A **Business Unit** is an entity within the [[Foundation (CSDM domain)|Foundation domain]] of the [[Common Service Data Model|Common Service Data Model]] (CSDM), a reference architecture developed by [[ServiceNow|ServiceNow]] that provides prescriptive guidance on service-related definitions and data modeling within the ServiceNow AI Platform. A Business Unit represents a part of an organization that oversees certain operations such as Finance, HR, or IT, providing a hierarchical structure within a [[Company (CSDM)|Company]] that can be further stratified into [[Department (CSDM)|Departments]]. Business Units are recorded in the business_unit table with a reference to the Company they are part of, and are part of the [[Common Data (CSDM)|Common Data (CSDM)]] shared throughout the ServiceNow AI Platform. Business Units are not [[Configuration item|configuration items]] but serve as critical referential data that multiple ServiceNow products depend upon for reporting, workflows, and organizational alignment. A hierarchy within Business Unit is supported, with large multinational companies potentially having Business Units that identify independent regional operations and then specific operations within each region. [[Strategic Priority (CSDM)|Strategic Priorities]] and [[Goal|goals]] within [[Strategic Portfolio Management (ServiceNow)|Strategic Portfolio Management (ServiceNow)]] are often specific to Business Units or span multiple Business Units when cross-functional. ServiceNow recommends establishing Business Unit data as part of the Foundation stage of [[CSDM Adoption Stages|CSDM adoption]], as early planning around organizational structure helps avoid costly rework across the [[CSDM Service Life Cycle|CSDM Service Life Cycle]].