Breaking free from spreadsheets: How The Network Firm scaled crypto accounting clients with Fathom

The Network Firm, a rising star in the world of crypto accounting, faced growing pains as its client base expanded. From handling complex digital assets to managing multiple startups with millions in funding, their existing tools—QuickBooks and Excel—couldn’t keep up.

To meet the demands of their fast-paced industry, they turned to Fathom to help simplify their financial reporting, scale their services, and empower their clients with more precise, actionable insights. We spoke with Wesley Barton, Director at The Network firm, to understand how Fathom helped save time, reduce errors, and improve client engagement.

The Company

The Network Firm is a CPA and professional services firm 100% focused on the needs of the crypto and digital assets industry. The firm was founded in January 2023 by the pioneers of one of the US's first and largest digital assets practices at a top-20 US CPA firm. The firm is headquartered in Miami, Florida, with other offices in New York and Delaware, and a remote workforce of 30+ specialized practitioners. The Network Firm provides multiple novel solutions and is a recognized leader in the emerging area of Proof of Reserves reporting (CPA attestation and transparency reporting).

In addition to offering outsourced accounting and CFO advisory services, The Network Firm developed the first and still-only auditor-specific software for digital assets, LedgerLens^TM. Available to CPAs and CAs globally, LedgerLens enables any firm to take on the opportunity of auditing in the digital asset space, without worrying about the tech.  The Network Firm works with private company clients of all sizes, from startups trying to manage their first round of fundraising to some of the crypto industry's largest brands.

• Website: www.thenetworkfirm.com  

• Employees: 30+ (accountants and developers)

• Industry: Digital Asset Accounting and Software Solutions

• HQ Location: United States

The Challenge

As The Network Firm grew, traditional accounting tools weren’t enough. Handling complex digital assets transactions and managing multi-million-dollar startups required real-time, accurate reporting, something their QuickBooks and Excel setup couldn’t provide.

Challenges included:

• Time-consuming manual work: Exporting and formatting reports in Excel took hours, with many clients needing custom reports to meet investor demands.

• Error-prone processes: Manually managing spreadsheets led to broken formulas and version control issues, resulting in costly mistakes.

• Client engagement issues: Clients, many of whom weren’t financially savvy, struggled to understand traditional reports. As Wesley Barton noted, “Most clients aren’t accountants. They don’t care about debits and credits; they want something they can look at and understand quickly.”

• Limited scalability: Managing multiple entities and departments across different businesses became challenging, with more clients onboard and increasing complexity.

• Tracking volatile digital assets: Crypto markets are highly volatile, with asset values changing rapidly. Using spreadsheets, manually creating complex reports that reflected the real-time value of assets was nearly impossible.

The Solution

To address these issues, The Network Firm turned to Fathom, a solution that streamlined reporting, consolidated multiple entities, and simplified financial data for clients.

Key solutions included:

• Improved visuals: “Fathom’s visuals, like graphs and custom metrics, help clients engage more deeply,” says Wesley. Clients could now see clear, visually engaging reports instead of pages of numbers, making decision-making faster and easier.

• Scenario planning: Fathom’s scenario planning feature allowed The Network Firm to model different financial outcomes. This was crucial in the constantly shifting crypto market. “Fathom helps us create real, data-backed scenarios that reflect each client’s unique business situation,” explains Wesley.

• Multiple entity management: The ability to manage multiple entities and departments seamlessly allowed The Network Firm to consolidate reports without dealing with separate spreadsheets. “We can plug in and consolidate reports for different departments or companies seamlessly, without the headache of managing separate spreadsheets,” Wesley adds.

• Error reduction and automation: Fathom helped automate many manual tasks, reducing errors and improving efficiency. This saved hours of manual work, allowing the team to focus on higher-value services like strategic advising and forecasting.

The Results

Since adopting Fathom, The Network Firm has seen remarkable internal processes and improvements in client satisfaction.

Key results include:

• Time savings: Fathom has saved hours of manual work each month, freeing up the team to focus on more valuable services.

• Improved client engagement: Clients now receive clear insights they can trust, helping them make better decisions.

• Increased accuracy: By automating manual tasks, Fathom has reduced errors and improved report accuracy.

• Ease of use: "Clients often come to us overwhelmed by complex financials, but Fathom makes it easy for them to understand the numbers,” Wesley shares. “The intuitive design brings clarity, and that ease of use has been a game-changer for both our team and our clients."

One startup client with several million dollars in fundraising needed help understanding their burn rate (the rate at which they were spending their funds) and whether they had enough runway for the following year. Using Fathom, Wesley’s team created clear, visual reports that broke down monthly expenses, projected cash flow, and identified areas for cost-cutting. With these insights, the client could confidently approach their next fundraising round, knowing exactly where they stood financially.

Customer Testimonial

“Fathom has transformed how we deliver financial insights to our clients. The visual reports engage our clients more deeply, and the scenario planning tools help them see the bigger picture. It’s a game changer for our firm.”

– Wesley Barton, Director, The Network Firm

Are spreadsheets slowing down your financial reporting?

It’s time to make a change. Like The Network Firm, you can save time, reduce errors, and deliver reports that are easy for your clients to understand. Whether you’re managing complex financials or juggling multiple entities, Fathom helps simplify the process and empowers you to focus on what matters.

Ditch the manual work. Try Fathom free for 14 days.

Start delivering clear, actionable insights today.