First, a note on "Parent" and "Subsidiary"


In most multi-entity businesses, there's a legal parent company that owns one or more subsidiaries. JustConsolidate uses the same terms — "Parent" and "Subsidiary" — but from a financial consolidation perspective, which isn't quite the same thing.


Here's the distinction: JustConsolidate expects you to create a new, dedicated entity that serves as your consolidation parent. Your existing entities — including what you might think of as the legal parent — all become subsidiaries from JustConsolidate's perspective.


Example:

Say Entity A is the legal parent of two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Entity B and Entity C, and each entity has its own set of books. To use JustConsolidate, you'd first create a new, empty entity (let's call it ParentCo) to act as your financial consolidation parent. In JustConsolidate, ParentCo is the Parent, and Entities A, B, and C are all Subsidiaries to be financially consolidated. ParentCo will hold your consolidated financials.


If it helps, think of it this way: Entities A, B, and C are your subsidiary ledgers, and ParentCo is your consolidation ledger.




ParentCo as consolidation parent with Companies A, B and C as subsidiaries

Subscription requirements

 

For QuickBooks Online users

  • Subsidiary companies — Any QuickBooks Online subscription level works. JustConsolidate only reads data from these companies.
  • Parent company — Must be QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced. JustConsolidate uses the Location field to tag each subsidiary on consolidation journal entries, and that field is only available on Plus and above.
 

For Xero users

  • Subsidiary organisations — Any Xero plan works. JustConsolidate only reads data from these organisations.
  • Consolidation entity — Must have both tracking category slots free when you connect it. Xero allows only two active tracking categories per organisation, and JustConsolidate needs both: one reserved for the subsidiary name, and one for your own reporting dimension.

Because your consolidation entity should be a brand new, empty organisation, this is usually true automatically. If you are repurposing an existing organisation that already has tracking categories set up, archive them before connecting.

How to connect your entities

Connecting your entities is handled entirely through your accounting platform's own secure authorisation process — there's no manual data entry on your part. A few clicks and you're ready to move on to chart-of-accounts mapping.

  1. Click Add Entity and follow the authorisation prompts.
  2. Once all your entities are listed, click Set as Consolidation Parent in the Entity Level column of the entity that will serve as your consolidation entity. All other entities default to subsidiary level.
 

For Xero users

When you set up your consolidation entity's chart of accounts you likely know that Xero does not allow manual journals to post to certain account types, so the chart of accounts needs to be built with that in mind from the start. See Setting up your Xero consolidation entity.

Entity settings explained


After connecting, each entity appears in the display table with several configurable and informational fields:


Entity Level — Indicates whether an entity is the Parent or a Subsidiary. You set this using the "Set as Parent" link. If you need to reset which entity is the Parent, remove the entity that is currently listed as the Parent then add it back.


Consolidation Alias (optional) — An alternate display name used for a subsidiary when consolidation entries are posted to the parent. This lets you keep the full legal name intact in your accounting platform while using a cleaner or segment-friendly name in your consolidated reporting.


Consolidation % — Defaults to 100% (the equity method). For proportional consolidation, enter your ownership percentage (up to two decimal places). All consolidation workflows — including the opening balance sheet — will apply this percentage to the trial balance before posting.


Entity Name — Pulled automatically when you connect an entity and cached thereafter, since this metadata rarely changes. If the name, currency, or first period of transaction changes in your accounting platform, click the green refresh icon to re-sync. Refreshing metadata does not affect your COA mappings or financials.


Entity ID — The unique identifier your accounting platform assigns to each entity (think of it as a fingerprint). When JustConsolidate posts consolidation journal entries, this identifier is included in the entry's name, which makes it easy to search for specific entries later.

PlatformWhat the identifier is calledWhere it appears on the entry
QuickBooks OnlineRealm IDJournal entry name field
XeroTenant IDManual journal narration field

OBAL Period — For subsidiaries, this is the first period of transaction detected when the entity was connected (or last refreshed). For the parent, this field stays blank unless you've designated an opening balance sheet period. See the Opening Balance Sheet workflow.


Connection Status — Normally shows Connected. If the authorisation breaks or times out, the status will switch to Disconnected and a Re-authorize link will appear. Click it to restore the connection before running any workflows.