> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dualentry.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Configure Multi-Entity and Consolidation

> Configure multi-entity structures in DualEntry with entity hierarchy, intercompany rules, automatic eliminations, and consolidated reporting.

DualEntry's multi-entity module lets you manage multiple legal entities within a single tenant, record intercompany transactions, automate eliminations, and produce consolidated financial statements.

## Defining the entity hierarchy

You manage your entity structure from the **Company** menu in the left navigation (the company icon at the bottom of the left nav) → **Companies**. Each entity (company) has a name, functional currency, fiscal calendar, its own chart of accounts (or a shared chart of accounts template), and its own [approval workflows](./approval-workflows). You define parent-child relationships between entities by assigning a parent company. The top-level parent is the consolidation entity.

The API exposes entities at `/public/v2/companies/`, where you can list, filter, and retrieve entity details programmatically.

<Info>
  Each entity operates as a self-contained set of books. You can grant users different [permission scopes](./user-roles-and-permissions) per entity, so an accountant may have full access to one subsidiary and read-only access to another.
</Info>

## Changing a subsidiary's parent

You can reassign a subsidiary's parent freely **before any transactions have been posted** to that subsidiary. Open the company record and pick a new parent. DualEntry updates the hierarchy immediately, and future consolidations roll the subsidiary up under the new parent.

Once transactions are posted to the subsidiary, changing its parent is restricted. This preserves the integrity of historical consolidated financials, elimination entries, and intercompany balances that were computed against the original hierarchy.

If you need a different hierarchy after posting has started, the supported workaround is:

1. Create a new subsidiary under the target parent.
2. Redirect new activity (integrations, recurring transactions, users) to the new subsidiary.
3. Inactivate the original subsidiary.

Posted history stays with the original subsidiary. Transactions do not migrate to the new one. Consolidated reports for periods before the switch continue to reflect the original hierarchy; reports for periods after the switch reflect the new one. If you need historical balances re-presented under the new parent, that is a manual rebooking exercise, typically handled through opening balance journal entries in the new subsidiary.

## Intercompany transactions

You record transactions between entities using intercompany journal entries (IJEs). An IJE includes lines that span at least two companies and must balance in aggregate across all entities involved. For example, when a parent company charges a management fee to a subsidiary, you create an IJE with a debit in the subsidiary and a credit in the parent.

IJEs have their own approval workflows, separate from single-entity transactions. This gives you control over who can initiate and approve cross-entity entries. DualEntry automatically creates the offsetting intercompany receivable and payable balances on each entity's books.

## Configuring eliminations

During consolidation, intercompany balances and transactions must be eliminated so they don't inflate the consolidated financials. You configure elimination rules from the **Company** menu in the left navigation (the company icon at the bottom of the left nav) → **Companies → Eliminations**. Rules define which intercompany account pairs should be eliminated, for example, intercompany receivables against intercompany payables, and intercompany revenue against intercompany expense.

When you run consolidation, DualEntry automatically generates elimination entries based on these rules. The elimination entries zero out intercompany balances and appear as a separate column in the consolidated report, so you can see the pre-elimination and post-elimination figures side by side.

## Consolidated reporting

You run any [standard financial statement](../reporting-analytics/standard-financial-statements) at the consolidated (parent) level. DualEntry aggregates each child entity's data, applies the configured elimination entries, and presents the consolidated view. You can also run reports at any intermediate level in the hierarchy-consolidating a regional parent with its subsidiaries, for example, without rolling up to the global parent.

The consolidation process is on-demand. You select the parent entity, the reporting period, and run the consolidation. Results are available immediately in the reporting module. Consolidated reports include a breakdown column that shows each entity's contribution alongside the elimination entries, so you can trace how the consolidated totals are derived from the individual entity figures.

## Currency translation for consolidation

When child entities have different functional currencies than the parent, DualEntry translates their financials to the parent's currency during consolidation. You configure translation rules per entity:

* **Current rate method** - balance sheet items translate at the period-end rate; income statement items translate at the average rate for the period.
* **Temporal method** - monetary items translate at the period-end rate; non-monetary items translate at historical rates.

The cumulative translation adjustment (CTA) posts to an equity account on the consolidated balance sheet. For details on configuring exchange rates and rate types, see [multi-currency setup](./multi-currency-setup). For currency-specific report formatting, see [multi-currency reporting](../reporting-analytics/multi-currency-reporting).

<Warning>
  Ensure each child entity's period is closed before running consolidation. Consolidating with open periods may produce incomplete results.
</Warning>