--- id: CON-ACC-BKS-001 name: Business Unit feature: FEAT-ACC-BKS-01 product_area: accounting module: books revision: 1 status: draft product_intent: confirmed implementation_evidence: observed source_sha: services-accounting: f47cb263875bbc0c5640fba7dae6785ec32695f8 react-console: baf6dae382d6f41dce976c7f848667ccc37e076f definition: >- A business unit identifies one set of the customer’s books and brings together its founding currency, calendar and accounting choices. owned_by: MOD-ACC-BKS synonyms: - organizational unit - entity - company (in accounting software) not_to_be_confused_with: - CRM parties billed by the organization. - Membership groupings without separate books. - The shared workspace context. facets: - name: Founding currency and month meaning: >- The base currency and first fiscal month establish the unit’s fixed accounting frame. used_for: Interpreting money and calendar dates. - name: Foreign-currency choices meaning: >- Enabled supported currencies retain rate sourcing and missing-price handling. used_for: Permitting foreign-currency work. - name: Dated quotes meaning: Manual or provider quotes describe each supported currency on a date. used_for: Resolving pricing and conversion rates. - name: Recognition and write-off choices meaning: The unit supplies recognition method and fallback write-off treatment. used_for: Interpreting financial activity at posting. - name: Tender charge meaning: >- A configured product and fee amounts describe eligible tender costs and invoice policy. used_for: Charging appropriate payment behaviour. - name: Content and download choices meaning: >- Unit selections connect templates and software-format preferences to documents and exports. used_for: Preparing unit-specific output. - name: Working context and order meaning: Priority supports list order and the fallback unit selected for staff. used_for: Initializing scoped work. relationships: - to: CON-ACC-BKS-002 statement: >- The unit provides the owning context for its chart and related financial configuration. provenance: observed source: 'services-accounting:modules/books/db/gl-accounts.table.ts' - to: CON-ACC-BKS-003 statement: The unit’s initial fiscal calendar is created alongside it. provenance: test source: >- services-accounting:modules/books/tests/integration/services/persistence/fiscal-years.integration.spec.js#gives the new unit exactly its two years, the one containing today and the next - to: CON-ACC-BKS-004 statement: Unit selections identify the content used for its documents. provenance: observed source: >- services-accounting:modules/books/db/business-units.table.ts:TEMPLATE_REFERENCES lifecycle: - state: active meaning: Available as a selectable working unit. how_it_changes: An administrator changes its active setting. - state: inactive meaning: Retained outside active working-unit selection. how_it_changes: An administrator restores its active setting. - state: deleted meaning: Removed together with owned setup after dependencies permit removal. how_it_changes: The administrator deletes an eligible unit. acted_on_by: - CAP-ACC-BKS-001 - CAP-ACC-BKS-002 - CAP-ACC-BKS-003 - CAP-ACC-BKS-004 - CAP-ACC-BKS-015 visible_to: - ACT-ACC-001 - ACT-ACC-002 - ACT-ACC-003 - ACT-ACC-004 evidence: - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/db/business-unit-currencies.table.ts - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/db/business-units.table.ts - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/db/business-units.view.ts - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/db/currencies.table.ts - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/db/exchange-rates.table.ts - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/db/gl-accounts.table.ts - >- Verified source file: services-accounting:modules/books/tests/integration/services/persistence/fiscal-years.integration.spec.js supersedes: [] --- # Business Unit ## What It Is A business unit identifies the set of books in which the customer records financial work. An association may keep one set for its central office and another for a foundation or chapter. Each unit supplies an accounting context that staff can recognize by name, while its permanent identity continues through later name corrections. The unit includes a description and optional priority as well as its founding currency and fiscal start month. An administrator establishes the unit before configuring its accounts and recording transactions. Creation also supplies the initial fiscal calendar, so staff have periods to work with immediately. The unit brings together the choices that make its books usable: currencies, accounting policies, rates, document selections and export preferences. This is comparable to the company context in accounting software, where the same account code can have meaning in more than one company. ## What It Is Not A unit does not identify the customer being billed. A CRM organization identifies that party, while the business unit identifies the customer’s own books. A chapter can have a unit when it keeps separate accounts, but a membership grouping alone does not require one. Workspace-wide choices, such as refund approval or named payment methods, sit above the unit rather than becoming different copies for every chapter. ## How It Is Used Controllers establish units when finance begins using Accounting or when another bookkeeping entity opens. Staff then meet the unit in their working context, scoped lists and transaction choices. A well-chosen context helps staff select the intended accounts and calendar before entering money. A wrongly chosen founding currency or fiscal month requires a new unit; existing dependency checks can prevent removal of the mistaken unit until its setup is released. ## Its Facets **Founding choices.** Base currency defines the currency of the books, while the start month organizes the calendar. Both deserve review before creation because later setup depends on them. **Foreign-currency support.** Supported currencies have their own rate-source and missing-price choices. These settings belong to the unit’s use of a currency rather than to a new independent financial entity. **Exchange rates.** Dated quotes let pricing and conversion use an applicable rate without replacing the unit’s base currency. Manual and provider maintenance have different correction paths. **Accounting policy.** Recognition method and write-off treatment supply decisions to posting. Staff should understand when a setting takes effect rather than assume entry permanently freezes it. **Tender fees.** The configured product and fee amounts describe the charge applied to eligible payment behaviour. This is separate from selecting a merchant processor. **Documents and exports.** Template selections, software package and download detail connect the unit’s books to customer documents and external accounting work. **Working context.** Priority influences the default selection when staff have no eligible remembered choice. The working unit is a person’s current context, not a second unit record. ## How It Relates The chart and fiscal calendar belong to the unit. Document templates can serve several units, so the unit selects rather than owns their content. Products, financial documents, batches and reconciliations use the unit supplied by this module. The read-only query representation lets other financial information be presented with a recognizable unit name. ## What It Could Become The product should settle whether merchant accounts can override unit fee policy before designing that extension. Consolidated reporting and inter-entity presentation could make relationships between units easier to understand. Those possibilities need explicit decisions rather than an assumption that several units automatically form a consolidation structure.