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Also known as: Organization Master Data, Legal Entity Master Data
Authoritative, standardized core attributes describing organizations and legal entities across systems to enable consistent identification and integration.
DESCRIPTION
Company Master Data represents the canonical records describing organizations, such as legal entities, customers, suppliers, and subsidiaries. It includes identifiers, names, addresses, registration numbers, hierarchies, and classifications. Curated through Master Data Management, it establishes a single source of truth and supports analytics, compliance, and operational processes. It underpins entity resolution, KYC/AML checks, and cross-system integration. Governance ensures quality, lineage, and lifecycle control. Synchronization with source systems and external registries (e.g., business registries) improves accuracy. Aligning models with party/entity standards reduces duplication and conflicts.
ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS
IBM
Master data is the consistent and uniform set of identifiers and extended attributes that describes the core entities of the enterprise, including customers, prospects, citizens, suppliers, sites, hierarchies and charts of accounts.
Defines master data with party entities; emphasizes consistency and core entities.
SAP Help
Business partner master data contains the master records of your business partners (for example, customers, suppliers) and includes general data as well as role-specific data used across applications.
Illustrates organization-related master data in enterprise systems (business partner).
Microsoft Learn
Master data management (MDM) is a set of processes and technologies that creates and maintains a single, consistent, and trusted view of critical business data entities.
Positions master data within MDM processes and technologies.
RELATED TERMS
Master Data Management Customer Master Data Supplier Master Data Single Source of Truth Reference Data Data Stewardship Data Glossary Data Quality Entity Resolution Party Data Model
COMPETING TERMS
RELATIONS
- Broader: Master Data
KNOWLEDGE AREAS
Reference & Master Data Data Management Metadata Management Data Governance Domain & Business Context
TARGET AUDIENCE
Data Steward Data Architect Data Modeler Data Management Consultant Data Governance Manager Chief Data Officer Information Analyst BI Specialist
EXTERNAL SOURCES
- Wikipedia - Master data
- IBM - Overview of master data and entities
- SAP Help - Business partner master data docs
- Microsoft - MDM explanation and patterns
- Oracle - Oracle MDM documentation portal
TOP QUESTIONS
What is Company Master Data and why does it matter?
It’s the authoritative data about organizations and legal entities. It matters because it enables consistent identification, reporting, compliance, and integration across systems.
Category: Relevancy
How does Company Master Data differ from transactional data?
Company Master Data defines who an entity is, while transactional data describes events. Master data changes slowly; transactions are time-variant and high-volume.
Category: Comparison
What attributes are common in Company Master Data?
Identifiers, names, addresses, registrations, tax IDs, ownership hierarchies, classifications, and contact details are common. Quality rules and lineage metadata accompany them.
Category: Concepts
How is Company Master Data governed?
Through data stewardship, quality rules, approval workflows, and audits. Data owners define standards; stewards enforce them and resolve issues.
Category: Governance
What are common mistakes with Company Master Data?
Duplicating records, poor entity resolution, missing hierarchy management, and weak change controls. These cause reporting errors and compliance risks.
Category: Mistakes
How does MDM support Company Master Data?
MDM provides matching, survivorship, governance workflows, and golden record creation. It synchronizes trusted data back to consuming systems.
Category: Management
What external sources can enrich Company Master Data?
Business registries, LEI data, credit bureaus, and sanctions lists. Enrichment improves accuracy and compliance readiness.
Category: Requirements
What is the risk of poor Company Master Data?
Regulatory violations, failed KYC/AML checks, revenue leakage, and misleading analytics. The risk is material in regulated industries.
Category: Risks
How do hierarchies factor into Company Master Data?
Parent-child structures, ownership, and control relationships drive reporting and risk aggregation. Accurate hierarchies are essential for consolidation and exposure analysis.
Category: Concepts