Multi-company considerations

When creating multiple companies in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, these are some best practices and considerations to keep in mind. Completing your setup with these considerations in mind can lessen your overhead related to daily processes and long-term maintenance in all companies.

Do not try to use one company if you have separate legal entities. The number one consideration is if a company has its own Federal ID number and files their own tax returns it should have its own Company within the database. Make additional companies and use the Master Company method to keep them in sync.

Use a Consolidation Company if needed to import the monthly balances from the separate companies and create consolidated financial reports. Consolidations can also be run for partially owned companies and can have different charts of accounts!

Using a Master Company

Using a ‘Master’ company can help keep the records you want to be the same across all companies in sync. This Master company is never used to post anything but only to enter master records.  The typical records kept in sync across multiple companies are Chart of Accounts, Customers, Vendors and Items.  You may also want to keep Dimension Codes or Salesmen in sync as well. Any tables you want to control across all companies are entered first in the Master Company and then copied to the ‘posting’ companies when needed.  

Here are some benefits of using a ‘Master’ company.

Chart of Accounts

• Using the same Chart of Accounts across all related companies is less confusing to the accounting team.  This is especially true if the same accounting team is managing all companies. This is not a requirement as the G/L accounts can be mapped to the consolidated chart of accounts.
• To control assigning new GL Accounts, you keep the full Chart of Accounts in the ‘Master’ company.  Only accounts needed are copied to one of the ‘posting’ companies but only if that company needs that account. For example, you may have a Fixed Asset account for ‘Vehicles’ at one company but not any others because they do not own any vehicles.
• When a new GL Account is needed in a ‘posting’ company, you would consult the ‘Master’ company to see what new number is available or if one already exists that can be used. For example, one of the companies decides to purchase trucks and hire a delivery team. They can find a Fixed Asset account in the ‘Master’ company for ‘Vehicles’ and add it to their company’s Chart of Accounts.
• This allows for a much easier process when consolidating multiple companies in the system.  This is helpful for full or partial consolidation.

‍

Vendors

• Using the same Vendor number across companies can be helpful when assessing your purchase volume if negotiating discounts with a Vendor. This is much easier to report on when the records have the same master numbers.
• Reporting Vendor statistics across all companies is easier when their Vendor numbers are the same. For example, if you look at on-time delivery statistics, delivery fees, cost increases, etc., and you want to compare a Vendor’s data across companies.

‍

Customers

• Viewing overdue balances or credit limits aggregated across multiple companies is easier to do when they have the same Customer number in all companies.
• Providing customer service for a customer with orders in multiple companies is much easier and less confusing if the Customer is using the same number in all companies.
• Consolidating shipments across companies is easier too.
• Updating Sales Prices, Salespersons, Address, Phone or other contact information is easier to update when the same Customer number is used.

‍

Utilizing Intercompany Functionality

Business Central knows that many users have a need for multiple companies but also need transactions to move easily from one company to the others.

The built in ‘Intercompany’ functionality will assist with moving journal entries between companies as well as purchasing and sales documents. This keeps the users from having to double-enter a Purchase Order in one company as a Sales Order in another company.

This process is much easier if your Chart of Accounts, Items and Dimension Codes, etc. are the same across these related companies.

Setting up multiple companies may sound like the option that takes more work but, in the end, it is the option that will result in less work compared to the efforts to ‘de-tangle’ data in a single company that represents multiple entities. Keeping the master records in sync across the various companies may take an extra second or two but saves so much time later.

‍