8.8
Editor’s Rating:
Best Overall
NetSuite ERP: Home Screen
NetSuite ERP
  • Feature sets for multiple industries
  • Highly customizable
  • Advanced audit trail
8.7
Editor’s Rating:
Best for Mid-Sized Businesses
QuickBooks Online: Sales Dashboard
QuickBooks Online
  • Customizable invoicing
  • Extensive pre-built and custom reports
  • Automatic exchange rates
8.4
Editor’s Rating:
Best Reporting Tools
Sage Intacct: CFO Dashboard
Sage Intacct
  • Multi-dimensional reporting capabilities
  • Scalability for multi-entity support and user growth
  • Integrates with Salesforce, Versapay, etc.

Accounting software for multiple entities consolidates financial transactions and reports across multiple locations within a larger organization. Here’s our guide to the top solutions based on user reviews and our internal review process.

1 NetSuite - Best Overall

Why we chose it: NetSuite earned first place on our list for multi-entity companies. Overall, we found it the best at simplifying accounting across different business units, subsidiaries, and regions on a single platform. NetSuite helps ensure compliance with various standards, tax codes, and regulations, reducing financial fraud risks and streamlining the close process with automated consolidations​​​​.

NetSuite expands this capability on a global scale, supporting operations in over 217 countries, 27 languages, and 190 currencies. Additionally, the system’s real-time currency conversion provides a glimpse into business performance across geographies. Overall, NetSuite is our top pick because of its seamless consolidation, real-time subsidiary financial data, and ability to easily create different books to meet various accounting requirements.

Best Overall:
NetSuite ERP
★★★★★
★★★★★
(28)

NetSuite ERP: Home Screen
NetSuite ERP: Income Statement
NetSuite ERP: Journal
NetSuite ERP: Unrealized Exchange Rate Gains and Losses
NetSuite ERP: Ecommerce Customer Statistics
NetSuite ERP: Sales Orders
NetSuite ERP: Revenue Recognition
What We Like
Hundreds of third-party add-ons available
Feature sets for multiple industries
Highly customizable
What We Don’t Like
Must schedule a consult for pricing details
Tedious setup
Difficult to build reports
Overview
Price Range: $$$$
Starting Price: $99/user/month
Client OS: Web
Deployment: Cloud Hosted

2 QuickBooks - Best for Mid-Sized Businesses

Why we chose it: We like QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise’s adaptability for medium-sized businesses with multiple entities. Users can generate detailed intercompany transaction reports and manage entity relationships from a single dashboard. With more than 200 customizable reports, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise provides the tools for multi-entity companies to maintain comprehensive financial oversight.

The system also goes beyond accounting functionality, including order management, job costing, and integrated payroll, to meet the increasingly complex needs of growing companies. Enterprise supports up to 40 users with granular permission settings to safeguard sensitive data. Organizations can also assign users specific access levels to over 115 activities. Finally, we found the inventory module quite useful for mid-sized companies, tracking stock across multiple locations and meeting demand through strategic stock transfers.

Best for Mid-Sized Businesses:
QuickBooks Online
★★★★★
★★★★★
(75)

QuickBooks Online: Sales Dashboard
QuickBooks Online: Find an Accountant
QuickBooks Online: Track Mileleage
QuickBooks Online: Mobile Cash Flow
QuickBooks Online: Bank Reconciliation
QuickBooks Online: Dashboard
QuickBooks Online: Mobile Dashboard
QuickBooks Online: Customers
QuickBooks Online: Mobile Shortcuts
QuickBooks Online: Create Invoice
QuickBooks Online: Sales Vendors
QuickBooks Online: Bill Pay
QuickBooks Online: Banking
QuickBooks Online: Expense Dashboard
QuickBooks Online: Payroll Dashboard
What We Like
Customizable invoicing
Extensive pre-built and custom reports
Automatic exchange rates
What We Don’t Like
Comparatively expensive
Few industry-specific features
Limited users per plan
Overview
Price Range: $
Starting Price: $30/month
Client OS: Web
Deployment: Cloud Hosted

3 Sage Intacct - Best Reporting Tools

Why we chose it: Sage Intacct made our list because of its advanced reporting capabilities, providing deep financial and operational insights. Its dimensional reporting feature allows for detailed analysis, helping businesses to make more informed decisions. With 150 pre-built reports and a custom report writer with a drag-and-drop interface, Intacct offers both ease of use and depth in reporting.

Additionally, Intacct handles multi-entity management, streamlining operations across various subsidiaries within a single platform. It simplifies inter-entity transactions and consolidates reports efficiently. Another key feature is its multi-dimensional chart of accounts. It organizes data with standard attributes such as departments, locations, and vendors, and allows for custom attributes as well. This approach results in a more organized and scalable ledger system for better financial management overall.

Best Reporting Tools:
Sage Intacct
★★★★★
★★★★★
(46)

Sage Intacct: CFO Dashboard
Sage Intacct: Executive Dashboard
Sage Intacct: Contract Journal Balances
Sage Intacct: Project Financial Summary
What We Like
Multidimensional reporting capabilities
Scalability for multi-entity support and user growth
Simple and responsive user interface
What We Don’t Like
Budgeting and interactive reporting cost extra
Limited non-financial functionalities
Volume exports can be difficult
Overview
Price Range: $$$
Starting Price: $8,580/year
Client OS: Web
Deployment: Cloud Hosted

4 Acumatica - Best Cloud ERP

Why we chose it: We went with Acumatica because it’s a cloud ERP system with a fully-integrated suite of business management modules, including accounting. The software supports reporting for an unlimited number of companies within the organization, with shared charts of accounts, calendars, and currencies. Additionally, it helps automate financial processes like reporting, inventory transfers, vendor payments, cash management, and inter-company transfers.

We also found Acumatica useful for companies needing more precise reporting. That’s because the software centralizes cash management and financial transactions while attributing income and expenses accurately to the initiating company. Finally, Acumatica provides a complete set of ready-to-use reports in every module, with simple report customization through its Report Designer.

Best Cloud ERP:
Acumatica Cloud ERP
★★★★★
★★★★★
(24)

Acumatica Cloud ERP: Data Analysis Receivables
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Support Manager Dashboard
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Project Dashboard
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Staff Appointments on Map
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Field Services Tech Dashboard
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Production Manager Dashboard
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Warehouse Manager Mobile Dashboard
Acumatica Cloud ERP: Controller Dashboard
What We Like
Open architecture for rapid integrations
Multi-entity support
Mobile accessibility
What We Don’t Like
Must schedule a consult for pricing calls
High learning curve
Tedious setup
Overview
Price Range: $$$$
Starting Price: $1,800/month
Client OS: iOS, Android, Web
Deployment: Cloud or On-Premises

5 Zoho Books - Most Scalable Option

Why we chose it: We picked Zoho Books as our most scalable option, because it integrates easily with other Zoho products and third-party applications. This ecosystem approach ensures that as a business grows and its needs become more complex, it can easily integrate Zoho Books with other systems like Zoho Inventory and Zoho CRM.

Zoho Books allows users to create different organizations within the platform, one for each business entity they manage. We found this useful for those transitioning from other platforms like Wave. That’s because Zoho Books offers a custom plan that can include up to five organizations, making it easier to handle accounting for multiple entities​.

Finally, we like that Zoho Books handles unlimited invoice tracking, expense management, and over 50 extensive accounting reports. Additionally, it supports the reconciliation of multiple credit cards and bank accounts, a huge plus for organizations with several different branches.

Most Scalable Option:
Zoho Books
★★★★★
★★★★★
(6)

Zoho Books: Invoicing
Zoho Books: Recurring Bills
Zoho Books: Inventory
Zoho Books: Bank Reconciliation
Zoho Books: Time Tracking
Zoho Books: Contacts
Zoho Books: Dashboards
What We Like
Client portal with sales and purchase approvals
Easily integrate with dozens of Zoho products
Time-tracking
What We Don’t Like
Difficult to modify invoices
Time tracking must be tied to projects
Maximum of 10 users
Overview
Price Range: $
Starting Price: Free
Client OS: Web
Deployment: Cloud Hosted

6 Dynamics 365 Business Central - Best Localized Versions

Why we chose it: Business Central is a good fit for multi-entity companies because it meets the diverse needs of domestic and international sites. It supports over 40 localized versions for online implementations and on-premises setups, ensuring compliance with local legal requirements and business practices.

The software also supports 47 languages and translates transactions into the local currency, applying the exchange rates for that date. It can also generate reports in a unified currency for customer balances, which streamlines the financial analysis process.

Another highlight we wanted to mention: Business Central can integrate and transfer data across different accounting structures, with built-in support for various file formats including F&O. This is important because it ensures that financial data from different entities is compatible with the headquarters’ accounting framework.

Best Localized Versions:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
★★★★★
★★★★★
(11)

Dynamics 365 Business Central: Dashboard
Dynamics 365 Business Central: Items Viewing List
Dynamics 365 Business Central: Orders Viewing
Dynamics 365 Business Central: General Leger Entries
Dynamics 365 Business Central: Dashboard
Dynamics 365 Business Central: Customer Management
What We Like
Combined ERP and CRM
Similar interface to MS Word and Outlook
Integrations with Microsoft applications
What We Don’t Like
Not ideal for complex manufacturing needs
May require extensive training
No free version
Overview
Price Range: $$$
Starting Price: $70/user/month
Client OS: Web
Deployment: Cloud or On-Premises

7 Accounting Seed - Best for Salesforce Users

Why we chose it: We opted for Accounting Seed because of its Salesforce integration. Because it’s native to Salesforce, Accounting Seed cannot function independently of the software. However, Salesforce users will be happy to find it integrates with many popular applications, including Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud. This allows for a flexible and scalable business solution that grows with organizations.

In addition, Accounting Seed provides multi-company and multi-currency accounting capabilities. The software consolidates financial data from multiple entities into a single report while automatically handling currency translation. Users can also create a multi-dimensional chart of accounts, tag transactions with several dimensions, and generate reports that offer deep insights into the business’s performance across various sectors. Ultimately, it’s a solid choice for multi-entity corporations already utilizing Salesforce, with an eye toward consolidating finances across different regions.

Best for Salesforce Users:
Accounting Seed
★★★★★
★★★★★
(3)

Accounting Seed: Accounting Dashboard
Accounting Seed: Bank Reconciliation
Accounting Seed: Transactions
Accounting Seed: Account Details
Accounting Seed: All Accounts
What We Like
Built on Salesforce
General ledger includes unlimited custom data tags
Flexible scalability for growing businesses
What We Don’t Like
Requires Salesforce integration and familiarity for best results
Inventory package is separate from the main accounting functionality
Higher cost to start than other accounting platforms
Overview
Price Range: $$$
Starting Price: $250/month
Client OS: Web
Deployment: Cloud Hosted

What is Accounting Software for Multiple Entities?

Accounting software for multiple entities is a unified accounting system for organizations with multiple locations or separate business units operating under one organizational arm. This accounting database helps improve your cash flow and set up capabilities such as centralized accounts payables (expenses), receivables (invoices), and general ledger reports. It can also include multi-currency support for international business needs.

Growing companies may find the need for multi-entity accounting software once they begin to expand by opening up a new location. These multi-location organizations may have issues with decentralized payables, different currencies, and transactions between entities.

Financial management software for multiple entities posts data in a way that lets separate entities monitor the performance of other locations or branches. It also helps management visualize successful versus struggling operations and rely less on receiving this information from a specific bookkeeper.

Accounting software for multiple entities also eliminates duplicate data entry and any use of manual spreadsheets to consolidate company files. This leads to books being closed quicker, faster creation of reports, and centralized payables and receivables with multiple charts of accounts.

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Profit and Loss Analytics
Multi-entity accounting software such as QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise can create in-depth profit and loss reports.

Features of Accounting Software for Multiple Entities

  • Shared Master Files: Access files for all entities, including vendors, customers, and other chart of accounts.
  • Consolidated Reports: Drill down to a specific location, department, or upwards to look at your organization’s overall financial performance.
  • Inter-Entity Accounting: Handle intercompany billing by having your software break up invoices among multiple entities and create separate billing dates. Transfer money from one company to another. Let a company purchase raw materials from another.
  • Dashboards: Compare sales between entities. Create unique dashboards for each entity, depending on the desired data. View top customers and receivables at each level of the organization.
Financial Report Editor in Sage Intacct
Edit your general ledger and many more financial reports with Sage Intacct.

Benefits of Accounting Software for Multiple Entities

Whether you are a small business owner looking to run two separate entities under one accounting program, or a large global operation that wants to drill down sales data into the country, region, and local level, there are plenty of benefits available:

Close Books Faster

The automation provided via accounting software for multiple entities helps shorten your month-end closing time. Eliminating any sort of manual processes or workarounds (such as the use of spreadsheets) can cut dozens of hours from your accounting processes each week.

This can improve project and financial visibility and allow the creation of new reports that help make better decisions. Some accounting solutions can run consolidated reports spanning all of their entities in under a minute, allowing managers to compare their budgets against actual revenue and expenses quickly.

Shared Chart of Accounts

Within a single company, you can specify multiple entities or companies that comprise that group. You can toggle between the two via drop-down lists.

All entities or companies in a group will get copies of the chart of accounts, meaning they are operating under one chart of accounts. Even if bank accounts are unique and specified to belong to one specific entity, your accounting software can still consolidate the chart of accounts.

Comparative Financial Reports: Whether a trial balance, receivables and/or payables report, balance sheet, or income statement, you can compare quarters for your separate entities.

This can provide a real-time view of reports and analytics across all companies. It can also let you know which companies meet goals or expectations and who may fall short. Overperforming branches can be rewarded appropriately, and your business can easily create benchmarks for future quarters.

Zoho Books Bank Reconciliation
Reconcile multiple credit cards and bank accounts in Zoho Books.

Can QuickBooks Handle Multi-Entity Accounting?

QuickBooks Online only allows one company per subscription. Each additional company will require a new QuickBooks Online account. For every new company, you’ll have to pay for a new subscription.

For accountants who manage multi-company clients, QuickBooks does offer the ability to buy 1 QuickBooks Online Plus subscription at wholesale price (currently $40/month) and up to 14 additional companies for $5/company/month.

While QuickBooks is a great choice for small businesses, it has limitations once you begin adding entities:

  1. Building reports with separate reporting requirements is almost impossible without some level of export process to Excel.
  2. QuickBooks can not process transactions in multiple currencies, meaning you’re left to manually handle the conversion before inputting the totals into your system.
  3. Quickbooks only has one chart of accounts, meaning you’ll have to have a separate QuickBooks account for every entity if it needs its own chart of accounts.
  4. Transactions between entities (such as intercompany billing) are possible but difficult to handle and monitor properly.
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