Hello again - this is my second post today!
We are designing systems with a view to installing Lawson in the company later this year. Our company has 40 units around the country and the structure changes every now and then - by this I mean that the company might be divided into 4 divisions and then changed to 3. Or it might buy new businesses to add into the structure.
Lawson have said that it would be best to set up each business unit as a GL Comapny so it can have a seperate I&E and Balance sheet. WE are installing Financials and Procurement. I am being asked by senior finance staff why we can't have one GL company and the business units set up as sites under that Company. I think there is an issue with stock locations but I am not sure of all the implications.
Has anyone else been through this decision process and could give me any ideas?
Thanks for reading my post.
I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best
Becky
(in the UK)
It really comes down how differently each of the business units are set up. This is true for HR or financials setup. For instance, if there are two employees who have the employee number 1234 in each of their repective business units, then you would need to use two companies, or change the employee numbers. If you accounting units or accounts that have the same number, but are treated differently in each of the business units, then you would probably set up multiple companies. If you have the same pay codes or deduction codes in each business unit, but they are handled different ways, you would set up different companies to accompany this. If you go with one company with multiple process levels instead, you would need to keep the master tables (pay codes, deduction, accounting units, accounts, employees, etc.) standardized across the business units.
Hope this helps.
You will also want to consider the Security aspects. Is all of your Finance functions centralized? Month end close processes are done by GL Company. If the folks at the divisions are performing the closing functions it may be better for security to have separate companies. If everything is centralized then one company may be better so you only have to run the closing process once.
Brian