget with the company’s forecast, or only partially replace it.

Learn how:

Update your Excel budget

You’ll need to re-import the Excel file to update an Excel budget in Fathom. To do this:

Go to Source Data in the company’s Settings
In the Budgets section, click Update from Excel.
You can:
1. Download a blank import template
2. Download an import template that includes the existing budget data
3. Or add data to your existing Excel import file.
  
  💡Smart Tip: To add financial data for a recently completed period, you can only include the new period's data to extend the existing financial range. However, many of our customers prefer to build upon a single Excel file that contains all periods. This can be easier to manage and allows you to easily make prior period adjustments if required.
Once you’ve created or updated your Excel budget file, select the ‘Choose a file to upload’ option.
Select your Excel file with the updated budget

📝 Note: Fathom supports only one budget from Excel at a time. Before importing an entirely new budget from Excel, check if an existing budget already exists in Fathom. If there is, you'll need to remove it first by selecting the 'Remove Budget' option in the budget section. If you're only looking to update an existing budget, please use our update budget instructions.

Next Steps

Congratulations on importing your budget into Fathom! Continue the 'Getting Started Workflow' and finish setting up your company for analysis, reporting, and forecasting by choosing from the options below:

What you want to do:	Next step in the process:
Ready to set up your company profile and import your company logo into Fathom?	Set up your Company Profile
Happy with your company profile and want to check and customise your Chart of Accounts?	Customise your Chart of Accounts
Happy with your Chart of Accounts and ready to set up KPIs to track your company's performance?	Set up KPIs

Learn more

Import your Budget from Excel