Choosing consolidation software: how to compare the options

Several tools add consolidated reporting on top of Xero and QuickBooks — Joiin, Fathom and Spotlight Reporting are among the best known, and Report Craft is a newer, Australian option. If you are comparing them, the right approach is to score each against what your firm actually needs rather than by brand. This guide sets out the criteria that matter and shows where Report Craft fits.

What to compare

• Integrations. Does it connect to both Xero and QuickBooks Online, and can it consolidate a group that mixes the two?
• True consolidation. Beyond summing ledgers, does it support a unified group chart of accounts and intercompany eliminations?
• Report coverage. Can it produce the full statutory pack — compilation report, declaration, P&L, balance sheet, tax schedule, notes — not just management dashboards?
• Pricing model. Is pricing transparent, and how does it scale as you add client entities? Per-entity pricing with monthly minimums adds up quickly for a firm with many small ledgers.
• Local fit. Does it handle the Australian financial year and the report formats your clients expect?

Where Report Craft fits

Report Craft is built specifically for accounting firms consolidating client ledgers, with a few deliberate choices:

• Consolidates unlimited Xero organisations and QuickBooks Online companies — including mixed groups — into one set of statements.
• Unified group chart of accounts plus consolidation adjustment and elimination journals.
• A complete report bundle exported to a single print-ready PDF.
• Transparent, graduated per-ledger pricing: from $8/month for one ledger down to $1/ledger at volume, with every report type and both integrations included.
• Australian-built, with the 1 July – 30 June financial year handled natively.

The pricing angle

Consolidation tools are often priced per entity or per tenant, sometimes with a monthly minimum. For a firm with a handful of large groups that can be fine; for a firm with many small client ledgers it can get expensive fast. Report Craft's per-ledger rate falls as you connect more ledgers, so the cost scales gently with the size of your practice. Always check each tool's current pricing directly, as vendors change plans over time.

The honest recommendation

If your priority is rich management-reporting dashboards, look closely at the established analytics-focused tools. If your priority is straightforward, standardised consolidated financial statements across Xero and QuickBooks at a price that scales with a growing client base, Report Craft is worth a trial. The fastest way to compare is to run your own group through each — Report Craft offers a live demo and a free trial so you can see the output on real data.

Start with the consolidation reporting overview, or read how to consolidate multiple Xero organisations.