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This text refers to program version 6.2  

Working with Companies

A Standard CRM database can contain more than one Company. This feature can be useful if your business is one where there are separate departments or subsidiary companies whose data should be kept separately. Their data can be stored in a single database, in separate partitions known as "Companies".

Companies are stored in the Company register in the System module. You can add new Companies at any time: this process is described on the Changing and Adding Companies page. Adding a new Company will mean that you will have to apply for a new Enabler Key.
If you have more than one Company in your Company register, it is recommended that you specify a Short Code for each one:

Each time you log in to Standard CRM, you will be asked to choose a Company to work with:

The names in this list are taken from the Name field in the Company register.

Once you have logged in, the Short Code of the Company ("H" in the example illustrated) will be included in the title of every window, while the full Company Name will be included in the title of the Master Control panel:

If you need to change Companies, there is no need to quit Standard CRM and restart. Instead, you can click the [Companies] button in the Master Control panel or use the Ctrl-O (alpha O) (Windows) or ⌘-O (Mac OS X) keyboard shortcut to and then select the new Company. Once you have done this, the Short Code in the window title identifies the Company to which the information in each window belongs:

In this illustration, the 'Contacts: Browse' window lists Contacts belonging to Company H, while the 'Items: Browse' window lists Items belonging to Company S. Only one Master Control panel can be open at any time, so the Short Code in its title ("S" in the illustration) is always that of the current Company. This is the Company whose information will be shown in any new windows that you open, and the Company in which any new records that you create will be saved. If you want to return to work in Company H, click the [Companies] button in the Master Control panel (or use the Ctrl-O/⌘-O keyboard shortcut) once again.

The first time you log in to a different Company, all windows from the previous Company will be closed. For example, if you change from Company H to Company S, all windows from Company H will be closed. But when you go back to Company H, any open windows from Company S will remain open.

If you need to make a change to a record in a particular Company, that Company must be your current Company. For example, you have a Contact record from Company H open in a record window. If Company S is your current Company, you will not be able to make changes to the Contact record. You must change to Company H first, using the [Companies] button in the Master Control panel or the Ctrl-O/⌘-O keyboard shortcut.

Note that if you are logged into two Companies as described here, you will take up two user "slots". For example, if you have purchased four users, this means that four employees can be logged in to your Standard CRM system at any one time. However, if one employee is logged in to two Companies at the same time, this will count as two of those four log-ins.

Usually, each Company will be completely separate: there will be no common information. If you want to copy information from one Company to another, you can do so using one of two methods:

1. by dragging and dropping. For example, to copy a Contact record from one Company to another, open the 'Contacts: Browse' window in the first Company, change to the second Company using the [Companies] button in the Master Control panel or the Ctrl-O/⌘-O keyboard shortcut, and open the 'Contacts: Browse' window in that Company as well. Then click on the relevant Contact record and drag it from one browse window to the other. This method is suitable for copying individual records. The Payment Terms used in the copied Contact must exist in both Companies.
   

2. using the export and import functions in the System module. This method is suitable for transferring the entire contents of a register or setting from one Company to another.

You can also share the information in specified registers between Companies: please click here for details.

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In this chapter:

• Introduction
  

• Shared Registers

Go back to:

• Home page for Working Environment manual
  

• Home page for Standard CRM manual

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