---
title: Structuring Companies With Organisation Units | Shopware Community Hub
description: >-
Use Organisation Units to structure a larger B2B customer account into
branches, departments, or cost centres with separate orders, addresses,
employees,…
canonical_url: >-
https://hub.shopware.com/learn/unit/structuring-companies-with-organisation-units
---
- Understand when a B2B customer needs Organisation Units.
- Identify which company data can be scoped to an Organisation Unit.
- Understand how Organisation Units work together with employees, roles, and context switching.
- Create an Organisation Unit in the storefront and view or configure it from the customer's Company tab in the administration.
- Recognize why Organisation Units are required for Individual Pricing.
# Structuring Companies With Organisation Units
A small company is often one team buying together. A larger B2B customer may have several branches, departments, teams, or cost centres that should work with their own data. The Berlin branch should not see Munich's orders, and the marketing department's addresses are not the warehouse's addresses.
Organisation Units model this internal structure inside one company account. They divide the account into smaller parts, so orders, addresses, employees, payment methods, shipping methods, budgets, and product catalogues can be scoped to the part of the company they belong to.
This learning unit shows when Organisation Units are useful, how they work with employees, roles, and context switching, and how you can manage them in the storefront or from the customer's Company tab in the administration.
## Continue in Your Learning Environment
Use the learning environment from the previous learning unit to follow the Organisation Unit flow. If you have not opened it yet, open it here before you continue.
For this learning unit, use a B2B-enabled customer account with Employee Management, Roles, and Organisation Units active.
## When Organisation Units Are Needed
Organisation Units are subdivisions of a company account. Use them when one B2B customer account represents several parts of a company that need separate control.
Typical examples are:
- Branches in different cities.
- Departments with separate procurement.
- Teams with different budgets.
- Cost centres that need their own buying context.
Organisation Units can also be arranged hierarchically. For example, Berlin can be a parent Organisation Unit, while purchasing and warehouse are subordinate Organisation Units below it.
If a customer is just one team, they do not need Organisation Units. Activating them adds structure that a small buyer does not benefit from. Match the feature to the customer's real complexity.
Use Organisation Units when this separation is part of the customer's real buying process: different parts of the same company account need their own orders, addresses, employees, or settings.
## How Organisation Units Separate Company Data
The primary benefit of Organisation Units is **isolation**. Within an Organisation Unit:
- **Orders** belong to that Organisation Unit, so members see their Organisation Unit's orders rather than the whole company's.
- **Addresses** are scoped to the Organisation Unit, so each branch uses its own delivery and billing addresses.
- **Employees** are assigned to the Organisation Unit, so people work within their own part of the company.
- **Budgets, payment methods, shipping methods, and product catalogues** can be scoped to the Organisation Unit when the active B2B modules support them.
This isolation prevents the confusion of one giant shared account. A buyer in one branch is not distracted by another branch's orders or addresses.
At the same time, the company is still one B2B customer account. Each Organisation Unit can work with its own data, while the company structure still belongs to the same customer account.
## How Organisation Units Work With Employees and Roles
Organisation Units do not replace employees or roles. They add the company structure in which employees and roles are used.
Employees can be assigned to one or more Organisation Units. When an employee works in an Organisation Unit, the available orders, addresses, payment methods, shipping methods, budgets, and product catalogues depend on that selected context.
If an employee belongs to multiple Organisation Units, they can switch between those contexts without using a separate login. After the switch, the data and settings of the selected Organisation Unit apply.
Roles still define what the employee may do. Organisation Units define where the employee works inside the company account.
For example, a central purchasing manager may work across several Organisation Units, while a local buyer only works inside the Munich branch. Both are employees of the same company account, but their Organisation Unit assignments create different working contexts.
Customer groups decide which customers receive certain settings or B2B functions. Organisation Units structure one B2B customer account internally.
Use a customer group when you want to assign settings to a group of customers. Use Organisation Units when one B2B customer account needs internal separation, for example by branch, department, team, or cost centre.
## Create and Verify Organisation Units
Organisation Units belong to the B2B customer's company account. Authorized employees can manage them from the storefront, so the customer can maintain their own company structure.
### Create Organisation Units in the Storefront
A typical storefront workflow is:
1. Log in as an authorized employee and open the account overview.
2. Open the **Organisation Units** section and create a new Organisation Unit, for example **Berlin**.
3. Assign employees, shipping and billing addresses, payment methods, shipping methods, product catalogues, and other settings specific to the Organisation Unit.
At this point, the Organisation Unit is part of the company account. Employees assigned to this Organisation Unit can work in that specific Organisation Unit context.
Only activated employees can be assigned to an Organisation Unit. If an employee is missing from the assignment options, check whether the employee account is already active.
### View and Configure Organisation Units in the Administration
Shop administrators can also view and configure Organisation Units from the customer's **Company** tab in the administration. This is useful during onboarding, support, or when verifying the customer's setup.
In the administration, open the customer profile, select **Edit**, and switch to the **Company** tab. There you can edit Organisation Units and carry out the same configuration as in the storefront. Depending on the current setup, the view may focus on editing the existing Organisation Unit structure instead of showing another separate create button.
For this reason, use the storefront workflow as the main customer-side management flow, and use the administration view to support, check, or adjust the setup when needed.
As a company grows, additional Organisation Units can be introduced without changing the overall company account. This allows merchants and B2B customers to support new branches or departments while keeping existing processes understandable.
Individual Pricing depends on Organisation Units. From Shopware 6.7.8.0, Individual Pricing is available when Organisation Units are active in Employee Management.
If Individual Pricing is part of the customer's requirements, include Organisation Units in the setup plan.
## Example: Structure a Larger Company Account
Imagine a B2B customer called **DACH Industrial Supplies**. The company buys workwear, tools, packaging material, and replacement parts through one B2B customer account. Its main location is **Dortmund Headquarters**, but the company also has operational teams in Austria and Switzerland.
The company has three Organisation Units:
- **Dortmund Headquarters** coordinates central purchasing and manages larger orders.
- **Linz Warehouse** orders packaging material, tools, and replacement parts for logistics.
- **Zurich Field Service** orders workwear and equipment for technicians.
Without Organisation Units, all employees would work in the same company context. They could see the same orders, addresses, budgets, product catalogues, and settings, even though their daily work belongs to different locations and teams. This increases the risk of choosing the wrong delivery address, checking the wrong orders, or using the wrong budget.
With Organisation Units, you model the customer's real structure inside one company account. Dortmund Headquarters, Linz Warehouse, and Zurich Field Service each get their own working context.
Each Organisation Unit can have its own employees, shipping and billing addresses, payment methods, shipping methods, budgets, and product catalogues. A buyer in Linz works with warehouse-related data. A field service employee in Zurich works with field-service-related data.
Roles still define what employees may do. Organisation Units define where they do it.
For example, Linz Warehouse and Zurich Field Service can both use a **Buyer** role. The role gives similar permissions, but the Organisation Unit assignment decides which orders, addresses, budgets, and product catalogues the employee works with.
Some employees may belong to more than one Organisation Unit. A purchasing manager at Dortmund Headquarters can be assigned to Dortmund Headquarters, Linz Warehouse, and Zurich Field Service. They can switch between these contexts without using a separate login. After switching context, the selected Organisation Unit controls which data and settings apply.
If one area becomes more complex later, you can add subordinate Organisation Units. For example, Linz Warehouse could be split into separate teams for packaging material and replacement parts without creating separate customer accounts.
The result is one B2B customer account that still feels organized for daily work. Each location or team gets its own working context, while the overall company structure stays connected.
## Common Pitfalls
Before you introduce Organisation Units, check whether the customer really needs structural separation inside the company account.
### Pitfall 1: Using Organisation Units for Simple Customers
Organisation Units add structure that only multi-branch or multi-department companies need. For a single team, they create overhead without benefit.
### Pitfall 2: Creating Organisation Units Without a Clear Structure
Do not create Organisation Units only because the feature is available. First identify the real branches, departments, teams, or cost centres that need separate data or settings.
### Pitfall 3: Confusing Organisation Units With Customer Groups
Customer groups decide which customers receive certain settings or B2B functions. Organisation Units structure one B2B customer account internally. Do not use customer groups to model departments or branches inside the same company.
### Pitfall 4: Forgetting the Individual Pricing Dependency
If you intend to use Individual Pricing, remember it requires active Organisation Units. Skipping this step blocks Individual Pricing later.
## Summary
In this learning unit, you learned:
- When a B2B customer needs Organisation Units.
- Which company data can be scoped to an Organisation Unit.
- How Organisation Units work together with employees, roles, and context switching.
- How Organisation Units can be managed in the storefront and viewed or configured from the customer's Company tab in the administration.
- Why Organisation Units are required for Individual Pricing.
With this structure, a larger B2B customer can keep one company account while giving branches, departments, or teams their own working context.
This completes the company structure. In the next course, you will configure the ordering workflows that control how these employees actually buy.