Before defining domains, you must define shared set codes. The system is supplied with one default group of codes. Shared set codes let you identify financial data that can be shared across selected domains. When you create a domain, you must select at least one shared set code for each type of required data: customers, suppliers, accounts, sub-accounts, cost centers, projects, exchange rates, and daybooks. All entities within a domain use these shared sets.

You need to carefully consider your business requirements in determining how many shared set codes you need.

Consider the following scenario. Your database has two domains: North America and European Union. The entities in both domains share customers and suppliers. However, the chart of accounts (COA) differs because of local accounting practices.

To implement this scenario, you need a single shared set code for customers and a single one for suppliers. But you need two codes for each COA element: accounts, sub-accounts, cost centers, projects, and daybooks. Exchange rates are also shared, so one shared set of this type is sufficient.

Now, whenever a new customer is created by a user whose active workspace is an entity in North America, the customer is visible to users in all the entities in Europe as well. However, when a user creates a new account in an entity in North America, the account is not visible to users in Europe.

In a multiple domain environment, use profiles to build relationships between shared sets (36.1.1.3). For example, the customer account profile links the customer shared set with the accounts shared set and identifies which Customer Control account to use in a particular domain at invoice registration. See Setting Up Profiles for details.