How SAP Business ByDesign’s Multi-Company Functionality Unlocks Growth

Whether you’re looking to expand internationally or just seeking to open a new location, your business’ growth inevitably involves adding new companies. However, not all cloud ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions are equipped to handle the challenges and opportunities that multi-company organizations face.

SAP Business ByDesign’s rich multi-company functionality not only helps you address these challenges as they arrive, it also helps you proactively streamline business processes and reduce the risk of error. ByDesign allows businesses to set up a new company in a matter of weeks – even holdings in a new country can be created in just weeks.

From faster end-of-month closing to lower overhead, here are some of the most important ways that multi-company functionality can support your business’ next steps.

Smoother Accounting

In today’s increasingly global world, dealing with a single currency is no longer an option for growth-oriented businesses. However, not all ERPs have the multi-currency functionality to handle the localization needs of companies with a global reach.

Though managing multiple sets of books can cause accounting headaches, ByDesign’s multi-country functionality allows your team to easily handle payments for different companies at once. With fully configurable features like multi-currency functionality and automatic invoicing, ByDesign serves as a comprehensive solution for helping companies meet their goals.

Keep in mind that local accounting regulations differ not only from country to country but also from state to state. Your SAP provider can customize your ByDesign platform to these unique specifications during implementation. Additionally, companies that have already implemented ByDesign should look to their SAP partner’s expertise in optimizing their system around localization.

If you’re interested in learning more about getting the custom implementation you deserve, check out our tip sheet on this topic.

Master Data Management

One of the primary benefits cloud ERP software offers is providing a single source of truth. For multi-company organizations, which must manage multiple lists of products, employees, prices and more, this benefit is all the more crucial. By enabling you to manage data across disparate companies, SAP Business ByDesign helps reduce the risk of human error and noncompliance.

Eliminating prevalent problems like dual data entry offers several advantages. For example, say you want to sell a product in only a few of your companies. ByDesign allows you to create product information while also ensuring that this data only applies to the companies that sell it. This reduces the risk of mishandled data and inaccurate books.

More Accurate Reporting

Another area where SAP Business ByDesign can assist multi-company organizations is in reporting and analytics. Rather than segmenting the information associated with disparate companies, ByDesign provides a complete and customizable picture of all your holdings at once.

In addition to the accounting and operational considerations detailed above, this top-down view offered by consolidated reporting has broader applications for growth. With the ability to pull reports either at the company level or at the level of a group of companies, business leaders are able to make more granular and informed decisions around optimizing their performance.

Easier Intercompany Collaboration

The ability to automate transactions across holdings is one of the most beneficial features ByDesign offers multi-company organizations. For instance, the platform’s Intercompany Stock process enables businesses to quickly transfer stock to meet customer demand while automatically generating the necessary invoices and purchase orders. By effectively hiding company boundaries to users, ByDesign offers seamless collaboration while also reducing the risk of human error.

In addition to helping customers quickly and effectively move stock, ByDesign also allows for the seamless transfer of cash across companies. Because these intercompany movements are fully automated, companies avoid the ever-present risk of double entry.

Consolidating users and data within one platform can also help in more specific business cases. For example, imagine a professional services company needs an employee to split time among partner companies. While less advanced ERP systems might require the company to duplicate that employee’s information, ByDesign automates the sales, purchasing and invoicing processes across companies.

Lower Overhead

For decades, expanding your business also meant adopting multiple interfaces and maintaining physical infrastructure, a costly prospect for growing organizations. However, cloud technology has freed businesses from these expenses, enabling them to reduce overhead costs to a single operating expense.

A crucial component of digital transformation, cloud ERP software like SAP Business ByDesign offers multi-company organizations a much-needed upgrade to disparate accounting software, while also eliminating the high costs of physical data centers. And keep in mind that the right ERP partner can offer a phased approach to implementation, further supporting your business’ growth – on your terms.

Don’t let human errors and system inefficiencies hold up your business’ goals. Whether you need to quickly set up a new company or you want to streamline the processes of your current holdings, the robust multi-company functionality of SAP Business ByDesign can help you power your growth.