Create business units

---
title: Create business units
description: Create a business unit to define your organizational functions. A business unit is also necessary to set up the top-most segment in the hierarchy to create roll up rules and have expenses roll up to these business units.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-business-management/t\_CreateBusinessUnits.html
release: australia
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Business units, Business Planning Portal, Strategic Portfolio Management]
---

# Create business units

Create a business unit to define your organizational functions. A business unit is also necessary to set up the top-most segment in the hierarchy to create roll up rules and have expenses roll up to these business units.

## Before you begin

Role required: business\_planner

**Note:**

Starting with the Brazil release, Business Planner plugin and Business Planner role are being prepared for future deprecation. It will be hidden and no longer installed on new instances but will continue to be supported. For details, see the [Deprecation Process \[KB0867184\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0867184) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Organization** > **Business Units**.

2.  Click **New**.

3.  Fill out the fields on the form \(see table\).

4.  Click **Save**.

    |Field|Description|
    |-----|-----------|
    |Name|Name of the business unit.|
    |Company|The company, if any, related with this business unit. You can choose any company, including the ones that don’t have the **Vendor** field selected.|
    |Business Unit Head|Person who heads the business unit.|
    |Description|A description of the business unit.|
    |Parent|Refers to another business unit. The **Parent** field makes the business unit as a hierarchy element.|
    |Hierarchy level|Number or text to indicate the level of the business unit.|

    |Field|Description|
    |-----|-----------|
    |Departments|Departments that comprise this business unit. Add as many departments as necessary.|

    The Departments related list isn’t visible by default. If necessary, you can add the Departments related list on the business unit record you created. To add the Departments related list:

    1.  Right-click in the form header, and select **Configure** > **Related Lists**.
    2.  Locate the **Departments** item in the **Available** box and move it to the **Selected** box.
    3.  Select **Save**.