Merge Person Accounts

Follow these steps to merge duplicate person accounts. With this tool, you can combine up to three person accounts while retaining specific field data from each record. Merging accounts avoids the frustration around deleting accounts while trying to retain important details.

You can specify one of the person accounts as the master record, which becomes the primary record for that individual.

Need to see more than just the standard fields while merging to ensure the proper account is set as the master record? Learn how to Customize the Fields Shown When Merging Duplicate Person Accounts

How the Person Account History is Preserved

In Nimble AMS, all historical records related to the account including memberships, affiliations, notes, files, and activities are all retained when merging multiple person accounts.

Let's say you are merging three person accounts: Richard Banks , Ricky Banks, and Rich Banks. With Richard as the Master Account, all the historical records from the non-master person accounts (Ricky and Rich) are conveniently re-associated to Richard's record, so his entire history from all three records are preserved. Additionally, a task record is created and associated to Richard's record, which includes the names and IDs of the non-master records (Ricky and Rich). The task serves as a historical record that the merge happened.

Some information, such as field history and Chatter posts, are removed from the non-master accounts. Read more in the Considerations at the bottom of the page.

If you relate an object to the account using a master-detail field, you must select Reparentable Master Detail when configuring that field. This ensures related records can be retained when merging multiple person accounts. Learn more Custom Field Types.

How to Merge Person Accounts

To change which fields display on step 1 and/or step 2 of this process, Customize the Fields Shown When Merging Duplicate Person Accounts.

User Permissions Needed

Access to the NU.Merge Visualforce page

Create, Edit, Delete access for Accounts and Contacts

For ease of use, a managed permission set labeled "Account Merge" can also be added to specific user profiles, rather than adding individual permissions.

From an individual account, in the Accounts Links section, click Merge Duplicates.
Select the accounts you want to merge (up to three at a time) and click Next.
Select the Master Record, which is the primary account that the other accounts will be merged into.

Read the Considerations at the bottom of this page if you need some guidance as to which account to select.
For each field, select the data you want to preserve.

Fields highlighted in blue indicate field values that differ between the accounts.
Click Merge.

We recommend you review the history records on the resultant person account record and handle any that are duplicates. Common examples include deactivating duplicate affiliations or canceling duplicate orders.

Considerations

Consideration	Description
Business Accounts Follow Different Steps	These steps are specifically for merging person accounts. For business accounts, learn how to Merge Business Accounts.
You can Merge up to Three Person Accounts at a Time	No more than three person accounts can be merged at one time. If you have more, just repeat the process.
Only the User Associated with the Master Record is Preserved	The user record associated with the account you deem the `Master Record` is preserved; any user records associated with non-master records are permanently disabled.
Only Chatter Posts on the Master Record are Preserved	Posts by staff on non-master records are not preserved. Posts made by users associated with the non-master accounts will remain associated with the deactivated accounts.
Only Follows on the Master Record are Preserved	If staff are only following a non-master record, they will not automatically be reassigned to follow the master record.
Only Field History on the Master Record is Preserved	Field history from the non-master records are not preserved.
Duplicate Field Names Prevent Merging	You cannot merge accounts when account fields from different packages have the same API name, even when the namespace is different.
You are Warned when Records Can't be Merged	If records are unable to be merged, staff are notified that account information for the non-master accounts will be lost. They can then choose to continue with the merge or cancel it.