More than one business

Sara_7151075
Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
edited July 2020 in Accounts Hosted
Is there an ability in reckon hosted, to run two different business's separately (separate files) in the same account?

Comments

  • Penne Milloy
    Penne Milloy Member Posts: 12
    edited September 2015
    we run two companies on seperate files . but with seperate item list and seperate ABN . Have not found a way around this yet .as we have over 1000 items to contend with it would be good to be able to put it all on one invoice

  • Priscilla_Ognenis
    Priscilla_Ognenis Member Posts: 66 ✭✭
    edited September 2017
    It would appear that as the file drop down menu has "open/close previous company" & "close company/log off", these are the same as in the desktop version from which we have successfully run 2 different companies with 2 different ABNs & accounts, customers etc. But whether this can be done on the hosted version, not sure, but it would appear so. You would have to open "new company" first to add your second company & then switch between them with the other 2 mentioned above.  When it comes time to open the company you are given a box with the choice of which to open.  Maybe one of the experts can verify this.  Cheers, Priscilla
  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2018
    We are a family partnership, so I believe we can only have one ABN, but that doesn't really change what I need anyhow.
    I want to use our reckon hosted subscription to manage both business, but keep the bookkeeping separate to track records accurately.
    The item/account list in both business would need be different in our bookkeeping as the two business are quite different (although both are services)
    I'd rather not need two subscriptions. Do you do this in one subscription?

  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2015
    This makes sense.... I may have to make the dreaded phone call! (I'm a little impatient)
    Thank you
  • Priscilla_Ognenis
    Priscilla_Ognenis Member Posts: 66 ✭✭
    edited January 2017
    Hi Sara, yes we do.  We have 2 different ABNs in our partnerships but we have 3 separate businesses all with different sets of items, accounts, customers, suppliers etc on our reckon accounts programs, 2 of which are on our desktop version on the same program.  I haven't got 2 on our hosted version, but it all looks to have the same file menus, so I would presume you could still do that.  We only have the 1 subscription with 2 users and the free enterprise desktop version which is where I have put 2 of our businesses onto.  Hope that makes sense :)
  • Priscilla_Ognenis
    Priscilla_Ognenis Member Posts: 66 ✭✭
    edited September 2015
    I think you need a different ABN for each entity you have, that is what we have even though we are the same family partnership, we have 3 separate partnerships with 3 separate ABNs.  Your accountant will be able to help you with that.
  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2015
    hmmm off to the accountant for a chat.... my understanding is that your ABN is your entity and that the entity is only entitled to one ABN, but you may run more than 1 business under it. Since our partnership is small (only me and hubby) it seems beyond us to have another partnership, and harder work, especially since the second business will only be quite small.

    Thanks for your input Priscilla :)


  • Paul Barns_7695868
    Paul Barns_7695868 Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2017
    Sara, we run five companies on hosted, all with separate customers, item lists etc so they are completely independent but all accessible via the close company and log on to the new one process.  You can also run reports across all companies which lines results up beside each other so there becomes advantages in getting your chart of accounts consistent if you want to do consolidations in excel.  Hope that helps
  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020
    HI Sara.  Yes this can be done using Hosted.  If the "Company" doesn't yet exist, it will be a case of creating a new one from scratch, from within Hosted (File > New Company).  Essentially there is no restriction on the number of separate companies that you can set up, because Hosted used the Enterprise Version of Reckon.  I take it that you are already using Hosted, and that the other company is not using the Desktop Version of Reckon.  If it is an existing Company using the Desktop Version, you would need to bring it into Hosted.  At that point in time, the only way that you can gain access to the file on your desktop (as distinct from within Hosted) is to have the Enterprise Desktop version of Reckon.

    The other beneficial aspect of Hosted is that if you were say a bookkeeper or whatever, and another entity was using Hosted, they could give you access to their Company file by sharing it.  In one of my roles I have two separate Hosted Companies under that registration, whilst in another role I have my own personal registration with access to three other entities because they have shared their Hosted files with me, thereby enabling me to do work on their Company files.  John L G
  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2015
    Very helpful, thank you Paul - the answer I needed :)

  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2015
    Thanks John,

    I currently run a business using hosted, and want to add another that I am in the process of starting.
    Its quite overwhelming (for me) on how to set this all up.

    Appreciate your feedback :)

    Sara
  • Priscilla_Ognenis
    Priscilla_Ognenis Member Posts: 66 ✭✭
    edited September 2017
    I am glad someone has answered your question.  I was pretty sure it could be done.  We have a parts business, a towing business and a guesthouse, so all with different customers, suppliers and items.  We run them all from one subscription, but I was just hesitant to say whether they would all work on hosted although I guessed they would.  I was waiting for someone to give you the answer you needed.  Your accountant will also give you the answer on the ABN.  Good luck.
  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Hi Sara.  In some respects the process is relatively straight forward.  As I mentioned, you need to go to File > New Company to start the process.  At that point you should be presented with an interview process which would help you to set up the basics.  Some questions that would be asked are the type of business, whether you want to use the Reckon standard chart of accounts for that type of business and so it goes on.  When it comes to the Chart of Accounts, if you are quite happy with the one that you have and if it pretty well covers all of the range of accounts that you are needing, then you can export your list (and a range of other data) from your existing Company to your new Company.  This would save you a lot of time.  My experience is that the standard Reckon Chart of Accounts for particular industries contains far more than I need and/or a lot less than I need, hence I prefer to virtually start from scratch.  However the export/import function can save a tremendous amount of time if the new business is going to use similar accounts as the current business.  Once you get that list into your new Company, you could readily delete any accounts not needed or add the possibly few extra that you do need.

    You could have a look to see what the process looks like by following the initial step File > New Company and see what it looks like.  John L G
  • cosmic
    cosmic Reckon Developer Partner Posts: 1,073 ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Yes, you can have under that same ABN, your other business
    talk to us , we are Public Accountants and TAX Agents, and you can track your other business using same data file using CLASS.

    Cosmic Accounting Group

    Accountants and Tax Agents 22397009

  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2015
    Thanks to you John, I found this relatively easy with your direction.
    I have done the setup interview before (have another business which was set up in Pro - however it is the same process)

    I would have eventually found this, however, the information is there for everyone now

    I have a new dilemma .... more of a technical issue with reckon :\
    The silly thing freezes up when I try to save the setup and wont let me go any further!


  • Sara_7151075
    Sara_7151075 Member Posts: 66
    edited September 2015
    Yes it turns out it is just the same as Reckon Pro - should have probably investigated further before asking here :)

  • John Graetz
    John Graetz Member Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Hi Sara.  The problem doesn't sound very nice.  So what are you doing when it freezes - going back and doing it all over again?  The only possible thing that I can think that you could do at this juncture, would be to re-start your computer, have nothing else running and then try again.  In the absence of an error message, it is pretty hard to work out just what might be happening.  I would think that along the way your work has actually saved, so if you have to force a shut down, you may not lose too much of what you have input.  When you say you are saving the setup, what is the actual step you are making at that point?  John L G
  • Kathy Mackinlay_6947388
    Kathy Mackinlay_6947388 Member Posts: 141
    edited September 2015
    Hi Paul, just wondering if you meant that you can run a report over the five companies at one time ie: select all companies?
  • Paul Barns_7695868
    Paul Barns_7695868 Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2015
    Absolutely.  In Hosted go to Reports / Combine reports from multiple companies and select the reports that you want to run from the list (your primary financial statement type reports) and then click Add Files and select the QBW file for each of your companies, then follow the logon prompts.
    You get a multi column report with values in each company where the account name is identical.  It is a bit like a pivot table if you use them.
    I then dump them into a model I built to convert them to NZ dollars and then I also load in the AR, AP and Sales values from each of the five companies so I can do a full consolidation.  IF (never happened yet) there are no changes to the structure of each report, then I can do a full consolidation easily within an hour max.
    Hope that helps.
  • Sally McIntosh, Accredited Consultant
    Sally McIntosh, Accredited Consultant Accredited Partner Posts: 468 Accredited Partner Accredited Partner
    edited December 2016
    Hi Kathy,
    Yes in the Hosted and desktop Enterprise versions you can combine reports from multiple files.
    Kind regards,
    Sally McIntosh (sally@samsolutions.com.au)