Intercompany accounting is where group structure meets real life: recharges, shared costs, loans and cash movements flying between entities, often tracked in spreadsheets or manual journals. It’s easy for balances to drift, FX to get messy and month-end to drag on.

In this webinar, “Enhanced Intercompany in AccountsIQ”, the AccountsIQ team (Shinead Brennan, Head of Services & former Group Financial Controller, and Product Owner Ellen Dach) walk through the new intercompany experience designed to simplify setup, posting and reconciliation across your group.

You’ll see how the new module brings everything together into one, clean place – no more hunting through standard debtor/creditor lists or pasting keys between entities.

A new home for intercompany

The first big change is structural: intercompany now has its own dedicated tab in the main navigation.

Inside that tab you’ll see:

• A clear intercompany grid, showing:
  • Local company accounts alongside their connected company accounts
  • Balances for each side of the relationship
  • Visual warning icons where something needs attention (e.g. unbalanced, no connection, currency mismatch, or you don’t have access to the linked entity)
• Tooltips on warning badges explaining exactly why an account is flagged
• A handy company code hyperlink on each line, so you can:
  • Jump directly into the related entity
  • Land on its intercompany screen to investigate the other side of the balance
  • Avoid logging out and back in or constantly using the company switcher

Existing intercompany debtors and creditors aren’t lost – they’re automatically lifted into this module. In Sales and Purchases, they’re hidden behind default filters to keep your main ledgers tidy, but can still be revealed if you need to.

Easier, safer connections between entities

Setting up intercompany links used to be click-heavy and fiddly. The new module replaces that with a guided “New Connection” flow:

1. Pick the other entity you’re connecting to
2. Choose One-way or Two-way connection:
   • One-way: this entity always sends to the other (e.g. one company recharges costs to another)
   • Two-way: both entities can send and receive (ideal for loans and mutual recharges)
3. Decide whether to:
   • Use existing intercompany debtor/creditor accounts, or
   • Create both accounts on the fly from the same screen

When creating accounts as part of the connection, you can:

• Set your own account codes and descriptions to match your coding convention
• Predefine:
  • Control accounts (intercompany receivables/payables)
  • Default GL codes (e.g. a clearing or recharge GL)
  • Tax codes (e.g. No VAT / zero-rated)
• Choose the connection currency:
  • It can be any currency (GBP, EUR, SGD, etc.) – it does not have to match either entity’s base currency
  • The key rule: both sides of the connection must use the same currency, otherwise the balances will never agree and the system will flag it

You can keep things simple with one connection per pair of entities, or use multiple connections to separate activity types. For example:

• One debtor/creditor pair for recharges
• A second pair for intercompany loans, so loan balances are clearly ring-fenced

More transaction types, less manual work

Previously, intercompany postings in AccountsIQ mostly relied on batch invoices. The enhanced module adds support for a much wider range of transaction types that auto-flow to the other side:

• Batch invoice – standard cost recharges
• Credit notes – reverse or adjust previous recharges
• Credit journals
• Debit journals
• Refunds (via bank movement)

The refund option is particularly powerful:

• Post a payment out from an intercompany debtor, or a receipt against an intercompany creditor
• Use it from the intercompany screen or via bank import (as long as you select the intercompany account)
• The corresponding entry appears in the connected entity, ready to be reviewed and posted

When you’re working in the intercompany grid, each connection offers both recharge and non-recharge options:

• Recharge options post to the other entity automatically (true intercompany transactions)
• Non-recharge options only affect the local entity (useful for one-sided tidy-ups, write-offs, or historical corrections you don’t want mirrored)

Receiving and posting intercompany entries

On the receiving side, there’s now a clear “Incoming Intercompany” view:

• All incoming invoices, credits, journals and refunds from any linked entities appear in a single list
• You can:
  • Select one, some or all lines
  • Edit limited, clearly-marked fields such as:
    • GL code
    • BI/analysis code
    • Reference
    • Date

The module brings across the existing batch invoice grouping logic:

• If account, reference and date match, multiple lines will be grouped into a single invoice
• If you change one of these on only some lines, the system:
  • Warns you
  • Unticks those lines
  • Ensures only valid groups are posted together

Once you’re happy, a single “Post Selected” action creates the transactions in the receiving entity. The sending entity’s intercompany grid then updates – and once everything is posted, those “unbalanced account” warnings vanish.

Better visibility, fewer nasty surprises

Throughout the demo, you’ll see how the enhanced intercompany module strengthens control and clarity:

• Visual flags for issues, with human-readable explanations:
  • Unbalanced accounts (sent but not yet posted at the other end)
  • No connection configured
  • Currency mismatch
  • You don’t have permissions for the linked entity
• Permissions-aware navigation:
  • If you do have access, the company code is a hyperlink
  • If you don’t, it’s disabled and the tooltip explains why
• Standardised views and filters:
  • Show only intercompany debtors
  • Only intercompany creditors
  • Only accounts with out-of-balance issues

Combined, this makes group reconciliations and month-end reviews much faster and safer.

Who is this webinar for?

• Group Financial Controllers and Finance Managers dealing with multiple entities
• Organisations with:
  • Regular intercompany recharges (shared services, central costs)
  • Intercompany loans or cash sweeps
  • Multiple base currencies across the group
• Existing AccountsIQ customers already using (or planning to use) the intercompany module, who want:
  • Fewer manual journals
  • Cleaner visibility of each pair of intercompany accounts
  • Better segregation and user-specific access

Will my existing intercompany setup still work?
Yes. Existing intercompany debtors and creditors are automatically migrated into the new module. They disappear from the default views in Sales/Purchases (to keep things tidy), but they’re fully recognised and live in the new Intercompany tab.

Do I have to use separate debtors/creditors for different activity types?
No. You can use one debtor/creditor pair per entity pair if you prefer. However, many groups like to separate recharges and loans into different connections for clarity – the new module makes that easy.

Can I use intercompany across entities with different base currencies?
Yes. The base currencies can be different. The only rule is that each intercompany connection must use one shared currency on both sides (e.g. both sides in GBP, or both in EUR). That currency is what drives the intercompany balance; revaluations then deal with FX movements.

Do intercompany bank movements also flow automatically?
Yes, if you use the refund option with an intercompany debtor/creditor (either in the module or via bank import), the corresponding entry is created in the connected entity ready for posting.

What do the warning icons mean on the intercompany grid?
Hovering over the triangle icon shows the reason, for example:

• Account is unbalanced (transactions sent but not posted at the other end)
• There is no connection defined between the accounts
• Currency mismatch between debtor and creditor accounts
• You are not assigned to the linked entity, so you can’t drill into it

Can I still use the intercompany import accessory for recharges?
Yes. The import accessory continues to work as before – the enhanced module focuses on UI, posting and visibility improvements, not taking away existing methods.

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