Hi Andrew:

The "Validate ledger account" setting in the Company Profile applies only to batch entry. Even if "None" is selected (to not do any checking of GL accounts), the "Acct/Dept" default on the Vendor master profile is always verified to exist in the GL chart of accounts.

I would say that it would be by Company and could be useful in most modules, especially modules where there is a lot of batch entry focused around GL account numbers (AP, AR, GL).