What Is Financial Company?
Also known as: Baan financial company, LN financial company
Definition
A financial company in Baan and Infor LN is a company number that owns the general ledger: the chart of accounts, dimensions, fiscal calendars, currency setup and all financial transactions for one or more logistic companies linked to it.
Financial Company Explained
Where a logistic company owns execution, a financial company owns accounting. It carries the chart of ledger accounts, the dimension structures used for analytical reporting, fiscal years and periods, the home and reporting currencies, the tax setup, and the accounts payable, accounts receivable and general ledger transactions themselves. Period closing, statutory reporting, tax filing and account reconciliation are all performed at this level rather than in the logistic companies that feed it.
One financial company can serve several logistic companies. That configuration is common where a single legal entity operates multiple plants or distribution operations that need separate operational data but roll up into one statutory ledger. The reverse never happens: a logistic company is always associated with exactly one financial company, because otherwise a logistics posting generated by a receipt or a shipment would have no deterministic accounting destination.
The link is realized through the enterprise unit concept in LN, which ties a logistical scope such as a set of warehouses and work centers to the financial company that accounts for it. When an integration transaction is generated by a receipt, an issue or a production completion, the enterprise unit resolves which financial company and which ledger accounts receive the entry, using the mapping schemes configured in Financials.
Financial company design is where currency and calendar decisions become permanent. Home currency, reporting currencies and the fiscal calendar are effectively fixed once transactions exist, and changing them is a conversion project. The same applies to dimension structure: adding a dimension later is possible, but historical transactions will not carry values for it, which permanently limits comparative reporting across the change date.
Why It Matters
- Currency, calendar and dimension decisions made at the financial company level are effectively irreversible once transactions post.
- Statutory reporting and period close operate at this level, so its structure must match legal entity boundaries exactly.
- The financial company link makes logistics-to-finance postings deterministic, which is what makes reconciliation possible at all.
- Dimension design here drives every analytical report you will build for the next decade, including project and program cost visibility.
In Practice
Dimension design is the item most often rushed and most often regretted. Teams configure dimensions for the reports they need at go-live and discover a year later that they cannot analyze cost by program, product line or customer group because no dimension carries it. Model your required management reports first, then derive the dimension structure from them before the first transaction posts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can several logistic companies post to one financial company?
Yes, and it is a common pattern. One legal entity may run several operationally distinct businesses or plants that each need their own logistic company, while all of them roll into a single statutory ledger. The enterprise unit configuration determines which logistical scope posts to which financial company, so postings stay deterministic even with several logistic companies attached.
What is held in the financial company rather than logistics?
The financial company holds the chart of ledger accounts, dimensions, fiscal years and periods, home and reporting currencies, tax codes and rates, and the accounts payable, accounts receivable and general ledger transactions. Logistics holds items, warehouses, inventory and the operational orders. Integration transactions are the bridge that converts logistical events into entries in the financial company.
Related Terms
Logistic Company
A logistic company in Baan and Infor LN is a company number that holds operational data such as items, warehouses, and sales, purchase, production and warehouse orders. Each logistic company is linked to exactly one financial company that carries its ledger.
Integration Transaction
An integration transaction is the record Infor LN creates when a logistic event such as a receipt, issue, shipment or production completion must post to finance. Mapping schemes translate each transaction into the correct debit and credit ledger accounts and dimensions.
Cost Component
A cost component in Infor LN is a bucket that classifies part of an item's cost - material, operation, subcontracting, surcharge or general cost - so standard and actual cost prices can be broken down, rolled up through the bill of material and compared.
Go Deeper
Infor LN Upgrade Cost Estimator
Estimate the services cost and timeline for an Infor LN version upgrade or CloudSuite migration based on your users, sites, customizations, and integrations.
Infor LN Implementation Cost: What to Budget
Infor LN implementation cost typically runs $500K to $5M+. See budget breakdowns by phase, license-to-services ratios, and the cost drivers for 2026 projects.
Infor LN to CloudSuite: Migration Playbook
Infor LN to CloudSuite migration playbook: Baan and LN version paths, extension conversion, ION integration rework, timelines, and defense compliance steps.
Working with Financial Company in a live environment? Our engineers do this every day - and our AI agents automate most of it.