Forum Discussion

RobNob's avatar
RobNob
Experienced Cover User
5 years ago

Delete unused accounts

I have a few accounts I wish to delete but the message says "An account with journal entries may not be deleted."  The last time I created a journal for any of these accounts is back in early 2018.  ...
delete accounts
  • Emily_B's avatar
    Emily_B
    5 years ago

    Hello RobNob1 and/or RobNob 

     

    I do see where you are coming from and on the surface I don't believe that would be an issue. However, I am hesitant to give specific advice as to what you have suggested without knowing how your accounts are set up, what sort of transactions are linked, any other parameters particular to your business, etc. I do suggest taking a backup of your current file and then testing your method; if it has any detrimental effects you will have the original setup saved. You can also play around in the sample file, Clearwater, and see if you can replicate an account or two and test the change/rename.

Emily_B's avatar
Emily_B
Former Staff

Hello RobNob 

 

Unfortunately as indicated, an account that has been used in a transaction won't be able to be deleted. However, the suggestion to combine accounts may work for you. For example, if you have 2 bank accounts and an inventory account that are no longer required and are inactive, you could merge them into one so that you just have one unused account in your list instead of three. 

 

On top of that, your thinking was correct in that you could rename the defunct account(s) and sort the list accordingly so that they appear at the bottom. Go to the blue arrow in the Account Reconciliation Review window and rename the account number ending to something not in use, like -999. Once you've changed the name and closed out of the company auditor it should appear when you go back in. You should then be able to sort the list so the accounts you want to hide are at the bottom of the list so you don't have to search through them every time. 

RobNob1's avatar
RobNob1
Contributing User
5 years ago

Thanks Emily, but I was hoping to be more radical with renumbering the offending account.  My thought is to change the number to an income or expense account - ie so to remove it from the balance sheet, because the balance sheet seems to insist in showing ZERO accounts, whereas P&L accounts do NOT.  And then, at some time in the future, I could label that account as an expense or income account.

But I'm still a bit worried that such a move might impact something I haven't considered.

  • Emily_B's avatar
    Emily_B
    Former Staff
    5 years ago

    Hello RobNob1 and/or RobNob 

     

    I do see where you are coming from and on the surface I don't believe that would be an issue. However, I am hesitant to give specific advice as to what you have suggested without knowing how your accounts are set up, what sort of transactions are linked, any other parameters particular to your business, etc. I do suggest taking a backup of your current file and then testing your method; if it has any detrimental effects you will have the original setup saved. You can also play around in the sample file, Clearwater, and see if you can replicate an account or two and test the change/rename.

    • RobNob's avatar
      RobNob
      Experienced Cover User
      5 years ago

      Good advice.  Thanks Emily!

    • RobNob1's avatar
      RobNob1
      Contributing User
      5 years ago

      Duh! I should have checked this earlier, but I now find that MYOB doesn't allow me to change the account number from 1- to something else.  It's locked in to the asset range and can't be changed.  That's not how it was in Premier some years ago :(  very dissapointed!

      • Emily_B's avatar
        Emily_B
        Former Staff
        5 years ago

        Hello RobNob1 

         

        I apologise, in re-reading the last few posts I see that I should have been more clear and also misunderstood what you aimed to do. The -9999 was meant to indicate the last four digits on the account, not the initial code of 1, 2, 3, etc. which cannot be changed, nor can the initial label of Income, Expense, Liability, etc. I do apologise for the misleading information there. 

         

        Realising this workaround is not ideal for you, I would direct you to the AccountRight Ideas Exchange where another user posted on the same topic in June. You can comment and show support for this idea and this is where developers are able to view user feedback directly for consideration in future updates.

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