Multi-Entity Shared – The New Standard

Multi-Entity Shared (MES), is the new standard!  What does this mean for a single company?

Before 2020 R4 (November 2020), a business with only one single entity could be set up using either a Multi-Entity Shared (MES) or a Single-company structure. Since 2020 R4, all new environments are now provisioned as multi-entity shared structures.

In the long term, existing single-company environments will be migrated to a Multi-Entity Shared structure.  If there is no immediate business reason for a single-company to migrate to MES, such as adding new entities, it is recommended that you wait until a systematic migration process is developed by Sage Intacct. 

Benefits of Multi-Entity Shared

A Multi-Entity Shared (MES) structure offers greater flexibility than a Single-company structure.  A couple of notable benefits using a Multi-Entity Shared (MES) structure, over Single-company structure:

• Easy expansion to add additional entities.
• Capability to control users’ access to limited departments, entities, or territories.

You might have noticed that since 2020, there have been a series of enhancements to the multi-entity shared structure.  Overall, these updates provide greater flexibility for an organization to manage the user experiences based on their own business needs.  

Let’s review the recent product updates related to the Multi-Entity Shared environment.

Auto-default location and entity

With the 2021 R1 release, Sage Intacct now automatically assigns a default location and entity when working in a company that has only one entity in a multi-entity shared environment.  For example, 100-Entity is the only entity, when you create a new AP bill without selecting a location, Intacct will automatically assign 100 to the transaction at Save/Submit.

Notes:

• This feature is defaulting rather than validating location input. You can always assign a different location before saving the transaction.
• Should there be explicit default set up in the system that is different than the default entity, that default takes precedence over the default location or entity Intacct designates here. For example, timesheet or expense entry will always default to the employee’s location, until it is reassigned.
• This feature is currently supported in General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Time and Expenses, Cash Management, and timesheets in the Projects application.

Entity Restriction

Don’t we all encounter a moment searching for a transaction at the top level, while forgetting to select to check the box “Include Private”?  Although working at the top level or entity level does not impact how data is reported, it can be quite confusing while users are working to edit or approve transactions. 

After the 2020 R4 product release, Intacct provides administrators an easy way to ensure consistency over where transactions are created with a checkbox in multi-entity console subscription configuration.  Prior to that, multiple smart rules are required to ensure transactions are created at the desired level. 

You now can see two options under the ENTITY RESTRICTIONS section.  It’s an either-or option. (For companies that are in a single-based currency).

Restrict access to top-level only

This restriction makes the environment look and feel like a Single-company.  Users are working exclusively at the top level and the option to slide to entity level is removed.

The screenshot below shows the company home page in a different setting. 

Left: Typical Top level home page with Entity drop-down

Right: With “Restrict access to Top level only”, entity drop-down is no longer available, which forces users to work at the top level only.

Review your business needs, as this is not an option that will fit all businesses, even at first it can seem a solution you’ve been waiting for.  Here are some considerations:

• If your company uses these applications, you will need to continue working at the entity level.
• Projects > Generate Invoices
• Credit card transactions
• Recurring transactions
• Charge card register
• This option is not available for companies that are operating in multi-base currencies. One of the many reasons is, many functions in this environment require working at the entity level. 

As this restriction removes the entity drop-down, you will need to ensure all users are set up to access the top level.  Any users restricted to two entities or more can access the top level by default.  For users restricted to a single entity, ensure Enable access to top-level is selected.

Restrict subledger transaction to the entity level only

With this restriction, users can create transactions at the entity level only, not the top level.  This restriction applies to “transactions” only.  Users can still create records, such as vendors, customers, bank accounts, etc. at the top or entity level.  As a result, considering setting up smart rules to restrict the level where these records are created. Reach out to CLA’s support for assistance.

Contrary to the TOP LEVEL restriction discussed previously, you may find this preference helpful if you are using Project (Grant) billing, credit card transaction, and recurring transactions.    

What’s next?

Interested in learning about other features released in R1 this year or R4 of last year? Sign up for our complimentary webinar on Tuesday, March 30^th at 10am Pacific/ 1pm Eastern.

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