---
title: "What are organisations?"
slug: "what-are-organisations"
tags: ["Explainer", "Site Administrator", "Totara Platform"]
updated: 2026-08-13T16:01:14Z
published: 2026-08-13T16:01:14Z
canonical: "totara.help/what-are-organisations"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are organisations?

In Totara, the organisation structure defines the regions, departments, groups, areas, or teams that make up your organisation.

The organisation hierarchy allows you to set up one or multiple organisational structures.

![A diagram showing how an example company structure could be divided into organisations.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/Organisations(1).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-29T19%3A26%3A23Z&se=2026-10-29T20%3A26%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=6tA5cXnvnu4Nb4uU9%2BKT78VySno5T7GZI3wTP5K9od4%3D)

## Benefits

The key benefits to setting up your organisational hierarchy in Totara are:

- More flexible reporting
- A user’s learning plan can automatically pull in all skills and courses assigned to their part of the organisation

## How to set up an organisational hierarchy

There are two main steps to setting up your organisational hierarchy.

1. [Set up the framework](/totara-20/docs/create-an-organisational-framework) so it is ready to capture the details of your organisation.
2. [Set up the organisational items](/totara-20/docs/create-an-organisation) which make up the structure.

## Examples

Below you will find several organisational hierarchy examples (with screenshots).

### Multiple frameworks

You can set up multiple frameworks, potentially using these as different ways of categorising the same organisation. For example, one framework could be structured by location, whereas another could use departments within the company.

![The list of organisation frameworks.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1647275982986.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-29T19%3A26%3A23Z&se=2026-10-29T20%3A26%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=6tA5cXnvnu4Nb4uU9%2BKT78VySno5T7GZI3wTP5K9od4%3D)

### Location-based hierarchy

You could choose to structure an organisational hierarchy based on different locations.

![A location-based organisation hierarchy.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1647276080618.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-29T19%3A26%3A23Z&se=2026-10-29T20%3A26%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=6tA5cXnvnu4Nb4uU9%2BKT78VySno5T7GZI3wTP5K9od4%3D)

### Department-based hierarchy

Using teams or departments is a popular way to structure your organisational hierarchy, allowing you to focus reporting on different sections of the business.

![A department-based organisation hierarchy.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1647276120852.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-29T19%3A26%3A23Z&se=2026-10-29T20%3A26%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=6tA5cXnvnu4Nb4uU9%2BKT78VySno5T7GZI3wTP5K9od4%3D)

![Course badge](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/course-badge_positions-organisations-and-job-assignments.svg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-29T19%3A26%3A23Z&se=2026-10-29T20%3A26%3A23Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=6tA5cXnvnu4Nb4uU9%2BKT78VySno5T7GZI3wTP5K9od4%3D)The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using [Positions, organisations and job assignments](https://totara.community/course/view.php?id=567) in Totara. Here you can learn more on how to use hierarchies and job assignments, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.

Join the [Totara Community](https://totara.community/) for more resources to help you get the most out of Totara.

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