Lesson 9.2: Managing Duplicate and Merged Names
Maintaining a clean database is essential for accurate financial reporting and effective communication. Over time, it is common for duplicate records to appear—perhaps a vendor was entered as “Office Depot” by one user and “Office Depot Inc.” by another. FastFund Online provides specific utilities to identify these duplicates and merge them into a single record without losing transaction history.
This lesson covers how to generate reports to find duplicate names and email addresses, and how to use the Merge Names utility to consolidate records.
1. Identifying Potential Duplicates
FastFund provides two specific tools to help you hunt down duplicate records before you attempt to merge them.
Generating the Duplicate Names Report This utility scans your entire database (Clients, Vendors, Other Names, Constituents, Employees) using a similarity algorithm to find names that look alike.
1. Navigate: Go to Utilities > Data Management > Duplicate Names.
2. Generate: Click the Generate Report button.
3. Process: Because scanning the entire database can take time, this report runs as a background process. You do not need to wait on the screen.
4. Result: Once the scan is complete, the system will email a CSV file containing the potential duplicates to your user email address. Use this spreadsheet to identify which Entity IDs need to be merged.
[INSERT SCREENSHOT: The Duplicate Names utility window with the Generate Report button]
Generating the Duplicate Emails List Shared email addresses can cause issues, particularly if you use FastFund Raising or import transactions, as the system often uses email addresses to match donors or customers.
1. Navigate: Go to Utilities > Data Management > Duplicate Emails.
2. Review: The screen immediately displays a list of all records that share the same email address.
◦ Note: If a single entity (e.g., “John Smith”) is listed as both a Vendor and a Constituent with the same email, this is not a duplicate. This is a shared entity and is handled correctly by the system.
◦ True Duplicates: If you see two different Entity IDs with the same name and email, you likely have a duplicate that needs merging.
2. Merging Names
If you find a duplicate, you cannot simply delete the “bad” record if it has financial transactions (like checks or bills) attached to it. Instead, you must Merge the records. This process moves the history from the duplicate record to the master record.
What Moves vs. What Doesn’t:
• Moves: All financial transactions (invoices, receipts, checks) and Notes.
• Does NOT Move: Contact information (addresses, phone numbers, emails) and Codes from the “Merge From” record are not copied to the “Merge To” record.
◦ Tip: Before merging, manually copy any valid phone numbers or addresses from the duplicate record to the master record if they are missing.
The Merge Process:
1. Navigate: Go to Utilities > Data Management > Merge Names.
2. Select Type: Choose the Entity Type (e.g., Vendor, Client, Constituent).
3. Select “Merge From”: This is the duplicate record you want to remove. Start typing the name and select it from the list.
4. Select “Merge To”: This is the master record you want to keep. Select it from the list.
5. Delete Option: Check the box Delete After Merge. This ensures the empty duplicate record is removed from your database immediately after its transactions are moved.
6. Execute: Click the MERGE button.
3. Merge Constraints for Vendors and Clients
There is a strict rule when merging Vendors (Accounts Payable) or Clients (Accounts Receivable).
The Control Account Rule: You can only merge two Vendors or two Clients if they are linked to the same Control Account.
• Example: You cannot merge “Vendor A” (linked to 2000 – Accounts Payable) with “Vendor B” (linked to 2010 – Grants Payable).
• The Fix: If you receive an error message regarding control accounts, you must first go to the Vendor or Client list, edit the “Merge From” record, and change its Control Account to match the “Merge To” record. Once they match, you can proceed with the merge.