A **Company** 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 Company represents a legal entity, either internal to the organization or external such as customers, manufacturers, and vendors, with hierarchy capabilities through the parent attribute enabling organizations to structure multiple legal entities. Companies are recorded in the core_company table and are part of the [[Common Data (CSDM)|Common Data (CSDM)]] shared throughout the ServiceNow AI Platform. Companies are not [[Configuration item|configuration items]] but serve as critical referential data that multiple ServiceNow products depend upon. Internal company entries should focus on a hierarchy of legal entities rather than [[Business Unit (CSDM)|business units]] within a legal entity. External entries are identified using true/false flags: the Customer flag identifies customers external to the organization; the Manufacturer flag identifies companies that create products consumed by the organization (note that internal companies may also be manufacturers); and the Vendor flag identifies companies that provide products for procurement (note that internal companies may also be vendors). [[Customer Service Management (ServiceNow)|Customer Service Management (ServiceNow)]] leverages Companies with the Customer flag, while [[Contract (CSDM)|Contracts]] and [[Product Model (CSDM)|Product Models]] reference Companies for vendor and manufacturer information. ServiceNow recommends establishing Company data as part of the Foundation stage of [[CSDM Adoption Stages|CSDM adoption]] across the [[CSDM Service Life Cycle|CSDM Service Life Cycle]].