Multi-company setup in Business Central
How Business Central handles multiple companies and legal entities — separate databases, shared master data, intercompany, and consolidations.
Business Central is built to run multiple companies inside a single environment. Each company has its own chart of accounts, ledger, posting groups, and configuration, while sharing the same database, users, and (optionally) master data. For groups of five to fifty legal entities of similar shape, the multi-company model is a sweet spot between the simplicity of a single-tenant SMB ERP and the cost of Dynamics 365 Finance.
What a company is. A company in Business Central is a self-contained accounting unit — typically a single legal entity. Companies inside one environment can be of completely different shapes (different currencies, fiscal years, dimensions, posting groups) or near-identical (perhaps just a different country localization).
Shared and per-company data. By default, every table is per-company. A handful of system tables (users, permission sets, profiles, exchange rates, the Object Designer) are shared across the environment. Master data management (an out-of-the-box feature) lets you nominate one company as the source of items, customers, vendors, etc. and synchronise to subscriber companies, so you don't maintain the same item card in five companies.
Intercompany. Two companies linked as Intercompany Partners can post intercompany sales and purchase documents that auto-create their counterparty in the other company. Intercompany journals push GL entries across companies, and IC payments settle balances. Mapping tables (chart of accounts, dimensions) reconcile differences in account structures.
Consolidation. A dedicated Consolidation company aggregates results from multiple subsidiaries. Source companies export their trial balances on a schedule; the consolidation company applies currency translation, eliminations, and adjustments to produce group financials. For very complex consolidations (CPM-grade), customers typically integrate to a third-party tool.
User access across companies. Users see each company they have permission for. Switching is a single click in the company switcher. Permissions can be scoped per company.
Localizations. Each company can run its own country localization, so a single environment can hold a Swedish AB, a Norwegian AS, and a German GmbH each with the right VAT, statutory reporting, and bank file formats.
Licensing. Multi-company doesn't change licensing; it's the number of unique users across all companies that drives cost.
Related guides
- Application areas in Business CentralHow Application Areas in Business Central control which features users see — Basic, Essential, Premium, and how customisations can extend the application area system.
- Batch posting in Business CentralHow Business Central handles batch posting of journals, orders, and documents — performance, background processing, and the trade-offs against single posting.
- Business Central environments and sandboxesHow environments work in Business Central SaaS — production vs sandbox, capacity, copies, and lifecycle management.
- Business Central feature managementHow Business Central's Feature Management page lets administrators preview, opt-in to, or delay new features within a release wave.
- Business Central integrations with the Power Platform and Microsoft 365How Business Central plugs into Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and Copilot.