---
title: 05.09 Template Groups and Business Units
description: Give different business units their own field layout for the same record type — create named template groups under the Customization Extra and assign…
---
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# 05.09 Template Groups and Business Units
## Give different business units their own field layout for the same record type — create named template groups under the Customization Extra and assign each one to one or more business units from the Organizational Hierarchy Extra.
> **Requires:** *Customization Extra*
>
> Every field group starts with a single **Default** template group — the one layout [Custom Fields](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/05-01-custom-fields?hsLang=en) walks you through building. This article covers what happens when one layout per field group isn't enough. Creating and managing *additional* template groups, and assigning them to specific business units, also requires the **Organizational Hierarchy Extra** — without it, the tools this article describes stay hidden and every field group keeps its single Default layout.
## Why this matters
A single risk form works fine for a small program. It stops working the moment two parts of the organization need genuinely different data on the same record type. A healthcare business unit tracks a HIPAA safeguard reference on every risk; a retail business unit has no use for that field and wants a PCI scope note instead. Building one form with every field either of them might need means every user scrolls past fields that don't apply to them — the same clutter problem [Custom Fields](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/05-01-custom-fields?hsLang=en) warns against, just multiplied across departments.
Template groups solve this by letting a field group have more than one named layout, each with its own set of active fields, and mapping each layout to the business units that should see it. Nothing about field *definitions* changes — a custom field you define under the Risk field group is still defined once, and it's still the same field id no matter which template group places it. What changes is which fields appear, and in what order, for a given business unit's records.
## Before you start
Have these in hand:
- **The Customization Extra active**, with the field group's Custom Fields and base template already set up (see [Custom Fields](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/05-01-custom-fields?hsLang=en)).
- **The Organizational Hierarchy Extra active**, with your business units already created. Template groups exist without it, but you can't create a second one or assign business units until it's on. One exception: an instance that already has more than one template group for a field group keeps the template group screen (add, rename, clone, delete) without the Extra, so groups built earlier stay manageable. That screen has no **Business Units** column until the Extra is active, and it disappears again if you delete the field group back down to a single group.
- **A real reason for more than one template group.** Two departments with slightly different reporting preferences usually don't need this — an extra required field for one team can just live on the shared Default layout and go unused by everyone else. Reach for a second template group when the *set* of fields genuinely diverges, not when one team wants a field renamed.
- **A plan for which business units go where.** Each business unit should end up in exactly one template group per field group; deciding the assignment before you start avoids re-shuffling it later.
## Step-by-step
### 1. Open the field group's Templates tab
Settings cog → Settings Hub → **Customization** tile, then pick the field group (Asset, Risk, Project, Framework, or Control) from the pills at the top. Open the **Templates** tab. With the Organizational Hierarchy Extra active, a **Template Groups** section appears above the Template designer, listing every template group defined for this field group — starting with **Default**, the group every business unit uses until you assign it elsewhere.
### 2. Create a new template group
1. Click **+ Add** in the Template Groups header. The **Add Template Group** dialog opens.
2. Enter a **Group Name** — something that names the audience, not the fields ("Healthcare BU" rather than "Extra HIPAA Field").
3. Save. The new group starts with the same fields as the Default group, so it isn't empty the moment you create it — you then customize its layout independently in the next step.
Each row in the Template Groups table also has a **clone** action: pick it on an existing group to open the same dialog pre-filled to copy that group's layout under a new name, useful when two business units need layouts that are almost identical.
### 3. Customize the new group's layout
Click the group's name in the Template Groups table. The page reloads with that group active, and the Template designer below now edits *its* layout instead of Default's. Use **+ Add Field** the same way you would on Default — add, remove, and reorder Core and Custom fields for this group specifically. On the **Asset** pill that means arranging the group's own card canvas, described in [Custom Fields](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/05-01-custom-fields#arranging-the-asset-cards); a new asset template group starts with the six default cards, Scoring included, and a copy of the Default group's fields, Asset Scoring among them. Changes here don't touch any other template group's layout.
### 4. Assign business units to the group
In the Template Groups table, each row has a **Business Units** column with a multi-select control. Pick every business unit that should use this group's layout. The selection saves automatically as soon as you change it — there's no separate Save button for this step.
A business unit can be assigned to more than one template group in the same field group. When it is, that business unit's users see a tab for each assigned group at the top of the create form (**New Project**, **New Framework**, and **Add Control**), with the first assigned group's tab open by default. The user picks the tab whose layout fits the record they are creating, and the record is filed under that group; the fields on the other tabs stay hidden. Assets work the same way with a different control: the asset window's **Add asset** mode shows a **Template** switch listing the groups, first one selected. Once an asset exists it always opens in its own group's layout, for viewing and for editing. A business unit assigned to exactly one group gets that group's layout with no tab strip at all, and business units you don't explicitly assign anywhere keep using the Default group.
Multiple assignments are the right tool when one business unit genuinely files records of two different shapes. When it doesn't, a single group per business unit keeps the create forms simpler for its users, so treat one-business-unit-one-group as the default and add a second assignment only when there is a real second layout to choose between.
### 5. Rename or delete a template group
The row's **pencil** icon opens an **Update Template Group** dialog for renaming. The **trash** icon deletes the group — except on Default, where the delete action is disabled, since every field group has to have a fallback layout. Before deleting a non-Default group, reassign its business units first; deleting a group its business units are still pointed at is the kind of thing that's obvious in hindsight and confusing in the moment.
## Common pitfalls
- **Creating a template group and never assigning it to anything.** An unassigned group is harmless — no business unit uses it — but it's easy to forget it exists and later wonder why a business unit still shows the Default layout. Check the Business Units column right after creating a group.
- **Treating template groups as a permissions boundary.** They control which *fields* a business unit's records show, not who can see or edit those records. Access control for the record itself still comes from the field group's own permissions and team assignment — a template group can't hide a whole record from anyone.
- **Building out a second template group before Organizational Hierarchy is active.** The tools in this article don't appear until the Extra is on, so the planning conversation ("who gets which fields") can happen early, but the actual configuration can't.
- **Assuming a field removed from one template group is gone everywhere.** Removing a field from a specific group's layout only affects that group. The field definition, its values on other records, and its presence on other template groups are untouched.
- **Deleting a template group without reassigning its business units first.** Do the reassignment in step 5 before deleting; don't rely on deletion alone to sort it out.
## Related
- [Custom Fields](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/05-01-custom-fields?hsLang=en)
- [Managing Dropdown Values](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/05-04-managing-dropdown-values?hsLang=en)
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- [Vulnerability Management Extra](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/simplerisk-extras?hsLang=en#vulnerability-management-extra)
- [Team Separation Extra](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/simplerisk-extras?hsLang=en#team-separation-extra)
- [Import-Export Extra](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/simplerisk-extras?hsLang=en#import-export-extra)
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- [User Guide](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/user-guide?hsLang=en#main-content)
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- [08 Audit and Reporting](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/user-guide?hsLang=en#08-audit-and-reporting)
- [09 Day-to-Day SimpleRisk](https://support.simplerisk.com/kb/user-guide?hsLang=en#09-day-to-day-simplerisk)
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