Hi there,
I was wondering if GP is capable of using one database for 4 companies (2 companies are Canadian and 2 companies are US) instead of creating new databases for each of the companies.
Basically, we have a holding company that owns all 4 companies however all 4 companies (all their own legal entity) have their own chart of accounts and the same staff work for all (12 users)
Thanks for you help!
Trevor
*This post is locked for comments
Thanks Mahmoud! The main drive was to work more effectively.
Thanks Steve for your detailed explanation. Basically, we have one Bookkeeper who works with all four companies and was looking for an easy way for him to work better and more productively. That being said, we can only do what the software allows and GP is already better than QB in that manner.
We are moving from QuickBooks where our bookkeeper has to continuously close the software to open another session and it is an extreme waste of time!
This is a practically difficult question to answer in case sufficient details are not provided. I personally believe that the information provided leave us wondering about several aspects of such consolidation. But I personally believe that doing so would be utterly complicated and difficult.
I would start by questioning a key corner stone of the four companies, the chart of accounts. Is it coherent among the four companies ? In other words, would it be possible to have one chart of account for all the companies and add a new segment such as: Company Id, while other segments are unified for them all ? (regardless of the pros and cons of such suggestion, which has been previously discussed on Multiple companies set up in one database).
From a master files perspective, how about the vendors and customers of these companies ? I would assume that they must be be different and can be managed in multiple classes, to manage the common characteristics of them all.
From a security perspective, you should be aware that Dynamics GP provide "Account Level Security" access, other entities such as: items, customers, vendors, assets ...etc will be visible according to the user role. In other words, an AP accountant in such "consolidated" GP company will have access to all the vendors of the four companies. Is this the actual scenario ? If so, you are good to go.
Reporting wise, I would assume that such different companies would have different reporting standards in a way or another to modify reports and reflect the different business needs in different countries. In this essence, such a requirement would imply an absolute limitation and you might need to consider customized solutions for reporting. For that I would definitely consider Victoria's report viewer solution. From a financial perspective, Management reporter capabilities are strongly effective and efficient and can handle such a requirement.
Meanwhile, the question remains. What's the main driver of this requirement since four GP companies are working just well. Evaluating the business needs and considering a test environment to experience the actual scenario would be a definitely good option. In the end, having your partner along with the consultant team involved is a must.
Please never hesitate to share any further inquiries,
Hi Trevor,
I guess my first question would be: What are you looking to achieve by consolidating 4 companies into 1 database? Make it easier for the staff to work in all 4 entities without switching companies in GP? Cross company inquiry / reporting? Reduced database maintenance?
Dynamics GP can't natively support 4 separate companies in one database, but one possible option is to use Binary Stream's Multi-Entity Management (MEM).
http://binarystream.com/products/multi-entity-management/
But be very careful when considering MEM. While it does technically allow you to manage multiple companies in a single database, it adds complexity nearly everywhere in GP.
Most windows are replaced with modified MEM versions of windows, additional fields are required on many windows to filter based on entity, etc.
And with MEM, any customizations (or other third party GP modules or add-ons) you might have or want in GP become much more complex, as the customizations have to consider the modified windows and additional MEM functionality and fields. And then there is reporting--all of your reports would need to be "MEM aware".
I would work closely with your partner to carefully evaluate MEM and potentially other options to see if such a solution would be worth the effort and if the benefits outweigh the potential cons.
#1
André Arnaud de Cal...
292,516
Super User 2025 Season 1
#2
Martin Dráb
231,403
Most Valuable Professional
#3
nmaenpaa
101,156
Share
Report
All responses (
Answers (
