Merging duplicate vendor records
Some companies ended up with two records: a Service vendor with a real operational history, and a separate Accounting vendor created just to code bills. Merging folds the accounting record into the...
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Some companies ended up with two records: a Service vendor with a real operational history, and a separate Accounting vendor created just to code bills. Merging folds the accounting record into the real company, so everything settles on the one vendor that actually does the work.
Where to find it
Property settings, then the Accounting tab, then the Vendors card, then Manage. In the vendors list, find the record you want to absorb and click Merge. The panel that opens is titled Merge vendors.
Entry path:
| Property Settings | > | Accounting tab | > | Vendors card |
| Manage | > | Vendors list | > | Merge |
Choosing the source and target
The panel opens with two pickers.
- Source is fixed to the record you clicked Merge from. This is the record that goes away.
- Target is the company you are merging into. Only real contractor companies that already serve this property can appear here. The target field's own help text says it plainly:
Target help text, shown under the picker:
Target
Search companies serving this property...
Companies already serving [property]. Accounting records never appear here.
That restriction is the whole point of the feature. An accounting record has no operational history to merge into: it exists only to hold bills and a category. You can only merge an accounting record into a real contractor company, never the other way around, and never into another accounting record.
What the preview tells you
Once both sides are picked, the panel shows exactly what would move, in plain lines:
Preview:
3 bill(s) would move to [target].
1 recurring expense template(s) would move.
The surviving company keeps its own usual expense category.
The last line matters: the target's expense category is not replaced by the source's. Whatever category the target already had for its bills stays as it is.
Read the warning before you continue
Right below the preview is an alert you should actually read, because a merge cannot be undone once it runs.
Warning alert:
This cannot be undone
[Source] becomes an inactive record pointing at [target]. Its related bills and general ledger entries are updated to the surviving company, and the change is recorded in the accounting audit log. There is no undo.
Two things this does NOT do: it does not rewrite the wording of bills or general ledger entries that already posted, and it does not delete the source record. The source stays on file, inactive, pointing at the target, so anything that still references it by name or by ID keeps resolving correctly.
Choosing which name survives
Below the warning is a name choice, two radio options:
- [Target name], described as "The surviving company's own name. This is the default."
- [Source name] instead, described as "Keep the absorbed record's name on the surviving company."
The default keeps the real contractor company's own name, which is normally what you want. Pick the second option only if the accounting record happened to carry the name you actually want to keep going forward, for example if it was entered more carefully than the operational record was.
Running the merge
The primary button reads Merge vendors. Click it once both pickers and the name choice are set the way you want.
While it runs, the button reads Merging… and everything on the panel is disabled: pickers, the name choice, the close control, all of it. An alert appears telling you to stay put:
In-progress alert:
Merging [source] into [target]
Stay on this screen until it finishes. Leaving does not cancel it.
That last sentence is deliberate: closing the panel or navigating away does not stop the merge. It keeps running on the server regardless. Staying on the screen just means you see it finish.
When it completes
On success, an alert confirms what moved:
Success alert:
Merge complete
3 bills and 1 recurring template now belong to [target]. [Source] is now an inactive record pointing to it.
The panel then closes on its own. Back in the vendors list, the row that used to be the source is now shown inactive, with a note reading "Merged into [target]." so anyone who spots it later understands what happened. A toast also appears in the corner:
Toast:
Vendors merged
[Source] merged into [target].
What actually happens to bills and general ledger entries
Bills and recurring expense templates that pointed at the source now point at the target. Posted general ledger entries are updated the same way, to the surviving company. What does NOT happen: past entries are not rewritten in wording or reclassified into a different category, and nothing already posted is reversed or replaced. The merge changes which vendor a record belongs to, not the accounting history itself.
Every merge writes exactly one entry in the accounting audit log, naming who ran it and which two records were involved. That entry is permanent, the same as the merge itself.
When the merge is refused
If the source vendor has reimbursement history, the merge cannot run. Reimbursement history can only ever point at an accounting record, so it has nowhere to go if that record disappears into a merge. Instead of the usual panel, you will see a danger alert:
Refused alert:
This merge can't proceed
[Vendor] has 2 reimbursement(s) on record, and reimbursement history can only ever point at an accounting record, so it cannot follow this merge. Settle or reassign those reimbursements first, then try again. Nothing has changed: both records are exactly as they were before you opened this screen.
The Merge vendors button is disabled, and a note under it reads "Merge vendors is unavailable while this reason is showing."
To actually get past this: settle the outstanding reimbursements (mark them paid) or reassign them off this vendor, then reopen the merge panel. Once no reimbursement history remains on the source, the merge is allowed to run normally. Nothing about the two records changes while this alert is showing, so there is no cleanup needed if you decide not to proceed.