Multi-entity operations
Introduction
Multiple company, branch, division or other entity structures are extensively supported by LILAC3.
The ID code for a company is a 4 letter key of the form GGCC, where GG is an indication of the group of companies and CC is a code for a particular company (or branch, division etc) within the group. This coding says nothing about the legal structure of the entities being described, and it is the responsibility of the end-user of the software to determine whether the requirements of the ASIC, the ATO or any other state or federal regulatory authority have been met.
LILAC3 provides extensive automatic intercompany postings between groups of entities whose first two digits are the same. For example LCHO, LCSY, LCME, LCAD, LCPE. etc. may respectively represent Lennox Computer Head Office, Sydney branch, Melbourne branch, Adelaide branch, etc.
The relationship between the "branches" and the head office entity are governed by a setting in each company in the Setup Company document in a field labelled "Head Office". So in the above example the Head Office field should be blank in the LCHO entity and contain the letters HO in each of the other entities.
When such a set of relationships has been established, LILAC3 supports "Debtors in Head Office" & "Creditors in Head Office" operations automatically. That is to say that operations performed within the context of a subsidiary branch will generate postings to debtors and creditors accounts in the Head Office entity with automatic postings going to "branch loan accounts" within the subsidiary and the head office entity to keep track of the transfers of value.
Wholly unrelated entities may be maintained within the same database provided the first two letters of their company ID codes differ, and individual entities within a group may operate their own debtors and creditors ledgers provided the "Head Office" field in the Setup Company is blank in that particular entity.
Please note that when the "Head Office" feature is in use, all Name and Address records are created and maintained in the HO entity and none are ever created in the branch entities.
The targeting of accounts within subsidiary entities from operations performed in head office is extensively supported.
Many posting documents such as Creditors Posting have a "Branch" column at the left of the form. This permits the operator to specify a subsidiary entity to receive the debit in a cost account or an expense account, with automatic additional postings generated to appropriate branch loan accounts. See also General Ledger - Posting, Stock - Transfer, and Payroll - Employee posting documents.