Fathom vs Joiin: Which Software Is Best for Your Business?

Quick summary

Choose Fathom when...

• You want a cash flow forecasting software that's built for planning: Fathom combines three-way forecasting with scenario-based planning, driver-based forecasts, Microforecasts and a Business Roadmap. Accountants and business owners can model how a decision will affect cash before it’s made.
  ‍
• You need deep KPI and performance analysis: As a financial analysis software, Fathom includes 50+ financial KPIs, a formula builder for custom KPIs, KPI alerts and targets, plus profitability, breakeven and what-if analysis through its Goalseek feature to answer, “how do we get there?”
  ‍
• You want AI commentary you can check figure by figure: Commentary Writer shapes its narrative around your Business Context and Report Context, and Symbolic Attribution traces every figure back to its source before a report reaches a client or board.

Choose Joiin when...

• You want an AI tool to help build your forecasts: Joiin Intelligence lets you create and refine forecast rules with natural-language instructions. You can build three-way forecasts for a single company or a consolidated group.
  ‍
• Your entities run on a wider mix of accounting systems: Joiin connects directly to Zoho Books, Pennylane, Puzzle and Fortnox, alongside Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and FreeAgent, so groups using those platforms can consolidate every entity in one place.
  ‍
• You want to push consolidated data into other tools: Joiin Connect sends consolidated data to Power BI, Tableau or a data warehouse, and Zapier links Joiin to thousands of other apps.

Quick comparison snapshot: Fathom vs Joiin

Joiin

Cash flow forecasting

Management reporting

Consolidated reporting

Financial analysis

Customisation depth

AI-generated commentary

Fathom vs Joiin: Feature-by-feature comparison

Reporting capabilities

Fathom strengths:

• As a management reporting software, Fathom’s report editor brings together text, charts, tables and financial statements. Teams can work from ready-made templates or save their own as reusable custom templates.
  ‍
• Reports come with 90+ customisable charts, auto-text placeholders that always reference the latest numbers, and rule-based observations that flag positive or negative results automatically.
  ‍
• Scheduled delivery, branded cover pages, comments, draft mode and presentation mode support recurring client and board reporting from start to finish.

Joiin strengths:

• Five off-the-shelf reports (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, KPIs and trial balance) run across single or multiple entities, alongside sales and purchasing reports such as AR and AP ageing, sales by customer and purchases by supplier.
  ‍
• Report Packs combine reports, charts and text in one- to three-column layouts with your logo and colours. They can be scheduled weekly or monthly, exported to PDF or Excel, or shared as a live link that updates with the underlying data.
  ‍
• Dashboards can be generated automatically or built from drag-and-drop widgets, with multi-entity data shown side by side.

Forecasting and planning

Fathom strengths:

• As a cash flow forecasting software, Fathom produces three-way forecasts across the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow, with scenario-based planning for best-case, worst-case, and everything in between. You can also forecast the current financial year +5 years (60 months) into the future.
  ‍
• Driver-based forecasting, Microforecasts (for events such as a new hire or an asset purchase) and the Business Roadmap show how specific plans flow through to cash.
  ‍
• Quick Start generates a three-way forecast with a single click, forecasts can be built from an existing budget, and forecasts drop straight into reports for planned vs actual comparisons.

Joiin strengths:

• Three-way forecasts can be built for a single company or a consolidated group, starting from actual financial data (Pro and Max plans).
  ‍
• Forecasts can look up to 60 months ahead, using trends, growth assumptions or a blank forecast.
  ‍
• Joiin Intelligence lets users create and refine forecast rules with natural-language instructions.

Multi-entity consolidation

Fathom strengths:

• As a financial consolidation software, Fathom consolidates up to 300 entities in a single group across Xero, QuickBooks, MYOB and Excel, and consolidated groups carry no extra charge and no cap on how many you create.
  ‍
• Results from 95+ currencies translate into a single currency using default or custom exchange rates, with intercompany eliminations and adjustments applied to the consolidated view.
  ‍
• Consolidated budgets, group forecasting and non-financial consolidation keep group reporting forward-looking as well as historical.

Joiin strengths:

• Joiin consolidates any number of entities, from two upwards, across any mix of its supported accounting systems and spreadsheets.
  ‍
• Chart of accounts mapping happens automatically on connection and holds for every future refresh once adjusted, and intercompany eliminations for loans, sales and other intercompany transactions are automated.
  ‍
• Multi-currency reporting (Pro and Max) uses month-end and average exchange rates for balance sheet and P&L reports and keeps an adjustment record so everything balances, with the Max plan adding advanced FX using your own rates.

Financial analysis & KPI insights

Fathom strengths:

• As a financial analysis software, Fathom offers 50+ financial KPIs, a formula builder for custom financial and non-financial KPIs, KPI alerts, targets and a central KPI library that can be applied across companies.
  ‍
• Profitability analysis (including breakeven point and margin of safety), cash flow waterfall charts, trend analysis and divisional analysis by tracking category, class, location or department give a full read on performance.
  ‍
• Multiple companies can be compared and ranked across KPIs through group benchmarking, which suits advisors, head offices and franchise groups reviewing peers side by side.

Joiin strengths:

• Dashboards present financial and operational KPIs on one page, with Joiin Intelligence surfacing trends and anomalies and letting users query any data point.
  ‍
• Non-financial KPIs such as headcount, units sold, sales pipeline and capacity utilisation can sit alongside consolidated financial accounts (Pro and Max).
  ‍
• KPI reports come with 10 ready-made KPIs, from gross and net profit margins to days sales outstanding and working capital. Users can also build custom KPIs and save them to a library for reuse across reports and charts.

AI and automation capabilities

Fathom strengths:

• Commentary Writer shapes its output using Business Context (goals, strategy, market conditions), set once per company, and Report Context (what happened in the period), set per report.
  ‍
• Symbolic Attribution highlights every AI-generated figure. Hovering over a figure shows its source and period, and the formula is shown wherever the AI calculated it.
  ‍
• Users choose up to six report components per generation, switch between simple or technical style and concise or detailed length, and save up to 50 prompts in a Prompt Library for consistent commentary across the team.

Joiin strengths:

• AI chat and summaries are included on every plan. Users can ask questions of their financial and operational data in plain language.
  ‍
• Customer data is never used to train AI models, and its report packs can include AI-generated summaries, trend analysis, and recommendations.
  ‍
• AI agents are available for users on the Pro and Max plans.

Integration ecosystem

QuickBooks integrations:

• ‍Fathom: An Intuit Accountant Platinum Partner that connects to both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, with an automated daily sync from cloud accounting systems.
  ‍
• ‍Joiin: An Intuit App Partner Platinum that connects to QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite listed among its accounting integrations.

Xero integrations:

• ‍Fathom: An official Xero partner with a 5/5 rating on the Xero App Store, supporting daily or on-demand manual syncing.
  ‍
• ‍Joiin: Pulls the full P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and tracking categories from Xero, and brings in Xero budgets automatically.

Excel/Google Sheets:

• ‍Fathom: Supports Excel/CSV/Google Sheets imports for financial data where an accounting system isn't directly supported and lets users bring in non-financial or operational data via Excel or Google Sheets to enrich reports.
  ‍
• ‍Joiin: Lets you upload a spreadsheet or add a company manually when there’s no API connection, and its Excel Add-In (Pro and Max) brings live Joiin data into a workbook that refreshes in place.

Other integrations:

• ‍Fathom: Also connects to MYOB AccountRight (cloud and desktop), Sage Business Cloud Accounting (UK), FreeAgent and Access Financials UK.
  ‍
• ‍Joiin: Also connects to Sage, FreeAgent, Zoho Books, Pennylane, Puzzle and Fortnox, plus Zapier and a public API on the Max plan.

Comparison deep dive: Fathom vs Joiin

Joiin

Cash flow forecasting

Included in Fathom Pro plans, with rolling and scenario-based cash flow forecasting built into the core reporting suite.

Included on the Pro and Max plans, with three-way forecasts for single companies or groups.

Management reporting

Full management reporting, forecasting, consolidations, and KPIs are included under the Pro plan. The Portfolio plan is limited to summary reports and dashboards.

Off-the-shelf reports, custom layouts, dashboards, and Report Packs.

Consolidated reporting

Included in the Pro plan, with up to 300 entities supported for single-currency consolidations and up to 50 for multi-currency.

Included on every plan for any number of entities, with multi-currency reporting on Pro and Max.

Financial analysis

Deep financial analysis tools built directly into the reporting suite, with live-updating visuals designed for client presentations, as well as AI-generated commentary support.

KPI reports and customisable dashboards, with AI-surfaced trends and non-financial data on Pro and Max.

AI/automation depth

Commentary Writer generates sourced, context-aware narrative with a traceable audit trail back to the underlying figures.

Joiin Intelligence covers AI chat and summaries on all plans, with AI agents on Pro and Max.

Pricing model simplicity

Uses a tiered subscription model (Pro or Portfolio). Pricing varies by plan and scales with the number of companies added.

Priced by the number of companies consolidated across Core, Pro and Max, with features unlocking by plan.

Scalability

Scales efficiently as firms add more companies, reducing the average cost per entity under higher tiers.

Pricing scales with the number of companies you consolidate as your group or client base grows.

User experience comparison

Learning curve

Fathom:

• ‍Quick to get started: The setup only takes a matter of minutes and provides a 14-day trial with no credit card needed.
  ‍‍
• Intuitive starting points: Report templates, the KPI library and the one-click Quick Start forecast cut down configuration before the first report goes out.
  ‍
• ‍Structured learning path: Provides onboarding support from a real person, as well as other resources as our help centre, live webinars and a certification programme support self-paced learning for every user.

Joiin:

• ‍Fast first report: Positions itself as getting users to their first report in minutes, and the 14-day trial runs on the Max plan with no card required.
  ‍
• ‍Automatic setup: Chart of accounts mapping and a starter dashboard are generated automatically once companies are connected.
  ‍
• ‍Trial guidance: A Get Started hub, webinars and an on-demand demo walk new users through the platform.

Daily usage

Fathom:  

• ‍One workspace: Reporting, analysis, forecasting, and consolidation sit on the same platform, so a forecast or KPI can be dropped straight into a client report.
  ‍
• ‍Recurring reporting on autopilot: Scheduled reports, custom templates, and auto-text keep monthly packs consistent with little rework.
  ‍
• ‍Meeting-ready output: Presentation mode, comments and view-only access support live discussions with clients, boards and management teams.

Joiin:

• ‍Live group data: Data refreshes automatically, daily or on demand, across every connected company.
  ‍
• ‍Shareable packs: Report Packs can be shared as live links or scheduled, and reports render on desktop and mobile devices.
  ‍
• ‍Practice controls: Multi-client areas separate each client’s companies, reports and budgets, with read, write and admin access levels and per-company restrictions.

Support

Fathom:

• ‍Highly rated support: Provides in-app messaging, email (support@fathomhq.com), and phone support 24/5 globally, with messages typically answered within 15 minutes. Full customer success access is included on all subscription plans, with no tiered restrictions.
  ‍
• ‍High satisfaction ratings: Fathom consistently maintains customer satisfaction scores (CSAT) above 95% and recognised as "Customer Service Organisation of the Year" at the 2022 Australian Service Excellence Awards.
  ‍
• ‍Comprehensive help centre: Detailed guides, tutorials, and articles cover every platform feature, alongside on-demand resources like product walkthroughs and webinars.
  ‍
• ‍Security credentials: Fathom is GDPR compliant and ISO 27001 certified.

Joiin:

• ‍Support on every plan: Joiin includes what it describes as 5-star support on all plans, with a ticketed support desk and a Help Centre.
  ‍
• ‍Security: Joiin cites end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication and read-only API connections.

Use case scenarios

Consider Fathom when...

• You’re an accountant or advisor delivering management reporting and advisory services, and you want branded, scheduled reports that combine actuals, KPIs and forecasts in one place.
  ‍
• You’re a business owner or CFO who needs to test decisions before making them, using scenarios, drivers, Microforecasts and what-if analysis to see the effect on cash.
  ‍
• You want AI commentary that reflects your business’s goals and the period’s events, with every figure traceable before it’s shared.

Consider Joiin when...

• You want an AI to help build your forecasts as Joiin Intelligence allows you to create forecast rules with natural-language instructions.
  ‍
• Your entities run on a wider mix of accounting systems, including Zoho Books, Pennylane, Puzzle or Fortnox, and you need every entity consolidated in one place.
  ‍
• You plan to send consolidated data into BI tools or data warehouses through Joiin Connect or Zapier.

Final thoughts

Fathom brings reporting, financial analysis, forecasting, and consolidation together in one platform, with a strong focus on forward planning and board-ready reporting. Similarly, Joiin is built around multi-entity consolidation and group reporting, with flexible options for connecting a wide range of accounting systems and sharing data across teams.

The right choice depends on what your organisation needs. The best way to decide is to trial both platforms with your own data and see which fits how your firm or business works.

Try Fathom today

Start with a free 14-day trial or speak to our team to see Fathom in action.

Frequently asked questions

1. ‍What is the main difference between Fathom and Joiin?
   
   ‍Fathom combines reporting, in-depth financial analysis, three-way forecasting and consolidation, with scenario planning and traceable AI commentary. Joiin focuses on multi-entity consolidation and reporting, with unlimited users and clients.
   ‍
2. ‍What's the difference between Fathom and Joiin forecasting?
   
   ‍Both offer three-way forecasting. Fathom’s forecasting is effectively built for testing decisions with scenarios, drivers and Microforecasts, while Joiin lets users build forecasts with plain-language AI instructions on its Pro and Max plans.
   ‍
3. ‍Can both Fathom and Joiin handle multi-entity consolidation?
   
   ‍Yes. Fathom consolidates up to 300 entities in a single group across systems and currencies. Joiin supports any number of entities, with multi-currency reporting on its Pro and Max plans.
   ‍
4. ‍How do pricing models differ between Fathom and Joiin?
   
   ‍Both price by the number of companies. Fathom offers Pro and Portfolio subscriptions billed monthly with no contract, plus custom Enterprise pricing for 51+ companies. Joiin offers Core, Pro and Max plans, with unlimited users, reports and clients on all three and features unlocking by plan.
   ‍
5. ‍Can both Fathom and Joiin integrate with Xero or QuickBooks?
   
   ‍Yes, both integrate with Xero and QuickBooks Online. Fathom also connects to QuickBooks Desktop, MYOB AccountRight, Sage, FreeAgent and Access Financials UK, while Joiin also connects to Sage, FreeAgent, Zoho Books, Pennylane, Puzzle and Fortnox.
   ‍
6. ‍How different are the support channels for Fathom or Joiin?
   
   ‍Both include support on every plan and offer a self-serve Help Centre and webinars. Fathom also has a resource centre and an advisor certification programme, while Joiin provides support through a ticketed support desk.