Using 1 QB Online account for two legal entities in different countries?

AL_67 · ‎September 15, 2020

We have 2 Legal Entities; 1 whose base currency is USD, the other is MXN (Mexican pesos,) for transactions in Mexico, where most of operations are. We are a US Based-non-profit and file 501-c reporting annually. We also file Mexican reporting, which is handled by sending all of our Mexican transactions to our Mexican accountants. In other words, we don’t send reports, just transactions for a period.

I know that Quickbooks Online (QBO) is designed to have only one Legal Entity per instance/login account. This is stated clearly.

But we're a non-profit that is not swimming in money, so we are wondering if there's a way to meet our reporting needs for both countries, and for managing our operations, using one QBO account/instance? QBO has many ways to segregate and identify transactions by, e.g. tags and projects.

Do you think it is possible to use one QB instance, either recording transactions for each entity in different accounts, and/or using different Tags (but same accounts?) Or all Mexican entity transactions under one Project?

If we can use the one instance, then we can’t use the total instance standard reports to report on separate legal entities, but these total reports would be usable for a consolidated view of the business. We should be able to use reporting focused on just the USD transactions (e.g. tags or a project) to meet our US 501c requirements

Any ideas appreciated, thanks!

ReymondO · ‎September 15, 2020

Hi there, @AL_67.

Yes, there is a way on how you can track these transactions in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

You can use the Location Tracking feature to easily categorize your data based on your location. This will help you to easily identify where the majority of your business income is coming from.

You can turn on this feature by following these steps:

Click the Gear icon and select Account and Settings.
Go to the Advanced section.
In the Categories section, select the Pencil icon.
Turn on Track locations by toggling the button.
Click Save and select Done.

Once done, you can proceed to these steps to add a location:

Go to Settings and select All Lists.
Click Locations and select New. Then add the Name of the location you want to track.
Select Save and close.

You can also use the Class Tracking feature to track account balances by the department, business office or location, or any other meaningful breakdown of your business.

In addition, you can turn on and use the Multi-currency feature in QBO. This way, you can use it to track your transactions using foreign currencies.

I'm always here to help if you have any other concerns or questions. Just tag my name in the comment section and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎September 15, 2020

@AL_67

As another option, consider switching to QB Desktop. Contact Techsoup to get a special license price. You may manage 2 separate files later.

AL_67 · ‎September 16, 2020

Thank you , ReymondO! Look helpful

AL_67 · ‎September 16, 2020

We need online as need multiple people in different locations to access QBs. Thanks

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎September 16, 2020

@AL_67

You may purchase a one time license of QB Desktop and deploy a private cloud or put your license on a QB cloud hosting if required.

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Using 1 QB Online account for two legal entities in different countries?