Alternatives
Fathom alternatives
Fathom is a mature management reporting and analysis platform that also builds a three-way forecast from your Xero or QuickBooks data, and it is a favourite of accounting firms. bluprnts builds the same three statements from your operational drivers instead, so it works with no accounting connection at all. Pick Fathom for reporting depth and multi-entity consolidation across a client base; pick bluprnts when the business has no books to build on, or the question is about a decision rather than a trend.
First — is Fathom actually the problem?
Switching costs time, so it's worth being clear about what you'd be giving up. Here's what Fathom does well:
- Genuinely excellent management reporting. Custom KPIs, benchmarking, divisional analysis on Xero tracking categories, and a large library of brandable report templates. Reporting is the product's centre of gravity and it shows.
- Multi-entity consolidation at a scale we do not attempt. Fathom supports consolidated reporting and forecasting across a large number of entities, which matters enormously to a firm or a group and not at all to a single business.
- A three-way forecast that ties P&L, balance sheet and cash flow together, running years ahead, not a cash-only projection.
- Every figure drills down to its source, so it is auditable in the same spirit bluprnts aims for. This is not a dimension where we are better, only one where we start from different source data.
- Thirteen years in the Xero ecosystem and tens of thousands of businesses. Your accountant may already know it, which is worth more than any feature.
Stay with Fathom if Pick Fathom if reporting is the job. If you need polished management report packs, benchmarking, KPI dashboards and consolidated reporting across several entities or a portfolio of clients, Fathom does all of that properly and bluprnts does none of it. Pick Fathom too if your books are clean and current and you want your forecast anchored to them with minimal setup, or if your accountant already works in it.
Where bluprnts fits
Pick bluprnts when the forecast has to exist before the accounting data does, or has to describe something the accounts have never seen. A pre-revenue company, a new venture, a new product line, a second site. The model is built from your products, prices, people, costs and financing, so nothing needs connecting first, and a decision you are weighing up is an input you change rather than an adjustment layered on a projection of history.
For the full feature-by-feature breakdown, see bluprnts vs Fathom.