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Create a new consolidated company, or consolidate a company you've already created. The company shouldn't contain transactions.
Preview the results. Business Central verifies that you can successfully transfer the master data and transactions to the consolidated company.
To use the assisted setup guide, follow these steps:
Choose the iconthe search icon, enter Assisted Setup, and then choose the related link.
Choose Process Consolidations, and then complete each step in the Company Consolidation assisted setup guide.
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Advanced consolidation setup
If you need more advanced settings for your consolidation, you can set up consolidation manually. For example, if you have companies that you partially own, or you have companies that you don't want to include.
Set up the consolidated company
First, you must set up the consolidated company. You set up the consolidated company in the same way that you set up other companies. To learn more about setting up a company, go to Getting Ready for Doing Business.
The following list illustrates key aspects of the consolidated company.
Set up the chart of accounts.To learn more about setting up a chart of accounts, go to Setting Up or Changing the Chart of Accounts.
The charts of accounts can be identical across a business unit and the consolidated company, or the consolidated company can have a different chart of account. If a business unit's chart of accounts differs from the consolidated company's, you must map the accounts to the accounts in the business unit. To learn more, go to the Prepare general ledger accounts for consolidation section.
Add business units.
To consolidate several companies' data, you must set up the subsidiaries as business units and specify how much of their balances to include. To learn more about business units, to go the Add business units section.
Specify exchange rates, if needed.
Specify exchange rates if you'll consolidate data for business units that use different currencies. The three exchange rates you can use are Average Rate (Manual), Closing Rate, and Last Closing Rate. To learn more about exchange rates, go to the Specify exchange rates for consolidations sectionClosing Rate.
Consolidate dimension information and general ledger accounts.To learn more, go to the Include or exclude dimensions section.
Add business units
In the consolidated company, set up each company that you want to consolidate data from as a business unit. Before you run a consolidation and generate your consolidation report, it's a good idea to verify the financial data in each business unit.
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To use a manual process, for Business Central online and on-premises, you can export an .xml file that contains the unit's general ledger entries. Then import the file in the consolidated company.
To automate the data exchange, for Business Central online you can use an API that Business Central provides to share data across environments. If your companies are in the same environment, you can use the Database option.
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Note The API option also lets you share general ledger entries from other Business Central environments. To use the API option, the user who configures the consolidation must have permission to access G/L entries. For example, the D365 Basic and D365 Read permission sets provide access. |
Sign in to the consolidated company.
Choose the iconthe search icon, enter Business enter Business Units, and then choose the related link.
Choose New, and then fill in the required fields on the General and G/L Accounts FastTabs. Hover over a field to read a short description.
Important
When you fill in the Starting Date and Ending Date fields, make sure you comply with GAAP rules concerning the fiscal periods of the business unit versus the parent companyfield to read a short description.
On the Data Import FastTab, in the Default Data Import field, specify how you'll share general ledger entries with the consolidated company:
To share data between companies in the same environment, choose Database.
To share data between companies in different environments, choose API, and then fill in the API's Endpoint field.
To get the endpoint URL, in the business unit company's Business Central, open the Business Unit Card page and choose the Setup action.
To export an .xml file and manually share it, choose File Format.
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Important When you fill in the Starting Date and Ending Date fields, make sure you comply with GAAP rules concerning the fiscal periods of the business unit versus the parent company. |
Prepare general ledger accounts for consolidation
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In each business unit's Business Central, choose the iconthe search icon, enter Chart of Accounts, and then choose the related link.
Open the card for the account, and then fill in the fields on the Consolidation FastTab. Hover over a field to read a short description.
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Specify exchange rates for consolidations
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The following table describes the exchange rate methods you can use for accounts.
Expand table
Exchange rate | Typical use |
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Average Rate (Manual) | You manually calculate the average rate for the period to consolidate. Calculate the average either as an arithmetic average or as a best estimate, and specify the result for each business unit. Use for income statement accounts. |
Closing Rate | Used for balance sheet accounts. |
Last Closing Rate | The rate that was valid in the foreign exchange market on the date for which the balance sheet or income statement is being prepared. You enter this rate for each business unit. Use for balance sheet accounts. |
Historical Rate | The exchange rate that was valid when the transaction occurred. |
Composite Rate | The current period amounts are translated at the average rate and added to the previously recorded balance in the consolidated company. You typically use this method for retained earnings accounts. Those accounts include amounts from different periods, so they contain amounts translated with different exchange rates. |
Equity Rate | This option is similar to Composite. Differences post to separate general ledger accounts. |
To specify exchange rates for business units, follow these steps:
Choose the iconthe search icon, enter Business Units, and then choose the related link.
On the Business Unit List page, choose the business unit, and then choose the Average Rate (Manual) action.
On the Change Exchange Rate page, the contents of the Relational Exch. Rate field have been copied from the Currency Exchange Rate table, but you can modify them. Close the page.
Choose the Closing Rate action.
In the Relational Exch. Rate Amount field, enter the exchange rate.
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Include or exclude dimensions
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