Setting Up Your Company Structure in Intacct

When you implement an Intacct system, one of the first—and most important—decisions you need to make is how to set up your company structure, which is referred to as “container type.” We will discuss the distinctions and features in each of the two most commonly used container types, Single Entity and Multi-Entity Shared.

Setting up your company structure in Intacct:

Multi-Entity Shared vs Single Entity Container Types

Single Entity

A Single Entity container is most widely used with a single operating company. To use this set-up, your company must have only one accounting base currency. While you will be able to enter transactions in multiple currencies, you can only have one base, or reporting currency.

Companies with only one federal tax ID also typically choose the Single Entity container. This set-up allows you to account for multiple locations or departments, and prepare financials at the department or location level, or consolidated financials with no extra effort. There is one chart of accounts, and one list of vendors, etc. per entity.

Multi-Entity Shared

Companies with multiple legal entities or multiple base currencies tend to select the Multi-Entity Shared container. In this option, you can set up multiple companies with shared data lists such as chart of accounts and vendors, and easily create consolidated financial statements. Multi-Entity Shared container allows you to maximize efficiency in data entry while minimizing set-up and maintenance time.

The top-level company operates as the outer container that holds data lists that are shared across companies. Each of the data elements can be shared across companies except locations that are defined at an entity level, and are therefore not visible in the other entities. Most transactions are entered at the individual entity level, so each entity has its own full set of books. However, some transactions can be performed at the top level allowing use of the automated inter-entity transaction functionality.

In the Multi-Entity Shared environment, the user defines the inter-entity relationships. When entering a transaction that crosses entities, the inter-entity payable or receivable occurs automatically, allowing you to enter transactions that cross entities without having to do so separately in each entity. This reduces the risk of out-of-balance scenarios across entities.

A separate entity can also be created to perform eliminations of inter-entity balances so you can easily create consolidated financials within Intacct. In environments where multiple base currencies are needed, a solution called Intacct Global Consolidation can be added to the Multi-Entity Shared environment to allow currency translations to be consolidated into a separate book.

Intacct provides solutions for not only your common business needs, but they take this a step further by striving to maximize your efficiency. Whether you have one or multiple operating companies, you can set up your Intacct environment to have only one set of master data to maintain while still gathering needed reporting details.

Please contact your MicroAccounting representative to learn more about how Intacct can help your business.