Manufacturing Groups · Track 1 · Tutorial 2 of 2

Clear intercompany items in a manufacturing group

The same items come round every month. This is how to clear each one in BrizoConsol, in the order that closes the month cleanly, with links to the accounting behind them.

You will needThe types set up, as in Set up intercompany types for a manufacturing group. The month loaded for every company.
By the endEvery typical intercompany item of a manufacturing group cleared for the month, with nothing left in Elimination Review.

1Know the items

Intercompany flows in a manufacturing group: Procurement company to Factories: Raw materials at a mark-up; Factory to Factory or distributor: Components and finished goods at a transfer price; Holding company to Factories: Management fees; IP company to Factories: Royalties for patents and processes; Factory to Group company: A machine sold between companies
Each arrow is an item to clear every month.

Each item is cleared under the type set up for it in Set up intercompany types for a manufacturing group.

2Clear each item

ItemTypeHow to clear itSee
Raw materials from the procurement companyRaw MaterialsA rule on the intercompany sales and purchases accounts.Eliminate sales, purchases and services
Components between factoriesInventory TransfersA rule; Method 2 with FX when the factories are in different currencies.Eliminate sales, purchases and services
Finished goods sold to distributorsSales / Purchases / ServicesA rule, or document entries when the accounts also hold outside sales.Eliminate sales, purchases and services
The margin in stock still heldUnrealised ProfitA month-end entry for each buyer’s closing stock from group companies, at the seller’s margin. It reverses automatically the next month. Recalculate it when transfer prices change.Remove unrealised profit in inventory
Management fees and royaltiesManagement Charges, RoyaltiesA rule on each pair of fee accounts.Eliminate management charges
A machine sold to another group companyFixed AssetsA GL entry for the gain, then the extra depreciation every month for the rest of its life.Eliminate fixed asset transfers
Unpaid invoices and loansTrade Receivables / Payables, Intercompany LoansA document entry at each month end for invoices; a rule on the loan accounts.Eliminate trade receivables and payables

A rule suits an item that recurs on accounts holding nothing else; see the Automate with rules track. When the accounts also hold outside business, clear the item from its invoices and bills instead.

3Close the month in order

  1. Load every company’s month, so the rules run on the consolidation with both sides in place.
  2. Enter the document entries for unpaid balances at the month end.
  3. Enter the month-end entries for the margin still in stock, from each company’s closing stock.
  4. Enter the GL entries for one-off items in the month: dividends, asset transfers, new loans.
  5. Clear Intercompany → Elimination Review, as in Work through Elimination Review.
  6. Check each type on Review → Month End Status, as in Check eliminations on Month End Status.

Check

On the group’s Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss with Show Entities on, every intercompany line is zero in the group column, and nothing for the month is waiting in Elimination Review.

4Read more about the accounting

The BrizoConsol blog goes through the accounting behind these items for a manufacturing group, with worked examples:

Financial Consolidation for Manufacturing Groups: Clean Group Accounts Across Factories, Subsidiaries and Distribution Entities
How to Consolidate a Manufacturing Group Where a Central Procurement Entity Buys Raw Materials and On-Sells to Production Subsidiaries at a Mark-Up
Transfer Pricing for Intercompany Component Sales in a Manufacturing Group: How to Set Arm’s-Length Prices and Eliminate the Margin at Consolidation
The Profit That Isn’t There: Eliminating Unrealised Intercompany Margins in a Manufacturing Group
The Revenue That Disappears at Consolidation: Eliminating Management Fees and Royalties in a Manufacturing Group
Selling a Machine to Your Own Subsidiary: Why the Disposal Gain Is Fictional and What to Do With It
Three Consolidation Problems That Only Exist When Your Factory Is in a Different Currency

5If something goes wrong

An item is still in the group figuresIts accounts aren’t in a rule or entry, or one company booked it in another month. Check both companies’ books for the month.
The same rule waits in Elimination Review every monthIts method or tolerance doesn’t suit the usual difference. See Explain and clear intercompany differences.
A rule also eliminates outside businessThe account isn’t only intercompany. Delete the rule and clear the item from its invoices and bills.

Want more detail? See the documentation