Introduction
In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, a company is a container for business data belonging to a legal entity or business unit. Each company can maintain its own financial transactions, customers, vendors, items, and operational records.
When you sign up for Business Central, you typically receive a demonstration company and an empty company named My Company. You can also create additional companies based on your business requirements.
In this guide, we will explain how to create a new company in Business Central, choose the appropriate template, copy an existing company, and complete the initial setup.
What Is a Company in Business Central?
A company in Business Central is a logical business entity that maintains its own operational and financial data within a Business Central environment.
Each company can have its own chart of accounts, customers, vendors, items, posting setup, general ledger entries, and other business records. However, some configuration options, extensions, and environment-level settings may be shared across companies.
A company can represent:
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A separate legal entity or subsidiary.
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A business unit that requires separate financial records.
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A company operating in a different country or region.
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A separate entity for testing or demonstration purposes.
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An organization that needs its own accounting and operational setup.
Why Do We Need to Create a New Company?
Organizations may need to create additional companies in Business Central for several reasons.
| Business requirement | Example |
|---|---|
| Multiple legal entities | ABC India Pvt. Ltd. and ABC UK Ltd. |
| Separate financial reporting | Maintaining independent financial statements for each entity |
| Different business operations | Manufacturing and distribution companies |
| Country-specific operations | Companies using different local accounting and tax requirements |
| Testing and training | A separate company for demonstrations or user training |
| Business expansion | Adding a newly acquired subsidiary |
A separate company helps maintain data separation and allows authorized users to work with the appropriate business entity.
Prerequisites
Before creating a new company, ensure that:
You have access to the appropriate Business Central environment.
Your user account has the Super permission set.
You know the purpose and name of the new company.
You have identified the required setup data and business configuration.
Open the Companies Page
- Sign in to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- Select the Search (Tell Me) icon.
- Search for Companies.
- Open the Companies page.
You can also access the company creation guide through the Company field on the My Settings page.
Create a New Company
On the Companies page, select Create New Company to open the assisted setup guide.
The setup guide offers three templates and a blank option:
- Evaluation – Sample Data
Create a company that’s similar to the demonstration company with sample data and setup data. This type of company is available to you without switching to a 30-day trial period, which the other types do. - Advanced Evaluation – Complete Sample Data Create a company with the Advanced functionality scope, which has everything you need to evaluate the product for companies with advanced processes. This type of company is available to you without switching to a 30-day trial period, which the other types do.
- Production – Setup Data Only
Create a company that’s similar to My Company, with setup data such as a chart of accounts, payment methods, and financial report definitions, but without sample data. You can use this company for a 30-day trial period. - Create New – No Data
Create a blank company without setup data. You can use this company for a 30-day trial period.
The evaluation templates are available without switching to a 30-day trial period, while the other two options are subject to the trial conditions described in Microsoft’s documentation.
Copy an Existing Company
Business Central also provides a Copy action on the Companies page. This allows you to create another company based on an existing company’s contents.
Company copying is useful when you need a separate company for testing, configuration, or other supported business scenarios.
Before copying, consider the following:
Review which data will be copied into the target company.
Re-enter the SMTP email account password if the source company uses an SMTP account, because the password is not copied.
If Dataverse or Dynamics 365 Sales integration is enabled, Business Central clears certain integration settings, integration records, synchronization jobs, and synchronization errors in the target company.
Set Up the New Company
After opening the new company, use the Company Setup assisted setup guide to configure the essential business information.
Depending on your requirements, this includes:
Company information: Name, address, and contact details.
Bank information: Details required for payments and banking operations.
Inventory costing method: The method used to calculate inventory costs and valuation.
Financial configuration: The chart of accounts and other required accounting settings.
Business data: Customers, vendors, items, and other relevant master records.
The setup requirements depend on the selected template and the company’s business processes.
After completing the initial setup, import data from your legacy system or another Business Central company, if required.
Companies vs. Environments in Business Central
Understanding the difference between a company and an environment is important when managing multiple business entities.
| Feature | Company | Environment |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Stores data for a legal entity or business unit. | Provides the environment in which Business Central operates. |
| Example | ABC India Pvt. Ltd. | Production or Sandbox |
| Data | Contains company-specific business records. | Hosts companies and their associated resources. |
| Common use | Managing separate business entities. | Running live operations or testing changes. |