Should each branch be a separate client or a child of one parent?

Keep them as child records under one parent client folder. That way you preserve the single relationship — you can still see the whole account — while each location carries its own bill-to address, contact, and terms. Making each branch a fully separate client breaks the connection and makes the overall account harder to review.

How is this different from splitting a client by project?

This page is about splitting by location — branches that bill to different addresses. Splitting one client's work into separate projects or engagements is a different axis and belongs in a multi-project client folder. If the difference between records is 'where the invoice is sent', use the location structure here; if it's 'which job it was for', that's by-project.

Can different branches have different payment terms?

Yes — that's a main reason to split by location. Record each branch's terms (net-30, net-45, due-on-receipt) on its own location record. Cash Workspace simply stores what you enter; it doesn't enforce or calculate terms, so treat these as reference fields you keep accurate yourself.

What happens to a branch that closes?

Don't delete its record. Past invoices still reference that location, so mark it closed with a date in the status note and leave it under the parent for history. Keeping it preserves the trail without cluttering your active list.

Cash Workspace

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Client finance records

Multi-Location Client Billing Records

Some clients are really one relationship with many billing points. A retail chain wants each store invoiced to that store's address. A franchise group has separate accounts payable per franchisee. A hospital network routes the East Campus and West Campus to different finance offices, sometimes with different payment terms. If you keep all of that in a single flat "client" record, invoices land at the wrong branch, statements blur together, and you spend pickup calls untangling which location owes what. This page shows how to keep one parent client with a child record per location in Cash Workspace, so every branch carries its own bill-to address and details while still rolling up under the same client name. It is purely an organizational structure for your billing records — it does not send invoices, sync with any system, or read your documents.

Start a free workspace See the static client billing profile fields

The problem

When one client is really several billing addresses

The trouble starts the moment a client's branches pay separately. The parent name is the same, but the bill-to details, the AP contact, and sometimes even the payment terms differ from one location to the next. A single client record can only hold one of each, so the others get lost, overwritten, or crammed into a notes field nobody reads. This page is specifically about splitting by LOCATION — each branch as its own billing entry under the shared parent. It is not about splitting one client's work by project or engagement; that by-project structure lives in a multi-project client folder and is a different axis entirely.

You invoice 'Brightway Pharmacy' but Store #14 and Store #27 each pay from their own address — one client record can't hold two bill-to addresses.
A franchise group tells you each franchisee handles their own AP, so the same parent name needs different contacts and remittance details per site.
Net-30 applies at headquarters but the regional warehouse negotiated net-45, and you have nowhere clean to record the per-location difference.
You created 'Brightway #14' and 'Brightway #27' as totally separate clients, so you lost the ability to see the whole relationship in one place.
A store closes or a new branch opens and you have no consistent way to add or retire just that location.

Setup

Building the parent-and-location structure

The goal is one parent client folder with a child record per location, each location holding its own bill-to block. You build it once and clone the location pattern for every new branch. None of this is automated — you are organizing records by hand, which is exactly what keeps them accurate.

1
Create the parent client folder
Make one folder named for the whole relationship, e.g. 'Brightway Pharmacy Group'. This is the umbrella; it holds shared facts that are true for every branch (parent legal name, master agreement reference) plus the location records below it.
2
Add one child record per billing location
Inside the parent, create a record for each branch that bills separately — 'Brightway #14 — Riverside', 'Brightway #27 — Downtown', 'Brightway DC — Warehouse'. Use a consistent name pattern: parent + location code + plain-language place. The location code makes records sortable; the place name makes them human-readable.
3
Fill each location's own bill-to block
On each location record, enter that branch's bill-to address, AP contact, tax/registration ID if it differs, PO-required flag, and the payment terms agreed for that site. Treat each location as self-contained: someone should be able to open one record and invoice that branch correctly without checking the others.
4
Note what is shared vs. per-location
On the parent folder, add a short note listing which fields are identical across all branches (e.g. 'same master rate card, same remittance bank') and which vary by location (e.g. 'terms and PO requirement differ per store'). This stops you from re-confirming the same detail every time.
5
File proof documents on the location they belong to
Attach each branch's setup paperwork to its own record: the store's signed terms sheet, a sample PO from that AP office, a vendor-onboarding form. The parent folder holds only group-level documents like the master agreement.
6
Add and retire locations as the chain changes
When a new branch opens, clone an existing location record and update the bill-to block. When a branch closes, leave its record in place for history and add a closing note with the date — don't delete it, since past invoices still reference it.

Record structure

What to record on each location

Two layers of fields: a small set on the parent that is true for the whole relationship, and a full bill-to block repeated on every location record. The location block below is the one that actually drives where an invoice goes.

Parent client name: The umbrella name shared by all branches, e.g. 'Brightway Pharmacy Group'. Lives on the parent folder; every location record sits under it.
Location label: Consistent per-branch name combining a code and place, e.g. 'Brightway #14 — Riverside'. This is how you and your accountant tell the branches apart at a glance.
Bill-to address: The specific mailing or AP address this branch's invoices must show. The single most important per-location field — it's why the split exists.
AP contact for this location: Name, email, and phone of who processes invoices at this branch. Often different per site even when the parent is the same.
Payment terms for this location: Net-30, net-45, due-on-receipt — recorded per branch because negotiated terms can differ between headquarters and a regional site.
PO-required flag: Yes/no for whether this branch needs a purchase order before it will pay, plus where the current PO is filed for that location.
Tax / registration ID (if it differs): Some branches operate under a separate registered entity; record the ID here when it isn't the same as the parent's.
Remittance / account reference: Any branch-specific account number, vendor ID, or coding string this location asks you to put on invoices so their AP system routes it correctly.
Status note: Active, or closed-with-date. Lets you keep retired branches for history without them cluttering the active list.

Example setup

Example layout: one chain, three branches

Here is how a parent client with three separately-billing locations looks once the structure is in place. The parent holds shared facts and the master agreement; each location folder is self-contained with its own bill-to block and proof documents.

Brightway Pharmacy Group (parent)

Parent legal name, master rate card reference, shared remittance bank, master service agreement PDF, and a 'shared vs. per-location' note: same rate card group-wide; terms and PO rules vary by store.

Brightway #14 — Riverside

Bill-to: 1820 Riverside Ave; AP contact Dana Cho (ap.riverside@brightway.example); terms net-30; PO required = yes (current PO #RV-2241 attached); signed terms sheet attached. Status: active.

Brightway #27 — Downtown

Bill-to: 44 Center St, Suite 200; AP contact Marcus Reed; terms net-30; PO required = no; vendor-onboarding form attached. Status: active.

Brightway DC — Warehouse

Bill-to: 9 Industrial Pkwy; AP contact regional finance office; terms net-45 (negotiated separately); separate registration ID on file; status note: net-45 confirmed 2026-01, applies to warehouse only.

Common mistakes

Creating each branch as a fully separate client so you lose the parent relationship — keep them as child records under one parent instead.
Splitting by project or job when the real difference is location; by-project belongs in a multi-project client folder, not here.
Putting only one bill-to address on the parent and trusting memory for the rest — every billing location needs its own block.
Using inconsistent names ('Store 14', 'Brightway Riverside', '#14') so the same branch is hard to find — pick one naming pattern and stick to it.
Deleting a closed branch's record, which orphans the history of invoices that referenced it — mark it closed-with-date instead.
Assuming the workspace will route invoices to the right address for you — it stores the details; you still address each invoice yourself.

How it helps

How Cash Workspace helps

One parent, many location records

Nest a record per branch under a single parent client folder so the whole relationship stays together while each location keeps its own details.

A full bill-to block per branch

Each location record holds its own address, AP contact, terms, PO flag, and reference fields — no more cramming alternates into a notes line.

Documents filed where they belong

Attach each branch's terms sheet, sample PO, or onboarding form to that location's record, and keep group-level agreements on the parent.

Accountant-ready and free

Export the parent and its location records when you hand off, so whoever reviews the account sees every branch's billing details laid out clearly. Cash Workspace is free.

Client billing profile records

The single master billing profile per client — legal name, bill-to, tax ID, terms. Use it as the template for each location's bill-to block.

Client billing contact records

The accounts-payable contacts per client: who approves and who pays. Helpful when each branch has its own AP contact to record.

Client invoicing instructions records

The per-client how-to-invoice playbook — delivery channel, portal, required references. Pair it with location records when branches submit differently.

Client account summary sheet

A current per-client one-pager of billed, outstanding, terms, and contacts — the snapshot view that sits above your location breakdown.

Client-by-client finance overview

Compare all clients side by side on one screen once your multi-location accounts are organized under their parents.

Client finance dashboard

Bring billed, paid, and outstanding together per client so a multi-branch account reads cleanly at a glance.

Business document organization

The hub for structuring all your finance documents and records, including client folders and the proof you attach to them.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Should each branch be a separate client or a child of one parent?: Keep them as child records under one parent client folder. That way you preserve the single relationship — you can still see the whole account — while each location carries its own bill-to address, contact, and terms. Making each branch a fully separate client breaks the connection and makes the overall account harder to review.
How is this different from splitting a client by project?: This page is about splitting by location — branches that bill to different addresses. Splitting one client's work into separate projects or engagements is a different axis and belongs in a multi-project client folder. If the difference between records is 'where the invoice is sent', use the location structure here; if it's 'which job it was for', that's by-project.
Can different branches have different payment terms?: Yes — that's a main reason to split by location. Record each branch's terms (net-30, net-45, due-on-receipt) on its own location record. Cash Workspace simply stores what you enter; it doesn't enforce or calculate terms, so treat these as reference fields you keep accurate yourself.
What happens to a branch that closes?: Don't delete its record. Past invoices still reference that location, so mark it closed with a date in the status note and leave it under the parent for history. Keeping it preserves the trail without cluttering your active list.

What this page does and doesn't do

This is organizational guidance for structuring your billing records by location, not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Cash Workspace stores the bill-to details, terms, and documents you enter for each branch — it does not send invoices, does not route them to the right address for you, does not sync with any billing system or bank, and does not read or extract data from your documents. Whether two branches are separate legal entities, and which terms apply, are facts you confirm with the client and record here yourself.

Organize your multi-location client for free

Set up one parent client with a clean record for every branch, each carrying its own bill-to address and terms. Cash Workspace is free — start a workspace and build your first multi-location client structure in minutes.