# API Documentation

An entity represents a person or organization possessing separate and distinct legal rights - entities are the parent of [Bank Account](https://docs.column.com/data-models/account/).

Depending on your use case, you will create entities for each of your customers or users. In most situations, these entities must be verified through KYC (Know Your Customer/Client) or KYB (Know Your Business) processes. We require customers to have their own KYC process in place. Column will review and approve your processes and 3rd party providers.

## Root Entity [Link to section](https://docs.column.com/data-models/entity#root-entity)

Root entities are a special type of entity for you/your business. These entities have special properties - such as the ability to be parents of special account types. Accounts under a root entity hold your company's money. Special accounts include reserve accounts for fraud, holding accounts for overdrafts, and operating accounts for funding customer rewards. See [Root Accounts](https://docs.column.com/data-models/account/#root-accounts) for more information.

Only one root entity is allowed per platform in both sandbox and live environments. A root entity is created automatically in live mode when you register and complete onboarding with Column.