Side by side, capability by capability
Everything in Fathom's column comes from material Fathom publishes itself, checked 29 September 2026. That covers its pages, pricing calculator, help centre, update log, blog and Xero App Store listing. Where Fathom does not publish something we mark it "not published". That is not the same as saying the product cannot do it.
| Capability |  Fathom |  dataSights |
|---|---|---|
| Management reports and board packs | Does this Branded management reports, from templates or its report editor | Does this Customisable management reports and board packs |
| Custom report development | Does this Report editor, custom templates, custom KPIs and a formula builder See note 1 | Does this Unlimited, built over your own SQL database in Excel, Power BI or AI See note 2 |
| Board pack export to PowerPoint | Not published Not published See note 3 | Does this PowerPoint and PDF See note 4 |
| Scheduled reports | Does this Reports created on a schedule, with users notified by email See note 5 | Data refreshes on a schedule, and packs export on demand for you to share See note 6 |
| Budgets | Does this Imported or built in Fathom, and consolidated for groups | Does this Xero budgets sync in and drive the budget vs actuals report in the management reports. Your own budget and forecast tables upload or sync from Excel Online into the same database. |
| Forecasting | Does this Three-way cash flow forecasting, including for groups | No forecasting module. Forecast tables sync from Xero or upload from Excel Online into your database, so Excel, Power BI and AI report against them. |
| Consolidation across entities | Does this Single-currency groups of up to 300 companies, with consistent or inconsistent charts of accounts See note 7 | Does this Multiple Xeros, any chart of accounts |
| Mixed-ledger group | Does this Consolidates companies from different accounting systems in one group See note 8 | Consolidates multiple Xeros, and other ledgers sync into the warehouse as data only |
| Multi-currency | Does this Up to 50 companies in a multi-currency group See note 7 | Does this Included |
| Intercompany eliminations | Does this Automated and manual eliminations | Does this Auto eliminations from accounts you nominate, plus journal adjustments |
| Excel | Does this Reports and report tables download to Excel See note 9 | Does this One-click refresh, and post back from a sheet |
| Power BI | Not published Not published See note 10 | Does this Import or DirectQuery against your database See note 11 |
| Writes data back to the ledger | Imports only: its help centre describes a one-way connection See note 12 | Does this To Xero See note 13 |
| Transaction-level drill-down | Its help centre states it does not receive individual transactions See note 14 | Does this The whole transaction table sitting in your database to query, join and automate against See note 15 |
| Non-ledger data sources | Does this Operational data imported from Excel or Google Sheets See note 16 | Does this 160+ connectors See note 17 |
| A database you own | Not published Not published See note 18 | Does this Dedicated Azure SQL, hosted in our Microsoft account or yours |
| Connect your own AI assistant | Not published Not published See note 19 | Does this Claude, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot via MCP, post journals from chat, no extra cost. |
| Month-end automation from AI | Not published Not published (one-way connections, no posting to the ledger) See note 12 | Does this Query transactions, calculate prepayments and deferred revenue, post to Xero, sync and validate, in one loop See note 20 |
| AI inside the product | Does this AI Commentary Writer in Pro reports See note 19 | Does this AI-drafted board pack commentary, included |
| Plans | Fathom Pro with every feature on every tier, plus Portfolio for client monitoring See note 21 | One tier per package: every feature in, you pay for data scope |
| Entry price | A$73 per company per month on Fathom Pro, for up to five companies See note 22 | From A$80 per month See note 22 |
Notes and sources
- Fathom's pricing page lists a report editor, custom templates, custom KPIs and a formula builder on its Pro plan. It also lists ready-made report templates and a library of charts and tables. Fathom pricing page, checked 29 September 2026.
- Every dataSights customer gets a dedicated Azure SQL database, so custom reports are built over that database in Excel, Power BI, any other tool that speaks SQL, or an AI assistant. There is no per-report or per-seat limit, and each package has a single tier with every feature in it. The data is what is priced. Account transactions, payroll and fixed assets cost extra on top of the base Xero Consolidation price, and connectors to systems such as inventory and CRM are priced per source system.
- Fathom's pricing page lists export to PDF and to Excel or CSV, print and digital reports, and a presentation mode for showing reports on screen. Its help centre describes reports published online, downloaded as PDFs and downloaded to Excel. PowerPoint appears in neither. That is not the same as saying Fathom cannot produce one. Fathom pricing page and help centre, checked 29 September 2026.
- dataSights board packs export to PDF in A4 landscape or PPTX in 16:9 widescreen. Management reports separately export to Excel or PDF.
- Fathom's scheduling guide describes creating draft or published reports automatically from a custom template. A schedule runs after the end of each month, quarter or financial year, and can notify users by email when the report is created. Fathom help centre, last updated 10 September 2026.
- dataSights refreshes your data on a schedule rather than emailing reports out. Scheduled intraday syncs are available on request at no extra cost on Xero Consolidation, and manual refreshes are unlimited. Board packs export to PDF or PowerPoint at any time for you to circulate.
- Fathom's consolidation guides give its limits as up to 300 companies in a single-currency group and up to 50 in a multi-currency group. Accounts are combined where they share a name and a Fathom classification, not by account code. Its guides describe consolidating companies with consistent or inconsistent charts of accounts, with differently named accounts grouped under headings. Consolidated groups carry no charge of their own, but every company in a group must be on Fathom Pro. Fathom help centre, last updated 26 July 2026, and pricing page, checked 29 September 2026.
- Fathom's help centre states that companies can be consolidated regardless of accounting source, and describes direct integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, MYOB and FreeAgent, including desktop versions of QuickBooks and MYOB. Other systems come in through Excel or Google Sheets. Fathom help centre, last updated 18 June and 6 August 2026, and integrations page, checked 29 September 2026.
- Fathom's help centre describes downloading its default reports to Excel, such as financial results, KPI results and variance reports. Report viewers can also be allowed to download a report's tables to Excel. Fathom help centre, last updated 29 June and 15 July 2026.
- Fathom's pricing page, help centre, blog and product update log do not describe a Power BI connection or an API for customers. The routes Fathom publishes for getting data out are Excel, CSV and PDF downloads, chart images, and reports shared online. Checked 29 September 2026.
- dataSights lands transformed tables in a dedicated Azure SQL database you own, so Power BI connects by Import for the consolidated views, or by DirectQuery against account transactions where that data point is enabled. Account transactions is a paid add-on to the base Xero Consolidation price.
- Fathom's budget import guides state that it connects to Xero through a one-way API connection. Fathom only imports data from Xero and does not send any data back, so changes made in Fathom are not reflected in Xero. The guides state the same for QuickBooks Online and MYOB. Adjustments are made inside Fathom and change the figures shown there, not the source ledger. A budget can be downloaded in Xero's import format and imported into Xero by hand. Fathom's Xero App Store listing shows each type of data as shared from Xero to Fathom. Fathom help centre, last updated 29 June, 9 July and 26 July 2026, and Xero App Store listing, checked 29 September 2026.
- From Excel, dataSights posts eleven record types: manual journals, invoices and bills, credit notes, purchase orders, bank transactions, bank transfers, payments, accounts, contacts, items and tracking categories. Through an AI assistant it posts manual journals, invoices and bills, contacts and chart of accounts changes, and attaches PDFs and documents to records that already exist in Xero. Both routes reach multiple Xero organisations in a single action. The AI route works in batches of up to 200 records, with up to 20 attachments per call.
- Fathom's help centre states that Fathom does not receive individual transactions from the source accounting system. Its Xero guide states that it imports the standard profit and loss and balance sheet. Its limits guide describes this as monthly data, up to eight years of it. Budgets and tracking categories can be imported too, and for Xero and QuickBooks Online companies, invoices and payments for aged receivables and payables reporting. Aged receivables and payables data cannot be imported or reported for consolidated groups. Its Xero App Store listing includes journals among the data shared from Xero to Fathom. Its Commentary Writer page states that the AI cannot access transaction-level data. Fathom help centre articles last updated between 4 March and 9 September 2026, and Commentary Writer page and Xero App Store listing, checked 29 September 2026.
- dataSights drill-down reaches account transactions where that data point is enabled. Account transactions is a paid add-on to the base Xero Consolidation price.
- Fathom's help centre describes importing non-financial data, such as operational, sales or staff figures, from Excel or Google Sheets to track as KPIs. It notes that Zapier or other third-party apps can fill the Google Sheet from other systems. Fathom help centre, last updated 15 July and 6 August 2026.
- 160+ connectors are available. On Xero Consolidation, Xero, Excel Online and Google Sheets are included. Connectors for other source systems, such as inventory, CRM and external payroll systems, are priced per source system. Account transactions, payroll and fixed assets are Xero data sets priced as add-ons.
- Fathom publishes Excel, CSV and PDF downloads of its reports, tables and forecasts, and reports shared online. It does not publish a database that you hold or connect to directly. Fathom pricing page and help centre, checked 29 September 2026.
- Fathom's AI feature is the Commentary Writer. It drafts commentary inside Pro reports from prompts or a freeform chat about up to six report components you select. Its product page states that it is not a chatbot, only analyses the selected components and cannot access transaction-level data. Fathom's help centre, blog and product update log do not describe connecting Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant to Fathom data. Fathom Commentary Writer page, help centre, blog and product update log, checked 29 September 2026.
- Querying transactions, and the Claude month-end workflows built on them, need account transactions, a paid add-on to the base Xero Consolidation price.
- Fathom sells two subscriptions, Fathom Pro and Portfolio, with Fathom Pro quoted as Enterprise above 50 companies. Fathom Pro carries every feature, and its pricing page lists them as included on all Pro tiers, which are priced by the number of companies. Portfolio is a monitoring subscription for accounting firms, covering a client dashboard, metric drill-down and summary reports, without custom reporting, forecasting or consolidation. Every company in a consolidated group must be on Fathom Pro. Fathom pricing page, checked 29 September 2026, and help centre, last updated 17 September 2026.
- Fathom prices Fathom Pro per company and dataSights prices Xero Consolidation by the number of Xero entities. On 29 September 2026 Fathom's pricing calculator, set to AUD, gave A$73 per company per month for one to five companies, so A$146 for two. Six to ten companies cost A$430 per month in total, larger bands cost less per company, and above 50 is quoted. Fathom states that its AUD prices exclude GST. The dataSights entry price covers one or two Xero entities with reports data; account transactions, payroll, fixed assets and extra connectors are priced as add-ons. Both change, so check each provider's own pricing page. Both providers' prices exclude GST.
Software changes often, so check both providers' current pages before deciding. dataSights publishes this page and makes one of the two products compared.
Where dataSights goes further
Six differences that show up in a real month-end, each one checked against what Fathom publishes.
Post back to Xero, not only read from it
Fathom's help centre describes a one-way connection: it imports from Xero and sends nothing back. From an Excel sheet, dataSights posts eleven record types, each to multiple Xero organisations in a single upload. They run from manual journals and invoices through to purchase orders, bank transfers and tracking categories. Through an AI assistant it posts manual journals, invoices and bills, contacts and chart of accounts changes, and attaches documents to records already in Xero.
Every ledger transaction, not only report totals
Fathom's help centre states that it does not receive individual transactions from the source accounting system. It imports invoices and payments for aged receivables and payables reporting. dataSights syncs down to account transactions, a paid add-on, into a database you own. A figure in a report can then be traced, filtered and joined to the transactions behind it, across every entity.
The database is yours, not only the reports
Fathom publishes Excel, CSV and PDF downloads and online reports for getting data out. Every dataSights customer gets a dedicated Azure SQL database, hosted by us or running in your own Microsoft account. Your analysts, your BI tools and your own scripts query it directly, with eliminations and FX already applied in the consolidated views.
Power BI against real tables
Fathom does not publish a Power BI connection. The dataSights database is yours, so Power BI connects by Import for the consolidated views. DirectQuery reaches account transactions where that data point is enabled, as a paid add-on. No Power Query chain in the middle.
160+ connectors against spreadsheet imports
Fathom brings operational data in through Excel or Google Sheets imports. dataSights runs 160+ connectors into one managed warehouse. Reporting usually stalls on the systems that are not the ledger: payroll, inventory, CRM. In dataSights they land in the same database as your Xero data, ready for Excel, Power BI or an AI tool. Connectors for other source systems, such as inventory, CRM and external payroll systems, are priced per source system.
Ask in the AI you already use, and act in it
Fathom's AI is the Commentary Writer, which drafts commentary inside its reports. dataSights exposes the consolidated layer to Claude, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot through AI Connect, its MCP connector, included at no extra cost. The same connection posts journals, invoices, contacts and chart of accounts changes back to Xero, under permissions you set.
Who each one is typically used by
Fathom
Part of The Access Group since 2022, with stated focus on small and medium businesses, accountants and bookkeepers, and franchises and groups. It connects to Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB, Sage and FreeAgent, and prices Fathom Pro by the number of companies.
Typically used by small and medium businesses forecasting and measuring performance, by accountants delivering advisory and reporting, and by franchises and groups monitoring group performance.
dataSights
Built for multi-entity finance teams running on Xero, and for the BI and report developers who serve them. Used by 300+ businesses.
Typically used by a group whose reporting problem starts before the report. It is pulling Xero and non-Xero systems together, posting journals and invoices back across every entity, and handing analysts a database they can query directly.
How this page was compiled
Published by dataSights. We make one of the two products compared. This page is written to show where dataSights fits, so read it alongside Fathom's own material rather than instead of it. We have not scored either product or declared a winner. Every statement about Fathom comes from material Fathom publishes itself, including its Xero App Store listing. None comes from third-party review sites or our own testing of their product.
Sources, all checked 29 September 2026: Fathom's pricing page and calculator, feature pages, help centre, product update log, blog and Xero App Store listing. Where Fathom does not publish something we mark it "not published" and say so. That is not the same as the product being unable to do it.
If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it. These comparisons are reviewed on a regular cycle and the date is stamped above.
Frequently asked questions
Both consolidate multiple entities and produce management reports. The difference is what sits underneath.
Fathom imports each company's monthly results, plus invoices and payments for aged receivables and payables as at the last sync. Its help centre states it does not receive individual transactions, and it sends nothing back to Xero.
dataSights gives you a dedicated, reporting-ready SQL database, down to account transactions when you add them to your plan. That one database feeds:
- Customisable management reports and board packs in the dataSights platform, including AR and AP detail rebuilt from the underlying transactions, so you can rerun it as at any date, not just the last sync
- Excel automation through the Office Add-in and Power Query, including posting journals, invoices and other records back across multiple Xero organisations in one action
- Power BI and other BI tools, connected straight to your database
- AI Connect, our MCP, which your own AI uses two ways: month-end work, querying transactions and posting back to Xero, and report development, creating SQL views and creating and editing mapping tables so what it builds persists
- 160+ connectors bringing the systems beside the ledger, inventory, CRM, payroll, into the same database
See the full dataSights vs Fathom comparison, compiled from each product's own published pages.
Only dataSights does: Fathom's help centre describes a one-way connection that imports from Xero and sends nothing back. dataSights posts eleven record types from Excel, including journals, invoices, credit notes and payments, each to many Xero organisations in a single upload. Through an AI assistant it also posts journals, invoices and bills, contacts and chart of accounts changes, and attaches documents to records already in Xero.
dataSights keeps account transactions, a paid add-on, in your own database, so a figure can be traced to its transactions and joined to other systems across every entity. Fathom imports invoices and payments for aged receivables and payables, and its help centre states it does not receive individual transactions from the ledger. Nor does the help centre describe drilling from a report figure to the transactions behind it.
Fathom sells Fathom Pro, priced by the number of companies with every feature on every tier, and Portfolio, a monitoring subscription for accounting firms without consolidation or forecasting. Every company in a Fathom consolidated group must be on Fathom Pro. dataSights prices Xero Consolidation by Xero entities and Data Syncing by source systems, with unlimited seats and every feature in both; account transactions, payroll, fixed assets and connectors to systems such as inventory and CRM are Xero Consolidation add-ons.
Fathom connects directly to Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB, Sage and FreeAgent, including the desktop editions of QuickBooks and MYOB, and takes in other ledgers through Excel or Google Sheets. dataSights consolidation is Xero-led, and its 160+ connectors bring external payroll, inventory, CRM, e-commerce and other systems into the same warehouse, priced per source system. If your entities sit on several different ledgers, that is a point in Fathom's favour; if your reporting problem is the systems either side of the ledger, it is not.
Fathom's calculator, set to AUD, gives Fathom Pro at A$73 per company per month for one to five companies, so A$146 for two, with lower per-company rates in larger bands, excluding GST. dataSights starts at A$80 per month covering one or two Xero entities, with consolidation, multi-currency and AI Connect included and account transactions, payroll, fixed assets and extra connectors as add-ons. Both change, so check each provider's own pricing page.
