A growing organisation rarely ends up with a single structure. An office opens in Lyon, a subsidiary in London, another in Montreal. Each has its own currency, VAT, calendar and working language, and very soon its employees are working on each other’s projects. That is the point where tools designed for a single company give way to consolidation spreadsheets.
AlibeeZ starts from the opposite principle: a group is one organisation made of several entities. The figure above shows an example on a fictional group: three entities on one platform, each in its own space, an engagement that crosses them, and steering that brings them together.
One platform, several entities
Every entity in the group shares the same repository: the same clients, the same projects, the same people, described once. A client served from Paris and from London remains a single client, with a single history.
But each entity keeps its own space, and that is what makes AlibeeZ a multi-entity platform rather than a shared database where everyone sees everything:
- its data: its contracts, invoices, time and expenses belong to it;
- its rules: VAT, invoice numbering, public holidays, leave balances, approval chains;
- its rights: who sees what is set by role and by scope, entity by entity.
That last point matters more than it seems. In a group, the question is not who can log in but who sees which scope of margin, cost and pay. A manager at the UK subsidiary sees their entity; group management sees the whole. It is a business rule, with its exceptions, not a security setting.
Several countries, each with its own rules
A working week is not the same length everywhere, and an invoice is not written the same way in Paris and in London. AlibeeZ carries those differences at entity level, without one overriding another:
| What changes from one country to the next | How AlibeeZ handles it |
|---|---|
| Currency | Each entity has its own; an amount is tracked in its original currency or converted |
| VAT and taxes | Specific to each entity, applied to its invoices |
| Invoice numbering | One sequence per entity, kept in the accounting exports |
| Working days and holidays | Each location’s calendar, used by timesheets, leave and the capacity plan |
| Leave | Balances specific to each entity |
AlibeeZ is deployed in more than 20 countries today, across Europe, North America and North Africa. Data stays hosted in France, whatever country the entity is in.
Two languages, the same data
The AlibeeZ interface is available in French and English. Everyone works in their own language: the employee in Lyon fills in her timesheet in French, the manager in London approves it in English, and they are talking about the same time spent, on the same project.
Language is not tied to country. A Canadian entity can have French-speaking and English-speaking teams, and each keeps its interface. What is translated is the tool; the data stays single.
Inter-site engagements
This is where most multi-entity organisations lose the thread. An employee attached to Orion France, at the Lyon site, is sent to reinforce a project sold by Orion UK. Without a shared tool, the situation produces three spreadsheets: one to track her time on the UK side, one to rebuild her cost on the French side, and one to work out what the UK entity owes the French one.
In AlibeeZ, the engagement follows the same path as any other:
1. An assignment, not an administrative secondment
The employee is assigned to the UK entity’s project like any other project. She stays attached to her own entity, with her calendar, her leave and her manager. The capacity plan accounts for it on both sides: she is busy for Lyon, and staffed for London.
2. Time entered once
She fills in her timesheet as usual, in her own language. That approved time feeds both the UK project’s progress and her activity on the French side. Nobody re-keys it.
3. Cost on one side, revenue on the other
The project’s revenue sits with the entity that sold it, in its currency. The employee’s cost sits with the entity that employs her. The project margin is read with the real cost of the people working on it, whatever their entity.
4. Inter-entity rebilling
What the UK entity owes the French entity is computed from approved time, with a historised exchange rate: a month’s amount stays that month’s, even if the currency moves afterwards. Each entity keeps its own invoice numbering.
The same mechanism applies between two sites of the same entity, Paris and Lyon for instance: historised tags let you split activity by office or business unit, and see which office lends its employees to which.
Consolidated steering, without erasing the local
Because every entity shares the same repository, consolidation is not a month-end exercise. Revenue, margin, the capacity plan and bench time are read consolidated for group management, or entity by entity for managers, from the same data that produces the invoices.
And when the rest of the stack needs it, accounting exports respect each entity’s sequences, and the API sends the data on to each country’s payroll, accounting or BI.
What it changes
- one repository for the whole group, with no consolidation spreadsheet;
- local rules respected: currency, VAT, numbering, calendar, leave;
- an interface in French or English, as each person prefers;
- permissions by scope, entity by entity;
- inter-site engagements tracked end to end, from assignment to rebilling.
Going further: how each entity gets its own invoice sequence is covered in the guide on invoice generation, each location’s own calendar in the one on the capacity plan, and the rules that vary from one subsidiary to another in the one on business rules.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need one AlibeeZ base per subsidiary?
No. Every entity in the group lives on the same platform and shares the same repository. Each keeps its data, rules and rights there, and the group is steered consolidated.
Can someone work for an entity other than their own?
Yes. They are assigned to the other entity’s project like any other project, stay attached to their own, and their approved time feeds both sides, through to inter-entity rebilling.
Which languages is the interface available in?
French and English. Each user works in their own language, on the same data.
Can we invoice in one currency and steer in another?
Yes. Each entity invoices in its own currency, an amount is tracked in its original currency or converted, and group steering can be read consolidated.
Who sees which entity’s figures?
That is set by role and by scope. A manager usually sees their entity or office, group management sees the whole, and exceptions are configurable.