Setting up the company information is one of the first things you do when you start a new company in Business Central. It is where you define your addresses, registration numbers, bank details, and the default settings that flow through to your documents. You find all of this gathered under Company Information, organised across the General, Communication, Payments, and Shipping tabs.
The General tab holds your address, city, and postcodes, along with your VAT registration number, your global location number, and your industrial classification code if you use those. You can also add a company picture and change it by clicking it and selecting a new file.
The Communication tab covers phone numbers, email addresses, and home pages. If you use the intercompany functionality, this is where you set up the default intercompany partner code, the intercompany inbox type that defines which type of intercompany you work with, and the related details. The Automatically Send Transactions setting also belongs to the intercompany functionality.
The Payments tab is where you enter your bank information, including Giro number, SWIFT codes, and IBAN. The Allow Bank Payment Information setting lets you decide whether you need to fill in the payment details on each sales invoice, or whether they should be set up as a default instead.
The Shipping tab handles your shipping defaults, availability check settings, and calendar setup. Each of these has a practical effect on how your documents behave.
Here is the introduction summary placed first, followed by the full article.
Where to set up company information in Business Central
You set up the company information when you start a new company. This is where you define addresses and the default settings that the rest of the system relies on. You find everything under Company Information, split across four tabs: General, Communication, Payments, and Shipping.
General tab: address, VAT registration, and company picture
On the General tab you enter all your address details, including city and postcodes. You also enter your VAT registration number and your global location number if you have one. If you use an industrial classification code, you can enter that here as well.
You can add a company picture on this tab. To change it, click the picture and select a new one from a folder.
Communication tab: contact details and intercompany setup
The Communication tab covers phone numbers, email addresses, home pages, and similar contact information.
If you use the intercompany functionality, this is where you set up the default intercompany partner code and the intercompany inbox type, which defines which type of intercompany you are working with. You also set up the related intercompany details here. The Automatically Send Transactions setting belongs to the intercompany functionality too.
Payments tab: bank details and payment defaults
On the Payments tab you enter all the information about your bank, including Giro number if you have one, SWIFT codes, and IBAN. This is standard payment setup.
The Allow Bank Payment Information setting lets you decide how payment details appear on documents. You can choose whether you need to fill in the information on the payment tab of each sales invoice, or whether it should simply be set up as a default.
Shipping tab: ship-from address, availability check, and calendar
The Shipping tab handles your shipping defaults. If your default ship-from address differs from your normal company address, you can enter that separate address information here so it is used on the relevant documents. You can also set a default location code and a default responsibility center if you use responsibility centers.
This tab also controls the availability check. When you sell an item, the system can look ahead by default to see whether the item is in stock. It looks six months ahead to check availability. You can set up a bucket that bundles availability into periods, similar to how MRP planning works, so you can see whether items are available across those periods.
You define a base calendar code here as well, and you can change it if needed. If you have specific dates or times when you are not available, you can register them in the calendar.
Finally, you set up the calculation time frame used for availability on documents. This is the period the system uses when it calculates availability on your documents.
Q&A
When do you set up the company information in Business Central?
You typically set it up when you start a new company, since this is where you define your addresses and the default settings that the rest of the system uses.
Where do you enter your VAT registration number and global location number?
You enter both on the General tab of the Company Information page, along with your address, city, postcodes, and industrial classification code.
How do you change the company picture?
Click the picture on the General tab and select a new picture from a folder.
What does the Allow Bank Payment Information setting do?
It lets you decide whether you need to fill in the payment information on each sales invoice, or whether it should be set up as a default instead.
How far ahead does the availability check look?
By default it looks six months ahead to see whether an item is available when you sell it.
Where do you register dates when your company is unavailable?
You define a base calendar code on the Shipping tab and register specific dates or times when you are not available there.