Cannot delete an account in chart of accounts - no account activity, no answers in community provide applicable solution.

HI!

I  HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. IF IT HELPS SOMEONE, YOU JUST NEED

SELECT THE ACCOUNT AND PRESS COMMAND(⌘)+D

I'm getting an error message " 

his account has a balance or is used in a transaction, an invoice item, or your payroll setup. It cannot be deleted." 

Quickbooks Desktop for Mac 2016

Yes you can. The first response gave the directions.

Do NOT right click on the account in question in the Chart of Accounts window.

1. Chart of Accounts window >highlight the account in question

2. Go to top of window and select Edit in the Navigation Bar > delete account

Now it's gone.

FYI... the Edit being referred to is the Edit in the Navigation Bar, all the way at the top of the window.

Quickbooks  File Edit Lists

once account in question is highlighted go to Edit and delete account

It's good to see you here in the Community, @jane-quade.

I appreciate you sharing a handy resolution on deleting an account in QuickBooks for Mac. I'm sure it could help a lot of customers having a similar issue.

Please know that the Community has your back, and I'd be glad to help if you ever need further assistance. Also, you are always welcome to share your best practices about QuickBooks with us. Cheering you to continued success!

I am using Mac Air laptop. I have tried the solution mentioned but it does not work. First, I am not sure what is the right way to highlight the account, since when I move my mouse out of the account, the account does not seem to be highlighted. Second, when I go to Edit --> delete in the navigation menu of Chrome, it does nothing.

Thanks for posting here in the Community, @luckytiger1997. 

It could be the data in your Mac Air company file is damaged. This might be the reason the system does nothing when you delete an account. 

To help fix this, let’s first make sure your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac is updated. This improves the program functionality and fix known issues with the software. 

Second, let's open a sample company file to isolate the issue. This way, we can determine if this is specific to program or with the file. Here’s how: 

1. Close your QuickBooks.
2. Open it back.
3. Choose Open a sample file in the No Company Open window.

Once the sample file opened, go back to the Chart of Accounts menu. Then, highlight the account so you can delete it. If it works, let’s run the verify and rebuild utilities within the affected company file. The Verify Data utility identifies all the errors. The Rebuild Data utility fixes these errors. 

To run the first utility: 

1. Go to File at the top menu. 
2. Select Utilities.
3. Choose Verify Data.
4. If you see QuickBooks detected no problem with your data, choose OK. 

To run the second utility: 

1. Go to File at the top menu. 
2. Select Utilities.
3. Choose Rebuild Data.
4. On the QuickBooks Information window, select OK.
5. Click OK when you see the message, “Rebuild has completed”.

For detailed steps, go through this article: Resolve Data Damage On Your Company File. 

You can visit this PDF article: QuickBooks Desktop for Mac User's Guide. You can effectively manage your accounts by going to Chapter 3 in this guide. Also, this lets you learn more about the features of the Mac version. 

Just leave a reply below if you need further assistance. I'll gladly help, @luckytiger1997. 

I may not be clear in my message. I am using QuickBooks online, not desktop. Does it make a difference?

Hello, @luckytiger1997.

I'd be pleased to help you today so you'll be able to delete an account in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

You can make the account inactive to delete it under the Chart of Accounts. For the steps:

1. Log in to your QBO account.
2. Go to the Gear icon.
3. Select Chart of Accounts under Your Company.
4. Look for the account you want to delete under the Chart of Accounts page.
5. Click on the drop-down arrow under Action.
6. Select Make inactive.

For more insights about removing accounts in QBO, you can check this article: Remove accounts you no longer use.

You can also read this article for your future reference about organizing accounts under the chart of account in QBO: How to organize your chart of accounts.

Keep posted if you have any other questions about deleting accounts in QBO. I'm always here to help!

Quickbooks Desktop - Deleting an Account in Chart of Accounts:

Open Chart of Accounts

Click on (Highlight) the Account you want to Delete

Go to Edit at the Top of your Screen

Scroll Down and Click Delete

I have the same issue, and I have not been able to delete it!

Thanks for joining this thread, fospino.

Are you using QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop? Users in this thread use different versions so let me share different steps on how to delete an account.

In QuickBooks Online, we can only make an account inactive. If it has a balance, QuickBooks automatically creates a journal entry to zero it out.

1. Go to the Accounting menu and select Chart of accounts.
2. Find the account you want to delete.
3. Select the Action dropdown and click Make inactive.

The same thing for QuickBooks Desktop. You can't delete it if it has a balance or you used it in at least one transaction. You'll be prompted to make it inactive instead.

1. From the Lists menu, select Chart of Accounts.
2. Right-click on the account that you want to delete.
3. Select Delete Account, then OK.

These steps are for QuickBooks Desktop for Mac:

1. From the Lists menu, select Chart of Accounts.
2. Select the account you want to delete.
3. Go to the Edit menu and select Delete Account.
4. Tap OK.

If you need articles on how to manage your Chart of Accounts, please check these links:

• Add, edit, or delete accounts in QuickBooks Desktop
• Delete an account on your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online

Keep on posting here if you need anything else. Take care!

make inactive is NOT the equivalent to delete. Quit screwing around and allow your customers to delete customers/vendors/accounts in QBO. You know it can be done and is easy. Get it done.

Intuit does not allow you to delete customers/vendors/accounts etc.  It is a severe limitation of QBO.  Sadly, they could easily allow deletes, but they don't.  I don't know why, and they won't comment.  I do know that Intuit does not listen to its customers, and no matter how much you ask for this, or any change, they will do only what they want.  These forums are filled with customers begging for simple, logical changes year-over-year that never get fulfilled.

Note: Quickbooks Online is vastly inferior to Quickbooks Desktop, yet costs much more $$.  Consider switching to the desktop version, or picking a competing online bookkeeping software that values feedback from their customers - you'll likely save money too.

Nope - this doesn't work for me. The x next to the inactive account turns red and it cannot be deleted. If I make it Active, same thing happens

Thanks for following along with the thread, @rfc325. I'm here to chime in and share some insights about your concern with making an account inactive.

If you're using QuickBooks Desktop, we're unable to delete an account. We can only do so if:

• It doesn't have subaccounts. If it has subaccounts, you need to delete or move them to another parent account first.
• You haven't used it in any transaction or linked it to any item.

Thus, we can only make it inactive. Here's how:

1. Go to the Lists menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
2. Right-click on the account you want to make inactive, then select Edit Account.
3. Select the Account is inactive checkbox.
4. Click Save & Close.

You can check out this article for more details: Add, edit, or delete accounts in QuickBooks Desktop.

In case you're using QuickBooks Online, the only option is to make it inactive. Here's a guide you can read through for the detailed step-by-step process: Make an account inactive on your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Let me know how it goes by leaving a reply below. The Community always has your back. Take care always.