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SYLVAN LAKE · L-1A FIELD GUIDE

Should unrelated businesses appear as subsidiaries on the chart?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

No. A chart should distinguish genuine related entities from suppliers, franchisees and other commercial partners. Simplicity is not a reason to change the legal relationship.

Give each connection its actual description

Use ownership and control records for the qualifying relationship and contracts for the commercial arrangements they actually establish. If a transaction is pending, label it accurately. A shared name cannot substitute for the supporting evidence.

Share registers, articles of incorporation and any holding-company or trust documents that show the ownership chain; financial statements, leases and invoices that show both businesses operate; and organizational charts that place the transferee in each structure. Payroll registers and employment agreements, the current organisational chart, the premises lease and photographs, signed customer contracts and invoices, bank statements, tax filings, and internal reports showing decisions made during the year. Build the material around the description: a current organisational chart with names and positions, position descriptions for each report, payroll confirming those positions exist, approval limits, and examples of decisions the applicant made about people. Deal counsel or the corporate secretary holds share transfers and resolutions; the acquired company's payroll provider may hold records the buyer never received; a departed manager may be the only person who can explain a numbering change.