Simplifying our consolidated reporting process using Fathom

In this case study, we're excited to share the journey of Scrutton Bland as they started using Fathom, guided by the insights from Megan Leet, a senior client support specialist. With a focus on human connection and clear communication, we delve into the challenges faced with manual financial consolidations and the benefits brought about by Fathom’s consolidated reporting feature.

Website: scruttonbland.co.uk
Number of employees: 150+
Industry: Financial Advisory
HQ: Ipswich, United Kingdom

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The Company

With offices in Bury St Edmunds, Colchester and Ipswich, Scrutton Bland serves a range of clients from small owner-managed businesses to large corporate organisations and offers professional advice for business and personal lives. Scrutton Bland’s team of experienced specialists provide accountancy, audit, corporate finance, and tax advice, having celebrated their 100^th birthday in 2019.

The Challenge

Before using Fathom, Megan faced significant challenges with consolidations: "The reality of consolidations before the use of Fathom, really came down to just using Excel spreadsheets. So, you'd be pulling out the figures of the two entities, bunging them into one spreadsheet and trying to manually pull together the figures."

Megan describes the bulky process that was prone to errors, which made financial reporting both stressful and unreliable: "It's really difficult, with the Excel side of things. Obviously, it's a great tool for numerous tasks, but at the same time, it's all very manual, and one simple mistake can kind of lead to multiple things going wrong throughout the process."

The Solution

Scrutton Bland’s shift to Fathom brought a noticeable improvement in both efficiency and accuracy. Before adopting Fathom, Megan and her team faced the challenge of consolidations consuming too much time and creating stress across the board. As Megan recalls:

"The point where we realised that using a tool like Fathom would be beneficial was when consolidations were taking up a significant amount of everyone’s time. My work had to be reviewed internally, and a simple error in a sum could take ages to fix. We needed a way to meet our deadlines without causing headaches for the whole team."

Fathom quickly proved to be the solution they were looking for. After a brief learning curve, it became clear that the platform would transform the way they worked:

"The first consolidation was different—it was a game changer."

The integration with their existing systems, including Xero, made the process more intuitive and accurate. Fathom automatically brought in live data, eliminating manual entry and drastically reducing errors:

"It’s very simple. It integrates directly with Xero, so that’s perfect. Live data comes straight through."

This meant less time spent double-checking numbers and more time focused on what really matters—supporting clients and delivering quality insights.

Results

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1. More time to engage with clients
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   Fathom has greatly improved both financial reporting efficiency and quality of life for Megan. The software has freed up considerable time, allowing her to better manage her extensive client portfolio and provide additional support where needed:
   
   "It really just gives me the opportunity to reach out to my other clients and get the ball rolling with their accounts or their work that needs to be completed."
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2. Better quality reports
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   The clarity and aesthetic appeal of the reports generated by Fathom have also made financial reviews more straightforward for clients and less financially savvy stakeholders:
   
   "The reports are very nice to look at, and it's really easy for me to tie back the figures to what they should be. It's just a nice way to pull everything together and then I can quite easily make sure that everything's pulled through correctly."
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3. Less stress and improved processes
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   Megan highlighted the transformation in her day-to-day operations since adopting Fathom, noting the significant reduction in stress and increase in productivity:
   
   "It's really opened that opportunity up and made it a lot easier for me to do my job."
   
   Her manager also benefits from the streamlined review process, as Fathom's accurate outputs require less manual checking, saving time and reducing the managerial burden:
   
   "For my manager, I think it made their life easier. It's also saved time for them as well, so they can focus their time on other things."

Scrutton Bland’s journey with Fathom highlights the power of a simplified reporting process. By moving away from manual Excel consolidations, they gained efficiency, reduced errors, and made reporting accessible for all stakeholders. Fathom not only made their reporting faster and more accurate, but also gave Megan and her team more time to focus on what matters most – their clients.  

Customer testimonial

"Fathom was a game changer. It’s very simple to use, integrates directly with Xero, and has made consolidations a breeze. It’s really opened up more time for me to focus on my clients and other important tasks."

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