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.

How to set up your Chart of Accounts in Fathom

❗Notice: This article refers to your Chart of Accounts for an individual company. If viewing the settings for a consolidated group, proceed to the following help article: Consolidated Chart of Accounts.

You can make changes to your company’s Chart of Accounts in Fathom from a Fathom Pro company’s Settings at any time.

Access the Settings by selecting the Cog/Gear icon for the company from the My Companies page. If you have several companies imported into Fathom, you’ll need to hover over a company to reveal the Cog/Gear icon.

Why is this important?

The settings for your Chart of Accounts flow through to the Reports, Analysis, and Forecast areas of Fathom.

The way your Chart of Accounts is set up impacts:

KPI and financial statement calculations

The order of accounts in financial statements

Headings and subheadings in financial statements

How an account can be forecast

First time set up

The first time you import a company from your source accounting system, Fathom will do its best to replicate the existing chart of accounts structure to provide a helpful layout. Fathom will also set the terminology for the company based on the default terminology for your organisation.

We suggest the following workflow to ensure the Chart of Accounts is set up correctly in Fathom:

Check the classifications of accounts
1. You do not need to check the classifications for companies imported from Excel, as you would have chosen these as part of the import template.
Tailor the layout
1. Headings and subheadings
2. Order of accounts

The changes you make will only be made in Fathom; they will not affect your source accounting system.

For subsequent financial data updates, the structure, hierarchy, and terminology of your Chart of Accounts in Fathom (including ordering, headings, and classifications) will be retained according to your settings in Fathom.

You can make changes to your Chart of Accounts settings in Fathom at any time.

💡Smart Tip: If you have industry, regional, or organisation reporting standards that require different financial terms, you can change the terminology used for the company. Please see our 'Custom Terminology' article for more information.

Classify Accounts

Fathom assigns a primary and sub-classification to each account. An account’s classification forms the basis for how it is treated in calculations.

View the classification guidelines to see a detailed explanation of each account classification.

While Fathom will automatically classify your accounts (unless you’re importing from Excel), it's a good idea to review the classifications to ensure they're accurate.

Example: Fathom classified a ‘Transportation’ account as a Variable Expense for a business. However, the business considers it a Fixed Expense and reclassifies it as such.

You can reclassify an account in two ways:

Hover over an account and select Reclassify.

or
Drag and drop an account into a different classification.

To reclassify multiple accounts:

Hover over each account and select the checkbox that appears.
At the top of the Chart of Accounts, click the grey Reclassify option.
Choose the appropriate classification

💡 Smart Tip: You can also select multiple accounts and drag and drop them into a different classification or reclassify a heading or subheading. All accounts under the same heading or subheading will be reclassified together.

Tailor the Chart of Accounts Layout

You can tailor the Chart of Accounts Layout by:

Creating or editing headings or subheadings
Reordering accounts

Headings and subheadings

You can have up to four layers of detail in your Chart of Accounts:

Classification
- Heading
  - Subheading
    Account

In a Forecast or Pro Report, you can choose to display up to a certain level of detail.

Example: In a financial statement in a Pro Report, you can choose to display headings but not display subheadings or accounts. In this case, the financial statement will only show the classification and headings within each classification.

Create headings or subheadings

There are two ways to create headings or subheadings in Fathom:

1. Choose the accounts, then create the heading

Hover over the account(s) you want under a heading and click the checkbox that appears next to each account.
At the top of the Chart of Accounts, click the green + New Heading option.
Type in the name of the heading or subheading.

2. Create the heading, then choose the accounts

Next to a classification or heading, click the green + Add heading option.
Type in the name of the heading or subheading.
Drag and drop accounts under it, or select multiple accounts and use the Move option at the top of the Chart of Accounts.

Edit a heading or subheading

To rename a heading or subheading:

Hover over it.
Click the grey Pencil icon.
Type in the new name.

To change the accounts under a heading or subheading:

Hover over each account and click the Checkbox that appears.
At the top of the Chart of Accounts, select the grey Move option.
Choose the heading or subheading to move the accounts under.
You can only choose a heading or subheading under the same classification. If you want to move the accounts under a heading in a different classification, you can drag and drop them.

📝Note: If you want to move an account out from underneath a heading, but do not want to put it under another heading, you can drag and drop the account in the Chart of Accounts.

Delete or remove a heading or subheading

To delete a heading or subheading:

Hover over the heading or subheading.
Click the Three dots icon that appears to the far right of the heading name.
Select Delete

The accounts underneath the heading or subheading will not be deleted. If they are under a subheading, they will be moved to the heading above. If they are under a heading, they will no longer be under a heading.

Reorder or rearrange the Chart of Accounts

Re-order individual accounts by dragging and dropping them into a different position on the Chart of Accounts.

There are two ways to re-order multiple accounts:

Hover over the accounts and click the Checkbox that appears for each account.
Do one of the following:
1. Select the Move option at the top of the Chart of Accounts to move the accounts under a heading or subheading within the same classification.
2. Drag and drop the accounts into a new position.

Reorder the Chart of Accounts by code or alphabetically

You can rearrange your entire Chart of Accounts:

At the top of the Chart of Accounts, select the grey Reorder option
Choose Alphabetical or Account codes

Fathom will respect the structure of your Chart of Accounts when rearranging accounts. Accounts will only be rearranged by account code within the same heading or classification. Accounts within a heading and headings within a classification will be rearranged in alphabetical order.

📝 Note: Account codes will not automatically be shown in a custom Fathom report if this option is checked in 'Chart of Accounts'. They will only be displayed when you check the 'Show account codes' option for a financial statement or Excel report.

View archived accounts or account codes

To view archived accounts as you're organising your Chart of Accounts:

In the Chart of Accounts Settings, select Options
Click on the 'Archived Accounts' or 'Account codes' checkbox.

📝 Note: These options will be greyed out if you do not have any archived accounts or have not imported account codes.

Archived accounts are still imported into Fathom when they contain historical data, ensuring that accounts can be reconciled correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I make changes to my Chart of Accounts in my source accounting system?

For the most part, your Chart of Accounts settings in Fathom will be retained when you update your financial data in Fathom.

If changes have occurred in your source accounting system, such as account reclassifications, Fathom will import these changes when the company's financials have been updated in Fathom.

Symbols will indicate new or updated accounts in your Chart of Accounts settings in Fathom. You may see the following account status symbols in your Chart of Accounts settings:

Green New – A new account has recently been added to the source accounting system. An account will have a ‘New’ designation for 3 months once it has been imported into Fathom.

Blue Updated – An updated account has recently changed in the source accounting system. For example, you may have changed the account name or classification in your source accounting system. These changes will be brought into Fathom. An account will have a ‘Cloud’ icon next to it for 3 months once an update has been detected by Fathom.

Red Exclamation Point – An account with an unusual classification. For example, Fathom may recognise an Expense account with ‘Income’ in the account name as an unusual classification for that account.

Grey File Drawer – An archived account is listed as ‘archived’ or ‘inactive’ in the source accounting system. By default, archived accounts will not appear in your financial reports or Excel reports.

Grey Forward Clock – A future account that has been created in the Forecast. This account only appears in Fathom and is not in the source accounting system, but can be merged with an account in the source accounting system.

Can I have more than one version of my Chart of Accounts?

You can only have one version of the Chart of Accounts for a company or group in Fathom.

In Pro Reports, you can use custom KPIs and KPI Tables to create a custom financial statement that differs from the Chart of Accounts you’ve set up in Fathom.

Can I change the name of an account in Fathom?

It is not possible to change the name of an account from your source accounting system (QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB, Sage, or Excel) in Fathom. The account name must be changed within the source system and then updated in Fathom.

If you have created a future account in Fathom for forecasting purposes, you can change the name of the future account in the Forecast Settings.

Can I copy the Chart of Accounts layout from another company?

Yes, you can use the 'Copy settings' option to copy the Chart of Accounts layout from another company.

Learn more from our 'Can I copy settings between companies or groups?' article.

Next Steps

Congratulations on setting up and organising your Chart of Accounts!

Any decisions you made in your Chart of Accounts in Fathom can be changed later on if needed. Continue the 'Get Started Workflow' and finish setting up your company for analysis, reporting, and forecasting by choosing from one of the next steps below:

What you want to do:	Next step in the setup process:
Happy with your Chart of Accounts organisation and ready to set up KPIs?	Set up KPIs or 'Key Performance Indicators'
Happy with your chosen KPIs and ready to set targets for your company?	Set Targets

Learn more

Set up your Chart of Accounts