Group & multi-entity
Understand the group. Keep each company in view.
Group reports are built from each company's figures, translated into one reporting currency, with intercompany eliminations and acquisition adjustments approved in a separate group layer. Each company's own ledger stays unchanged.
Group reporting example
Group reporting example
From company figures to the group amount.
One fictional group for one year: each company's contribution, the intercompany elimination and the group result.
- Calder Holdings plcParent · GBP · holds the shares
- Revenue
- £0
- Share of revenue
- —
- Operating result
- − £205,500
- Calder Manufacturing Ltd100% owned · GBP
- Revenue
- £26,400,000
- Share of revenue
- 54%
- Operating result
- £3,100,000
- Calder Distribution Ltd80% owned · GBP
- Revenue
- £13,900,000
- Share of revenue
- 29%
- Operating result
- £1,400,000
- Calder Europe GmbH100% owned · EUR, translated
- Revenue
- £8,300,000
- Share of revenue
- 17%
- Operating result
- £705,500
- Before eliminations
- Revenue
- £48,600,000
- Operating result
- £5,000,000
- Less intercompany sale eliminated (revenue and cost of sales both reduced)
- Revenue
- − £1,200,000
- Operating result
- £0
- Group amount
- Revenue
- £47,400,000
- Operating result
- £5,000,000
| Company | Revenue | Share | Operating result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calder Holdings plcParent · GBP · holds the shares | £0 | — | − £205,500 |
| Calder Manufacturing Ltd100% owned · GBP | £26,400,000 | 54% | £3,100,000 |
| Calder Distribution Ltd80% owned · GBP | £13,900,000 | 29% | £1,400,000 |
| Calder Europe GmbH100% owned · EUR, translated | £8,300,000 | 17% | £705,500 |
| Before eliminations | £48,600,000 | 100% | £5,000,000 |
| Less intercompany sale eliminatedRevenue and cost of sales both reduced | − £1,200,000 | £0 | |
| Group amount | £47,400,000 | £5,000,000 |
Company amounts are shown after translation into GBP and before intercompany eliminations. Revenue shares are of the £48,600,000 before eliminations.
How to read this example
Fictional example: Calder Holdings Group, reporting in GBP for the year 1 January – 31 December 2026. Four companies: the parent and three subsidiaries. Not customer data.
The parent has no trading revenue; its own running costs of £205,500 are included so the operating result is complete. Calder Europe's euro figures are translated at an illustrative average rate (see Currency below).
Assumption: Calder Distribution sold on all £1,200,000 of goods it bought from Calder Manufacturing to outside customers during the year, so no unsold intercompany profit remains in stock and the operating result is unchanged by the elimination.
This is an illustration, not a product screen.
Intercompany
Compare both sides, explain, then eliminate.
1.Relationship recorded
The two companies and the accounts that hold their balances with each other are recorded as a dated relationship. Only fully consolidated group companies can be paired.
2.Both sides compared
A matching run compares each side's translated balance and marks it matched, partial, explained, disputed or unmatched against a set tolerance.
3.Differences explained
A person records the reason for a difference, with its supporting evidence. Eliminations cannot be approved while a material difference is unexplained. An explanation does not correct either company's records; corrections are made in the company itself.
4.Elimination prepared and approved
A balanced elimination batch is prepared, then approved by a different person. It sits in the group layer; no company journal is created.
5.Included in group reports
Approved eliminations feed the group trial balance and statements. Any difference not eliminated is listed there as an unreconciled item.
- Company A: owed by Company B
- £300,000
- Company B: owed to Company A
- £285,000
- Matched and eliminated in the group report
- £285,000
- Not eliminated — remains on Company A's side
- £15,000
This is not the Calder £1,200,000 sale above. Company A and Company B are two fictional group companies, both in GBP.
- After matching: outstanding for review
- The match is partial. Company A's receivable is £15,000 higher than Company B's payable, and no reason is yet recorded.
- Explanation recorded by a person
- Invoice A-1187 for £15,000, dispatched 30 December 2026, was received and recorded by Company B on 4 January 2027. The dispatch note and Company B's January entry are cited as evidence.
- What the explanation does not do
- It does not correct either company's records or eliminate the £15,000. Only the matched £285,000 is eliminated; the £15,000 stays in the group report as an unreconciled item.
Once the difference is explained, the elimination batch can be approved with the £15,000 still visible. That is how the product behaves; it is not a judgement that the group position is fully reconciled. Loans and unsold intercompany profit in stock follow their own rules.
Currency
Translate each company into the reporting currency.
- Revenue
- €10,000,000
- × 0.83 average rate for 2026 = £8,300,000
- Share capital, 1 January 2026
- €3,150,000
- × 0.80 rate on 1 January 2026 (historical) = £2,520,000
- Profit for the year
- €850,000
- × 0.83 average rate for 2026 = £705,500
- Net assets, 31 December 2026 (€3,150,000 + €850,000)
- €4,000,000
- × 0.85 closing rate at 31 December 2026 = £3,400,000
Assumptions: Calder Europe was set up on 1 January 2026 with €3,150,000 of share capital; it had no tax, finance costs or dividends, so its profit equals its operating result; no other equity movements.
- Net assets at closing rate
- £3,400,000
- Less share capital at historical rate
- − £2,520,000
- Less profit at average rate
- − £705,500
- Translation difference
- £174,500
Net assets at the closing rate, less equity at historical rates, less the year's profit at the average rate. It is shown on its own line in group equity, not hidden in another figure.
Three currencies, kept apart
Transaction currency is what an invoice is written in. Functional currency is the currency a company keeps its books in — euro for Calder Europe. Reporting currency is what the group reports in — GBP here.
Income and expenses are translated at the average rate, assets and liabilities at the closing rate, and equity at historical rates, under a dated translation policy. Rates are taken from the exchange-rate records kept in Cash & Treasury. A missing rate stops translation, and two conflicting rates are never chosen between automatically.
The company's own euro books are not changed.
Ownership and acquisitions
Understand the group's financial position and each company's contribution.
- Paid for 80% of the shares
- £9,000,000
- Add non-controlling interests (20% of net assets at acquisition)
- £2,000,000
- Less identifiable net assets at fair value
- − £10,000,000
- Goodwill
- £1,000,000
- Net assets at acquisition, 1 January 2025
- £10,000,000
- Add profit after tax, 2025 and 2026 combined
- £1,500,000
- Net assets at 31 December 2026
- £11,500,000
- Non-controlling interests at acquisition
- £2,000,000
- Add 20% share of profit since acquisition
- £300,000
- Non-controlling interests at 31 December 2026
- £2,300,000
Goodwill and non-controlling interests are parts of the group's financial position, not extra amounts to add to it. Goodwill sits within group assets; non-controlling interests sit within group equity.
Basis and assumptions
These figures describe Calder Distribution Ltd only. Calder Holdings plc bought 80% of its shares on 1 January 2025. Non-controlling interests (the 20% the group does not own) are measured at their proportionate share of identifiable net assets at fair value on that date.
Assumed since acquisition: £1,500,000 profit after tax across 2025 and 2026, no dividends, no further fair-value changes and no goodwill impairment. The £300,000 increase in non-controlling interests is 20% of that profit.
Ownership and control are recorded separately, with effective dates and evidence; a company is fully combined when control is concluded, not from the percentage alone. Goodwill is calculated once, approved by a different person and reported as approved; reports do not recalculate it.
Separate capability note, not part of the Calder example: a company where a group has significant influence but not control (an associate) is not combined line by line; only its equity-method investment is carried.
This illustrates the supported calculation. It is not a statement of compliance with any reporting framework.
Controls
Who prepares, approves and sees group reports.
- Group access
- Viewing, preparing and approving group reports are separate permissions, granted by an administrator. Group access does not open every company's records.
- Period status
- Each group reporting period moves from open to prepared, reviewed, approved and locked. A locked period can still be read but not changed.
- Second person
- Group periods, eliminations, goodwill and non-controlling interests are approved by someone other than the preparer.
- Approved basis
- Group statements are produced only from an approved set of company packages and adjustments. If a source changes, the report is refused until it is revised.
- Company ledgers
- Group adjustments sit in a separate group layer. Each company's ledger and its own reports stay unchanged.
Supporting records
Trace a group figure to company amounts.
- Group statement line
- For example, group revenue in the consolidated income statement.
- Company account contributions
- Each company's account amount, with the rate and rate type used to translate it.
- Eliminations and acquisition adjustments
- The approved group-layer lines that changed the figure.
- Company account
- Each elimination line leads to the company package line and account it came from.
What you can open today
Group statements include the consolidated trial balance, income statement, financial position, cash flow and changes in equity, with reconciliations and disclosures. Each can be exported.
From a group line you can open the company contributions and group adjustments behind it. Opening individual company journals or original documents from the group report is not offered; those are read within each company, with the right company access.
Intelligence
Ask about the group.
Questions the Intelligence preview can answer
- "Which companies are in the group, and how are they owned?"
- "What are the group figures in the latest approved group report?"
It needs group access, reads only the latest approved group report, and does not consolidate, translate or eliminate anything itself.
It explains and suggests; it cannot post journals, approve actions, move money or change records.
About IntelligenceQuestions to investigate in the group reports
- Which company contributed most to the change in group result?
- Which intercompany differences are still explained rather than matched?
- How much of the movement came from exchange rates?
These are answered by reading the group statements, contributions and reconciliations, not by the Intelligence preview.
Benefits
What group finance teams get.
See each company's contribution
Company amounts before and after group adjustments.
Eliminate intercompany balances
Compared, explained and approved, with differences kept visible.
Report in one currency
Translated under a dated policy from recorded rates.
Keep company ledgers intact
Group adjustments stay in the group layer.
Connected across the platform
Related areas.
- Finance & AccountingEach company's ledger, statements and period controls.
- Management AccountingBudgets, forecasts and analysis for a company.
- Cash & TreasuryCash by company and account, and the exchange-rate records.
- Working CapitalReceivables, stock and supplier balances for a company.
- Fixed AssetsCompany asset registers and depreciation.
- Implementation & MigrationBringing each company's opening balances across.
- SecurityHow access to companies and group reports is controlled.
- IntelligenceThe read-only preview and what it can answer.
See group reporting in action
A guided walkthrough of company contributions, translation, intercompany eliminations and approved group statements in a sandbox group.