ERP for group enterprise (multi-entity). Every entity in its own words, consolidated in one view.
Every company in its own books and words, with intercompany matched and eliminated, so the group closes once and the group owner reads one set of numbers. The United Kingdom edition opens in early 2027, and this page keeps its claims narrow.
From early 2027 · configured with youHow does Kinnow help a group of companies? Each company has its own books, chart of accounts, budgets and sector setup. A sale between two of your companies is posted in both sets of books and checked at close. The matching entries are cancelled out in a separate group consolidation company, and the group owner asks one set of questions across the group. Group is set up with you, not installed as a ready-made pack.
Your business in one paragraph
An owner-led group usually grows by adding companies: a trading company, a manufacturer, a property arm, a services firm. Each has its own books, VAT registration and tool, and money moves between them on invoices, loans and shared costs. The month-end problem is that intercompany balances never tie, so consolidation is a week of eliminations in a spreadsheet, and the group owner sees group cash only afterwards. Auditors and shared-services teams need access across companies without seeing everything. The owner is awake over the balance that is on one side only, the company running on its own tool, and the cash nobody can see across the group.
See two of your companies side by side on Kinnow. Send us a trial balance for each.
How your month runs on Kinnow
Ten steps from structure to signed month. Nothing is posted, eliminated or filed without a person.
- The structure is set up. Your group is one account in Kinnow. Under it sit your companies, then business lines and branches; every document carries its company. The controller sets this up in Admin with us.
- Each company gets its own industry setup. A distributor, a manufacturer and a property arm each run the setup for their sector. Limits and routines are created for each company, so one company's limits never overwrite another's.
- Each company runs its day. Sales, purchases, stock, payroll and compliance post to the company's own books in Account.
- Intercompany is posted as a pair. An accountant records the transaction between company A and company B. A journal lands in each set of books, linked by one registry record, and each line carries the other company.
- Large group journals are approved. The extra group rules require a journal above its limit to be approved by the finance controller before it posts.
- The close checks intercompany. Each company runs the twelve close checks. The intercompany balance check must pass: an unmatched half or a net imbalance blocks the close.
- Eliminations are run. The Intercompany Eliminator posts elimination journals for matched pairs into the group consolidation company, and marks the pairs eliminated. A pair can be cancelled with a written reason, after the consolidation period is reopened.
- Cash is read across the group. The Cash-flow Forecaster builds a rolling 30, 60 and 90-day view across companies. The group owner asks Ask Kinnow about one company or all.
- The group owner gets a Monday digest. The Executive Digest gives the week in numbers, alerts, trends and anomalies by email and WhatsApp.
- The month is signed. The controller signs each company. Only the controller can reopen a closed month, with a reason.
What we set up for a group
The figures are starting points set with you. What each company approves is its own, and a change to who approves what is approved by an administrator.
| Part | How a group is set up |
|---|---|
| Structure | Group, company, business line and branch, with a company required on every transaction. Each company has its own chart of accounts and its own budgets. |
| Sector setups | One for each company: the setup for its own sector, with its limits, who signs off, reports and Ask starters. The extra group rules are available for companies in engineering and construction, distribution, manufacturing, real estate, professional services, IT services, capital goods and hospitality. |
| Extra group rules | One limit: a journal above a limit set with you in pounds needs the finance controller. Reports: trial balance and account ledger. The extra group rules change reporting and approvals and never add a routine. |
| Intercompany | Matching entries in both companies, a record of every intercompany transaction, a close check that must pass, and cancelling entries in the group consolidation company. |
| Access | Roles limited to one company, business line or branch, and a view across all companies for group roles. |
| Your words | Group, entity, business line, branch and all in place of organisation, company, division, location and cross-entity view. |
Processes
Each company switches on the processes of its own sector, and the month-end close, access request to grant, workflow change to live and document to signed processes apply to every company. Each says who owns a step and what Kinnow enforces.
Agents for a group
Each agent is validated with each client before it works on your books, and every output waits for a person.
Intercompany Eliminator
Posts elimination journals for matched intercompany pairs into the group consolidation company.
Cash-flow Forecaster
Builds a rolling cash forecast for the next 30, 60 and 90 days from post-dated cheques, bills due and how customers have paid in the past, with a range around each figure to show how sure it is.
KnowAnomaly Detector
Checks nine business figures for unusual movements whenever an administrator or your scheduler starts a scan, and lists them in the Anomaly Feed, most serious first.
AccountClose Checklist
Runs the twelve period-close checks, helps clear the ones holding up the close and drafts the commentary on variances. A person confirms the close.
VaultAsk Kinnow
Answers questions from your documents and from the records of the applications you use, and only shows what the person asking is allowed to see.
Executive Digest
Sends the week in numbers, alerts, trends and anomalies each Monday.
Ask us to run an intercompany match on two of your companies.
Statutory and compliance calendar for a group (United Kingdom)
Kinnow prepares; a person confirms and files. Comply carries your calendar and its dates, company by company.
| Obligation | What Kinnow prepares | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return, for each company | The groundwork to build the nine-box VAT return figures from the sales and purchase records for the period, as a file to download, is completed before launch. Kinnow does not submit to HMRC: a person files through HMRC-recognised software or the HMRC portal, once your adviser has confirmed the box mapping. Registration comes from each company’s profile. | A person files each return. |
| Companies House, corporation tax and ICO fee, for each company | Confirmation statement, annual accounts, corporation tax return and ICO fee are tracked with a due date and a reminder. Kinnow files none of them. | Finance head and adviser. |
| PAYE, National Insurance and pension, for each company | Income tax, National Insurance, pension and student-loan deductions from rate tables held per tax year; a year with no table is refused. The UK payroll setup names the HMRC payroll filings; preparing or submitting them is not in the first release. | HR head and adviser. |
| Intercompany balance | A hard check at close; elimination journals into the consolidation company. | The controller reviews. |
| Month-end close, for each company | Twelve checks; seven must pass. | The controller signs. |
What the group owner sees
Every answer shows its source and cost before it runs, and Ask Kinnow answers only within what the asker is allowed to see. Veil, our privacy layer, holds back bank, tax and ID numbers and swaps names for placeholders before an AI call. It covers Ask Kinnow and most agents today; the rest are being added.
| Question a group owner would type | What comes back |
|---|---|
| What is our cash position across the group? | Cash by company and in total, with the 30, 60 and 90-day outlook. |
| Which company's receivables are ageing worst? | Receivables ageing, company by company. |
| Do the intercompany balances tie? | Entries matched, one-sided entries and net imbalance for each company. |
| Which company closed late this month? | Close status for each company. |
| What is the trial balance for the group? | The consolidated trial balance with eliminations. |
Numbers that matter
- Unmatched intercompany amount and age.
- Cash by company and the rolling forecast.
- Close status for each company.
- Budget against actual for each company.
- Anomalies raised across companies.
Controls an owner cares about
- A company is required. A document with no company is refused with a message that says to choose one.
- A pair posts together. Both journals post in one step and carry each other's company.
- Eliminated pairs are protected. Cancelling needs a written reason, and the consolidation period must be reopened first.
- Scope limits access. A role sees only its company, business line or branch.
- Only the controller reopens a closed month.
Applications switched on
Your words, on day one
| Generic term | In your Kinnow |
|---|---|
| organisation | group |
| company | entity |
| division | business line |
| location | branch |
| cross-entity view | all |
Questions
Is there a ready-made group enterprise setup?
No. Group is a set of extra rules on top of the sector setups, not a setup of its own. Each company runs its own sector setup, and the extra rules add control over consolidation: a higher approval limit on journals that touch the group. Everything else about your group is set up with you in the first weeks.
Can a distributor and a manufacturer sit in one group?
Yes. Each company runs its own sector setup, with its own limits and its own words, and the extra group rules sit above them. Group reports use the same underlying accounts, so a total reads the same whichever company's words you use.
How do intercompany balances and eliminations work?
An intercompany sale is posted in both companies: a journal in the seller's books and one in the buyer's, linked by one record. At period close an unmatched half or a net imbalance fails a check that must pass. The Intercompany Eliminator then posts cancelling entries into a group consolidation company, so consolidated profit and loss excludes double-counted intercompany revenue and expense.
Does Kinnow consolidate across currencies?
Not yet. Multi-currency intercompany consolidation and elimination is not built, and parallel ledgers under more than one accounting standard are not built either. Consolidation works for companies that report in one currency.
Can the auditor or a shared-services team see several companies?
Yes. Access is by role with a scope: one company, a business line or branch within it, or all companies the person is entitled to. A person with no access to a company sees nothing from it, and reopening a closed month is for the controller only.
Does each company file its own VAT return?
Each company has its own company profile and registration, and the groundwork to build the return from that company's invoices and purchases as a nine-box file is completed before launch. Kinnow does not submit it: a person files each return through HMRC-recognised software or the HMRC portal. VAT group registration is not modelled.
How do we go live?
One company at a time, alongside your current software until that company's month-end numbers tie. About two weeks to first results for the first company.
Show me Kinnow for group enterprise (multi-entity).
Answer three questions. Get the applications, the agents and a two-week plan for your business.