Can I Merge Sales and Purchase Ledger Accounts?

Duplicate accounts in the sales or purchase ledger can cause confusion, misreporting, and administrative inefficiency. A common question from users is whether it's possible to merge two ledger accounts within Navigator to tidy up these duplicates.

This article explains why merging is not supported in Navigator and outlines the correct process for dealing with duplicate accounts using credit notes, invoices, and account status settings.

Can Accounts Be Merged in Navigator?

No - Navigator does not support merging sales or purchase ledger accounts. Once transactions have been recorded against an account, they are part of the system’s audit trail and cannot be transferred or consolidated automatically.

However, you can effectively remove a duplicate account by:

• Reversing its balance with a credit note

• Reallocating that value to the correct account via an invoice

• Closing or retiring the unused account to prevent further use

How to Handle Duplicate Accounts

Step 1: Transfer the Balance

If one account contains an open balance (e.g. credit, outstanding invoice, or payment), follow this process:

1. Raise a credit note on the account you wish to remove. This clears the balance.

2. Post an invoice to the correct account using the same value. This reallocates the transaction to the account you intend to keep.

This approach ensures the financial entries remain balanced and auditable.

For Sales Ledger Accounts

After transferring the balance:

1. Go to the Terms tab of the account you no longer need.

2. Choose one of the following options:

   • Set the account as Closed to stop further use.

   • Delete the account if it has no remaining transactions or audit dependencies.

This helps to prevent future sales being posted to the incorrect or obsolete account.

For Purchase Ledger Accounts

After reallocating the balance:

1. Open the account you wish to remove.

2. Go to the Details tab.

3. Tick the Retire Account option.

4. Press Save to confirm.

This will mark the account as inactive while preserving its historical transactions.