Running an African subsidiary from an Australian ERP: seven decisions.

1. One tenant or several

Single tenant with multiple legal entities gives you consolidation, shared master data and one security model. Separate tenants give you isolation at the cost of reporting effort. For most groups, one tenant with entity-level security is the right answer; data residency and regulator requirements decide the exceptions.

2. Group chart of accounts, local mapping

Design one group chart and map each country's statutory chart to it, rather than forcing a local chart into a group shape. Local accountants keep the statutory view; head office gets consistent numbers.

3. Where the tax authority sits in the process

Some tax authorities require invoices to be submitted in real time. In Kenya, the KRA's eTIMS is the example. The design question is whether the invoice posts before or after the authority accepts it. We design it so a document the authority has not accepted does not become a ledger fact.

4. Statutory payroll

Payroll in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa is governed by local PAYE, social security and levy rules. It is not a variant of Australian payroll. Choose a payroll solution per country and post to the group ledger through a defined journal.

5. Currency policy

Decide the functional and reporting currencies per entity, the rate source and the revaluation process. Local currencies can move against the Australian dollar quickly, so make exposure visible weekly, not at month end.

6. Banking and payments

Local bank formats and the need for maker-checker control mean payments are a design topic, not an afterthought. Standardise on approval limits and separation of duties, then implement each country's bank file.

7. Who owns the template

Assign an owner at head office for the template and a controller in each country for local rules. Changes to the template go through the owner; local changes are explicit exceptions. Without this, the template fragments within a year.

Where to start

Prove the template in the most demanding country first. Roll out entity by entity. We have a multi-country Dynamics 365 blueprint that expands on each decision.

Frequently asked questions