Odoo Multi-Company
Management of several companies in one system
3 December, 2020 by
Odoo Multi-Company
manaTec GmbH, Tom Pohling
 

As an ERP system, Odoo primarily supports small and medium-sized companies with its countless modules and apps in mapping their business processes. The linking of the modules and apps with each other makes it easier for the user to find his way around the system and let Odoo guide him through the company-specific process flows.

For more complex or multinational corporate structures, Odoo's multi-company feature offers a perfect way to map the business processes of intrinsically independent companies in one ERP system. So in today's blog, we'll look at Odoo Multi-Company and what to keep in mind.

The initial setup of Multi-Company in Odoo is quite easy. To do this, we navigate to Settings → Users & Companies → Companies and create our companies with the respective contact and master data. Then we activate access to the respective companies for our users. To do this, we navigate to Settings → Users & Companies → Users → Select Users. There we can add the companies to the user, in which the user is allowed to move. If a user has access to more than one company, he will find the switch between the companies in the dashboard.

Using a toggle switch, a user can alternate between the comanies.
Using a toggle switch, a user can alternate between the comanies.

Once we have created our companies and managed the access for our users, we will now find a new field "Company" in many Odoo objects. This gives us the possibility to assign objects to a specific company and make them visible only in this company. For example, this allows us to assign Kontakte, products or inventory to a company.

This assignment helps us to keep track of the individual companies and objects. If we are in company A, we will only see the contacts of company A. If we are in company B, we will only see the contacts of company B. If we leave the field "Company" empty and do not assign any of our companies, the object will be visible in all companies.

This contact is only visible in the selected company.
This contact is only visible in the selected company.

In objects such as requests for quotation, purchase orders, quotations or sales orders , the "Company" field is a mandatory field and must be filled. By default, Odoo uses the company in which we as a user are currently located when the object is created. The same applies to invoicing, because incoming and outgoing invoices must be assigned to a company.

The toggle between companies also gives us the option to select multiple companies. This is very helpful for visibility of data from different companies. At the same time, however, this creates pitfalls that need to be addressed.

For example, if we are logged into two companies, create an offer from company A and use products from company B, an error message will occur if we later access the offer with only one of the two companies. Therefore, we strongly recommend selecting only one company and working only in the relevant company.

The installed modules as well as the access rights of the users in the individual modules are independent of the multi-company function. This means that all installed modules can be used equally in all companies. The access rights of the users are also the same in the modules. However, the configuration within the modules can differ in the individual companies.

For example, we have the option of configuring the sequence numbers, i.e. the sequential numbers of purchase orders, sales orders or invoices, depending on the company. The layout of the reports or documents that we generate from Odoo can also be customized per company.

In addition, we find important settings in the Finance module that we can configure depending on the company. These include, for example, the chart of accounts or the valid fiscal year. Furthermore, and this is a great advantage of the multi-company function in Odoo, we can define so-called intercompany rules in the general settings.

Activation of inter-company rules in Odoo.
Activation of inter-company rules in Odoo.

We can customize the intercompany rules in the general settings for the company we are currently in. Alternatively, we can switch to the developer mode and navigate to Settings → Users & Companies → Companies. In the Intercompany Rules tab, we can configure the same for the individual companies.

The intercompany rules help us to automate operations between the individual companies. In doing so, we have the possibility to synchronize incoming and outgoing invoices as well as purchase orders and/or sales orders.

For example, an outgoing invoice posted in company A for company B automatically generates an incoming invoice in company B from company A. Similarly, a confirmed sales order from company A to company B can automatically generate a purchase order in company B from company A. Using an additional checkbox ("Automatic confirmation"), we can also define whether the purchase order or sales order is created in draft status or confirmed immediately.

So we can see that Odoo's multi-company function offers us numerous possibilities to control several companies in one ERP system and to automate the processes between the individual companies. It is important to make sure that we are always in the right company to avoid errors when assigning objects.

One point that Odoo does not take into account in the standard is the use of different e-mail signatures in the respective companies. For this, the manaTec development team has written a module, Multi Company Email Signatures. With our module, we have the ability to create an individual email signature for each user in each company and communicate from Odoo on behalf of the various companies.

The configuration of the company specific email signatures can be done by the users themselves. Additionally, the email signatures can be configured by an administrator user in the user settings. Our module adds a tab in the user settings where the email signatures of the selected user can be viewed, edited and new email signatures can be added. With this, we extend the already extensive functionality of multi-company in Odoo and ensure transparent external communication from Odoo.

Do you also want to map your companies in an ERP system or do you need support in setting up Multi-Company in Odoo? No problem! Contact us now and we will be at your disposal as a reliable Odoo partner with extensive expertise from many Odoo projects!


Sources: www.odoo.com

 
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