Group statements from Business Central consolidation, not Excel

When a group outgrows the consolidation workbook

A spreadsheet can add up two companies without much risk. However, the trouble starts with the third or fourth. It also starts with a group company abroad or one you only partly own. Staff export trial balances and paste them into tabs. They translate at rates typed by hand. Formulas no one wants to touch do the eliminations.

Then a lender, investor or auditor asks how a group figure was reached. The answer is a chain of cell references. Moving the work into Business Central fixes that. Each group amount has a ledger entry behind it. A tag shows the business unit it came from. So the question is far easier to answer.

How Business Central consolidation is structured

For Business Central consolidation, you set up one more company to hold the group figures. It has its own chart of accounts. You register each group company there as a business unit. In addition, each unit has its currency, its fiscal dates and the share the group owns. So the system brings a partly owned company in at the right share.

In every group company, each G/L account card names a group account. Its balances roll up to that account. Each run reads the group company's entries for the period you choose. It then writes summed entries into the consolidated company. An API or a file import can bring in group companies from another environment.

How we set up Business Central consolidation

We start from the statements the group must produce. Then we work backwards to the consolidated chart. Next, we map each group company's accounts to it. That is where gaps between local charts get fixed. Dimensions can carry over when group reports need segments or regions.

For foreign units, we set the translation method on each account. Income and expense use the average rate. By contrast, most balance sheet items use the closing rate. Equity uses the historical rate. We test a run in a sandbox on a period you already reported. Then we match it to your published numbers.

What comes out of each run

After the run, the Business Central consolidation company holds entries for every business unit and period. Reports there give you the group balance sheet, income statement and cash flow. Add a column per business unit to see what each one adds. The standard consolidated trial balance shows units, eliminations and totals side by side.

You enter eliminations in a general journal in the consolidated company. Where the pattern repeats, save them as recurring lines. We hand over a close checklist with the steps in order. Test the group company data. Run the consolidation. Post eliminations. Check the eliminations report. Then publish.

What trips up a consolidation project

Accounts with no mapping are the first problem. A new G/L account in a group company with no consolidation account drops out. Then the group trial balance stops adding up. The built-in test report catches this before the run. We make it a fixed step. The second problem is a period that a group company changes after the run.

Eliminations are the third trap in Business Central consolidation. If intercompany balances do not agree at source, no elimination entry clears them. So we look at how your companies trade with each other before we build. Groups with long chains of ownership may need more. So may groups that must file statutory reports abroad. A separate add-on built for this may serve them better.

Business Central consolidation questions

Does Business Central consolidation need a Premium license?

No. It is part of the finance features in Essentials. The consolidated company is just one more company in your environment. Users who run it and post eliminations need a full license. Other ledger work needs the same.

Can Business Central consolidation handle group companies in another currency?

Yes. Each business unit has a currency and its own exchange rates. Every account gets a translation method. Income statement accounts use an average rate. Balance sheet accounts use the closing rate.

What if a group company has a different chart of accounts?

Each local account points at a group account. Several local accounts can roll into one. The mapping lives in the group company. So local staff keep their own chart, and group reports stay the same.

Can a company that is not on Business Central be included?

It can be brought in by file. You put its trial balance in the import layout and load it against its business unit. This works for a company on another system. You do lose the drill-down.

How are intercompany balances eliminated?

You post elimination entries in the consolidated company. A general journal handles it. Each entry points at its business unit. If group companies use the intercompany feature, the balances already agree. That keeps these entries simple.

Related group finance services

Consolidation works best when entities are set up alike and trade through matched entries. These pages cover the services we most often deliver alongside a group reporting project. Read them in that order to plan your rollout. Our consultants can walk your team through each one. We answer questions during US business hours. For the product detail, see Business Central documentation on Microsoft Learn.