Merging duplicate customers or suppliers

Is the same customer or supplier in your contacts twice, for example after an import or because someone created the record again? Then merge the two records. All documents, payments and contact persons move to the record you keep, and the other record is archived.

⚠️ Merging cannot be undone. Check carefully which record you keep before you confirm.

Merging two records

1. Go to Contacts > Clients (or Suppliers)
2. Click the menu (…) next to the record that should disappear and choose Merge with…. You’ll find the same action at the top of that record’s detail page.
3. The Merge client (or Merge supplier) window opens. Under Merge into, choose the record you want to keep.
4. Check the overview This moves to the chosen record. It shows per type how much is moved: invoices, quotes, payments, contact persons, projects, registrations and more.
5. Click Merge

You get a confirmation that the record has been merged. If you started on the detail page, you then land on the record you kept.

What happens to the data

• Everything moves along: documents, payments, contact persons, projects, time and product registrations, sent emails and Peppol transmissions end up on the record you keep.
• The record you keep keeps its own details. Only fields that are still empty there (for example email address, phone or address) are filled in from the other record.
• Invoices and credit notes already sent stay unchanged. They still show the customer details from the moment they were sent.
• Recurring invoices and open quotes, pro formas and orders get the details of the record you keep.
• If one record was a customer and the other a supplier, the record you keep becomes both.
• The record that disappears is archived.

Two records with a different VAT number

If the records don’t have the same VAT number, the window shows the warning Different VAT number. Merging is then only correct if it really is the same customer. In that case the bank account, Peppol details, identification details and links with other software are not copied over.

If you’re sure, tick I confirm this is the same customer and merge at my own risk. Only then can you merge.

Cleaning up possible duplicates in one go

When NumNum finds records with the same VAT number, a message appears above your client or supplier list, such as “There are 3 groups of records with the same VAT number. These may be duplicates.”

1. Click Review duplicates
2. The Possible duplicates window shows each group’s records with their number of documents. For each group, choose which record to Keep. By default, the record with the most documents is selected.
3. Click Merge group and confirm. The other records in the group are merged into the record you keep, and archived.

If they are not duplicates, for example two branches with the same VAT number, click Not duplicates. That group then no longer appears as a possible duplicate.

If there are many groups, you see part of them at a time. The next ones appear once you’ve handled the first.

💡 Tip: With the global search (Ctrl/Cmd+K) you go straight to Merge duplicate clients or Merge duplicate suppliers.

Who can merge?

You need the right to edit and delete clients (or suppliers). Because all linked data moves along, you also need edit rights on the modules that hold that data, such as invoices or quotes. If a right is missing, the window tells you which modules are involved. If a record is both a client and a supplier, you need the rights on both.

Is a merge recorded?

Yes. Every merge is recorded in your file’s log: who merged, when, which records were involved and what moved. You can’t open that log yourself in the app. The support team can consult it, and so can your accountant or distributor if they manage your file.

Doubts about a merge? Contact us at help@numnum.be.

Want to avoid duplicates when importing? Read How can I import my existing customers?