When your single simPRO build is converted to a Multi-company build, all the data and settings for the single company are transferred to what is known as a template company. This contains all the foundation data to be copied across when you create a new company within the Multi-company build. The first company within the build is created at the same time, and is identical to both the template company and your original single company.

For features you choose to share, the individual companies refer to the template company for information. For example, if you share customers between companies, all customers and sites are managed in the template company.

Each company references the template company when you look up a customer or site. Additionally, any changes you make to a customer or site within one company updates the template company data, making it available to all the companies within your build.

Your Company ID appears in the table to help differentiate your companies when exporting data from simPRO.

The information you have elected not to share is managed separately within the individual companies. New companies are still built from the template company, but changes you make in non-template companies are not reflected across other companies. See Multi-Company Setup for more information.

Some features are always shared while some are never shared between companies. For example, each company has its own logo and/or PDF background, which can be uploaded in System > Setup > Company.

When you switch to a Multi-company simPRO build, a simPRO staff member switches on the feature collections you choose to share between companies. This sharing applies to all features within the collection, so if there is one feature that you do not wish to share, you are not able to share any of the features within the collection. Information from the template company is always be copied when you create a new company.

In addition, certain features are always shared in a Multi-company build, and others are never shared. See below for a full list of shared features.

Your decision to share feature collections should be based on the need to achieve ongoing consistency between the different companies. This might be because they follow the same workflows, use the same cost structures, or share stock allocations from a central distribution centre. Do not be tempted to switch on sharing just because it is easier to set up—the template company is copied to any newly created companies, which can then be edited. See Multi-Company Setup for more information.

If you are uncertain whether one company has settings or information modified differently from other companies, it is better to not share.

See Multi-Company Setup for more information.

Below is a diagram detailing each sharing collection for Multi-company:

US only: If you use simPRO in the United States, the term 'vendor' is used instead of 'supplier'.

When accounts integration is shared, the Accounts Integration tab in System > Setup > Accounts Integration is only available in the template company. When it is not shared, the Accounts Integration tab is available in each company.

You may wish to activate Shared Setup if you run a franchise business and wish to control the setup. You still have the option to either share or not share the accounting integration as above.

This sharing option must be turned on or off by simPRO staff as it may have financial implications and our development team needs to check these on individual basis.

The sharing options, except for Shared Accounts Integration, cannot be undone. It is critical that you and your trainer discuss the best sharing options prior to activating Multi-company.

What if I have a business in multiple countries?

You can set up a company-specific currency in your company details. For example, if you have a business in Australia and another one in New Zealand, you are able to run those as a Multi-company set-up with two different base currencies.

Three steps are required to set up:

1. Enable multiple currencies: go to System > Setup > Defaults > Financial > Invoicing > Multiple Currencies > On.
2. Ensure your different currencies are set up: go to System > Setup > System Setup > Currencies.
3. Set your company currency: go to System > Setup > Company > Currency.

If you have recently changed your security group settings to allow access to the currencies setup, you may need to log out and log back in to obtain access to currencies in your template company.

As noted in the table above, employees and contractors are always shared within a Multi-company build, and their access to individual companies is set in their card files. An employee or contractor working for two (or more) companies can be scheduled in either company, which means both schedules are visible to both companies to avoid scheduling conflicts.

For example, Jordan is an electrician working for two divisions of ProTec Services - Air and Electrical. The junior scheduler working for ProTec Services - Air has access only to the Air schedule, so he can schedule Jordan for Air jobs, and view Jordan’s schedule for Electrical jobs to ensure there is no conflict. The senior scheduler working for ProTec Services—Electrical has access to both companies, so she can adjust Jordan’s jobs for both Air and Electrical from the Electrical schedule (without needing to change companies).

Each employee or contractor has only one security group, so their access is consistent across each company.

Regardless of which feature categories you choose to share, automatic numbering is always applied sequentially across all companies, rather than on a per-company basis. This applies to (but is not limited to): purchase orders, leads, quotes, jobs, invoices and reports (where relevant).

For example, if a ProTec Service’s Multi-company build consists of Air and Electrical divisions, and Air creates purchase order number 35, the next purchase order created by either Air or Electrical is purchase order 36. This ensures numbering do not overlap and cause confusion.

One exception to this rule is the Annual System Condition Report, available in Reports > View Reports > Maintenance Planner, which is automatically numbered on a per-company basis.

Many of our clients have chosen to use Multi-company so they can push transactions from different companies to separate accounting files or even different accounting software packages. However, it is also possible to consolidate the data for all companies within your build to a single set of books.

Both scenarios require consideration of a specific technical aspects of the accounting links to ensure your Multi-company setup meets your accounting requirements.

When sending information to an accounting package, simPRO flags updated or new records in your customer and catalogue card files to be pushed to accounting package. Once the information is sent, the flag is removed, ensuring that the same information is not sent again. If you wish to keep different companies’ accounting data files separate, we strongly recommend that you do not share customers or catalogues.

Finally, if you are using QuickBooks or Xero, you need to ensure the correct accounting file is open when you post data across from simPRO. Otherwise, the data may be sent to the wrong company file, or errors may be received. See Multi-Company Setup for more information.

When you are running multiple business and legal entities within a Multi-company setup in simPRO and those integrate with multiple accounting packages or databases, there should be no sharing options selected.

As reporting is often centrally controlled in a head office, most simPRO reports offer a filter to report by one or more of the companies within your Multi-company build. If you are a user with access to several companies, you are able to filter reports according to any of these companies, regardless of the company you are currently using.

If you are sharing all feature collections and you have not yet invoiced the job, you can move a job to a different company. Simply open the job, then go to Details > Settings > Options > Job Setup > Optional and select the required Company from the drop-down list.

If no feature collections are being shared, then jobs cannot be transferred from one company to another within a Multi-company build.

We can imagine some cases where this functionality would appeal to our clients, for example, when the data has been incorrectly entered against the wrong company, or if you would like the workflow to move to another company. Unfortunately, the complexity of data associated with any job and the differences between your individual companies make it infeasible to perform such a transfer without significant and costly customisations.

Yes. The way you handle material management, stock reporting and supplier invoices depends upon how you set up sharing in your Multi-company build.

Here are some of the common situations that arise:

• I have a Multi-company build with one company for each state branch. I received a supplier invoice for items ordered by several different branches. How do I import the invoice?
  • ​If you receive one supplier invoice import file with purchase orders from multiple companies within your simPRO build, you need to import the file under each company. The import rejects the invoices with no purchase order reference within that company file. Repeat the same process in each company.
• How does material management or inventory control work in a Multi-company build?
  • ​If you have elected to share stock between companies, then each storage device is shared, and stock movement is tracked across all companies. If you have elected to not share stock, then each company has its own storage devices and stock movement is internal within the company.
• My companies are separate legal entities but I store stock centrally. How does this affect my stock reports?
  • ​In this scenario you should not share stock, particularly when inventory tracking is turned on.

US only: If you use simPRO in the United States, the terms 'inventory' and 'inventory count' are used instead of 'stock', 'stock take', and 'in stock'.

US only: If you use simPRO in the United States, the term 'vendor' is used instead of 'supplier'.