Create or modify an organization hierarchy
Important
This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.
Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
You can use organizational hierarchies to view and report on your business from various perspectives. For example, you can set up one hierarchy for tax, legal, or statutory reporting. You can then set up another hierarchy to report financial information that is not legally required, but that is used for internal reporting.
This topic describes how to create and modify an organizational hierarchy.
Create organizations
Before you create an organizational hierarchy, you must create organizations. For more information, see Create or modify a legal entity or Create or modify an operating unit. For information about how to create departments and teams, see Key tasks: New worker positions and Manage teams.
Create a hierarchy
Click Organization administration > Setup > Organization > Organization hierarchies.
Click New.
Enter a name for the organizational hierarchy.
Press CTRL+S to save the new hierarchy.
Assign a purpose to the hierarchy
Before you add organizations to a hierarchy, you must select a purpose for the hierarchy. The purpose that you select determines the types of organizations that can be included in the hierarchy. For more information about individual hierarchy purposes, see How to use organization hierarchy purposes.
Complete the following steps to assign a purpose to a hierarchy.
Click Organization administration > Setup > Organization > Organization hierarchy purposes.
Select a purpose, and then click Add. The Organizations form is displayed.
Select the organizational hierarchy that you want to assign the purpose to, and then click OK.
Add organizations to the hierarchy
You add organizations to the hierarchy to represent the structure of your business.
You can include legal entities and operating units in the same hierarchy, if both organization types can be used for the purpose that you selected for the hierarchy.
Click Organization administration > Setup > Organization > Organization hierarchies. Select a hierarchy, and then click View.
Click Edit.
Click Insert, and then select an organization type. In the form that is displayed, select an organization, and then click OK.
To add levels underneath an organization, select the organization that you want to add the levels to, and then click Insert.
When you have finished making changes, save the hierarchy.
To save a draft, click Save as draft. Your changes are saved, but the hierarchy does not become active. If you have finished making changes to the hierarchy, click Publish and close. When you publish a hierarchy, you must specify an effective date. The effective date indicates when the hierarchy becomes active.
Warning
If you close the Hierarchy designer - form without saving changes, a dialog appears, with options to save the hierarchy as a draft or discard your changes. If you close the dialog without making a selection, your changes will be discarded.
Modify a hierarchy
If a reorganization, merger, or acquisition occurs, you must modify existing organizational hierarchies.
You can view or change a hierarchy as of any future date or as of an effective date that has been published. However, you cannot publish updates to the hierarchy between existing effective dates. Changes must take effect after the last effective date that was published for the hierarchy.
If you must make a correction, you can delete the last future published version of a hierarchy. In the Future changes FactBox, click More to open the Future change dates form. Click Delete latest date.
Note
To view or modify a draft hierarchy, you must first view the published hierarchy that the draft is based on, and then click Edit. Draft hierarchies cannot be accessed directly.
Click Organization administration > Setup > Organization > Organization hierarchies. Select a hierarchy, and then click View.
Click Edit.
If a draft already exists for the hierarchy, a message appears when you click Edit. You can either continue to work on the draft, or delete the draft and start a new one. You can save a draft for each effective date that is published.
Add or remove organizations, or change the position of organizations in the hierarchy.
When you have finished making changes, save the hierarchy.
To save a draft, click Save as draft. Your changes are saved, but the modified hierarchy does not become active. If you have finished making changes to the hierarchy, click Publish and close. When you publish a hierarchy, you must specify an effective date. If versions of the hierarchy already exist that have future effective dates, your changes must take effect after the last effective date that was published for the hierarchy.
Warning
If you close the Hierarchy designer - form without saving changes, a dialog appears, with options to save the hierarchy as a draft or discard your changes. If you close the dialog without making a selection, your changes will be discarded.