Fathom vs Float Cashflow Forecasting

November 15, 2024

This balanced comparison of Fathom vs Float will help you decide which of these two cash flow forecasting solutions is the right choice for you.

Learn how Fathom compares as a Float Cash Flow alternative with an analysis of their key features, and customer support.  

Fathom vs Float Cashflow Forecasting: Quick Summary

See how Fathom compares as a Float Cash Flow alternative.

Float
Management reporting
KPI tracking
3-way cash flow forecasting
Unlimited forecast scenarios
Daily and weekly cash flow forecasts

Introduction

Seeking an intuitive cash flow forecasting solution that integrates with your accounting software? If so, Fathom and Float are two leading solutions you should consider.

Both are designed to help businesses and accountants gain a clearer picture of future financial performance. However, any comparison of Fathom vs Float will tell you they offer very different capabilities.

Fathom provides a full suite of financial management tools beyond cash flow forecasting, including reporting, consolidated reporting and financial analysis.

Meanwhile, Float focuses solely on  short-term cash flow forecasting, making it a good option for growing businesses that need a simple solution to project future cash positions.

Read on to see how Fathom compares as a Float cashflow alternative, with a full breakdown of both solutions’ features and customer support.

What is Fathom?

Fathom is a cloud-based financial management platform that’s trusted by over 80,000 businesses worldwide. Offering features for financial reporting, analysis, consolidations and cash flow forecasting, the platform is targeted at SMEs, finance teams, accountants and multi-entity organisations.

Known for its engaging visuals, customisation, ease of use and comprehensive support, Fathom is designed for businesses looking to impress stakeholders or clients with detailed financial insights.

Developed in Australia, the solution is backed by a global  customer support team and offers advanced forecasting, scenario modelling and business planning capabilities.

What is Float?

Float is a dedicated cash flow forecasting platform designed to help businesses visualise their future cash positions.

Based in the UK, the solution is targeted at fractional CFOs and growing SMEs, including agencies, consulting outfits, IT services providers as well as architecture and construction firms.  

Founded by agency owners who struggled with the challenges of running a business without financial forecasts, Float was built to help businesses understand how their decisions impact cash flow.

The solution is designed to be simple, with an emphasis on ease of use, making it particularly suited for businesses that don’t need extensive financial reporting features.

Fathom vs Float Cashflow Forecasting: Key Features

While Float is specifically designed for cash flow forecasting, Fathom offers a full range of financial management features. Let's see how the two solutions compare.

Fathom

Fathom’s rich feature set and ease of use makes it ideal for a range of businesses – from SMEs and accountants to enterprises. Key features include:

  • Cash flow forecasting

    Fathom's long-term, strategic three-way cash flow forecasting enables you to quickly and easily project cash flow, profit and loss, and balance sheet figures in tandem. You can incorporate non-financial data into your projections and forecast up to five years into the future.

    Unlimited scenario modeling enables you to grasp the impact of business decisions and factors on financial performance.

    Forecasts are integrated with Fathom’s reporting feature, allowing you to track budgets vs actuals in your reports. If you’re a multi-entity business, you can build forecasts for specific entities or the consolidated group.

    The platform stands out for its business planning features, such as microforecasts which allow you to quickly and effectively model the impact of business decisions like hiring a new employee.

    Fathom also offers a host of support articles to get the most out of its cash flow forecasting features.

  • Financial analysis

    As a Float Cash Flow alternative, Fathom stands out for its advanced financial analysis tools. With over 50 pre-built KPIs and metrics, you can easily track key drivers such as profitability, growth, liquidity, efficiency, asset usage, and gearing.

    Its analysis tools provide clear visuals that are ideal for board meetings or client presentations.

    You can create your own metrics using the intuitive formula builder, and if you’re a larger business, you can analyse financial performance across divisions, departments, and locations.

  • Management reporting

    Fathom's reporting features are highly customisable, allowing you to build detailed, branded reports from scratch or use pre-built templates.

    Reports can include engaging visuals to make complex data easy to understand, with the ability to generate unlimited reporting outputs.

    Meanwhile, automation features allow you to schedule the creation and delivery of reports.

  • Consolidated reporting

    One of Fathom’s standout features is its ability to consolidate reports across multiple entities with different accounting sources and currencies, making it ideal for franchisors or businesses with subsidiaries.

    The platform simplifies the consolidation process to eliminate many manual tasks, with the ability to perform intercompany eliminations.

    You can create a custom chart of accounts and easily consolidate budgets to generate actual vs budgets variance reports.

  • Integrations

    Fathom integrates with major accounting platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, MYOB, and Access Financials, as well as Excel and Google Sheets, providing seamless data syncing and real-time updates.

Float

Designed to help SMEs avoid the hassle of spreadsheets, Float makes it simple to project and manage short-term cas hflow with compelling visuals and smart automation.

Based off transactional-level data, such as bills and invoices, you  can forecast cashflow u p to three years into the future, analyse cash activity six months into the past and generate daily forecasts.

The platform automatically syncs with accounting platforms Xero, Quickbooks and FreeAgent, pulling in invoices, bills and bank transactions to provide an up-to-date cash flow position.

Let’s look at what makes it an ideal solution for cash flow forecasting:

  • Scenario planning

    Float allows you to model up to 100 forecast scenarios (with its highest-end Enterprise plan), enabling you to quickly gauge the impact of specific initiatives or business decisions.

    You can add ongoing and one-off costs or toggle sales pipeline on or off, and track cash flow for specific projects so you can spot those draining your cash reserves.

    Float also features a handy drop-down where you can select questions like ‘Can I make a new hire?’ and ‘Can I invest in new laptops?’ You can then see the impact of such decisions on cash flow.

  • Custom thresholds

    You can set a minimum cash flow threshold to determine the date when your business will be cash negative, so you can better manage your inflows and outflows ahead of time.

    You can rely on Float to warn you about any upcoming issues, like a payment or payroll that can take you into overdraft.

    The platform also provides a forecast confidence score to help you understand if you should act or postpone key decisions.

  • Ease of use and visuals

    Float’s biggest strength is its simplicity. Designed for business owners who may not be financial experts, the platform provides intuitive tools that are easy to set up and use without a steep learning curve.

    Meanwhile, forecasts are brought to life and simple to grasp for stakeholders and clients thanks to Float’s dynamic charts.

Fathom vs Float Cash Flow Comparison: Customer Support

As a Float Cash Flow alternative, Fathom compares favourably for its global support team, however both solutions offer dedicated assistance. Let’s look at how they compare:

Fathom

Fathom offers comprehensive customer support, including phone, email and in-platform messaging from its Brisbane-based  team. You can also access an extensive Help Centre that includes a range of how-to guides, videos, webinars, FAQs and hundreds of support articles.

Float

Float provides email and in-app messaging support as well as an extensive online support hub featuring hundreds of helpful articles. Its Premium and Enterprise plans offer support via one-on-one video calls.

Float also offers a partner program that allows you to view all your clients’ Float accounts in one place. The program provides a dedicated account manager your clients can contact directly for Float support.

Fathom vs Float Cashflow Forecasting: Key Takeaways

Hopefully this Fathom vs Float comparison has provided a good idea of their cash flow forecasting capabilities, as well as their many differences.

To recap, Fathom is a comprehensive financial management platform that provides not only cash flow forecasting but also advanced financial reporting and analysis features.

It’s well-suited for accountants, CFOs and businesses with complex financial requirements, such as multi-entity consolidation.

As a Float Cash Flow alternative, Fathom stands out for its comprehensive, customer support, customisable templates and visually impressive reports designed to make an impact with stakeholders or clients.

Meanwhile, Float is a more straightforward tool focused solely on short-term  cash flow forecasting.

Its ease of use and real-time syncing with accounting platforms make it a good choice for smaller businesses looking for a simple yet effective weekly  cash flow solution.

To learn more about Fathom, visit our product page for a full outline of its features, or try it yourself with a free 14-day trial.

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