Create a Consolidated Company
The Consolidation wizard walks you through the process
of creating a consolidated
company in a few simple steps. When you run the wizard, a chart of
accounts for the consolidated parent is created; it is based on the parent
company’s chart of accounts. To ensure accurate reporting, the Consolidate
Company wizard helps you to match subsidiary company accounts to the consolidated
parent’s chart of accounts.
Before you create a consolidated
company, perform the following tasks
- Make sure that all of the companies to be consolidated have been upgraded to the same version of Sage 50 Accounting.
- Identify the parent company.
- Identify one or
more subsidiary companies.
- Ensure that each
company has a unique company name and file name, and each company operates
in the same fiscal year.
Note: The rule for the same fiscal year would also apply for any company with transactions in the previous, current, and next fiscal years. (Sage 50 Premium Accounting)
- Ensure that the
parent company is in single-user mode, and the subsidiary companies are
closed.
- Prepare the accounts
for account mapping:
- Each
subsidiary company’s accounts should be mapped to the parent company’s
accounts. If any account numbers differ, the Consolidation wizard automatically
maps accounts according to these conditions:
- If the subsidiary
company has fewer digits in its asset account numbers than the consolidated
parent, then Sage 50 Accounting adds additional zeroes to the end of each
subsidiary company’s asset accounts.
For example, if the parent asset account is 168000,
then the subsidiary asset account 1680 becomes 168000.
- If the subsidiary
company has more digits in its asset account numbers than the consolidated
parent, then Sage 50 Accounting truncates each subsidiary asset account
number to match the length of the consolidated parent company’s asset
account.
For example, if the parent asset account is 1680,
then the subsidiary asset account 1680911 becomes 1680.
- If a subsidiary
company account cannot be matched, you must map account numbers manually
(you can do this quickly and easily while running the Consolidate Company
wizard).
Note:
During
account mapping, you cannot view departments.
To create a consolidated company:
- Open a subsidiary
or parent company. If you use security,
enter the password for the sysadmin user.
Note: Users authorized to access
the parent company can access the consolidated parent company.
- In the Home window
on the File menu, click Consolidate Company.
- Click Next
to start the wizard. Identify whether the current company is the parent
company or a subsidiary company.
- Enter a consolidated
company filename. The wizard will create a new data file (.csi)
for the consolidated company. Click Next
to continue.
- Click Add
to identify one or more subsidiary companies, then click Next
to continue.
On the Related Accounts page, the Consolidate Company wizard
automatically maps account numbers from the parent company to each subsidiary
company (according to the conditions described above in the section “Before
You Start”). If no checkmark appears beside a company name in the Related
Accounts column, one or more accounts need to be mapped.
- Select the company
and then click Relate to manually map accounts.
Note: To
ensure accurate financial reporting, you should map all subsidiary accounts
to a consolidated parent account; however, the Consolidate Company wizard
lets you consolidate a company even if some accounts are not mapped. You
will be reminded to map outstanding accounts when you try to generate
a report.
- Choose to show
all unmapped accounts. Beside each unmapped subsidiary account, click
the Find button in the Consolidated Parent Accounts column to identify
a parent account to map to.
- Click OK
when you have matched all accounts.
- Repeat steps 6
through 8 for each subsidiary company that requires account mapping.
- Click Next
and then finish the wizard. The Consolidate Company wizard retrieves opening
balances and transactions for the current fiscal year from the subsidiary
companies into the consolidated parent company.
It identifies opening balances and adds them to the consolidated
parent company, and retrieves all transactions for the current year, up
to the latest transaction date.
How often should I consolidate?
You should update
your consolidated company as part of your year-end procedures. However,
if you prefer to keep your records more current, you can update your consolidated
company more often.