Intercompany Accounting Basics:
Intercompany Journal This is a journal entry which has transactions for at least two different companies (or balancing segment values). Intercompany Journal Out of Balance An out of balance intercompany journal is one which does not have equal credit and debit totals for each group of lines by company. Balancing Segment This is the accounting flexfield segment that has the balancing segment qualifier assigned to it. Typically the balancing segment stores the company values. However, it could represent the cost center, the department or some other values. The terms balancing segment and company segment are usually interchangeable. It is mandatory that one segment of your accounting flexfield be designated as the balancing segment. Intercompany Segment The intercompany segment is the accounting flexfield segment that has the intercompany segment qualifier assigned to it. This qualifier is only available in release 11i and is optional. This segment shares the same value set as the balancing segment. Clearing Account A clearing account is a temporary account that holds amounts to be transferred to another account. Clearing Company This is the company value used to clear payables or receivables transactions. General Ledger uses this company to balance intercompany transactions. Trading Partner Trading partner is the company against which the line transaction is made. Transaction Types Transactions types are the classifications for journal entries based on the number of companies involved in the credit and debit side of the transaction. The different transaction types are: One to One: Two different companies in the journal. One company has the net debit balance and the other has a net credit balance. Many to One: Different companies have net debit balance and one company has net credit balance. One to Many: One Company has net debit balance and more than one companies have net credit balance. Many to Many: Two or more companies have net debit balance and two or more companies have net credit balance.