Overview
If your organization operates more than one legal entity in Odoo – for example, a US headquarters and a European subsidiary – each company needs its own asset records, locations, and budgets. Multi-Company Setup explains how assets stay separated and how to move equipment between entities correctly.
Users only see assets belonging to companies they are allowed to access. This prevents accidental cross-company data leaks during day-to-day work.
How It Works
Every asset, location, budget, and compliance record stores a Company field. Odoo security rules filter records automatically based on the user’s allowed companies (visible in the company switcher at the top of the screen).
Moving an asset from Company A to Company B requires an Inter-Company Transfer, not a manual edit of the company field. Managers with access to both companies can create and approve these transfers.
Step-by-Step Guide
- Confirm each legal entity is set up as a Company in Odoo (Settings > Companies).
- Assign users to the correct companies on their user profile under Allowed Companies.
- Create locations separately for each company under Asset Pro > Configuration > Asset Locations.
- Register assets with the correct Company field – it defaults to your currently active company.
- Use the company switcher in the top menu to work in another entity’s context when needed.
- To move an asset between companies, create a transfer with Transfer Type = Inter-Company Transfer.
- Review consolidated reports under Asset Pro > Reports for group-wide visibility across all companies.
Fields Table
| Field Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Company |
Legal entity that owns the record. |
Acme Europe GmbH |
Allowed Companies |
Companies a user can access. |
Acme USA, Acme Europe |
Active Company |
Company context you are working in now. |
Acme USA |
Transfer Type |
Internal (same company) or Inter-Company. |
Inter-Company Transfer |
From Company |
Company that currently owns the asset. |
Acme USA |
To Company |
Company receiving the asset. |
Acme Europe GmbH |
Company on Location |
Each location belongs to one company. |
Acme USA – NYC Office |
Company on Budget |
Budgets are planned per company. |
2025 IT Budget – Acme USA |
Field Explanations
Company
Set at creation time. Wrong company means the asset disappears from the correct team’s view.
Allowed Companies
Users without access to a company cannot see or edit its assets – configure this on the user form.
Active Company
Always check the switcher before creating records. New assets inherit the active company.
Transfer Type
Choose Inter-Company only when ownership moves between legal entities.
From Company
Auto-filled from the asset. Must differ from To Company for inter-company moves.
To Company
Must be a company the user has access to. Employee and location fields reset when this changes.
Company on Location
You cannot assign a US asset to a Europe location without a transfer – locations are company-specific.
Company on Budget
Department budgets do not cross companies. Create separate budgets per entity.
Tips (Pro Tips)
- Give most users access only to their own company – grant multi-company access sparingly.
- Use naming conventions that include company code in location names (e.g., “US-NYC-HQ”).
- Run consolidated reports monthly for group finance while day-to-day users stay in one company.
Common Mistakes
- Creating all locations under one company and sharing them – breaks security and validation rules.
- Manually changing company on an asset instead of using inter-company transfer – no audit trail.
- Forgetting to switch active company before bulk import – assets land in the wrong entity.