Although the system will check for duplicate accounts and contacts when creating new accounts and contacts, there are times when duplicate accounts and contacts still get entered. When this occurs, you can merge the two accounts or contacts.
You should proceed with caution when merging accounts or contacts as after the accounts or contacts have been merged, it cannot be undone. Merging accounts or contacts should only be done by someone who is familiar with the account and contact information and fully understands the implications of the merge process.
Merging accounts takes time depending on the volume of transactions associated with the Merge From Account. Leave the Merge Accounts screen open until the merge process fully completes.
To merge two accounts or contacts, follow the below steps:
- From the Main Menu, select the Accounts or Contacts link for the appropriate designation. For example, Accounts - Registration for registration accounts. In this example, we will use Accounts - Event Sales but the same process can be followed for accounts and contacts in all designations.
- On the accounts screen, select the account to be merged into another account.
- Right-click and select Tools -> More -> Merge Accounts.
- On the Merge Accounts screen, select the account that the selected account information should be merged into. The account selected as the Merge Into Account will remain on the Accounts screen and the Merge From Account will be made inactive.
- Click OK. You will receive a confirmation that you would like to merge the accounts. Click OK.
- You will receive a confirmation that you would like to merge the accounts. Click OK.
Comments
24 comments
Can you clarify what info (if any) is overwritten or lost of the Merge Into account when merged (or what Merge From account info cannot be transferred e.g. events, payments, service orders)?
-1 upvotes
Ricardo, take a look at this article and its' attached table and let me know if that doesn't cover what you're looking for. https://supportcenter.ungerboeck.com/hc/en-us/articles/215595448
Thank you!
--Carrie
0 upvotes
Anyone have any tips/best practices for merging duplicate accounts?
Our Sales team added a duplicate client account last month for an event happening this week (1/12-13/2017). I merged the accounts in our Test database and it went smoothly. Everything looks correct.
Would it be better to wait until after the event has been settled by our Fiscal team? Or is it better to do it now? I would wait until the end of the day after everyone has left to merge the accounts since users are still adding information to the event.
0 upvotes
Hi Jill,
(a bit late I know...) The one-up account merge process is fairly solid so you should be fine to do it whenever. The sooner the better I would have thought.
0 upvotes
It's pretty solid, but if you ever make a mistake your life will likely be hell. It's rather irreversible;
-The account can be restored (as long as you haven't purged it)
-It's likely you'll never know which of the "objects" (relationships, diary entries, orders, opportunities, notes, issues etc) were originally linked to the merger/mergee
Many of us found this out the hard way.
Good luck!
0 upvotes
Jill, my apologies at the late reply!
I reached out to our consulting team, and Lee and Sean are correct - the process is solid and you should be fine. One note from the team, however: We'd recommend taking note of any phone number or address discrepancies to make sure that the final retained account record has the most current info.
If I receive any other feedback, I'll update my response.
Thanks!
--Carrie
0 upvotes
Looking for an article that explains the v19 Account merge process rather then the one-up.
It appears it is more of a bulk process?
0 upvotes
Hi Rebecca,
The Account Merge process is a one-up process in both v19 and v20. Although there are slight changes in how you select the account, the process is overall pretty similar between the two versions.
Thanks,
Maggie
0 upvotes
Thanks Maggie,
Is there a way of identifying possible duplicates in V20, similar to how it does in V19?
0 upvotes
Hi Rebecca,
Are you talking about the Account Merge (v19) utility?
When using the 'by Date Range' and 'by Account Search' options you can identify potential duplicates in a bulk fashion.
0 upvotes
Hi Sean,
Yep, that's the functionality I was looking for in V20?
0 upvotes
Looks to be amongst the last few things to be converted from v19 to v20. Would be nice to have a final push and have these all completed.
0 upvotes
We are in the process on cleaning up our Accounts which have multiple duplicates. I just want to confirm, when I merge accounts, will all the data (orders, events, payments, etc) all follow into the 1 account I merge them into?
0 upvotes
Hi Joey,
Fields that can only have one value get 'replaced' (eg, Market Segment) and all other data is 'moved' from the duplicate (Products and Services, Orders, Communication Types etc.
1 upvotes
Followed the instructions, but when I select tools, I don't have the merge option.
0 upvotes
Hi Joey,
Can you let me know what current version of Ungerboeck you are on? I have looked at all versions and the Merge Accounts action is there and functioning as intended.
Thanks,
Ryan
0 upvotes
Just realized I have 30.96D for production and 30.97A in test and I can't get it in either.
0 upvotes
Hi Joey,
Sorry for the delay. I was checking on a few different things. I would assume you have an action restriction on the Merge Accounts action. You can use the Role Access screen from the Main Menu and filter to this action to see if there is a Deny on any of the roles assigned to your user.
Thanks,
Maggie
0 upvotes
Thank you all good now.
0 upvotes
A user doesn't have the option for "Merge Accounts" when she searches main menu. How can I add this for her? She has access to merge accounts.
0 upvotes
Hi Michelle,
I checked with our Product Management team and Merge Accounts off the main menu is tied to admin features. You will want to check if she has admin features.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Ryan
0 upvotes
Hi Ryan,
Do you know which Admin Feature? This user has the majority of them.
Thanks!
0 upvotes
Michelle,
This would be System Administration feature.
0 upvotes
We've merged a few duplicated accounts and now when we import contacts that previously had an OLD Account number it's Failing to import because the old Account # is gone. We have no way of changing the account number from the contact, why won't the system use the Merged account number to add the contact info on an Import??
0 upvotes
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