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One Business Central tenant, many companies: what that really means
A Business Central environment can hold as many companies as you need. Each company has its own general ledger, customers, vendors, items, number series and tax setup. So a Delaware holding company and an Arizona operating company can live side by side without mixing their books.
They share the tenant. That means the same users, the same apps and the same update schedule. A user switches company from the settings menu. You can grant rights per company. So a bookkeeper at one firm in the group need not see payroll at another.
Setup data does not copy itself. Most teams create new companies by copying a template company or applying configuration packages. That is why settling the master design first saves so much rework.
How a Business Central intercompany sale travels between companies
- 1
Selling company raises the order
Company A raises a sales order to a customer card. That card links to an IC partner code for company B.
- 2
Posting creates an outbound IC transaction
When A posts, the document goes to its intercompany outbox. If you switch on automatic sending in intercompany setup, it goes straight on.
- 3
Buying company receives it
The transaction lands in B's intercompany inbox. B accepts it. Business Central then makes a purchase invoice on the vendor tied to company A.
- 4
Items and accounts are translated
Item references and the IC chart of accounts map A's lines to B's items and G/L accounts. Each side then posts in its own terms.
- 5
Both ledgers agree
A's receivable and B's payable carry the same amounts and document numbers. That makes the group eliminations simple.
Business Central multi-company and intercompany structures we set up
Shared services charging
A head office runs payroll, IT or finance for sister companies. It bills them back each month through IC general journals.
- ✓Monthly management fees
- ✓Allocated overhead
- ✓IC journal templates
Maker and distributor
One firm makes the goods and sells them to a sister firm that distributes them. IC sales and purchase documents carry the item detail.
- ✓IC sales and purchase orders
- ✓Transfer pricing on price lists
- ✓Item reference mapping
Holding company view
A consolidation company pulls balances from each business unit. It then builds group statements with eliminations.
- ✓Business units
- ✓Consolidation accounts
- ✓Elimination entries
Foreign subsidiaries
A Canadian or UK subsidiary keeps its books in local currency. Consolidation then translates it into dollars at the right rates.
- ✓Local currency ledgers
- ✓Average and closing rates
- ✓Translation differences
Business Central intercompany postings and consolidation do different jobs
Traps in Business Central multi-company and intercompany setups
- ✓Giving each company its own chart of accounts. That forces a map for every account when you consolidate.
- ✓Creating dimension values differently in each company, so group reports by department never add up.
- ✓Posting IC charges as plain vendor invoices. That leaves nothing to match or eliminate.
- ✓Forgetting that apps install per environment. An app one company needs is present in all of them, and may need setup there too.
- ✓Leaving IC entries in inboxes for weeks, then finding balances that do not match at audit time.
- ✓Granting access company by company without planned permission sets. Rights then drift apart and nobody can say who sees what.
Business Central multi-company questions from group finance teams
Do we pay for Business Central separately for each company?
No. Microsoft licenses Business Central full users per user. A licensed user can reach every company in the tenant, subject to the permissions you grant. Storage grows with each company, so very large groups watch database size. We do not quote Microsoft pricing, but your licensing partner can confirm the numbers for your structure.
Should subsidiaries be separate companies or just a dimension?
Make it a separate company when it files its own tax return, holds its own bank accounts or needs audited statements. If it is only a division or branch for internal reports, use a dimension. That is simpler and skips IC postings altogether. We usually settle this entity by entity when we design your Business Central multi-company and intercompany setup.
Can intercompany work between different currencies?
Yes. Each company can have its own local currency, and IC documents carry the currency code. So a dollar invoice from the US company arrives in the Canadian company as a dollar purchase invoice. Exchange differences then follow each company's normal currency rules. Later, consolidation translates the foreign company's balances at the rates you set.
How is the consolidation company kept up to date?
You set up each subsidiary as a business unit in the consolidation company. A consolidation run then imports balances for the period you choose. You can rerun it after late adjustments. You post IC eliminations in the consolidation company, not in the subsidiaries.
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