SaaS & Technology Groups · Track 1 · Tutorial 1 of 2
Set up intercompany types for a SaaS 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 SaaS group.
1Know what moves between your companies
A SaaS group usually has a holding company, an IP company that owns the software, and operating companies in different countries that sell it. These are the items that move between them:
| From | To | What |
|---|---|---|
| IP company | Operating companies | Licence fees for the software |
| Operating company | IP company | Development work recharged |
| Holding company | Operating companies | Management fees |
| Group companies | Group companies | Unpaid balances, often in different currencies |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Management Charges | Keep on | Management fees, and the base for Licence Fees. |
| Sales / Purchases / Services | Keep on | The base for Development Recharges. |
| Trade Receivables / Payables | Keep on | Unpaid licence fees and recharges. |
| Intercompany Loans | Switch on | Funding for operating companies. |
| 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 Licence Fees.
- In Accounting treatment, choose Management Charges, and click Save type.
- Add the others the same way.
| Type name | Accounting treatment | For |
|---|---|---|
| Licence Fees | Management Charges | Licence fees or royalties charged by the IP company. |
| Development Recharges | Sales / Purchases / Services | Development work recharged to the IP company. |
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 |
|---|---|
| IP and development | Licence Fees, Sales / Purchases / Services, Development Recharges |
| 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