Merge bank account

Hey there, @user98303.

Thanks for reaching out to the Community for support. I'm happy to lend a helping hand with merging your new bank account. 

Please know merging accounts is permanent. You can't undo this later on. When you merge an account, all the data moves into the one you want to keep and removes the duplicate. I've included the steps to merge accounts below. 

1. Choose Accounting on the left menu and click on Chart of Accounts.
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2. Look for the account you want to keep. Then, click the drop-down arrow next to View register and select Edit.
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3. Take note of the account details and click Cancel.
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4. Look for the account you want to merge. Then, click the drop-down arrow next to View register and select Edit.
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5. Change the account name and click Save.
6. Choose Yes to confirm the merging process.

That's all there is to it. You can see more details in Merge accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns by hitting the Reply button below. You can reach out to the Community at any time. Take care! 

I merged 2 bank accounts.  When I did, QB said all transactions would be uncleared. My orig bank goes all the way back to 1998.  When I reconciled I had thousands of entries not cleared - they were originally.  How do I mark all those previous transactions as cleared.  They are not on my current bank statement.

Thanks!

Bob Clark 

I’m here to assist you with these previous transactions, Bob.

Since the transactions aren’t on your current bank statement, you may consider ignoring them. These uncleared transactions are results of the merging process.

Please know that merging accounts in QuickBooks Online (QBO) will move all past transactions to the account you want to keep. If the account has reconciliation reports, make sure you've saved them. This way, transactions remain on the merged account and stay reconciled.

You can also reach out to your accountant for additional advice to ensure your records remains accurate.

Here’s information that can help organize your chart of accounts in QuickBooks. It provides tips to ensure everything is correct and easier for you to access financial data.

In addition, our QuickBooks Resources Center provides ways to help grow and manage your business. You can sign up by entering your email address so you’ll get the latest news.

I'm always here to help if you have other banking questions or concerns. Just press the Reply button to add your comment. Take care!

I just used this process because my bank updated there system and it had me re-add my bank to QB. After I merged it added the cash balances together. How do I update it?

Thanks for joining in the thread, sperez47.

Yes, that's correct. When you merge accounts, the data, including balances, is transferred to the account you want to keep.

To be clear, do you mean updating your bank account information in QuickBooks? If so, you can do it on the Banking page. I'll show you how.

1. Click Banking from the left menu.
2. Select the Edit ✎ icon for the bank account you want to update.
3. Choose Edit account info.
4. Enter your updated bank info and hit Save and connect.
5. Once you see a confirmation message, click I'm done, Let's go!

Once your bank account information is updated, QuickBooks will automatically download the most recent available transactions. After that, you can categorize, match, or add them to the bank register.

Should you need any additional assistance managing your bank transactions, please leave a comment below. I'll be sure to get back to you.

Hi!

I've tried multiple times to merge two bank accounts (I imported transaction and it copied the accounts). I really don't want to have to redo 15 pages of these manually. Each time I go to the "save" where I except to see "merge accounts", it keeps on telling me constantly that the account already exists and I need to pick another account number, it never asks me if I want to merge. It's very frustrating! I'm using Quickbooks Online. Help! 

Hello there, DirofFin19.bank

It isn't the kind of experience we want you to come across. Let's fix the error message you get when merging accounts.

The system won't let you use the same bank account name twice. If you want to use the same name, you can add either a number or a special character to differentiate it from the other.

From there, you can merge the accounts. I've added this reference as your guide about the process:  Merge accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online. 

Don't hesitate to let me know if you have other payroll concerns and questions about managing employees in QBO Payroll 

I had the same issue that when I clicked on merge account, it asked me to use a different account number. Its not the bank account number but the actual GL account number. 

Thank you for posting here in the Community, @m6666.

Let's get your bank account merged so you can get back to working order.

To get started, let's try removing the GL account number and merging the two accounts. Once you're done merging, enter the GL account number again.

If you get the same result, let's log in to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account using a private browser. The browser you're using may have a data issue, thus causing QuickBooks to act weirdly. To do so, press this shortcut key on your keyboard:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Option + P

Once logged in, go back and merge your bank account again. If this works, you need to clear the browser's cache so the system can start fresh. If you get the same result while using a private browser, I suggest switching to a different one.

If the issue persists, I recommend contacting our QuickBooks Support Team. This way, they can further investigate this matter and provide other troubleshooting steps to get this resolved.

Just in case you need help organizing your chart of accounts, you can check out this article for more information: Chart of Accounts.

Come back to this post if you have other concerns or follow-up questions about merging accounts. I'll be around to provide further assistance.

When I follow these instructions there is no option to click "yes" to merge the accounts. The two accounts turn red and the warning box at the top tells me to use a different name. 

Thanks for considering the steps shared above, ssaint. I'm here to provide a few reasons why the Yes, merge accounts option doesn't show up. Then, ensure you can proceed with the merging process smoothly.

An error that asks you to use a different name occurs when combining two accounts is because of the following:

• Accounts with different account types and detail types.
• Subaccounts with different parent accounts.
• Accounts that  are connected to online banking.
• Merging default accounts to the one you created in the system.
  

To avoid getting this error, ensure you're only merging accounts you manually created (not the default accounts or accounts created by the system when you start using QuickBooks). Also, accounts should have similar account types and detail types. To gather more information about the things you need to consider before performing the merging process, I recommend visiting this article: Learn how to merge and keep your accounts organized.

Afterward, find the account you want to keep and edit it. Note the Save account under (Account Type), Account name (Name), and Tax form section (Detail Type) of the account must be the same between the accounts you want to merge. Once done, you should get the  Yes, merge accounts option to complete  the process.

Here's an article that tackles about handling accounts in the Chart of Accounts (COA): Learn about account types in the chart of accounts.

Keeping your accounts and other data organized is my priority. Please know that you're always welcome to post your other concerns about managing accounts in QuickBooks. Take care and stay safe.

I'm getting an error when merging accounts "can't merge this account because it is reserved for a default account" it was there when we began (I didn't create this account, but an entire payroll (100 checks) went into the wrong account.  When I added a few manually so I can reconcile the main checking account (the correct account) it is recording the payroll expense twice, so that number is going to be off if I do it that way.  Payroll is our largest expense, this had been a nightmare to figure out.  I have recreated the entire year and don't want to lose my work, we began in April, so I can't reconcile the checks that have come out of the bank account in early May without doing this! Even a general entry is going to through the figures off of payroll expense. 

Thanks for joining this thread, Polly M. I'm here to provide additional information about merging accounts and tracking your payroll expenses in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Based on your statement, it seems that you've selected a default account to track your payroll transactions. Thus, it can't be merged into your main checking account as it is a default account or account created by the system when you start using QuickBooks. Refer to this article for more details: Manage default and special accounts in your QuickBooks Online chart of accounts.

Moreover, system-generated transactions like Payroll Checks can't be moved directly to another account. As a workaround, you can create a journal entry or transfer the funds to the correct checking account instead of recreating the checks, so it won't record the payroll expense twice.

However, if you prefer to create a journal entry, I recommend seeking assistance from your accountant to ensure that it will be recorded appropriately and to avoid messing up your data. Follow the steps below to generate a journal entry:

1. Click the + New button.
2. Under Other, select Journal entry.
3. Complete the adjustment information.
4. Select Save and close.

You can visit this article to guide you through the steps: Create journal entries in QuickBooks Online.

Also, here's an article to learn more about updating your payroll accounting settings in QBO to ensure you're tracking payroll expenses to the correct account: Change your accounting preferences in QuickBooks Online Payroll.

I'm always around to lend a hand if you need more help managing your payroll data or anything else related to QuickBooks. Have a good one!

I followed those steps exactly but QB did not merge the two bank accounts.

I follow the steps exactly but QB did not merge the accounts. 

Thanks for joining us here in the Community, @Art253. 
 

We appreciate you following the steps given in the thread. We'll ask a few questions to help you resolve this as soon as possible. First, have you encountered an error message while merging the banks? If so, can you provide us with a screenshot of the error message? We'd also like to know what bank you're trying to merge.
 

Please let us know through the reply button. We'd be more than happy to assist you.