Manage multiple entities
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The Multi-Entity Management component enables managing entities and entity settings in your company. You use the Manage Multiple Entities page to enable multi-entity and inter-entity behavior, including:
- Using one base currency or a different base currency per entity.
- Issuing separate 1099 forms per entity.
- Restricting transactions to the entity level, or restricting access by customer, supplier, current account, or savings account.
- Enabling the affiliate entity standard dimension (for companies with a Consolidation subscription).
- Mapping inter-entity account pairs and managing inter-entity transactions.
Go to Manage multiple entities
| Subscription | Administration |
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| User type | Business user with admin privileges |
| Permissions | Application Subscriptions: List, View, and Configure |
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Go to
- On the Subscriptions page, select Multi-Entity Management, then select Configure.
Entity settings
| Field | Description |
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Enable multiple base currencies |
Before selecting this option, you must first enable multi-currency management in the General Ledger
Select this checkbox to enable each entity to use its own base currency. For example, you might select this option if you have an entity that operates in US dollars (USD) and another that operates in Euros (EUR). Note the following about multiple base currencies:
Multiple base currencies are not required for transacting in multiple currencies. For instance, even if each entity in a company uses ZAR as its base currency, you can still transact in other currencies. You can enable multiple transaction currencies in General Ledger. For more information, see Enable multiple transaction currencies. |
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When enabling multiple base currencies, you can set a value approval currency for purchase transactions and expense reports. A value approval currency enables Sage Intacct to translate the transaction currency into a common currency. This common currency is used to evaluate transaction approval thresholds and determine whether a transaction requires approval. To set a value approval currency, select a currency from the dropdown menu. Only the currencies you enable in Sage Intacct are available for selection. |
| Field | Description |
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Check this box to print 1099s with entity-level information, rather than top-level company information. This means that:
Clear this checkbox if you want the top level company to print a single set of 1099s across all entities and all suppliers. In this case, the forms print with the company legal name, address, and VAT registration number of the top-level entity, even if a subordinate entity made the payment. If you need to print a separate 1099 for an individual entity, switch to that entity and print the forms there. When the Issue a separate 1099 per entity option is not selected, the multi-entity structure behaves as if it were one company.
In this mode, typically the top-level company prints one set of 1099 forms for all entities and all suppliers; however, the same list is also available at the entity level. The 1099 forms contain the company name, address, and VAT registration number of the top-level entity, even if a subordinate entity made the payment. |
By default, you create customers, suppliers, and bank accounts at the top level and share them amongst all entities. However, you can restrict access by location, location group, departments, and department groups.
For example, suppose that you want to restrict a supplier to a certain department and location such that other locations and departments cannot transact with the supplier. Or, suppose that you restrict an entity to a certain bank account to prevent it from paying AP supplier invoices out of the wrong account.
When setting up location groups or department groups, restrictions can be based on groups that contain specific locations or departments. Restrictions cannot be based on groups that filter dynamically based on the value of certain fields (such as locations where the status is Active). Location groups and department groups that contain dynamic filtering will not appear on the Restrictions tab.
| Field | Description |
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Restrict access to top level only |
This option enables multi-entity companies to be configured for working at the top-level only. Working at the top level provides greater transparency and visibility into transactions, regardless of the entities they affect.
When restricting access to the top level only, the following user interface components are hidden:
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Restrict General Ledger transactions to the entity level only
Restrict subledger transactions to the entity level only |
You can use these 2 options to restrict users to entering transactions at the entity level only. Before selecting either of these options:
If you select either of these options, you cannot use the Restrict access to top level only option.
When restricting users to the entity level, expect the following: Top level
Entity level All users can view all transactions for this entity, except for those transactions that were created at the top level before enabling this feature. When working at entity level, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable cannot enter automated inter-entity transactions. Projects You can still create projects at the top level with this feature enabled. After you create a project at the top level, you can only create transactions related to your project at the entity level. Contracts See Configure Contracts: Multi-entity considerations for information on how this option affects Contracts users. |
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Customers Suppliers |
Restrict customer or supplier visibility. If you select this option, you can create customers or suppliers at the top level. Then, use the Customer or Supplier visibility pages respectively to specify which locations and departments can transact with a customer or supplier. |
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Current accounts Savings accounts |
Restrict an account to a specific location or department. If you select this option, you can use the Restrictions tab in the account information page to specify which locations and departments have access to the account. |
Select to enable the affiliate entity standard dimension for your company.
Learn more about setting up the affiliate entity dimension and reclassifying data with the affiliate entity dimension and consolidating.
Inter-entity account settings
In a multi-entity shared company, entities represent a separate tax identification or a separately secured, fully balancing set of books. Entities typically represent divisions, franchises, affiliates, associations, locations, chapters, self-balancing funds or subsidiaries, with a shared chart of accounts.
A multi-entity shared company includes one or more entities under the top level. The company has a set of data lists that's shared among all entities. These shared data lists include users, chart of accounts, customers, suppliers, and employees. Administrators define the shared data lists once at the top level and use them throughout the entities in the company. Administrators use the top level to manage entities and their data.
Alternatively, administrators can restrict to working at the entity level only users and master data list members such as suppliers, customers, and employees. Administrators can even restrict users to working only in particular entities.
An example of a multi-entity shared company is a property management company. One entity represents the company's corporate headquarters and each managed property is represented by its own separate entity.
Sage Intacct records inter-entity transactions separately from other types of receivable and payable transactions. An example of an inter-entity transaction is when one entity pays an AP supplier invoice on behalf of another entity. For each entity in your company, you can specify the payable and receivable accounts you want to use for inter-entity transactions.
You can set up inter-entity transaction (IET) accounts for all your entities on one central page. First, select an inter-entity account mapping plan, either Basic or Advanced. The Basic plan enables using two accounts per entity for IETs. The Advanced plan enables using four accounts per entity for IETs.
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Select the inter-entity account mapping plan that you want to use: Basic, or Advanced. The Basic plan enables you to use only one set of inter-entity accounts per entity for higher-level tracking, while the Advanced plan enables you to define separate sets of inter-entity accounts for each entity relationship, or entity pair, and takes a more granular approach. As the inter-entity receivable (IER) and inter-entity payable (IEP) accounts reflect an obligation for one entity to settle with another, separating these accounts among entity pairs enables you to report more specifically on how these obligations arise. Using the Advanced plan doesn't necessarily mean you need four accounts for each entity pair. You can re-use accounts if you have different requirements for granularity among your entities. For example, you might configure one IEP and one IER account for your UK and US entities, while using four different accounts for the Australia and France entities. When considering which setup is right for you, it's important to understand how the inter-entity receivable and payable balances are ultimately settled, meaning how and when payment is to be made. For a new company, the default plan is Basic.
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Basic Advanced |
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Inter-entity transactions
Inter-entity transactions require you to account for inter-entity "due to" and "due from" amounts. For example, one entity can pay an AP supplier invoice on behalf of another entity.
In a multi-entity shared company, entities represent a separate tax identification or a separately secured, fully balancing set of books. Entities typically represent divisions, franchises, affiliates, associations, locations, chapters, self-balancing funds or subsidiaries, with a shared chart of accounts.
A multi-entity shared company includes one or more entities under the top level. The company has a set of data lists that's shared among all entities. These shared data lists include users, chart of accounts, customers, suppliers, and employees. Administrators define the shared data lists once at the top level and use them throughout the entities in the company. Administrators use the top level to manage entities and their data.
Alternatively, administrators can restrict to working at the entity level only users and master data list members such as suppliers, customers, and employees. Administrators can even restrict users to working only in particular entities.
An example of a multi-entity shared company is a property management company. One entity represents the company's corporate headquarters and each managed property is represented by its own separate entity.
Sage Intacct records inter-entity transactions separately from other types of receivable and payable transactions. An example of an inter-entity transaction is when one entity pays an AP supplier invoice on behalf of another entity. For each entity in your company, you can specify the payable and receivable accounts you want to use for inter-entity transactions.
Control how Intacct records inter-entity transactions in the general ledger and subledgers:
- For journal entries: For journal entries involving two or more entities, Intacct automatically creates additional line items for the inter-entity payable and receivable amounts. Select Enable inter-entity transactions if you want Intacct to automatically create these offsetting entries. Leave the option unselected if you prefer to balance line items manually.
- For subledger transactions: If you enter a subledger transaction (such as an AP supplier invoice, AR sales invoice, or advance), Intacct automatically records offsetting journal entries for the inter-entity payables and receivables in the relevant entities. If you do not want Intacct to automatically record these entries for you, you can choose manual balancing only.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable inter-entity transactions |
By default, when you enter a manual journal entry that involves two or more entities, the additional offsetting transactions are not automatically added into the journals of each affected entity. This means that you must enter all balancing line items manually. Select this option if you want Intacct to automatically record inter-entity payables and receivables in your general ledger. When enabling inter-entity transactions, auto-balancing occurs by entity only. You'll need to manually balance journal entries for other dimensions. Sage Intacct records inter-entity transactions separately from other types of receivable and payable transactions. An example of an inter-entity transaction is when one entity pays an AP supplier invoice on behalf of another entity. For each entity in your company, you can specify the payable and receivable accounts you want to use for inter-entity transactions. You can set up inter-entity transaction (IET) accounts for all your entities on one central page. First, select an inter-entity account mapping plan, either Basic or Advanced. The Basic plan enables using two accounts per entity for IETs. The Advanced plan enables using four accounts per entity for IETs. This option is incompatible with the Enable journal entry auto-balancing option on the Configuration page for General Ledger, which automatically balances GL journal entries using the specified GL auto-balancing account. If you need to enable inter-entity transactions for your company, and you previously selected Enable journal entry auto-balancing in General Ledger, then consider carefully which option is more vital to your business needs.
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| Enforce journal entry balancing by: Location or Entity |
If you choose not to enable inter-entity transactions, you can enforce journal entry balancing by location, instead of entity. Best practice: Unless you have a clear business requirement to balance by location, a best practice is to balance by entity. Balancing by entity includes all the journal entries for the entity and includes line items for all locations in the entity. |
Control how Intacct records inter-entity transactions in the general ledger and subledgers:
- For journal entries: For journal entries involving two or more entities, Intacct automatically creates additional line items for the inter-entity payable and receivable amounts. Select Enable inter-entity transactions if you want Intacct to automatically create these offsetting entries. Leave the option unselected if you prefer to balance line items manually.
- For subledger transactions: If you enter a subledger transaction (such as an AP supplier invoice, AR sales invoice, or advance), Intacct automatically records offsetting journal entries for the inter-entity payables and receivables in the relevant entities. If you do not want Intacct to automatically record these entries for you, you can choose manual balancing only.
