If you run two or more sites and only see one company profit and loss, you cannot tell which site is carrying the others. A strong site can hide a weak one for a long time, and by the time the total turns down, the weak site has usually been losing money for months.
Published: November 2026
This guide shows how to set up site-level reporting in Xero, how to code each type of cost, what to do with shared costs, and which ratios to put in front of you every month. If you are still deciding whether to open another site, start with our guide to second location costs.
A company P&L adds every site together. Sales, wages, rent and supplier costs all land in the same lines, so a site with high rent and soft sales is averaged out by a site that trades well.
Three things make this worse as you grow:
Site figures change the decisions you make. They tell you where a manager's time is best spent, whether a lease is worth renewing, which site's model to copy when you open the next one, and when a site needs a plan rather than more patience.
Site reporting does not need a new system. It needs every transaction to carry a location, coded the same way every time.
There are two ways to see profit by site in Xero. Most multi-site businesses need the first. Some need both.
Xero uses tracking categories instead of department codes or cost centres. According to Xero Central:
Xero's own example is a business with seven shops that sets up a tracking category called Location, with one option per shop. That is the set-up we recommend: one category called Site, one option for each location, and one option for head office.
The limit of two active categories is the main constraint. If you also want to track something else, such as revenue stream or brand, plan both categories before you start coding, because changing them later means recoding history.
Some groups run each site in its own company, usually for legal, lease or ownership reasons rather than reporting. Separate entities give you a separate set of accounts for each site, but they also mean separate bank accounts, BAS lodgements and intercompany entries, and a consolidation to see the whole group. Related entities may also be grouped for payroll tax, so separate companies do not necessarily mean separate thresholds.
If your sites already sit in separate companies, our multi-entity and group finance service covers the consolidation and intercompany work. If they sit in one company, tracking categories are usually the simpler answer.
Site reports are only as good as the coding underneath them. Set rules for each type of transaction and apply them every week.
Sales. Set up each point of sale or sales channel so its sales post with the right site option. If one bank account takes deposits for several sites, code from the daily sales summary, not from the bank deposit. Online sales that are fulfilled from one site can be coded to that site, or to a separate online option if you want to see them on their own.
Wages. Wages are often the hardest cost to code. The goal is to charge labour to the site where the hours were worked. If staff only ever work at one site, code their wages to that site. If they move between sites, take hours from your rostering or timesheet system each pay run and reallocate wages, super and on-costs with a journal. Our guide to venue group bookkeeping covers daily takings, tips and point of sale coding for hospitality groups.
Rent and occupancy. Code each lease, outgoings and utilities to its site. These are fixed costs, so they are easy to code and important to get right.
Supplier costs. Ask suppliers to invoice each site separately, or at least show the delivery address on every invoice. Code stock purchases to the site that received the goods. If stock moves between sites, record the transfer so the receiving site carries the cost.
Everything else. Repairs, equipment, local marketing and consumables belong to a site if you can name the site. If you cannot, code them to head office.
Run the profit and loss by site after the first month and look for gaps. Sales or wages that land in head office usually point to a coding rule that is missing.
Head office costs are real, but how you spread them changes which site looks weak. The approach we use has two layers.
First, site contribution. Report each site's sales less its own direct costs: cost of goods, site wages, rent and site overheads. This is the number the site manager controls, and it answers the key question: does this site cover its own costs?
Second, profit after head office. Then allocate shared costs on a stated basis, such as share of sales, share of labour hours or share of floor area. Choose one basis for each type of cost and keep it, so month-on-month comparisons mean something.
Some practical rules:
Our guide to job and project profitability applies the same thinking to individual jobs.
Once coding is consistent, put every site in one table each month, ranked by contribution. These five ratios tell you most of what you need:
Look at the trend over three to six months as well as the current month. A site that slips for three months in a row needs a plan, and the numbers tell you where to start. Our profit margin calculator is a quick way to test what a change in price or cost does to the margin.
If you want site reporting set up and run each month, our outsourced finance services include the coding rules, the monthly wage reallocation and the league table. For the day-to-day side, see our guide to Xero bookkeeping.
How many tracking categories can I use in Xero?
Up to four in total, according to Xero Central, but only two can be active at any time.
How many tracking options can a category have?
Xero recommends no more than 100 options in each tracking category, so reports load quickly.
Should each site be a separate company?
Not for reporting alone. Tracking categories give you profit by site within one company. Separate entities are usually chosen for legal, lease or ownership reasons, and they add BAS lodgements, intercompany entries and a consolidation.
How do I code wages for staff who work at more than one site?
Use hours from your roster or timesheets to reallocate wages, super and on-costs to each site with a journal every pay run.
Should head office costs be allocated to sites?
Report each site's contribution before head office first. Then allocate shared costs on a consistent basis, such as sales or labour hours, to see profit after head office.
What ratios should I review for each site every month?
Gross margin percentage, wages as a percentage of sales, occupancy cost as a percentage of sales, site contribution margin and sales per labour hour.
Scale Suite is a Sydney-based provider of outsourced finance teams and fractional CFO services for Australian SMEs. We deliver weekly bookkeeping, payroll, BAS/IAS lodgement, cashflow reporting, management accounts, and strategic fractional CFO oversight, all as a fully embedded team that works inside your business.
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We review and check this guide periodically. At the time of writing (November 2026), all information was current. Scale Suite is a registered BAS Agent, not a licensed tax advisor or financial advisor. This content is general information only and does not constitute professional tax, financial, or legal advice. Some details may change over time.
Scale Suite is a Sydney-based provider of outsourced finance and HR services for Australian SMEs. We deliver bookkeeping, financial reporting, payroll processing, fractional CFO support, recruitment, employee onboarding, people and culture support, and fractional HR oversight, all as a fully embedded team that works inside your business.
Employment Hero Gold Partner, CA-qualified, and Xero Certified, we replace fragmented finance and HR processes with one responsive, senior-level function at a fraction of the cost of full-time hires. We serve growing businesses across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, with packages starting from $1,500 per month and no lock-in contracts.
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