Merge duplicate vendors / accounts / departments / customers

You can merge active list items (vendors, departments, chart of accounts (coa), customers, etc.) in Bill.com, but note that merges don't sync.

Note: If you encounter a Only BILL administrators are able to merge the vendor error, please contact Customer Support. Alternatively, you can guide an Administrator user on Bill.com to perform the merge.

Things to know before you merge

• Do NOT merge Items. This will cause invoices tied to the Items to be marked unpaid, in some cases.
• Do NOT merge Bank type chart of accounts. This will cause payments tied to the bank to be voided and recreated, in some cases.
• Merge in the accounting system first if there is a duplicate there as well; this will avoid accidental deletion in the accounting system, should you merge in Bill.com first and sync in the middle of these steps.

Steps to merge

1. Go to the merge duplicates screen for the record type, and make sure both records that you want to merge are active:
   • Vendors:
     • Select Vendors
     • On the vendor tab, select the check boxes for the duplicate vendors
     • Select Merge
   • Customers:
     • Select Customers
     • Select the more options dots ⋮ next to Add customer
     • Select Merge customers
   • Chart of Accounts:
     • Select Settings
     • Select Chart of Accounts
     • Select Merge Duplicates
   • Departments:
     • Select Settings
     • Select Classifications
     • Select Departments
     • Select Merge Duplicates
2. Select 2 records you want to merge. You can only merge 2 records at a time; if you have 3 or more, merge 2 first and then repeat the process
3. Select Next
4. Select the record to keep after the merge. (Use tips below for field selections)
5. Select Merge

All of the data selected in the merge, and all transactional data (bills, bill payments, invoices, and invoice payments), will merge into one active record. The other record will be inactivated.

Tips on which fields to keep:

• Record to Keep: For vendors, if there are different Pay by methods, and for Customers if there are different Linked to BILL Network Values, use the tips in the fields below. Otherwise, select the radio dial in the column with the Accounting Integration ID you are keeping.
  • Linked to BILL Network?: If this field shows Yes, select the Keep this Record radial dial, in the Record to Keep Field, in this column
  • Pay By: For Vendor Merging, if this field shows ePayment, select the Keep this Record radial dial, in the Record to Keep Field, in this column
  • Allow Export: Where allowed, select Yes
  • Clear Old Transaction: Where allowed, select No
  • Accounting Integration ID:
    • If one of the records has an Accounting Integration ID and the other does not, then in most situations, you want to keep the recommended default of picking the Integration ID which is not blank. This ensures that the vendor is properly synced with the accounting system. A situation where you would keep the blank integration id is if you need a new vendor created, for example, you are getting an object cannot be found sync error, and the object number matches the Accounting Integration ID.
    • If neither record has an Accounting Integration ID then select the one which has read-only fields that you want to keep. For example, if one vendor's Pay by field is ePayment and the other is check but all other fields match, then select Record to Keep for the column that has ePayment to ensure that the vendor record that's kept active after the merge retains the ePayment Pay by method. If fields do not match, select one record to keep but select each specific field you wish to retain.
    • If both records have an "Accounting Integration ID" then depending on the accounting system you may need to do some updates to determine which record you want to keep. For example, if both records came from QuickBooks and have the same name and other identifiable information, make a small change to the vendor address in QuickBooks (i.e. adding an asterisk to the street address) and then sync. Now you can determine which record you want to keep in the Bill.com merge screen.
• Fields that can't be selected during the merge will be retained with the record that they are associated with.

Things to remember:

• Only user roles with Manage permissions can merge a list item. For example, a user must have the Manage Vendor permission to merge vendors.
  • When merging vendors, if both records have payments and bills, an Administrator will have to complete the merge in order for all records to be moved to one profile.