Set up managed businesses and periods

Create or select the managed business

1. 1Open Management Accounts from the Management Accounts section near the top of the Company Admin sidebar.
2. 2Open Companies & periods.
3. 3Create a managed business for each subsidiary, branch, or related company that needs separate accounts.
4. 4Use the selector to switch between the parent company and managed businesses.
5. 5Confirm the selected business before editing COA, uploading files, posting, or generating reports.
6. 6Open Management Accounts > Settings to edit a managed business's name, code, or type when its identity changes.
7. 7Use Deactivate for a business that should leave active selectors; historical periods, postings, reports, and audit records are preserved, and the parent business cannot be deactivated.

Create the period

1. 1In Companies & periods, choose the fiscal year.
2. 2Choose the period code, such as P4 or P5.
3. 3Add a clear period name where useful.
4. 4Save the period before source intake.
5. 5Use Delete selected period only for empty periods with no linked activity.

Keep entity records separate

Each managed business should have its own COA, source files, processing runs, diagnostics, issues, backups, Excel report packs, PowerPoint packs, and Executive Email Summary Drafts. This avoids one subsidiary's postings inflating another subsidiary's trial balance or reports.

1. 1Switch to the correct business before downloading COA, source, or inventory templates.
2. 2Upload COA templates only while the matching business is selected so account records stay scoped to that business.
3. 3Upload source files only under the matching business and period.
4. 4Generate the entity's final Management Accounts before group consolidation.