Skip to main content

Intercompany Flow Map

Complete guide to intercompany transactions between subsidiaries in NetSuite OneWorld.


Intercompany Overview

INTERCOMPANY TRANSACTION CONCEPT
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

PARENT COMPANY (Consolidated)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ELIMINATES on consolidation │
│ ▲ │
│ │ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ SUBSIDIARY A │ SUBSIDIARY B │ │
│ │ (Seller) │ (Buyer) │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Intercompany │ │ │ Intercompany │ │ │
│ │ │ Sales Order │ ──────┼───▶│ Purchase Order │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ Customer: Sub-B IC │ │ │ Vendor: Sub-A IC │ │ │
│ │ │ Revenue: $10,000 │ │ │ Expense: $10,000 │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ ▼ │ ▼ │ │
│ │ IC Receivable: $10,000 │ IC Payable: $10,000 │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ELIMINATION │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ IC Revenue (Dr) │ │
│ │ IC Expense (Cr) │ │
│ │ IC Recv (Cr) │ │
│ │ IC Pay (Dr) │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Net Impact: $0 │ │
│ └─────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Types of Intercompany Transactions

Sales/Purchase (Inventory Transfer)

INTERCOMPANY INVENTORY TRANSFER
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Scenario: Subsidiary A sells inventory to Subsidiary B

SUBSIDIARY A (Seller) SUBSIDIARY B (Buyer)
┌────────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │ │
│ Intercompany Sales Order │ Auto │ Intercompany PO │
│ ─────────────────────────│──creates─▶│ ──────────────── │
│ Customer: Sub-B (IC) │ │ Vendor: Sub-A (IC) │
│ Item: Widget (100) │ │ Item: Widget (100) │
│ Price: $10/unit │ │ Price: $10/unit │
│ Total: $1,000 │ │ Total: $1,000 │
│ │ │ │
└─────────────┬──────────────┘ └─────────────┬──────────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌────────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Item Fulfillment │ │ Item Receipt │
│ ─────────────── │ Ship │ ──────────── │
│ Location: Sub-A Warehouse │────to───▶│ Location: Sub-B Warehouse │
│ Qty: 100 │ │ Qty: 100 │
└─────────────┬──────────────┘ └─────────────┬──────────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌────────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Intercompany Invoice │ Links │ Intercompany Vendor Bill │
│ ───────────────────── │◄────────▶│ ─────────────────────── │
│ │ │ │
│ GL: │ │ GL: │
│ IC Receivable $1,000 Dr │ │ Inventory $1,000 Dr │
│ IC Revenue $1,000 Cr │ │ IC Payable $1,000 Cr │
│ │ │ │
│ COGS $600 Dr │ │ │
│ Inventory $600 Cr │ │ │
└────────────────────────────┘ └────────────────────────────┘

Service/Fee Charges

INTERCOMPANY SERVICE CHARGE
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Scenario: Parent charges management fee to Subsidiary

PARENT COMPANY SUBSIDIARY
┌────────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │ │
│ Intercompany Invoice │ Auto │ Intercompany Vendor Bill │
│ ───────────────────── │─creates─▶│ ─────────────────────── │
│ Customer: Subsidiary (IC) │ │ Vendor: Parent (IC) │
│ Item: Management Fee │ │ Item: Management Fee │
│ Amount: $50,000/month │ │ Amount: $50,000/month │
│ │ │ │
│ GL: │ │ GL: │
│ IC Receivable $50,000 Dr │ │ Mgmt Fee Exp $50,000 Dr │
│ Mgmt Fee Rev $50,000 Cr │ │ IC Payable $50,000 Cr │
└────────────────────────────┘ └────────────────────────────┘

Intercompany Journal Entry

INTERCOMPANY JOURNAL ENTRY
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Direct GL adjustment between subsidiaries

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ INTERCOMPANY JOURNAL ENTRY │
│ ─────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ Subsidiary A Lines: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐ │
│ │ Account │ Debit │ Credit │ │
│ ├──────────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤ │
│ │ IC Receivable - Sub B │ $25,000.00 │ │ │
│ │ Shared Services Allocation │ │ $25,000.00 │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Subsidiary B Lines (auto-created): │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐ │
│ │ Account │ Debit │ Credit │ │
│ ├──────────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤ │
│ │ Shared Services Expense │ $25,000.00 │ │ │
│ │ IC Payable - Sub A │ │ $25,000.00 │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘ │
│ │
│ ☑ Auto Balance (creates offsetting lines in other subsidiary) │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Intercompany Accounts

Required Account Setup

INTERCOMPANY ACCOUNT STRUCTURE
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Balance Sheet Accounts (per subsidiary pair):

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SUBSIDIARY A SUBSIDIARY B │
│ │
│ ASSETS LIABILITIES │
│ ────── ─────────── │
│ 1500 IC Receivable - Sub B 2500 IC Payable - Sub A │
│ │
│ LIABILITIES ASSETS │
│ ─────────── ────── │
│ 2500 IC Payable - Sub B 1500 IC Receivable - Sub A │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Income Statement Accounts:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SUBSIDIARY A (Seller) SUBSIDIARY B (Buyer) │
│ │
│ REVENUE EXPENSE │
│ ─────── ─────── │
│ 4500 Intercompany Revenue 6500 Intercompany Expense │
│ (or IC Sales) (or IC Cost) │
│ │
│ COGS (if inventory) │
│ ──── │
│ 5500 Intercompany COGS │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Account Mapping

Transaction TypeSeller AccountBuyer Account
IC Sale (AR side)IC Receivable-
IC Sale (Revenue)IC Revenue-
IC Purchase (AP side)-IC Payable
IC Purchase (Expense)-IC Expense or Inventory
IC COGSIC COGS-

Elimination Process

How Elimination Works

ELIMINATION ON CONSOLIDATION
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Before Elimination (Sum of Subsidiaries):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Revenue: Sub A: $100,000 Sub B: $80,000 Total: $180,000 │
│ (includes IC) (IC: $10,000) (no IC rev) │
│ │
│ Expenses: Sub A: $70,000 Sub B: $60,000 Total: $130,000 │
│ (includes IC) (no IC exp) (IC: $10,000) │
│ │
│ IC Receivable: Sub A: $10,000 Sub B: $0 Total: $10,000 │
│ IC Payable: Sub A: $0 Sub B: $10,000 Total: $10,000 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Elimination Entry (System Generated):
┌────────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
│ Account │ Debit │ Credit │
├────────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤
│ Intercompany Revenue │ $10,000.00 │ │
│ Intercompany Expense │ │ $10,000.00 │
│ Intercompany Payable │ $10,000.00 │ │
│ Intercompany Receivable │ │ $10,000.00 │
└────────────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘

After Elimination (Consolidated View):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Revenue: $180,000 - $10,000 (elim) = $170,000 │
│ (external only) │
│ │
│ Expenses: $130,000 - $10,000 (elim) = $120,000 │
│ (external only) │
│ │
│ IC Receivable: $10,000 - $10,000 (elim) = $0 │
│ IC Payable: $10,000 - $10,000 (elim) = $0 │
│ │
│ Net Income: $170,000 - $120,000 = $50,000 (same as before elim) │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Elimination Timing

Report TypeElimination AppliedView
Subsidiary ReportNoIndividual subsidiary
Consolidated ReportYesParent + all subs eliminated
Combined ReportOptionalSubs added, elim optional

Intercompany Pricing

Transfer Pricing Methods

TRANSFER PRICING OPTIONS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Method 1: Cost Plus Markup
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Item Cost: $100 │
│ Markup: 10% │
│ IC Price: $110 │
│ │
│ Sub A Profit: $10 (on IC sale) │
│ Sub B Cost: $110 (inventory value) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Method 2: Market Price
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ External Market Price: $150 │
│ IC Price: $150 (same as market) │
│ │
│ Arm's length transaction │
│ Compliant with transfer pricing rules │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Method 3: Negotiated Price
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Cost: $100 │
│ Market: $150 │
│ IC Price: $125 (negotiated between subs) │
│ │
│ Sub A Profit: $25 │
│ Sub B Savings: $25 vs market │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Price Lists for IC

SetupDescription
IC Price LevelDedicated price level for intercompany
IC Customer/VendorIC entity with special pricing
Item IC PricePer-item intercompany price

Intercompany Settlement

Payment Process

INTERCOMPANY SETTLEMENT
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Option 1: Cash Settlement (Actual Payment)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Sub B pays Sub A for IC balance: │
│ │
│ Sub B: Sub A: │
│ IC Payable $10,000 Dr Bank Account $10,000 Dr │
│ Bank Account $10,000 Cr IC Receivable $10,000 Cr │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Option 2: Netting (Net Settlement)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Multiple IC balances netted: │
│ │
│ Sub A owes Sub B: $5,000 │
│ Sub B owes Sub A: $12,000 │
│ Net: Sub B pays Sub A $7,000 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Option 3: No Cash (Journal Entry)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Clear via IC Journal (no actual cash moves): │
│ │
│ Sub A: Sub B: │
│ Investment in Sub B $10,000 Dr Equity - Parent $10,000 Dr │
│ IC Receivable $10,000 Cr IC Payable $10,000 Cr │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Intercompany Reports

Key Reports

ReportPurposeShows
Intercompany BalancesOutstanding IC amountsReceivable/Payable by sub pair
IC Transaction RegisterAll IC transactionsDetail of IC activity
Consolidated P&LEliminated resultsExternal revenue/expense only
Consolidated Balance SheetEliminated balancesNo IC receivable/payable
Elimination ReportElimination detailWhat was eliminated

Balance Query

-- Intercompany account balances
SELECT
a.acctnumber,
a.accountsearchdisplayname AS account_name,
a.accttype,
SUM(tal.amount) AS balance
FROM
transactionaccountingline tal
JOIN
account a ON tal.account = a.id
WHERE
LOWER(a.accountsearchdisplayname) LIKE '%intercompany%'
OR LOWER(a.accountsearchdisplayname) LIKE '%ic %'
GROUP BY
a.acctnumber,
a.accountsearchdisplayname,
a.accttype
HAVING
SUM(tal.amount) <> 0
ORDER BY
a.accttype, a.acctnumber

Common IC Scenarios

Shared Services Center

SHARED SERVICES ALLOCATION
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Parent Company (Shared Services)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IT Department: $100,000/month │
│ HR Department: $50,000/month │
│ Finance Department: $75,000/month │
│ Total Shared Costs: $225,000/month │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Allocate based on headcount/revenue

┌────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ Subsidiary A│ │ Subsidiary B│ │ Subsidiary C│
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ 40% share │ │ 35% share │ │ 25% share │
│ $90,000 │ │ $78,750 │ │ $56,250 │
└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘

IC Invoice from Parent to each Subsidiary

Cross-Border Sale

CROSS-BORDER INTERCOMPANY
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

US Subsidiary (Manufacturer) UK Subsidiary (Distributor)
┌────────────────────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │ │
│ Manufactures Widget │ │ Sells to UK customers │
│ Cost: $50 │ │ External Price: £100 │
│ │ │ │
│ IC Sale to UK: │ │ IC Purchase from US: │
│ Price: $75 (cost + 50%) │ │ Price: $75 = £60 │
│ │ │ │
│ Currency: USD │ │ Currency: GBP │
│ │ │ FX Rate at transaction │
│ │ │ │
│ GL (USD): │ │ GL (GBP): │
│ IC Recv $75 Dr │ │ Inventory £60 Dr │
│ IC Revenue $75 Cr │ │ IC Payable £60 Cr │
│ COGS $50 Dr │ │ │
│ Inventory $50 Cr │ │ │
└────────────────────────────┘ └────────────────────────────┘

Note: FX differences may arise on settlement

Best Practices

Setup

PracticeBenefit
Consistent IC account namingEasy identification
Separate IC price levelClear transfer pricing
IC customer/vendor per subOrganized records
Document transfer pricing policyCompliance

Operations

PracticeBenefit
Regular IC reconciliationCatch discrepancies
Monthly nettingReduce cash movements
Clear approval for IC transactionsControl
Track IC separately in reportsVisibility

Compliance

PracticeBenefit
Arm's length pricingTransfer pricing compliance
DocumentationAudit trail
Consistent methodologyDefensible position
Annual reviewStay current

Next Steps