Legal Entity

A legal entity is a registered company. It is the business that actually employs people, signs their contracts and pays their salaries, and it is the name that appears at the top of a payslip. Every employee, every payroll and every document in PeopleNest belongs to exactly one legal entity.

Where

Organization & Setup › Enterprise Structure › Legal Entity

Who uses it

The implementation consultant, once per company in the group

When

First. Almost nothing else can be set up until a legal entity exists.

Needs first

Country, State and City for the address

What it is for

A group of companies is not one company. If the factory is registered separately from the trading company, the two have different registration numbers, different bank accounts, different payrolls and separate statutory returns. PeopleNest models that by giving each one a legal entity.

That is the one question to settle before you fill this screen in: how many registered companies is this client, legally. The answer is the number of legal entities, and it is rarely the number of offices or the number of factories. One company with a head office in Lahore and a plant in Faisalabad is one legal entity with two addresses.

The legal entity is what separates data. People, positions, payrolls and pay areas all sit inside one, and a payroll run never crosses from one legal entity into another. Several of the setup screens in this module are also entered per legal entity, among them Organizational Structure and Parameter Profile.

The screen also holds the company's own settings for sending messages out - the SMS gateway, the WhatsApp numbers, the mail server - because those are per company, not per installation. If agreement documents are to be signed from a phone, that is configured here too.

PeopleNest shares this screen with the wider ERP product, so some tabs on it describe purchasing, sales and shop integrations. Those are listed at the end and an HR-only installation leaves them alone.

Every field, in plain words

Header

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Legal Entity	The short code for the company.	01	Required. It appears on nearly every other screen, so keep it to two characters if you can.
Name	The registered name of the company.	Ravi Textile Mills Limited	Use the name exactly as it is registered, it goes on reports.
Client	The group the company belongs to.	ABS	Pick it from the list. A single-company client still needs one.
Time zone	The company's working time zone.	Asia/Karachi	Pick it from the list.
Language	The language the company's screens and documents default to.	English
Image	The logo shown inside the application.	Upload a square PNG of the company mark
Report Image	The logo printed at the top of reports and payslips.	Upload a wide PNG with the full registered name	Keep it a readable print resolution, it goes on paper.
Hide Banner	Hides the banner strip at the top of the home screen.	Leave clear
Banner	The banner image for the home screen.	Upload the company's banner	Only used when Hide Banner is clear.

Client - name in other languages

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
Language	A language the client uses.	Urdu	Required on the line.
Name	The company name in that language.	The Urdu form of the registered name	Only needed where documents are printed in that language.

Address

One line per place the company has. A company with a head office, a factory and a warehouse has three lines.

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
Name of Address	What this place is called.	Head Office	Required.
Address	The street address.	12-A, Gulberg III, Lahore
Country Region	The wider region the country sits in.	South Asia	Pick it from the list.
Country	The country.	Pakistan	Pick it from the list.
State	The province.	Punjab	The list narrows to the country you picked.
City	The city.	Lahore	The list narrows to the state you picked.
Private	The address is not shown on outgoing documents.	Leave clear	Tick it on a director's residential address.
Primary For Country	This is the company's main address in that country.	Ticked on the Lahore line	Only one address per country may carry this. The screen refuses a second one.
Primary Address	The company's single main address.	Ticked on the Head Office line	Only one address in total may carry this. The screen refuses a second one.
Timezone	The time zone of this particular place.	Asia/Karachi	Useful where a group has an office abroad.
Distance	The distance to this place from the main address.	140	Used where travel from the main site is reimbursed.
Kilometer	The unit the distance is expressed in.	KM
Effective From	The date the company started using this address.	01/01/2020
Expiration Date	The date it stops.	Leave blank while it is in use
Latitude	The map latitude.	31.5204	Used by geofenced attendance.
Longitude	The map longitude.	74.3587	Used by geofenced attendance.
Person	The contact person at this place.	Nadia Qureshi
Mobile	Their mobile number.	0300 1234567
Phone	The landline.	042 35771234
Email	The email for this place.	ho@ravitextile.com.pk
Sales Region	Belongs to the ERP sales structure.	Leave blank in an HR-only installation
Sales Area	Belongs to the ERP sales structure.	Leave blank in an HR-only installation
Sales Territory	Belongs to the ERP sales structure.	Leave blank in an HR-only installation
Tax Zone	The tax zone the address falls in.	Punjab	Pick it from the list. Used by the ERP tax calculation.

Purpose - what each address is used for

Each address line carries its own small list of purposes.

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
Purpose	What this address is used for.	Registered Office	Pick it from the list. Add a line per purpose, one address can serve several.

Contacts

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
Person	The name on the contact.	Nadia Qureshi	Required.
Contact Nature	What kind of contact detail this is.	Mobile	Required on the line, the screen refuses a line with no nature. Pick it from the list.
Contact	The number or address itself.	0300 1234567	Required.
Extension	The extension on a landline.	214
Primary	This is the main contact of its kind.	Ticked	Only one line per contact nature may be primary. The screen refuses a second one.

Authentication Control - which screens ask for a password again

Use this where a company wants a second check before something is saved, typically on payroll.

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
Screen	The screen that will ask.	Payroll	Pick it from the list of entry screens.
Transaction Name	The readable name of that screen.	Fills itself from the screen you pick
Authentication Scope	How often it asks.	Record	Values: Screen - once per time the screen is opened. Record - every time a record is saved.
Authentication By	Whose password is required.	Logged-in User	Values: Logged-in User - the person working signs with their own password. Fixed User - a named account's password is needed, which is then entered below.
User Name	The account whose password is required.	payroll.officer	Only used with Fixed User.
Name	The full name of that account.	Fills itself from the account you pick

Messaging

SMS Gateway

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Allowed SMS Integration	Turns SMS on for this company. Signing links and verification codes then go out by SMS.	Ticked
SMS Provider	Which gateway to send through.	Twilio	Pick it from the list. Anything other than Twilio uses the generic adapter and needs the API URL below.
SMS API URL	The gateway address.	The URL your provider gave you	Required for every provider except Twilio.
SMS API Key	The account key from the provider.	The key from your provider	Hidden on screen once saved.
SMS API Secret	The account secret or password from the provider.	The secret from your provider	Hidden on screen once saved.
SMS Sender ID (Mask)	The sender name recipients see instead of a number.	RAVITEX	Must be registered with PTA before it will display.
OTP Message Template	The wording of the verification code message.	Your Ravi Textile code is {{otp}}. It is valid for {{minutes}} minutes.	The placeholders available are the code, the company, the party and the number of minutes.
Signing Link Message Template	The wording of the signing link message.	Dear {{name}}, please sign your document at {{link}}. The link is valid {{hours}} hours.	The placeholders available are the link, the company, the party, the name and the number of hours.

WhatsApp

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Allowed Whatsapp Integration	Turns WhatsApp on for this company.	Ticked
WABAID	The business account identifier from Meta.	The value from your Meta account
Phone Number ID	The identifier of the sending number from Meta.	The value from your Meta account
Whatsapp Phone Number	The number messages are sent from.	+92 42 111 000 111
Whatsapp Access Token	The access token from Meta.	The token from your Meta account
Whatsapp Template Name	The approved template used for general messages.	ravitex_notice	Meta will not deliver free text to somebody who has not written to you first, so a template is required.

SMTP Configuration

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Email Address	The address the system sends from.	hr@ravitextile.com.pk
Email Password	That mailbox's password.	The mailbox password	Hidden on screen once saved.
Server	The mail server.	smtp.office365.com
Port	The mail server port.	587

Agreement signing and OTP

These control the signing of agreement documents from a phone.

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
OTP Channel	How a signer is verified.	SMS	Values: SMS, WhatsApp, Email. The channel you pick decides which gateway above must be configured, and which contact detail a signer must have - a mobile number for SMS and WhatsApp, an email address for Email.
Document Signing Base URL	The web address signers reach from their phone.	https://sign.ravitextile.com.pk	It must work from outside the office. A local address will produce a link that does not open.
OTP Validity (Minutes)	How long a verification code stays usable.	10
OTP Max Attempts	How many wrong codes are allowed before the code is burned and a new one must be requested.	3
OTP Resend Cooldown (Seconds)	The wait between one code request and the next, per signer.	60
OTP Max Per Hour	How many codes one mobile number may be sent in an hour.	5
Signature Window After OTP (Minutes)	How long after entering the code a signer may still sign. Past this they verify again.	15
Signing Link Validity (Days)	How many days a signing link stays usable.	7
Receipt Link Validity (Days)	How many days a signer can still open their link to download the signed copy.	30	Usually longer than the signing window, so nobody needs a login to fetch their copy.
WhatsApp OTP Template	The name of the approved WhatsApp authentication template used to send a code.	ravitex_otp	Required when OTP Channel is WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Link Template	The name of the approved WhatsApp template used to send a signing link.	ravitex_sign_link	Required when OTP Channel is WhatsApp. It takes the signer name and then the link.

Files Storage

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Company Storage Limit (MB)	How much file storage the whole company may use.	51200
Default User Quota (MB)	How much one user may use when nothing more specific is set.	200

Then a line per user who needs a different allowance:

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
Name	The user.	Asad Mahmood	Pick them from the list. Each user may appear once. A repeat is refused, naming them.
User Name	Their login name.	Fills itself from the user you pick
Quota (MB)	Their allowance.	2000

AI Agents

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Enable AI	Turns the assistant features on for this company.	Leave clear unless the client has bought keys
Claude API Key	The key for Anthropic's service.	The key from the provider	Hidden on screen once saved.
Claude Default Model	Which model to use by default.	The model name from the provider
GPT (OpenAI) API Key	The key for OpenAI's service.	The key from the provider	Hidden on screen once saved.
GPT Default Model	Which model to use by default.	The model name from the provider
Gemini API Key	The key for Google's service.	The key from the provider	Hidden on screen once saved.
Gemini Default Model	Which model to use by default.	The model name from the provider

The AI tools this company may use, one line each:

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
AI Tool	The short code for the tool.	FAST
AI Tool Name	What it is called.	Fast summariser
Provider	Which service it runs on.	Claude	Pick it from the list.
Model	The model name.	The model name from the provider	A tool line needs a code, a provider and a model. A line missing any of the three is refused. Each tool may appear once.

And which tool each feature uses:

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Line #	The line number.	Fills itself
AI Feature	The feature being configured.	Pick it from the list	Each feature may appear once.
AI Tool	Which of the tools above it uses.	FAST	Pick it from the list of tools you entered.
AI Tool Name	The tool's name.	Fills itself
Context / Instructions Sent	Extra standing instructions sent with every request from that feature.	Answer in plain English. Amounts in PKR.

Tabs that belong to the ERP product

An HR-only installation leaves all of these alone. They are listed so you know what you are looking at.

Tab or group	What it is for
Controlling - Purchase Structure	Switches that make a purchasing structure, organization, team or purchaser compulsory on purchase documents.
Controlling - Sales Structure and Sales Team	The same switches for the sales structure, organization, group, team, sales taker, sales responsible and distribution channel.
Controlling - General	Whether the company name is required on transaction screens, whether real estate is required on a journal, and whether the advertisement strip is hidden on reports.
Integrations - Shopify	Store address, access token, webhook secret, and the two buttons that pull products and orders across.
Integrations - Syrve	Connection details and the accounting defaults a Syrve-created document is posted with.
Integrations - Digital Invoice and FBR	The digitalization switch, token, sale type, scenario identifier, sandbox switch, status and the date the integration starts from.
Integrations - Integration Beep	Connection details for the Beep project integration.
Barcode	Whether barcodes are generated for this company, the default nomenclature new assignments inherit, and the prefix stamped on codes the company issues.

How to configure it

1. Settle how many registered companies the client is. Create one Legal Entity per registered company, not one per site.
2. Make sure Country, State and City hold the places you need. Pakistan and its provinces are already there.
3. Open Legal Entity. Enter the code 01, the registered name, the Client, Time zone Asia/Karachi and the Language.
4. Upload the Image and the Report Image. The report one is what goes on the payslip, so use a legible, wide version with the full registered name.
5. On the Address tab add the head office. Fill Name of Address, Address, Country, State and City, and tick both Primary Address and Primary For Country on it.
6. Add a line per other site - the factory, the warehouse. Only the head office carries the primary ticks.
7. On each address line add its Purpose lines, for example Registered Office on the head office.
8. On the Contacts tab add the switchboard and the HR mailbox, each with its Contact Nature, and tick Primary on one line per nature.
9. If the company sends anything out by email, fill the SMTP Configuration group. Nothing leaves the system without it.
10. If the company uses signed agreement documents, fill the Agreement signing and OTP group and the gateway for the channel you picked. A signing base address that does not work from outside the office is the usual reason a link never opens.
11. Set the Files Storage limits, and add a per-user quota line only for the handful of people who need more than the default.
12. Save. Then set the screen behaviour for this company on Organizational Structure, which is entered per legal entity.

Scenarios

The client is one company with a factory and a head office

One legal entity, two address lines. Everybody is employed by the same company, so one payroll can cover both sites. The factory and the office are separated by Business Unit or by calendar, not by legal entity.

The client is a group of three registered companies

Three legal entities. Each one gets its own people, its own payroll and its own pay areas, and a payroll run never crosses between them. Anything shared - the Calendar, the Time Templates, the country and city lists - is built once and used by all three.

Each company has its own letterhead on the payslip

Upload a different Report Image on each legal entity. The payslip takes the image from the legal entity the employee belongs to.

Payroll must be confirmed with a password every time

Add an Authentication Control line for the Payroll screen with Authentication Scope Record and Authentication By Logged-in User. The officer then re-enters their own password on each save. If the company wants a specific person's password rather than the operator's, use Fixed User and name that account.

Appointment letters are to be signed on a phone

Fill the Agreement signing and OTP group. Pick the channel the client's staff actually have - SMS works for everybody in Pakistan, WhatsApp needs approved templates from Meta, Email needs an email address on every signer. Then configure the matching gateway, and make sure the Document Signing Base URL is reachable from a phone on a mobile network.

What it is connected to

• Country, State and City must hold the places before an address can be entered.
• Organizational Structure is entered per legal entity and decides how screens behave inside this company.
• Parameter Profile lines name a legal entity.
• Business Area Dimension and Functional Area Dimension map business areas and functional areas onto a legal entity.
• Every employee belongs to one legal entity through Employee Organization Assignment.
• Pay Area, Payroll Group and the Payroll run itself are all inside one legal entity and never cross between them.
• The payslip takes the company name and the report logo from here.
• Changing the code of a legal entity after people have been hired into it is not a cosmetic change. Decide the codes before the first employee is created.

If something looks wrong

• "It will not save, it says only one address can be marked primary" - two address lines both have Primary Address ticked. Only the main one keeps it.
• "It will not save, it says only one address can be primary for country" - two lines in the same country both have Primary For Country ticked.
• "It will not save, it says a contact nature cannot be empty" - a contact line has a number but no nature. Pick one.
• "It will not save, it says a user is listed more than once" - the same person has two quota lines on the Files Storage tab, or the same tool or feature appears twice on the AI tab.
• "It will not save, it says country cannot be empty" - an address line has a city or state but no country.
• "No email is going out" - the SMTP Configuration group is blank, or the mailbox password has changed.
• "The signing link opens nothing" - the Document Signing Base URL is not reachable from outside the office network.
• "An AI feature does nothing" - either Enable AI is clear, the tool line has no provider or model, or no feature line points the feature at a tool.
• "A new employee cannot be created" - the legal entity exists but Organizational Structure has not been entered for it yet.