How to Merge Vendors in QuickBooks Online

Merging vendors with QuickBooks Online is a handy mechanism that you can use to tidy your list of vendors, when the same business organisation has a duplicate record. It is a simple procedure that can ensure proper records are kept and chaos is avoided. The merging of vendors cannot be done with a single button and one can do this by simply editing the name of one of the vendors.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO) there is no direct vendor version of the merge feature that can be used with accounts or customers. The same result can be attained by editing and renaming a single vendor to reflect that of the other thus grouping all past transactions under the new and single vendor name.

Why should you Merge Vendors in QuickBooks?

They are important because it should be the goal of every company to have a clean and accurate accounting system by merging vendors. Multiple vendors may cause a number of issues:

Imporper Reporting

Suppose payment is made to two separate records on the same vendor, your reports then would not give a proper picture of the expenditure you had with a particular account. This may cause poor analysis and budgeting.

Lost Time

There is time waste involved in multiple-vendor profiles on searching transaction and reconciliation.

Duplicate Entries

Duplication of entries may lead to confusion in your books and those of any other person who may be working with your books, thus causing errors in data entry and payment processing.

The Process of Merging Vendors in QuickBooks Online

Merging vendors within QBO concerns its essence as there are two steps to be followed to make one vendor inactive and assign his or her transactions to another vendor.

Select the Primary Vendor

Find the vendor that you desire to retain. This will be the active record which will absorb all the transactions of the duplicate. In many cases this is the most complete or current information the vendor can provide.

Mark the Duplicate Vendor as Inactive

The duplicate vendor, which is the one you do not want to keep on should be marked inactive. A vendor containing transactions cannot be deleted, however, deactivating them can be used to effectively remove the vendor from your active vendor list.

Transfer Transactions

If there are any historical transactions (bills, payments etc.) when you make a vendor inactive, QBO will ask you whether you want to transfer transactions to a new, active vendor. Here you will select the first step or so you settled on in the initial step. QBO will then transfer all the data of inactive vendor to that of an active one.

How to Merge Vendors in QuickBooks Online

Here is a step by step guide to tell you how to go about it:

Step 1: Log in to QuickBooks Online

The first thing to do would be to access your account on the QuickBooks Online platform by entering your credentials. To see more than one company, you have to make sure that it is the appropriate company you have chosen by filling in the company drop-down menu.

Step 2: Navigate to the Vendor Center

Log in and visit the Vendor Center. To access this, use the following steps: Click on Expenses on the left-hand navigation bar and click on Vendors. This will show the list of all the vendors in your company file.

Step 3: List Duplicate Vendors

Check your vendor list, so you can cross out duplicates. Duplicates are most frequently caused by typing errors, variations in addresses or name variations (e.g. “Ace Hardware” and “Ace Hardware Inc.”). It is important to determine which of the vendors has any past transactions that you may wish to retain and the one that you wish to bring into it.

Step 4: Choose a Vendor to be merged

Select the vendor to be deleted (the one with the wrong name or less number of transactions) and then tap the name of that vendor. This will either take you to the vendor’s profile.

Step 5: Update Vendor Info

On the profile of the vendor, there will be a button labeled as Edit and is normally located on the top right corner. This will allow you to modify their information.

Step 6: Vendor Name Update

One proven technique to combine the two vendors is to rename the duplicate vendor to the primarily vendor’s name. As an example, in the event of wanting to merge the name of the respondent Dancing Digits and change it to Dancing Digits, you will edit the Dancing Digits and change the name to Dancing Digits. QBO will appreciate that you now have this change and remind you of the possibility to merge.

Step 7: Other information Update

During editing, you can also update other information such as the address, email, or phone number so as to maintain consistency of the information. That is an excellent chance to clear out any other inaccuracy.

Step 8: Validate and Save

Once you have modified the vendor’s name, click “Save.” A pop-up window will then appear with the option to combine the duplicate vendor. It will advise you that all the related transactions will be swapped to the new and merged vendor.

9. Confirm the Merge

Click to confirm the merge by clicking yes or the equivalent button. The two vendors and the associated transactions will then be combined by QuickBooks.

10. Review the List of Vendors

Once again, in your list of vendors you can check that the duplicate vendor is no longer there. The entry of that vendor should now only be recorded once and all the past dealings will be placed under one single label.

Key Decisions That Have to Be Made Before Merging

• Irreversibility: Vendor merging is without the way back. Merging with them does not allow un-merging with them, so be sure about which vendors you wish to merge.
• Transactions: The merge consists of all the historical transactions such as bills, expenses and payments. This information of the secondary vendor will now be linked to the main vendor.
• Attachments: Notes or attachment made to the secondary vendor may not accompany it. It is considered a good practice to do a check of this prior to merging.
• Connected Apps: In case there are some third-party applications that are connected to QuickBooks online and use the data of the vendors, merging may interfere with them. One should check the effects on these apps in advance.

Through these simple steps and taking these considerations into account, you will successfully and safely be able to merge duplications of vendor entries in QuickBooks Online.

Although QuickBooks Online does not include a special button to merge the vendors, the renaming and consolidation combine the same objectives. This will enable you to clean up your vendor list, have accurate financial reporting, and simplify your bookkeeping job. One of the best practices that should be used in maintaining a healthy and organized set of books is by regularly reviewing and consolidating duplicate vendors.

---

Frequently Asked Questions