Set Up Your Entities

What’s an entity (and why start here)?

Your entity is the legal business behind your restaurant: the LLC or corporation on your tax paperwork. It’s the first thing you’ll set up in DishBooks, and it only takes about two minutes.

Think of it as the foundation of your books. Every location, bank account and report you set up later rolls up to an entity, so DishBooks needs it in place before anything else.

• Running one restaurant? You’ll most likely add one entity.
• Running a group? Add one entity for each legal business. For example, if each of your stores is its own LLC, each one gets its own entity.

Before you start

Grab these three things so you can knock this out in one go:

Add your entity, step by step

1. Head to Entities. In the left menu, click Settings, then Entities.

   • Shortcut: on your Home screen, click Add your Entity in the Setup checklist. It takes you to the same page.

   

2. Click + New Entity in the top-right corner. A New entity panel slides open on the right.

   

3. Fill in Entity details.

   • Name (required): Enter your legal business name exactly as it appears on your tax paperwork (for example, Sunny Side Hospitality LLC). This keeps your books lined up with what your accountant and the IRS see.
   • Number (optional): A short number for the entity, like 10. It shows in the Entities list.
   • EIN: Enter your 9-digit EIN (for example, 12-3456879). Don’t have it handy? Leave it blank and add it later. Each EIN can be used on only one entity.

4. Fill in Address. Add the Street, City, State, ZIP and Country for your business. We recommend filling this in now so your records are complete.

5. Click Save at the top of the panel. Changed your mind? Click the × to close without saving.

You’re in! Here’s what you’ll see

Your new entity now shows up in the Entities list, with its Entity name, Number, EIN and Address.

• Need to make a change? Click the ⋮ menu at the end of the row, then Edit. Update any field and click Save.
• Adding more than one? Repeat the steps above for each legal business. DishBooks charges per location, so extra entities don’t add a charge by themselves. The one exception is an entity with no active locations, which is billed as one unit until you add a location. Use the Search bar to find any entity by name, number or EIN as your list grows.
• Heads up: DishBooks also creates a fiscal calendar and an operational calendar for each entity automatically, in the background, so they can take a moment to appear. You’ll review them in a later step.

How entities and locations fit together

Each location you add belongs to one entity. Reports for an entity roll up every location under it, and you can view your numbers by entity or by location, whichever you’d like to see.

For example:

• Sunny Side Hospitality LLC (entity)
  • 100 · Sunny Side Diner Downtown (location)
  • 200 · Sunny Side Diner Riverside (location)

Tips and common questions

What’s the difference between an entity and a location?

The entity is the legal business (the name on your tax return). A location is a physical restaurant (the place your guests walk into). One entity can own several locations.

My restaurant name is different from my legal name. Which do I use?

Use your legal name here. Your restaurant’s everyday name goes on the location, which you’ll set up next.

I own two restaurants under one LLC. How many entities do I need?

Just one. Add it here, then add both restaurants as locations under it.

I don’t have an EIN yet.

No problem. Only the name is required, so you can save your entity now and add the EIN later from ⋮ → Edit.

Can I delete an entity?

No, but you can deactivate one you no longer use. Click ⋮ → Edit, turn off the Active toggle and click Save. This also deactivates any active locations under it, which stops billing for them. Double-check before you save, because the panel shows a note with the billing impact as soon as you flip the toggle.

Can I turn an inactive entity back on?

Yes. Click ⋮ → Edit, turn Active back on and click Save. Its locations stay inactive until you turn each one back on in Settings → Locations.

What’s next

Nice work, your foundation is set. Next, add the restaurants that belong to this entity.

Your Setup checklist on the Home screen will tick off each step as you go:

1. Add your entity ← you are here
2. Add your locations
3. Review your chart of accounts
4. Connect a bank account
5. Invite your team (optional)