How To Configure Tenant Window in iDempiere

A Tenant in iDempiere is the highest level of a business — it usually represents one company. Every organization, user, and transaction belongs to one tenant, and data is never mixed between two different tenants.

The Tenant window is used to maintain a tenant that already exists — it is not used to create a new one.It is used by System Administrators across Retail, Distribution, Wholesale, and Service businesses to manage company identity, accounting defaults, hierarchies, and shared data across organizations.

Business Rules

• A tenant is always created using Initial Tenant Setup never by adding a row directly in this window.
• The Tenant window is only for maintaining a tenant that already exists.
• Data is never shared between two different tenants — sharing only happens between organizations inside the same tenant.
• The Material Policy (e.g. FiFo) decides which stock batch is used first across the whole company.
• The Calendar decides which accounting periods are Open (postings allowed) or Closed (postings blocked).
• Organization, Product, and Business Partner Trees group records for easier reporting and access control.
• A tenant is not a warehouse, branch, department, user, product, or business partner — those sit below it.

Process Flow

Prerequisites

• Log in with System Administrator access — the Tenant window is only available at System level.
• The tenant must already exist, created earlier through “Initial Tenant Setup”.
• Have mail server details ready (host, port, username, password), if email will be configured.
• Know the accounting calendar and period structure the business will follow.
• Decide in advance which master data (Products, Business Partners) should be shared across organizations.

Navigation

System Administrator → Application Dictionary → Tenant

• Tenant: company identity, security, and mail server details.
• Tenant Info: accounting calendar, hierarchies, freight, and branding

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Set Up the Tenant Tab

This tab is required first because it defines the company’s identity and how it sends emails and secures logins.

Open the Tenant window, go to the Tenant tab, and fill in the Name, Search Key, Language, Material Policy, and mail/security settings that apply to this company.

Field	Sample Value	Description
Tenant	ABC Pvt Ltd	The name that identifies this tenant record — your company.
Search Key	ABC	A short unique code used to find this tenant quickly.
Name	ABC Pvt Ltd	The full company name shown throughout the system.
Active	Yes	Switches the tenant on or off. Inactive tenants should not be used for daily work.
Language	English	The default language used for this tenant’s screens and documents.
Material Policy	FiFo	Decides which stock batch is used first when goods are issued — oldest-in-first-out (FiFo) or similar.
Mail Host	smtp.company.com	The mail server address used to send system emails for this tenant.
SMTP Port	587	The port number used to connect to the mail server.
SMTP Authentication	Yes	Turn on if the mail server needs a username and password.
SMTP SSL/TLS	Yes	Turn on if the mail server needs a secure, encrypted connection.
Request EMail	you @ company.org	The email address used to send and receive system requests, alerts, and notifications.
Password Policies	Standard Password Policy	The password rules every user of this tenant must follow to log in.
Authentication Type	Application / SSO	Decides how users are allowed to log in.

Step 2: Set Up the Tenant Info Tab

This tab is required to define accounting periods, reporting hierarchies, freight handling, and company branding.

Go to the Tenant Info tab. Set the Calendar, choose the Organization, Product, and Business Partner Trees, define Freight settings, and upload the Logo images.

Field	Sample Value	Description
Calendar	2026	The accounting calendar that defines periods (months) as open or closed for posting.
Organization Tree	ABC Retail → Regions → Orgs	The hierarchy that groups organizations for reporting and access control.
Product Tree	Electronics → Mobile, Laptop…	The hierarchy that groups products for easier reporting and browsing.
Business Partner Tree	Customers / Vendors	The hierarchy that groups business partners (customers and vendors) for reporting.
Freight Product	FREIGHT-001	The product used to represent freight/shipping charges on a transaction.
Freight Charge	Freight Charge	A charge type used to represent freight cost, as an alternative to a product.
Logo / Logo Report / Logo Web	(image files)	The company logo shown on screens, printed reports, and the web store.

Once saved, these become the shared accounting and reporting defaults for every organization under this tenant.

Common Issues and Resolutions

Issue	Cause	Resolution
A new tenant cannot be seen or used	It was created directly in the Tenant window instead of via Initial Tenant Setup	Always create new tenants using “Initial Tenant Setup”, then use the Tenant window only to maintain them.
Test EMail / system emails fail	Mail Host, Port, or login details are wrong	Check Mail Host, SMTP Port, Authentication, and SSL/TLS settings, then test again.
Accounting entries cannot be posted for a month	The accounting period for that month is Closed in the Calendar	Open the relevant period in the Calendar if postings are genuinely required.
Reports group organizations, products, or partners incorrectly	The wrong tree is assigned, or the tree structure is incomplete	Review and correct the Organization, Product, or Business Partner Tree.

Next Steps

• Set up Organizations under this tenant to represent branches, stores, or regions.
• Configure the Accounting Schema linked to the Calendar chosen here.
• Create Roles and Users to control who can access this tenant and its organizations.
• Set up Products and Business Partners, using Tenant Share where common data is needed.