Professional Services Groups · Track 1 · Tutorial 1 of 2
Set up intercompany types for a professional services group
Before you clear anything, give each item that moves between your companies a type of its own, so it is filed and checked where your team expects it. This is the set-up that suits a professional services group.
1Know what moves between your companies
A professional services group usually has a holding company that provides finance, HR and IT, and practice companies in different countries that second staff to each other. These are the items that move between them:
| From | To | What |
|---|---|---|
| Practice company | Practice company | Staff seconded and recharged |
| Holding company | Practice companies | Shared-services fees |
| Practice company | Practice company | Work on a client project another company bills |
| Holding company | Practice companies | Loans and interest |
Each item should have a type of its own, so it is filed, listed and checked where your team expects it. Your group may not have all of them, or may have others: adjust the steps below to what your companies actually book.
2Switch types on and off
- Select the group, and open Settings → Global Settings → Intercompany Types.
- Click the switch on each type below that needs changing. Each switch is saved the moment you click it.
| Type | Change | For |
|---|---|---|
| Sales / Purchases / Services | Keep on | The base for Staff Recharges and Project Work. |
| Management Charges | Keep on | Shared-services fees. |
| Trade Receivables / Payables | Keep on | Unpaid recharges and fees. |
| Intercompany Loans | Switch on | Funding for new offices. |
| Inventory Transfers | Switch off | Not used: there is no stock. |
A new group starts with Trade Receivables / Payables, Sales / Purchases / Services, Inventory Transfers and Management Charges switched on. Other Eliminations is always on. See Switch on and add intercompany types.
3Add types of your own
- Click Add type.
- In Type name, enter Staff Recharges.
- In Accounting treatment, choose Sales / Purchases / Services, and click Save type.
- Add the others the same way.
| Type name | Accounting treatment | For |
|---|---|---|
| Staff Recharges | Sales / Purchases / Services | Secondments recharged between practice companies. |
| Project Work | Sales / Purchases / Services | Work done for another company’s client, kept apart from secondments. |
The accounting treatment decides how the type behaves and which accounts its entries accept. A type of your own is in the menu only while the built-in type it works like is switched on.
4Arrange the menu
- Click Manage menu.
- For each group below, enter its Group name and click Add group.
- Drag each type onto its group, and click Save menu.
| Group | Types in it |
|---|---|
| People and projects | Sales / Purchases / Services, Staff Recharges, Project Work |
| Group charges | Management Charges |
| Balances and funding | Trade Receivables / Payables, Intercompany Loans |
See Arrange the Intercompany menu for moving, renaming and removing groups.
Check
Intercompany in the sidebar shows the groups above, and each type of your own is listed on Intercompany Types with Kind Custom and status Active.
5If something goes wrong
| A type of your own isn’t in the menu | The built-in type it works like is switched off. Switch it on. |
|---|---|
| … cannot be used in this elimination type. | The type’s accounting treatment doesn’t accept that account. Check the table in Switch on and add intercompany types, and choose the treatment whose accounts fit. |
| The arrangement was lost | The dialog was closed without Save menu. Arrange it again and save. |
Want more detail? See the documentation