Company Groups
Business Partners – Company Groups
This form organizes companies into groups that share common characteristics. Before creating company groups, it is advisable to have a structure for dividing companies into groups prepared in advance — for example, by the type of goods you trade, the type of business relationship, region, etc. For each group, you can enter an account for suppliers/customers. This simplifies accounting and is used when populating the address book.
You can open the list in the "Business Partners" module under the "Company Groups" option.
The top toolbar of the table contains a number of buttons whose functions are described in the dedicated chapter "Program Controls".
Main Panel
Press the "New" button or the keyboard shortcut Alt+N to open the form for a new record.
The top toolbar of the form contains a number of buttons whose functions are described in the dedicated chapter "Program Controls".
Code
Required field, can contain up to 20 characters. The value must be unique among all records.
The code (also referred to as an abbreviation) is a shortened representation of the group.
We recommend choosing a code that reflects the characteristic of the given group, so you do not have to think about what the group represents later.
Name
Required field, can contain up to 255 characters.
This field generally represents the record in overviews, print reports, and selection lists, so it should identify the record in a unique and descriptive way.
If you configured foreign languages during the initial setup, pressing the "+" button allows you to fill in the "Name" field in the selected foreign languages. These language variants of the name are printed on documents when foreign-language printing is used. Press the "−" button to close the foreign-language name fields.
Tab "Basic Information"
Primary Accounts
What is a primary account?
For an issued invoice, this is the debit-side account — typically account 311… – Trade Receivables.
By entering this "primary" account, you can spare users from having to decide which customer account to select, especially when you want to track certain company groups separately using analytical account breakdowns. When the invoice form is opened, the debit account in the "Accounting and VAT Line" tab is set according to the issued invoice type. When you select a company from a specific company group whose primary account has a different analytical code, the account from the company group is substituted into the invoice form and the invoice will be posted to that account.For a received invoice, this is the credit-side account — typically 321… – Trade Payables.
By entering this "primary" account, you can spare users from having to decide which supplier account to select, especially when you want to track certain company groups separately using analytical account breakdowns. When the invoice form is opened, the credit account in the "Accounting and VAT Line" tab is set according to the received invoice type. When you select a company from a specific company group whose primary account has a different analytical code, the account from the company group is substituted into the invoice form and the invoice will be posted to that account.
For issued invoices
enter the account from the chart of accounts manually or select it using the magnifying glass — typically account 311…For received invoices
enter the account from the chart of accounts manually or select it using the magnifying glass — typically account 321…
A brief example for issued invoices
You have defined the following analytical accounts:
311001 – Domestic customers
311002 – EU customers
311003 – Other customers
311004 – Cash customers
You create the following company groups:
"Domestic customers"
"EU customers"
"Other customers"
and for each group you assign the corresponding primary account.
For all invoices you have one issued invoice type in which you set debit account 311004.
When you create an issued invoice, account 311004 is automatically inserted into the "Debit Account" field in the "Accounting and VAT Line" tab. After selecting a customer, the application looks up the settings of the relevant company group and automatically substitutes the primary account of that group into the "Debit Account" field. For invoices issued to EU customers, the application will automatically insert account "311002", and so on. If an invoice is created without a customer specified, account 311004 will remain in the "Debit Account" field.
Tab "Texts"
The "Texts" tab is present in all code lists and all records. It contains two fields where you can enter information according to your own needs. Filling them in is not required.
Description
You can provide a more detailed description here.
Note
The note is used to alert users to any special characteristics of the record or to anything other users should be aware of when working with the record.
Tab "Administration"
The "Administration" tab contains information about the time validity and visibility of the given record in the code list (table). The validity of a record is defined by a range of calendar years. Within the specified range, the record is active; outside of it, the record is inactive and will not appear in the code list at all. By restricting the validity period, you ensure that users are not slowed down by scrolling through obsolete records during routine use of the code list.
Because time validity is tied to calendar years, it does not correspond to fiscal accounting periods.
Valid from
The calendar year from which the record becomes valid.
Valid to
The calendar year in which the record's validity ends.
If you want the record to have unlimited validity, do not change the default value of "0" in the Valid from field or the value of "9999" in the Valid to field. The record will then be usable in all calendar years and will appear in the list for every calendar year.
If you set both the Valid from and Valid to fields to "2016", the record can only be used in the year 2016 — that is, it will only be visible in the list during that year (see accounting period in the sidebar navigation header).