This article explains what Business Units are, when they should be used, and how they affect different areas of IBIS. 


Business Units are available on Enterprise licence plans. If you are considering introducing Business Units, contact us  to discuss whether they are suitable for your organisation and to plan the setup and migration process.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


What is a business unit?

Business units allow multiple parts of an organisation to operate as separate financial entities while sharing a single IBIS system. Each Business unit represents a distinct trading division within your IBIS system. We recommend business units if you wish to:

  • Run multiple legal entities through one system 

  • Require separate accounting or Tax/GST numbers

  • Want consolidated reporting across your businesses


Business units, operators, and brands

These terms are related, but they control different areas of IBIS:

  • Business unit – represents the financial or trading entity responsible for a transaction. By default, each IBIS system has a default business unit enabled.

  • Operator – represents the operator responsible for reservation products and services. Multiple operators can belong to the same business unit.

  • Brand – represents the customer-facing identity used for e-commerce, check-in, and online sales receipts. A brand is set at Operator level, in the Contacts screen.


Before enabling multiple business units

Business Units affect most areas of IBIS. 

  • Users who require access to both business units require the Choose business unit prompt. 

  • Locations must be set up in the correct Business unit

  • POS screens - the right-hand POS menu where payments and functions are stored are shared across all locations, regardless of Business unit.

  • Account commissions are managed in the Business unit accounts screen

  • Reservation products and operators must be in the correct Business unit

  • Online devices - once business units are enabled, sales are processed under the "Online-" till for each business unit.

  • Stock locations and processes - you cannot transfer between business units if you have a finance system integrated with IBIS Stock. 

  • Finance exports and invoicing - the Manage Invoice screen will be filtered per business units

  • Reporting - reporting is consolidated, but many reports will have a Business unit filter


Users and devices

Users are shared across all Business Units.

  • Users working in one Business Unit
    The first time a user logs in on a device after Business Units are enabled, they will be asked to select the default Business Unit for that device. IBIS will use that Business Unit for future logins on the device. If the device is moved to another Business Unit, contact IBIS Support so the default can be updated.

  • Users working across multiple Business Units
    Enable Choose business unit in the Users screen for users who need to work across multiple Business units. These users will be asked to select the appropriate Business unit each time they log in.

    IBIS automatically changes the user's till name to MBU-XXX, where XXX is the Business unit code. This helps prevent sales from being processed against the wrong Business unit.

    Important: A multi-Business Unit user must not process EFTPOS transactions from a front-desk device connected to an integrated EFTPOS terminal. The automatic till-name change will break the EFTPOS connection.


Administrator access

Ensure system administrators have access to the following screens:

  • Business unit

  • Business unit accounts

  • Finance export codes


Contacts and accounts

Contacts and accounts are shared across all Business Units. API keys associated with accounts are also shared. 


Once business units are enabled, a Business unit account filter setting is enabled. From this point forward, each business unit manages separate commissions for accounts in the Business unit accounts screen allowing them to control which accounts are visible for each Business Unit. E.g. for a frontline staff member to see an agent when making a booking in Business Unit A, the account must be active for Business Unit A from the Business unit accounts screen.


Reservation products and services

Product configuration screens are not restricted by Business Unit. Users with access to these screens can see products belonging to other Business Units, and access should be limited to authorised users.


When managing reservation products:

  • Assign a default Business Unit to every new product.

  • Assign a default Operator to each service. This determines which services appear for each Operator in Service availability.

  • Manage price seasons by Operator. Copying a price season for one Operator in Manage seasons does not affect other Operators.

  • Remember that price options are shared across ALL Business Units.


The Service availability screen can be filtered by Operator. Audit history for changes to specific departures is available from the Function button.


Online sales

Online tills

A separate "online till" is required for each Business Unit in the Devices screen and uses the naming format Online-XXX, where XXX is the Business Unit code.


A Business Unit code can contain no more than three characters or the till name is too long.


Online product groups

Online product groups are filtered by Business Unit. This is controlled by a System setting and prevents an e-commerce website from displaying products that belong to another Business Unit.


E-commerce settings

E-commerce configuration is taken from System setting unless it is overridden in Business unit settings on the Business unit screen.


Business Unit-specific settings include:

  • Windcave PxPay keys

  • Google Tag Manager codes

  • Afterpay settings

  • Terms and conditions, including HTML formatting

  • Privacy policy


IBIS will be moving T&C, Privacy Policy and GTM Tags to Operator-level configuration.


Online confirmations and receipts

IBIS selects the itinerary confirmation template assigned to the product in the Online product rules screen.

We recommend including the Business Unit or Operator brand name in the template name so it is easy to identify. For example: Confirmation – Brand Name.


Receipt emails use the brand name assigned to the contact in the Contacts screen. The receipt email template name must include the corresponding brand name. For example: Brand Name Receipt.


Promotions

Promotions are shared across business units so careful attention must be paid to ensure product code filtering is enabled if any promotions need to be excluded. This is not a specific business unit setting per say, but something to watch for.


Cancellation reasons

Cancellation reasons are shared across the system. Use a good naming or numbering convention to make these easy to find if you have a long list.


Check-in

When multiple brands operate within one IBIS system, staff are asked to select the relevant brand when opening online check-in (this step is bypassed for pre-arrival check-in).


The bookings, waiver text, and questions displayed during check-in depend on the Operator, product, and check-in configuration:

  • The Operator brand assigned to the contact determines which bookings appear in the online check-in booking list.

  • For standard check-in: 

    • Business Unit-specific waiver text is displayed when the Business Unit brand matches the Operator brand set in the contact screen

    • Waiver text is set in the Business unit setting screen

    • Product-specific questions are filtered for each product in Operator products.

  • For multi-sign check-in:

    • Custom questions are currently filtered using System settings  


Note: IBIS is progressively moving some check-in settings to Operator-level configuration in the Contacts screen. Contact IBIS Support if you are unsure which setting applies to your configuration


POS configuration

The menu on the right side of the POS screen is shared across all Business Units. 

The buttons at the bottom of the POS screen can be configured by location as follows: 

  1. Assign a unique POS menu ID, such as 1, 2, or 3, to the location.

  2. Once the unique POS menu ID is assigned, you can set your Machines settings till name to a device within that location to begin configuring button menus.


Stock and retail management

Retail items are shared across all Business units. The price of a shared item must be consistent across the system. 


If different Business Units need to sell the same item at different prices, you must create a separate item for each price and ensure each item has a unique scan code if you are using barcode scanning. It is much simpler if you agree to sell items at the same price across all business units.


Each stock location must be assigned to a Business Unit.


The Stock management screen displays purchase orders, adjustments, credits, and other stock activity for all Business Units. 


Important: Do not use stock transfers to move stock between Business Units. Stock transfers can be used only between locations within the same Business Unit. To move stock between Business Units, credit or adjust the stock out of the original Business Unit, then purchase it into the receiving Business Unit.


Finance and invoicing

Finance export configuration

The Finance export codes screen is configured separately for each Business unit. Log in to the relevant Business unit before viewing or changing its configuration.


Use this screen to override revenue codes for specific items, such as retail items or gift voucher sales, within a Business Unit.


Invoicing

To generate invoices, log in to the relevant Business Unit and use Manage invoices in the application. This filters all sales by Business Unit.

Important: Do not use Generate Invoice/Credit Note in IBIS Online for Business Unit invoicing.


The default invoice and invoice email templates are shared across all Business Units. Merge fields in these templates insert the relevant Business Unit's account details.


After Business Units are enabled, maintain each Business Unit's account details in the Business unit screen.


Reporting

Reporting is shared across the IBIS system. Reservation and sales data can be grouped or filtered by Business Unit.

Use saved views to organise frequently used reports for each Business Unit. Adopt a consistent naming convention that clearly identifies the relevant Business Unit.


Identifying reservation sales by operator

By default, reservation sales processed through the POS screen use PLU code 1000. To distinguish reservation sales by Operator in the POS Sales report:

  1. Create a unique reservation PLU for each Operator in Reservation items.

  2. Associate each PLU with the relevant products in Operator products.

  3. Apply the same setup whenever new products are created.


Gift vouchers

To sell dynamic gift vouchers for individual Business Units:

  1. Create a Reservation Gift Voucher PLU for each Business Unit or brand.

  2. Enter the relevant PLU code in Business Unit Settings.

  3. Associate the correct Gift Voucher Template with each gift voucher.


FAQs

Will staff be able to see/edit reservations made in other business units?

Yes. The Departure screen can be filtered by Operator but reservations are still visible.


Can I sell products for different business units? 

Yes, cross-selling products between business units is possible. Review the attached article for details.


What is visible to staff who login from other business units?

If a staff member has access to a screen, they can see data across all business units. The only exception to this is the Business unit accounts screen, and Business unit export screen - these are unique to the logged in business unit.


Go-live checklist

Before going live with a new business unit, confirm that:

  • Each Business Unit’s identity, GST/tax numbers, and account details are correct.
  • Every user has the appropriate Business Unit access.
  • Each device opens in the correct default Business Unit.
  • Multi-Business Unit users do not process sales through integrated EFTPOS devices.
  • Required accounts are active in Business Unit Accounts, and any commission overrides are correct.
  • Products and services have the correct default Business Unit and Operator.
  • Each Business Unit has a correctly named online till.
  • Online product-group filtering shows only the intended products.
  • Payment keys, terms and conditions, privacy policies, and tracking codes are correct.
  • Online sales use the correct brand name.
  • POS menus and EFTPOS transactions have been tested on each device.
  • Stock locations are assigned to the correct Business Unit.
  • Finance exports and revenue-code overrides have been tested for each Business Unit.
  • Invoices show the correct Business Unit details.
  • Key reports and saved views have been checked by Business Unit.
  • End-to-end tests have been completed for sales, cancellations, refunds, invoicing, and finance exports.