Hi everyone,

I’m working on setting up a parent–child company hierarchy in HubSpot and could use some guidance on configuring labeled company-to-company associations using standard tools.

Current setup:

• We have a custom object that includes a property called Parent VAT.

• Each custom object record is associated (unlabeled) with its parent company using this VAT, and also associated with its child companies via their VAT numbers.

• The goal is to connect companies directly to one another — creating labeled company-to-company associations (Parent ↔ Child) based on VAT.

• Important: A company can act as both a parent and a child depending on the relationship. For example, a mid-level company may have its own parent while also being a parent to others.

Diagram

The diagram below shows our current data model and the desired company hierarchy.

• Black arrows represent existing VAT-based associations between the Custom Object and Companies.

• Red/orange arrows represent the desired labeled company-to-company associations (Parent ↔ Child).

• A company may exist on multiple levels in the hierarchy — acting as a parent, child, or both depending on the VAT structure.

• The Parent VAT field on the Custom Object determines which company relationships should be created.

What I’ve tried so far:

• Matching Parent VAT and Company VAT via workflows

• Using association-based triggers

• Attempting to apply association labels directly through workflows

However, none of these have fully solved the case.
Either:

• The Parent VAT ends up being written onto the parent company itself, overwriting cases where the parent already has a parent, or

• The company-to-company labeled association can’t be created through the workflow logic.

The challenge:

I’m looking for a standard HubSpot configuration (via workflows or imports) to automate the labeled parent/child relationships safely and efficiently.

imports) to automate the labeled parent/child relationships safely and efficiently.

Thank you in advance!