Odoo Multicompany: Managing Multiple Businesses Efficiently

Odoo’s multicompany feature allows you to seamlessly manage data and operations for numerous businesses within a single Odoo instance. This is perfect for:

Holding Company Hub: Consolidated Control and Individual Autonomy

Imagine managing multiple subsidiaries, each with its own brand, products, and financial performance. Odoo multicompany lets you consolidate data from all subsidiaries while maintaining their individual identities. You can track overall group performance, compare subsidiaries, and identify areas for improvement.
Optimize costs and economies of scale by managing procurement and resource allocation across all subsidiaries from a single platform.
Generate consolidated financial reports that comply with different accounting regulations and provide a view of the group’s financial health.

Franchise Empowerment: Maintaining Brand Consistency with Operational Freedom

Maintain brand consistency across all franchises while allowing individual franchisees to manage their operations with autonomy. Define franchise-specific policies and procedures within Odoo and ensure compliance through user access control and automated workflows. Monitor key metrics like sales, inventory, and customer satisfaction for each franchise and identify areas for improvement or support. Facilitate communication, knowledge sharing, and resource exchange between franchises on a secure platform.

Key Functionalities of Odoo Multicompany:

• Company creation and configuration: Define unique details for each company, including logo, currency, fiscal year, and chart of accounts.

You can create separate companies for “Acme Retail” and “Acme Manufacturing,” each with their own logos, currencies, fiscal years, and charts of accounts. “Acme Retail” uses USD and a calendar year, while “Acme Manufacturing” uses EUR and a fiscal year beginning in July.

• User access control: Restrict data access and functionalities based on users’ assigned companies.,/li>

A salesperson in “Acme Retail” only sees customers and sales orders for that company, while a financial manager has access to all financial data for both companies. This ensures users only see and manage data relevant to their roles and assigned companies.

• Company-specific data: Maintain separate records for customers, invoices, products, inventory, and other business objects.

“Acme Retail” sells clothing and accessories, whereas “Acme Manufacturing” produces furniture. Each company maintains its own product catalogs, inventory levels, and customer lists. This prevents confusion and ensures accurate data management for each distinct business.

• Intercompany transactions: Facilitate seamless transfer of goods, services, and invoices between companies.

When “Acme Retail” needs wooden tables for its stores, it can easily create a purchase order within Odoo sent to “Acme Manufacturing.” The manufacturing company processes the order, and the system automatically generates a corresponding sales invoice in the retail company’s records.

• Consolidated reporting: Generate reports that combine data from all companies for comprehensive analysis.

You can generate a consolidated profit and loss report that combines financial data from both “Acme Retail” and “Acme Manufacturing.” This provides a holistic view of your overall business performance across both companies.

• Multi-company consistency: Automatically adapt fields, views, and security rules based on the selected company.

When switching between companies in Odoo, the system automatically adjusts the available fields, views, and security rules. This ensures users see the relevant information and functionalities based on the selected company, streamlining workflows and preventing errors.  

How to Setup Multi-Company in Odoo 17

Here’s a step-by-step guide on setting up multi-company in Odoo:

1. Enable Multi-Company Feature:
   • Access the Settings menu.
   • Navigate to General Settings.
   • Check the box labeled Allow multi-companies.
2. Create Companies:
   • Go to Settings > Companies.
   • Click the Create button.
   • Fill in essential details:
   • Name
   • Email
   • Address
   • Phone
   • Website
   • Logo (optional)
   • Chart of Accounts
   • Fiscal Year
   • Taxes
   • Currency
   3. Configure User Access:
   • Go to Settings > Users.
   • Select a user or create a new one.
   • Under Allowed Companies, choose which companies the user can access.
   4. Manage Company Data:
   • Most Odoo modules (Sales, Purchase, Inventory, Accounting, etc.) have a Company field or dropdown menu.
   • Select the relevant company for each document, record, or transaction you create.
   5. Consolidated Reports:
   • Access the Reporting section of relevant modules.
   • Choose options to generate reports across multiple companies or for specific companies.