# Build brief — a focused alternative to Fathom HQ

> **Verdict:** Partly, if you narrow it · **Buildability:** 63/100 · **Category:** Finance Accounting
> **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/fathom-hq
> Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Fathom HQ. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting.

## Context

**Fathom HQ** — Financial reporting, KPI dashboards, consolidations, and forecasting for businesses. It currently costs $53/mo.

A KPI dashboard over accounting exports is buildable, but Fathom's value is accounting integrations, consolidation, forecasting, polished board reports, and accountant workflows.

This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of Fathom HQ that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest.

## What you are building

Import Xero/QuickBooks CSV/API data, calculate KPIs, build dashboards, and export PDF reports.

- Model a narrow bookkeeping workflow with explicit review and export steps.
- A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states.

## Requirements

### Functional

- Data model.
- Chart/report builder.
- PDF export.
- Hosted app.
- Permissions.

### Data and integrations

- Accounting exports/API.

Each of these needs a real account, credential, or quota. Set them up before writing feature code.

### Non-functional

- Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support.
- Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle.
- Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down.
- Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it.

## Implementation brief

Build me a small-business KPI dashboard to replace Fathom HQ. Requirements:

- A local web app: Node + Express + better-sqlite3, binds to localhost, my
  financials never touch a server.
- Import: I drop monthly Xero or QuickBooks CSV exports (P&L and balance
  sheet) into ./imports/; a parser loads them as monthly line items in SQLite.
- KPIs computed per month: revenue, gross margin %, net profit, cash on hand,
  plus custom ratios defined in kpis.json as formulas over account names.
- Dashboard: KPI tiles with month-over-month change, 12-month trend charts via
  Chart.js, and a drill-down table per account.
- Targets: kpis.json can set a target per KPI; show green/red against it.
- One-command board pack: render the dashboard to ./reports/YYYY-MM.pdf with
  Puppeteer, one page of KPIs, one of charts.
- No accounts, no telemetry, everything local, no API keys needed at all.
- Out of scope: live accounting API sync, multi-entity consolidation, and
  forecasting. CSV in, dashboard and PDF out.
- README: exactly which reports to export from Xero/QuickBooks and the CSV
  columns the parser expects.

## Delivery standard

- Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code.
- Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data.
- Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations.
- Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states.
- Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data.
- Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details.
- Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey.
- Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations.

## Acceptance criteria

- [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example.
- [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable.
- [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state.
- [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control.
- [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures.
- [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified.

## Non-goals

Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them:

- Accounting integrations.
- Consolidation.
- Templates.
- Forecasting.
- Connectors, OAuth flows, and vendor API changes require constant upkeep.
- The last 20 percent is sync, migration fidelity, speed, and edge cases.

## What you still own after launch

- Secure credentials, rotate secrets, and handle provider rate limits.
- Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates.
- Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change.
- Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss.
- Maintain every third-party integration as APIs and OAuth rules change.

## Risk

**High consequence.** Use this as a prototype or personal aid. Keep a qualified human and an established provider in the loop for consequential decisions.

Editorial confidence in this assessment: medium. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet.

## Prior art

Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting:

- [Metabase](https://github.com/metabase/metabase) — Open-source BI/dashboard platform that can power custom KPI dashboards

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