Related companies

A Related company represents a client, provider, or both within your organization, even if the counterpart does not yet use ReportArea. The record is private and can later be linked to a registered Company.

Availability: ReportArea Company only; the record needs commercial permission, linking needs network permission, and assignments need external-delegation permission. Level: Advanced.

Purpose

Use a Related company to bring together a counterpart's identity, contacts, equipment, orders, reports, and private documentation; assign work before it has an account; and later recognize its organization without moving local history.

Requirements

An organization in Company mode.
The organization to be linked as the counterpart must also be in Company mode; a Professional organization must change mode before it can be proposed.
To create, promote, edit, suspend, or manage contacts: Manage commercial operations.
Only an active Business customer can be promoted.
Select Client, Provider, or Both role.

Step by step

Open Related companies and create a new record or promote an existing business customer.
Enter display name, legal name, tax identifier, language, channels, address, and notes.
Add contact people, primary contact, and update-recipient setting where relevant.
Choose the role: Client for commercial operations and shared work; Provider for external assignments; Both for both uses.
If the counterpart opens its own organization, begin email linking from this record.
Choose Work in this context to prioritize its modules in navigation. Symbolic and linked records are selected in the same way; linking only changes capabilities that require a recipient Company.

Rules and effects

There is no global directory or cross-organization deduplication.
The record always belongs to the organization that created it; linking does not transfer customers, reports, or history.
Creating documentation about the record does not share it. A symbolic company may have an internal library but cannot receive shared content. A confirmed link only enables a separate documentation resource with its own acceptance, roles, and maximum level.
Responding to an assignment through a portal does not create a link or convert a Professional organization into Company by itself.
Promoting a customer preserves all related data.
An organization cannot link to itself, and one account cannot be linked to two records from the same source.
The linked account becomes fixed; the interface cannot replace it.
Capabilities are evaluated per role. Provider enables assignments; Client enables reports, assets, and commercial work; Both may have one capability open while another is closing.
Suspension or role removal applies immediately and leaves the corresponding capability in closing when commitments remain. New records, reopening, associations, and incoming transfers are blocked, while existing work may be completed, rejected, or canceled and pending access may be revoked.
Suspension also deactivates the associated customer. Reactivation opens the capability for new work but does not automatically recover archived records, completed transfers, or revoked shares.
Records are suspended, not deleted.

Required and optional information

Required: display name, role, and language. Optional: legal name, tax identifier, email, phone, billing details, notes, contacts, and account linking.

Practical example

A technical service records “South Motors” as a Provider and assigns a diagnosis before it has an account. Months later South Motors creates a Company; both sides confirm the link and decide each open assignment without losing history.

Current limits

Existing Companies are not searched or suggested by name or identifier.
A confirmed link cannot be removed or pointed to another account through the interface.
A network manager without commercial permission may be authorized to view the record, although operational actions and accent changes require the corresponding permission.
Relationships are direct and private; they never reveal the counterpart's customers or providers.