dataSights vs Spotlight Reporting
Both consolidate multi-entity accounts and build the reports on top. dataSights is built around a database you own. It brings your Xero data and the systems beside the ledger into it through 160+ connectors, and posts journals, invoices and other records back to Xero.
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Side by side, capability by capability
Everything in Spotlight Reporting's column comes from material Spotlight Reporting publishes itself, checked 5 October 2026. That covers its website, pricing pages, help centre, release notes, feature guide, blog and Xero App Store listing. Where Spotlight Reporting does not publish something we mark it "not published". That is not the same as saying the product cannot do it.
| Capability |  Spotlight Reporting |  dataSights |
|---|---|---|
| Management reports and board packs | Does this Visual management reports from templates and a chart gallery | Does this Customisable management reports and board packs |
| Custom report development | Does this Custom charts, a formula builder, custom pages and saved templates 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 |
| Budgets | Does this Imported from the ledger, tracked budgets included, or built in Spotlight Forecasting See note 5 | 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 forecasting for up to five years, with scenarios and consolidated group forecasts See note 5 | 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 Groups of up to 75 organisations in its Reporting product, given as 50 on other pages of its own, and up to 500 in Spotlight Multi See note 6 | Does this Multiple Xeros, any chart of accounts |
| Mixed-ledger group | Does this A group can combine organisations imported from different data sources See note 7 | Consolidates multiple Xeros, and other ledgers sync into the warehouse as data only |
| Multi-currency | Does this Group reports in one currency, at month-end, monthly average or your own rates See note 6 | Does this Included |
| Intercompany eliminations | Does this Full-balance eliminations on accounts you nominate, with adjustment accounts for part balances See note 8 | Does this Auto eliminations from accounts you nominate, plus journal adjustments |
| Excel | Does this Reports export to Excel, and data imports from an Excel template 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 | Not published Not published. A budget or forecast exports as a CSV file for you to import into Xero See note 12 | Does this To Xero See note 13 |
| Transaction-level drill-down | Not published Not published. Its Xero guide describes importing monthly accrual and cash information 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 Google Analytics, Google Sheets and Xero Practice Manager imports, plus Excel and manual entry for KPIs and non-financial figures See note 16 | Does this 160+ connectors See note 17 |
| A database you own | Not published Not published. Its security page states that customers own their data 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 (no posting to the ledger is described) See note 19 | 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-drafted executive summaries, text edits and action plans, with an Ask Spotlight AI bot described on its blog See note 19 | Does this AI-drafted board pack commentary, included |
| Plans | Business plans priced by organisations, with Reporting, Forecasting and Dashboard included, and Spotlight Multi on a separate plan See note 21 | One tier per package: every feature in, you pay for data scope |
| Entry price | A$65 per month for one organisation on Business, then A$50 per month for each additional one. Business 10 is A$329 per month for up to 10, then A$25 per month for each additional one See note 22 | From A$80 per month See note 22 |
| Try dataSights | 14-day free trial, no card required |
Notes and sources
- Spotlight Reporting's help centre describes building your own charts with a formula builder, and sharing formulas through a formula gallery. It also describes custom pages that hold an uploaded PDF or image, and saving report templates to reuse. Its feature guide lists a chart gallery of 100+ pre-built charts, along with industry templates. Spotlight Reporting help centre and feature guide, checked 5 October 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.
- Spotlight Reporting's help centre describes exporting a report to PDF or Excel, emailing a link to it and presenting it online. Its feature guide lists PDF reports, Excel export and online presentation. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe a PowerPoint export. That is not the same as saying Spotlight Reporting cannot produce one. Spotlight Reporting website, blog, help centre, release notes and feature guide, checked 5 October 2026.
- dataSights board packs export to PDF in A4 landscape or PPTX in 16:9 widescreen. Management reports separately export to Excel or PDF.
- Spotlight Reporting's Xero guide describes importing Xero budgets, at the overall level or with tracking. Its feature guide lists Spotlight Forecasting creating a budget from imported data, prior-year actuals or manual entry. It also lists a profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow forecast for up to five years. Its Xero page lists best and worst case scenario planning and consolidated forecasts for groups. Spotlight Reporting help centre, feature guide and Xero page, checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting's consolidation guide, its Reporting product page and its Xero page give a limit of up to 75 organisations in a group. Another help centre article, and the FAQ on its Australian business pricing page, give up to 50 entities. Both figures were on its site on 5 October 2026. Spotlight Multi is described for groups of up to 500 entities. A group report runs in one currency you choose, with each organisation converted at month-end or monthly average exchange rates, or at rates you enter. Spotlight Reporting help centre, product pages, Xero page and pricing page, checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting's consolidation guide describes groups whose organisations use different types of data source, each imported from its own source. Its import guides cover Xero, QuickBooks Online and Desktop, MYOB AccountRight, Sage 50 and Sage Intacct, with Excel or Google Sheets for other systems. Its release notes show the Sage Intacct integration as available to all users from 31 August 2026. A January 2026 post on its blog also names Digits among the ledgers Spotlight Multi brings in. Spotlight Reporting help centre, blog and release notes, checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting's eliminations guide describes nominating intercompany accounts, and states that it eliminates the full account balance for each month. Where an account also holds other transactions, the guide describes adding adjustment accounts, or importing a separate eliminations organisation from Excel. Spotlight Reporting help centre, checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting's help centre describes exporting a report to Excel and notes that the Excel version does not include chart pages. It also describes importing financial and non-financial data from an Excel template. Spotlight Reporting help centre, checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting's website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe a Power BI connection or an API for customers. The routes it publishes for getting data out are PDF and Excel exports, reports emailed as a link or presented online, finished reports saved into Karbon, and a CSV export of a budget or forecast. Its security policy says a subscription may allow data to be transferred to and from third-party applications, without naming a route. Checked 5 October 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.
- Spotlight Reporting's Xero guide describes importing actuals, budgets and tracking data from Xero. Its Xero App Store listing shows each type of shared data as shared from Xero to Spotlight Reporting. Its help centre describes exporting a budget, forecast or scenario as a CSV file for importing back into Xero. Two 2021 posts on its blog describe exporting a budget or scenario back to the accounting file, without saying how. A January 2018 post on its blog has a heading that calls the Xero integration two-way, and the text under it describes importing actual, budget and tracking data. A September 2017 post describes alerts set up in Spotlight Reporting appearing in Xero HQ, Xero's practice tool, which is not a ledger. Its Karbon integration saves finished reports into Karbon, which is a practice management system and not a ledger. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe posting journals, invoices or other records to Xero. That is not the same as saying the product cannot. Spotlight Reporting website, blog, help centre, release notes and Xero App Store listing, checked 5 October 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.
- Spotlight Reporting's Xero guide lists the data it imports as actuals, budgets and tracking data for two tracking categories. It describes actuals as monthly accrual and cash information, for the current financial year and the three previous years. For some other systems, such as MYOB and Sage 50, its help centre describes importing cash-based transactions to work out the cash values for each account. Its Xero App Store listing shows accounts, tracking categories, tax rates and reports as the data shared from Xero. Its custom pages guide describes adding content such as aged debtors or creditors as an uploaded PDF or image. Its consolidated forecasting guide describes drilling from a group figure into its accounts and individual entities. A November 2023 post on its blog describes drilling into imported data by business segment and location. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe drilling from a report figure to the transactions behind it. Spotlight Reporting website, blog, help centre, release notes and Xero App Store listing, checked 5 October 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.
- Spotlight Reporting's import guide lists Google Analytics and Google Sheets as cloud data sources beside the accounting systems, along with Excel templates and manual entry. Its feature guide also lists a Xero Practice Manager import, and its getting started page names WorkflowMax and myprosperity as sources of non-financial data. Its help centre describes importing KPIs and non-financial figures as monthly values from the Excel template, or entering them directly. Its Sustain product imports carbon data exported from Sumday. Spotlight Reporting help centre, feature guide and website, checked 5 October 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.
- The routes Spotlight Reporting publishes for getting data out are PDF and Excel exports, reports emailed as a link or presented online, finished reports saved into Karbon, and a CSV export of a budget or forecast. Its security pages state that customers own and control their data. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe a database that you hold or connect to directly. Checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting's AI features sit inside its reports. Its help centre and AI page describe AI suggestions that draft executive summary highlights and recommendations, and an Edit with AI option that rewrites existing text. Its release notes add AI-powered action plans generated from the executive summary. A February 2026 post on its blog also describes AI prompting in the executive summary and an Ask Spotlight AI bot. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe connecting Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant to Spotlight Reporting data, or an AI assistant posting to the ledger. Spotlight Reporting website, blog, AI page, help centre and release notes, checked 5 October 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.
- Spotlight Reporting's Australian pricing pages for businesses and for advisors list three business plans and four advisor plans. Business and Business 10 include its Reporting, Forecasting and Dashboard products and are priced by the number of organisations. The Franchise and not for profit plan is listed with Spotlight Multi. Advisor plans for accounting firms run from Basic, for up to 10 organisations, to Enterprise on custom pricing. The FAQ on the business pricing page describes Spotlight Reporting, included in the business plans, as its product for company consolidations. A further Australian pricing page on its site, for CFOs and finance teams, lists consolidation under Business 10, with a Finance Team Plus plan for 11 or more organisations as its third plan. That page and the business pricing page were both on its site on 5 October 2026. Its help centre states that a consolidated group counts towards the number of organisations. Spotlight Reporting pricing pages and help centre, checked 5 October 2026.
- Spotlight Reporting prices its business plans by the number of organisations and dataSights prices Xero Consolidation by the number of Xero entities. On 5 October 2026 Spotlight Reporting's Australian business pricing page, set to AUD, listed its Business plan at A$65 per month for one organisation, with additional organisations at A$50 per month each. Business 10 was A$329 per month for up to 10 organisations, with additional organisations at A$25 per month each. Its pricing page for CFOs and finance teams listed the same prices on that date, with consolidation listed under Business 10. Its help centre states that a consolidated group counts towards the number of organisations, which may add a charge depending on the subscription. 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 things dataSights does that show up in a real month-end, each one checked against what Spotlight Reporting publishes.
Post back to Xero from Excel or your AI assistant
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. Spotlight Reporting's help centre describes importing from Xero, and exporting a budget or forecast as a CSV file for you to import into Xero.
Every ledger transaction in a database you own
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. Spotlight Reporting's Xero guide describes importing actuals as monthly accrual and cash information, with budgets and tracking data.
The database is yours, as well as the reports
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. Spotlight Reporting's security page states that customers own their data. The routes it publishes for getting data out are PDF and Excel exports, reports emailed as a link or presented online, finished reports saved into Karbon, and a CSV export of a budget or forecast.
Power BI against real tables
Spotlight Reporting 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 into one warehouse
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. Beside the accounting systems, Spotlight Reporting lists imports from Google Analytics, Google Sheets and Xero Practice Manager, plus an Excel template and manual entry for KPIs and non-financial figures.
Ask in the AI you already use, and act in it
Spotlight Reporting's AI drafts executive summaries and action plans inside its reports, and a post on its blog describes an Ask Spotlight AI bot. 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. It also builds assets that last: the AI saves SQL views and mapping tables into your database, and Excel, Power BI and the management reports reuse them.
Who each one is typically used by
Spotlight Reporting
A reporting and forecasting suite of five products: Reporting, Forecasting, Dashboard, Multi and Sustain. Its site names advisors and accountants, business owners and CFOs, franchises and enterprise firms as who it is for. It imports from Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB and Sage, and prices its plans by the number of organisations.
Typically used by accounting firms delivering advisory reports and forecasts to clients, and by businesses and CFOs reporting on performance and KPIs. Franchises and not for profits use it to benchmark a network.
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 Spotlight Reporting's own material rather than instead of it. We have not scored either product or declared a winner. Every statement about Spotlight Reporting comes from material Spotlight Reporting 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 5 October 2026: Spotlight Reporting's pricing pages, product and feature pages, help centre, release notes, blog and Xero App Store listing. Where Spotlight Reporting 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.
Spotlight Reporting's Xero guide describes importing actuals, budgets and tracking data, with actuals as monthly accrual and cash information. It builds reports, forecasts and dashboards on top. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe posting records back to Xero, a database you hold, or a Power BI connection.
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 Spotlight Reporting comparison, compiled from each product's own published pages.
dataSights does: from Excel it posts eleven record types, 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. Spotlight Reporting's help centre describes importing from Xero and exporting a budget or forecast as a CSV file for you to import, and its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe posting records to 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. Spotlight Reporting's Xero guide describes importing actuals as monthly accrual and cash information, with budgets and tracking data. Its website, blog, help centre and release notes do not describe drilling from a report figure to the transactions behind it.
Spotlight Reporting sells business plans priced by the number of organisations, with its Reporting, Forecasting and Dashboard products included. It also sells a franchise and not for profit plan with Spotlight Multi, and advisor plans for accounting firms. 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.
Spotlight Reporting imports from Xero, QuickBooks Online and Desktop, MYOB AccountRight, Sage 50 and Sage Intacct, 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 Spotlight Reporting's favour; if your reporting problem is the systems either side of the ledger, it is not.
Spotlight Reporting's Australian business pricing page lists its Business plan at A$65 per month for one organisation, with each additional organisation at A$50 per month. It lists Business 10 at A$329 per month for up to 10 organisations, with each additional organisation at A$25 per month. Both exclude GST. dataSights starts at A$80 per month covering one or two Xero entities, excluding GST, 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.
