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Ownership and NCI · Track 3 · Tutorial 3 of 4

Sell a controlling stake

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When the group sells enough of a subsidiary to lose control, the company stops being consolidated, the stake kept is revalued, and a gain or loss is recognised. Record the sale once, and BrizoConsol handles all three.

You will needA subsidiary recorded as Subsidiary in Ownership, with its posting accounts and its own accounts saved. The sale recorded in your parent’s own books. Free, Pro or Premium edition.
By the endThe company consolidated up to the month before the sale and carried as one investment line from that month, with its goodwill and NCI removed and the gain or loss in profit and loss.

1Understand what changes when control is lost

In the running example the group has owned 80% of Company B since January 2025, with goodwill of 40,000 (see Account for minority shareholders). In October 2026 it sells 50% for 350,000 and keeps 30%, which gives it significant influence but not control. The 30% kept is worth 210,000.

This is an alternative to Buy out or sell to minority shareholders, which changes the same company in the same month. Each starts from Company B at 80%, with net assets of 500,000 and NCI of 100,000 at the end of September.

Company B is consolidated line by line with goodwill of 40,000 and NCI of 100,000 until September; from October the 30% kept is one investment line of 210,000; the gain before the translation reserve is recycled is 350,000 + 210,000 + 100,000 − 500,000 − 40,000 = 120,000
Line by line until September; one investment line from October.

In the example the gain, before the translation reserve is recycled, is 120,000: the 350,000 received, plus the 210,000 the 30% kept is worth, plus the 100,000 of NCI removed, less the 500,000 of net assets and the 40,000 of goodwill.

Until SeptemberCompany B is consolidated line by line, with goodwill and 20% NCI.
In OctoberIts net assets, goodwill and NCI leave the group accounts. The 30% kept is treated as if sold and bought back at fair value, so the gain or loss covers the whole stake, not only the 50% sold.
Translation reserveCompany B is a foreign company (see Handle foreign currency companies). The group’s share of its translation reserve built up since the group took control — including the exchange differences on its goodwill — moves out of equity and into the gain or loss. The NCI’s share is removed with the NCI and is not recycled.
From OctoberCompany B is a JV / Associate. Its figures are no longer consolidated; BrizoConsol posts the group’s 30% share of its profit as JV entries — see Account for associates and joint ventures.

This tutorial is one scenario for the example group described in Load the month and see what is missing; the other tutorials in this track are separate scenarios, not a sequence. Your own companies and amounts will differ, so the Check boxes say what to compare in your own group.

2Choose the disposal accounts

  1. Open Ownership & Equity → Ownership, and open Posting accounts with the gear beside Group structure.
  2. Choose a profit and loss account for Disposal gain/loss (loss of control).
  3. Choose the profit and loss account your group records its own gain on selling shares in for Parent's gain/loss on sale of shares (P&L), and click Save.
  4. Click Company B, open Totals and accounts for this company, and check Investment in subsidiary is chosen.

The group’s gain or loss is posted to the disposal account. Your group records the sale in its own books — the cash, the cost of the 50% sold, and its own gain on the parent’s gain/loss account — so the entry doesn’t post to the bank. BrizoConsol takes that gain back out of group profit, clears your group’s investment in Company B, and carries the 30% kept at its fair value instead of its cost.

3Record the sale

  1. Beside Company B’s Share purchases and sales, click + Record, then Sold shares.
  2. Keep your group, and choose Oct-2026 and 50.
  3. Choose JV / Associate as the relationship. This is what tells BrizoConsol control is lost.
  4. Enter the Disposal amount (350,000).
  5. Enter the Retained interest fair value (210,000), and choose the Retained interest account the 30% will be carried in.
  6. Check the notice says the disposal changes control, and click Add Record.
Add Ownership Record for Company B, sold shares: 50% in Oct-2026, relationship JV / Associate, disposal amount 350,000, retained interest fair value 210,000 in Investment in associates, and the notice that the disposal changes control
When and how much (1), the loss of control (2), the proceeds (3), the stake kept (4), and the notice (5).
Disposal amountWhat the buyer paid for the 50%, in the group currency.
Retained interest fair valueWhat the 30% kept is worth at the date of the sale — usually from the same valuation as the sale price. It becomes the starting value of the investment.
Retained interest accountThe investment account the 30% sits in from October, for example an investment in associates account.

If the notice starts with Warning, the Disposal gain/loss (loss of control) account is not set. You can save the record, but go back to step 2 before you report.

4Check the record

There is nothing to post: saving the record recalculates the group and posts the entries.

Company B’s share purchases and sales: Bought 80% in Jan 2025, control gained, with goodwill 40,000.00, and Sold 50% in Oct 2026, control lost, 80% to 30%, with proceeds 350,000.00 and the retained stake at fair value 210,000.00
The sale, with the group’s holding down to 30% (1).

Check

The new record reads Sold 50%, control lost and 80% → 30%. Retained stake at fair value shows the 210,000 you entered for the stake kept. The gain isn’t on the record: it is worked out when the entries are posted.

5Check the result

  1. Open Reports → Profit & Loss for Oct-2026. The gain is on the Disposal gain/loss (loss of control) account: the 350,000 received plus the 210,000 the 30% kept is worth, plus the NCI removed, less Company B’s net assets at October’s closing rate and its goodwill. The translation reserve recycled is posted beside it on the same account. Company B’s revenue and costs are included up to September only.
  2. Open Reports → Balance Sheet with Show Entities on. From October, Company B’s assets and liabilities, its goodwill and its NCI are gone, and the retained interest account shows 210,000.
  3. Open Ownership & Equity → NCI Report for Oct-2026, and click Company B’s row. The Disposal (Loss of Control) rows show each balance removed and where it was posted, including Disposal (Loss of Control) - Owners CTA Recycling for the translation reserve.
  4. Open Ownership & Equity → JV / Associate Report, and click Company B’s row, to see the group’s 30% share of its profit from October.

Check

The Disposal gain/loss (loss of control) account, less the translation reserve recycled, equals the disposal amount plus the retained interest fair value plus the NCI removed, less the net assets and goodwill removed. In the example that is 120,000. The NCI Report’s Disposal (Loss of Control) rows list each balance removed, if you need to find a difference. From the month of the sale, the retained interest account shows the fair value you entered, and the Balance Sheet balances.

For September and earlier, Company B is still shown line by line, so the comparatives are not restated.

6If something does not look right

What you seeWhat to do
The dialog does not ask for the retained interestThe relationship is still Subsidiary. Choose JV / Associate if the group no longer controls Company B. If it does, see Buy out or sell to minority shareholders.
Loss-of-control disposal requires a disposal gain/loss P&L account…Choose the Disposal gain/loss (loss of control) account in Posting accounts.
Select the account the parent posts its gain or loss on the sale of shares to, in Posting accounts on the Ownership page.Choose Parent's gain/loss on sale of shares (P&L) in Posting accounts.
Investment account must be configured for loss-of-control disposal…Choose Investment in subsidiary under Company B’s Totals and accounts for this company.
Missing closing exchange rate for the retranslation of goodwill…Add the closing rate for Company B’s currency for the month named in the message. Every month since the group took control needs one.
The gain looks wrongCheck the Disposal amount and Retained interest fair value — both are in the group currency — and the Owners CTA Recycling row in the NCI Report.
Company B is dropped from the wrong monthEdit the record’s Month. Company B stops being consolidated from that month.

Want more detail? See the documentation

Ownership NCI — Non-Controlling Interest JV / Associate JV / Associate Report
Next in Changes in ownership Pay dividends to the NCI All tutorials