# Multi-company accounting

> Multi-company accounting means keeping the books of several businesses, such as a family's proprietorship, partnership firm and private limited company, separately but from one login. Each business keeps its own ledgers, GST returns and reports.

In EaseDesk: One EaseDesk login opens every organisation you are a member of; after signing in you choose which one to work in, and each keeps its own books, GST, team and data. Within one organisation you can add several GSTINs and branches under Settings → Organisation (GST registrations, Branches & warehouses), each with its own address and invoice number series, and filter reports by branch.

## Why it matters to your business

Many Indian business families run more than one entity: a proprietorship for trading, a partnership
for manufacturing, a company for a new venture. Keeping each in a different system, or different
files on different computers, makes it hard to know where things stand and easy to post an entry in
the wrong books. One login with clearly separate organisations keeps the law's separation while
saving you the trouble of switching tools.

## How it works

Take a family that owns:

- **Sharma Traders**, a proprietorship registered for GST in Maharashtra.
- **Sharma Industries Private Limited**, a company with factories in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

This needs two organisations, because there are two PANs. Sharma Industries adds two GST
registrations, one per state, and a branch with its own warehouse and invoice series in each. Sales
from the Gujarat factory are billed on the Gujarat GSTIN, and each GSTIN files its own returns, while
the company's profit and loss account and balance sheet cover both.

When Sharma Traders buys ₹5,00,000 of goods from Sharma Industries, the company issues a tax invoice
and the proprietorship records a purchase bill, exactly as with an outside vendor.

## Common mistakes

- **One set of books for two entities.** Mixing two PANs in one set of books makes GST returns,
  income-tax and audit much harder to get right.
- **Branch set up as a new company.** A new state registration of the same business does not need
  separate books; it needs an additional GSTIN and branch.
- **Inter-company balances that do not match.** What one company shows as receivable from the
  other should equal what the other shows as payable. Reconcile them every quarter.
- **Shared staff logins.** Give each person their own login and a role in each organisation they
  work in, so every entry can be traced to who made it.

## Questions

### Should I set up a separate company or a branch?

A separate legal entity with its own PAN, such as a new private limited company, needs its own set of books. A new state registration or office of the same business, under the same PAN, is a branch or an additional GSTIN within the same books.

### Is a transfer between two of my companies a sale?

Yes. Two companies are separate persons, so goods moving between them need a tax invoice with GST. Even within one business, a transfer between GSTINs in different states is treated as a supply.

### Can I see combined figures for all my companies?

Each company's books and returns are separate by law. Combined figures for a group are prepared by your accountant from each company's statements, removing sales, purchases and balances between the group companies.

### Can my CA access all my companies with one login?

Yes, if each organisation invites your CA. They then choose the organisation after signing in and see only what their role allows in each.

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Source: https://www.easedesk.com/glossary/multi-company · Updated 2026-09-28 · EaseDesk