Using the Find and Merge utility
Two utilities have been added to the Utilities Menu: ‘Find and Merge Locations’ and ‘Find and Merge Billing Accounts’. These utilities display possible duplicate locations and billing accounts for inspection and possible merge. Duplicate accounts may have been created in the past because of user failure to locate an existing customer account during call taking or customer search. There was also a data conversion problem that made it likely duplicate customers were being created during the call taking process and a bug in the merge process that sometimes left multiple carbon copies for the same location or billing account.
Open the Main Menu (21 button), select ‘Setup’, select ‘Utilities’, select ‘Maintenance tools…’, and select either ‘Find and Merge Locations’ or ‘Find and Merge Billing Accounts’.
It is important to note that this utility displays potential candidates for merge. It is important that each item is evaluated carefully before merging. Once accounts are merged the ‘Merge From’ account is permanently deleted from the database. It is possible that some accounts that are displayed should not be merged. Multiple carbon copies should be corrected from either the Location Details or Billing Account Details form when merging is not the correct solution.
To merge the selected candidates, right click and select Merge selected record…, OR select an entry and press Enter, OR double click an entry. Inspect the two accounts carefully, and if you are sure you want to merge them, select Merge à, or ß Merge, depending on which merge direction is appropriate. If you select an inappropriate merge direction based on the current carbon copy setting, then you will get a warning message. You can still override this warning and merge, if necessary. If you are not sure whether the accounts should be merged, do not merge right away. You can search for the accounts through the Customer Search or Receivables Manager, research the detail on the accounts, and merge later when you are certain which of the two accounts you want to keep.
· View A: Identical names and addresses
o This view lists any accounts that have identical Last Name, Company Name, and Address Line 1. These accounts most likely are really the same account and should probably be merged.
· View B: Multiple carbon copies.
o This view lists any accounts that have multiple carbon copy links. If the Last Name, Company Name, and Address Line 1 are identical, these accounts most likely are really the same account and should probably be merged. If not, these accounts may not be duplicates and should be corrected through other means – i.e. modify the carbon copy settings in the Location Details or Billing Account Details form.
· To change views
o Right click, select ‘Select View’, and select the desired view.
· To print the displayed list of candidates
o Right click and select ‘Print Grid’.