---
id: KB-ET-014
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/your-workspace/one-organisation-or-several
idioma: en
categoria: espacio-de-trabajo
subcategoria: cuenta
audiencia: administrador
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-ET-007, KB-ET-009]
citadoPor: [KB-CD-012]
---

# One organisation or several?

_The hardest decision to undo, explained with the three criteria that matter._

**Responde a:** separating group companies on the platform · one organisation per legal entity or a single one · how to organise several brands · splitting by branch or not

If you have several legal entities, brands or branches, at some point you must decide whether they go together or apart. Decide early: moving documents and files between organisations later is work, and some things cannot be moved.

## The three criteria

| Question | If yes | If no |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Must someone NOT see the other's material? | Separate | Together |
| Do they invoice and contract separately with third parties? | Probably separate | Together |
| Does the same person work across both daily? | Together, with teams | Separate |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The first overrides the others. If there is information that must not cross — for competition reasons, a partner agreement, or regulation — separation is the answer even if it is more awkward to run.

## What changes with the choice

1. **Separate: real isolation** — Nothing is visible across. Including contacts, templates and reports.
2. **Separate: duplicated administration** — Configuration, users and balance for each. That is the price.
3. **Together: a single picture** — Group-wide reporting and shared work without switching.
4. **Together: separation via permissions** — Works well for branches, not for different partners.

> [!WARNING]
> The most commonly mis-decided case is branches. Five organisations get created "so each sees its own", and a month later management wants a consolidated report that must now be assembled five times by hand. That is what teams and permissions were for.

## If you already chose wrong

**En corto**

- Merging two organisations is work, but it can be planned.
- Splitting one in two is easier done early, with little inside.
- And in either case, the first step is exporting and knowing what you have.

It is not irreversible, but it is one of the expensive ones. Half an hour of thought at the start saves weeks later.

> [!NOTE]
> Switching organisation happens from the same control at the top, without logging in again. And whoever has access to several has it explicitly: nothing becomes visible by accident.

**Can users belong to several?**

Yes, with access granted in each.

**Is the balance shared?**

Each organisation holds its own; if that complicates things, it is an argument for merging.

**What about a franchise?**

Usually separate, with head-office access where appropriate.

## Ejemplos

**A group with five branches creates one organisation per branch.**

- Checks that nobody must be blocked from another's material
- Merges them and separates with teams and permissions

→ Management gets the consolidated report and each branch still sees only its own.

**An organisation is created per branch office.**

- Uses projects or folders inside one

→ The structure does not multiply without reason.

**Two companies share an organisation and everything mixes.**

- Separates each into its own

→ Each one holds its own.

**Reports have to be added up by hand across organisations.**

- Considers whether separating them was really needed

→ The decision is revisited against real use.

**One person works in both and duplicates accounts.**

- Grants access to both with one account

→ Duplicate passwords disappear.

**They were separated out of caution and now it gets in the way.**

- Revisits the decision with usage data

→ The structure matches how people work.