This workflow books intercompany elimination entries directly to your parent (consolidation) company using specific intercompany accounts defined in your parent COA.
It's optional — you can always book elimination entries manually, the same way you'd handle any other consolidation adjusting entry. The value of this workflow is that it automates the extraction of intercompany balances by subsidiary and calculates the elimination entry for you.
Initial setup (first-time use)
1. Select an Elimination Division
Pick the Division (aka Location field value in QBO) in your parent company where elimination entries should post. Using a dedicated division name (for example, x-Interco) keeps elimination entries segmented from your subsidiary financials for reporting purposes.
You have two options:
- Use an existing Division that was created in QBO already — Select it from the drop-down list. Your selection will default going forward but can be changed at any time.
- Create a new Division — Select Add New Division from the list, and JustConsolidate will create the division in your parent QBO company for you.
Once you've selected an Elimination Division, a table will display. Confirm the correct accounting period is selected before proceeding.
2. Select the intercompany accounts
Use the drop-downs in the table to select the intercompany accounts you want to eliminate. Your account list will default going forward and can be modified at any time (add or remove accounts as needed).
As you add accounts, two things happen in the table:
- Each account's current balance is shown by Division (subsidiary) in the parent company
- The Elimination Journal Entry column displays the debit or credit needed to net each account to zero
How to review and post elimination entries
Step 1 — Extract period activity
Once you've set your period, Elimination Division, and intercompany accounts, click Extract Period Activity. The system will pull current-period activity for each selected intercompany account from the parent company and display the balances by Division (subsidiary) — so you can see exactly where the balances are coming from.
Step 2 — Review the proposed entry
For each intercompany account with a non-zero net balance, the system calculates the debit or credit needed to zero it out.
If intercompany activity was booked correctly on both sides: The proposed elimination entry will balance (debits = credits). The Post Journal Entry button will turn green. Click it to post the elimination entry to the parent company.
Once posted, JustConsolidate re-extracts the balances. The Elimination Division's balances will update, and the Elimination Journal Entry column will show zero for every account — confirming no further action is needed.
If intercompany activity was not booked correctly (one side missing or mismatched): The proposed entry won't balance. This signals that the underlying intercompany accounting at the subsidiary level needs to be corrected.
Manual override: If you want to post the elimination entry without correcting the subsidiary-level issue, you can click directly into any debit/credit cell in the table and manually enter an amount (similar to QBO's Journal Entry form). This forces the entry to balance so you can post it.
Special handling for foreign currency subsidiaries
When your CTA account is included in the intercompany account list, it's treated as a plug — the value in the Elimination Journal Entry column isn't the amount needed to zero CTA, but rather the amount needed to balance the overall elimination entry. Some difference is normal due to exchange rate movement over accounting periods.
Caution: Because CTA absorbs the plug, it can mask an intercompany accounting error — where one side of a transaction wasn't booked correctly — since the overall entry will still balance. Inspect the CTA plug value carefully before posting.
Re-posting elimination entries
If you've previously posted an elimination entry using this workflow and need to re-post due to subsidiary balance changes, clicking Post Journal Entry will trigger an alert: the system has detected an existing elimination entry. You have two options:
- Delete Existing Elimination Entries — JustConsolidate deletes the existing entry, re-extracts balances, recalculates the elimination entry, and posts a single clean new entry. Best for users who prefer one consolidated entry per period.
- Post as Adjusting Entry — JustConsolidate posts the new entry alongside the existing one as an incremental adjustment. Best for users who prefer to preserve the original entry plus an audit trail of subsequent adjustments.
Other things to know
- Longer load times for large setups — Some actions require JustConsolidate to pull data from your parent QBO company. If you have a large number of divisions (subsidiaries), expect 10-20 seconds of processing time while the app pulls data and updates the display tables. This is normal.
- Extract Period Activity button — Use this whenever you need to refresh the intercompany balances. It re-pulls current activity by account and division for the selected period.