Three entities under one holding, and every month an Excel exercise to sweep the figures together — with formulas that break precisely when the accountant is watching. There is another way: in Odoo each entity posts separately, yet the holding still sees one consolidated balance sheet and P&L.
The basics: each entity as its own company
Multi-company is standard in Odoo. Via Settings ▸ Users & Companies ▸ Companies, create a company per entity, each with its own chart of accounts, VAT number and journals. You link employees to one or more companies; you switch via the company switcher at the top right — or select several at once to look across entities.
From adding up to real consolidation
For a quick look it is enough to tick all entities in the company switcher: the standard financial reports then add the entities together. For real consolidation you use the Consolidation app (Enterprise):
- Create a consolidation company and link the underlying entities.
- Map the accounts of each entity to consolidated accounts (that mapping is a one-off job).
- Define elimination rules for intercompany positions, such as the current account between holding and operating company — these then disappear from the consolidated view.
One expectation to manage: eliminations do not happen by magic. You set them up once; after that the month-end close is a matter of refreshing instead of cutting and pasting. Also activate intercompany transactions in the settings: an invoice from entity A to entity B then automatically creates the mirror entry at entity B.
Across the entities: analytic accounting
Consolidation answers 'how is the group doing?'. For 'what do we earn on product line X, across all entities?' you use analytic accounting: give postings in every entity the same analytic plan (per market, per project type) and report on that. That gives a holding with a manufacturing entity in Venlo and a sales entity in Antwerp margin insight per product group — without separate BI or ETL tooling.
Finally: align first, then build
Practical tip: agree with your accountant before set-up which intercompany accounts you use and keep that naming identical in every entity — that makes mapping and eliminating ten times easier later on. More entities than overview? Contact DAADit Group, we will gladly set up the consolidation with you.
Three limited companies under one holding, and every month an Excel exercise to sweep the numbers together — with formulas that break exactly when the accountant is watching. There is a better way: in Odoo each entity keeps its own books, while the holding still sees one consolidated balance sheet and P&L.
The basis: each entity as its own company
Multi-company is standard in Odoo. Via Settings ▸ Users & Companies ▸ Companies you create a company per entity, each with its own chart of accounts, VAT number and journals. Employees are linked to one or more companies; the company switcher in the top right lets you switch — or select several at once to look across entities.
From adding up to real consolidation
For a quick view, ticking all entities in the company switcher is enough: the standard financial reports then sum the companies. For real consolidation you use the Consolidation app (Enterprise):
- Create a consolidation company and link the underlying entities.
- Map each entity's accounts to consolidated accounts (a one-off job).
- Define elimination rules for intercompany positions, such as the current account between holding and operating company — these then disappear from the consolidated view.
One expectation to manage: eliminations do not happen by magic. You configure them once; after that, month-end close is a matter of refreshing instead of copy-pasting. Also enable intercompany transactions in the settings: an invoice from company A to company B then automatically creates the mirror document at company B.
Across the entities: analytic accounting
Consolidation answers 'how is the group doing?'. For 'what do we earn on product line X, across all entities?' you use analytic accounting: give entries in every company the same analytic plan (per market, per project type) and report on it. That is how a holding with a production entity in Venlo and a sales entity in Antwerp gets margin insight per product group — without separate BI or ETL tooling.
Finally: align first, then build
Practical tip: before setting anything up, agree with your accountant which intercompany accounts you will use and keep that naming identical in every entity — it makes mapping and elimination ten times easier later. More entities than overview? Contact DAADit Group and we will set up the consolidation with you.