Somehow I began using a cash account instead of connected bacnk account for the cash side of payroll. Help suggests I can't merge the Cash and Bank accounts - true?

Hi there, Wiltshs.

Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community. I'll be sharing details on how merging accounts in QuickBooks Online works, Then, ensure you'll be able to accomplish your goal.

When you have two different accounts, you can merge them in QuickBooks Online. Please note that merging accounts is permanent and you can't undo this later on. However, doing this might mess things up if there's a transaction that doesn't need to be included in the bank that you want to keep.

Then, if you're merging accounts that have reconciliation reports, you'll need to save those reports first. The entries remain on the merged account and stay reconciled.

Here's how to merge accounts:

1. Click the Gear icon ⚙ select the Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account you want to keep. Then, select the dropdown arrow in the Action column and click Edit.
3. If you see the New category window instead of the Account window, you’re creating a subaccount. If you need to create a new parent account, switch to accountant view.
4. Please note the Account Type, Name, and Detail Type of the account. These must be the same as the accounts you want to merge. 
5. Check if the Is sub-account option is marked. If it is, notes the parent account it's tied to.

Once you have all the info you need for the account you want to keep. You can now handle the other account to ensure that merging is accurate. You can open this article to view additional details and to perform the process: Merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online.

Additionally, if merging isn't possible in your accounts, I reccomend separating the entries manually. This is to ensure that all transactions are transferred to the account that you want to utilize while using QuickBooks.

I'm adding this article so you'll be able to see how a chart of accounts handles a list of all the accounts that QuickBooks uses to track your financial information: Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

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

Hi there. Thanks for this but unfortunately QBO won't let me do this. I am not seeing quite the same thing as your instructions but it does recognize I am trying to merge accounts. I get the error shown in the attachment.

This "cash" account was somehow either created or started being used (and if I had to guess it is someone at QB Payroll that did it) despite having used the Novo Checking account for all of my prior payroll. I reset the Payroll Settings - Accounting - Bank Account back to Novo but I have these 7 stray transactions in this "cash" account so it doesn't get reconciled to the banking transactions. Is there some other way I can merge this Cash account into the Novo Checking account (which is an online account) so as to get all of the transactions in the same register? I can't edit them individually because they're all part of a payroll transaction.

Thanks!

Thank you for updating us and for the additional details, Wiltshs.

I will continue to help you with merging your cash and checking account, so you can proceed with reconciliation. By the way, I cannot see your screenshot in the thread.

Matching requires both accounts to have the same Type and Detail Type. Otherwise, you will have an error.

What you can do is edit your Cash account again, change the Detail Type to Checking, and name it as Novo Checking just like the setup of your existing Novo Checking account. When you click Save and close, you'll receive a warning saying you're changing the detail type. Just confirm it. Then, you’ll receive another warning that says the Novo Checking name is being used on another account and will be asked if you want to merge them. Just select Yes. That will do.

You can proceed to reconciliation after merging your accounts.

Feel free to share an update about this, so we can help you further if there's a need to. Take good care always!

Thank you everyone for the responses. However, I am still unable to merge these two accounts. There seem to be two problems (and it's odd, btw, that you can't see the screenshot, which seems to defeat the purposes of that feature...still).

When I look at the Chart Of Accounts in QBO, find the Cash account, and under Actions click Edit I do not get the screen you show. Instead, I get an Edit Category screen, which looks different and pops to the right. Since I don't see how to actually insert an image into this dialogue, I'll describe it:

It pops out to the right with the title of Edit Category.

The three fields in this panel are Category Name*, Account type*, and Description. There is also an option to "Move category under* Bank & credit cards.

When I change the Category name to Novo Checking, leave the Account type at Checking, and change the Description to be Primary Checking Account, which are the same values as the Novo account, I get the following red error at the top:

You can't merge any account with Novo Checking because it is reserved for a default account.

So either I am doing something wrong, that causes me to get to a different screen somehow (I'm just doing it from the Chart of Accounts), or something is misconfigured, or something else is wrong. The Novo account is connected to the bank which I thought might be the problem, but the error suggests otherwise. I do not know how to get the screen that you show in your answers (I am in QBO Simple Start).

Does any of that help? Do I need to move these categories under Banks & credit cards? Could that be the problem? My most recent payroll did put the entries in the right (Novo) account this time, so it is just this stray handful that went into this separate Cash account, and I just need them combined but can't recreate them because of the link to Payroll (unless there is some fancy way to do that behind the scenes).

Thank you for your help!

Minor update - I was able to see the screen above, bizarrely by first doing a Report from the Chart of Accounts first then click on the account (category) name in the report. Unfortunately, the result is the same message:

Update 2: I tried changing the Payroll cash account from Novo to Cash (something that QB Payroll must have done that caused this mess in the first place) but that did not change the error message. I cannot figure out what default purpose my primary checking account has.

I appreciate the updates and complete description you've provided above, @Wiltshs. I'll make sure to help you in completing your task of merging your accounts in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

You're already on the right track in merging your accounts. Based on how you describe your screen, I can tell that you're using the new QBO version when editing a category. Please see the screenshot below for your reference.

You're correct. The error you've encountered is due to your Novo account being connected to online banking. Default and those accounts connected to online banking can't be merged or deleted. With this, you can temporarily disconnect your account to merge it to the duplicate one. To do this, here's how:

1. Go to the Banking menu.
2. Select the Banking tab.
3. Choose the tile for the bank account.
4. Click on the Pencil ✎ icon, then select Edit account info.
5. Press the Disconnect this account on save checkbox. Note: If QuickBooks is downloading new transactions, you won't see this option. Wait a few minutes for the update to finish and try again.
6. Click Save and Close.

Once you're done, go ahead and merge your accounts. Please note that this process is permanent, and you're unable to undo this later on. For the step-by-step guide, you can refer to this article: Merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online. 

Then, reconnect your account to online banking if necessary. This way, you can download and categorize your transactions accordingly. Please check out this article for the complete details: Connect bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks Online.

Also, I would encourage you to reconcile your accounts every month. This will help you effectively monitor your transactions and detect any possible errors. For the step-by-step guide, I'd recommend checking out this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

Please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments if you have other banking concerns and questions about merging accounts and managing transactions in QBO. I'm always ready to help. Take care, and I wish you continued success, @Wiltshs.

Thanks for the rapid response Rea. I actually tried this and got exactly the same error. It seems this Novo account is some kind of default account for something but I cannot figure out what. The same error occurs when I try to merge. That is - I disconnected Novo from online banking, tried the merge following the directions given, and still get the same error about Novo checking being reserved for a default account, whatever that means.

So I have re-enabled online banking and am resetting all of the downloaded transactions, but I still have this "Cash" account. What is adding insult to injury for me, is that I can clearly see in the Audit Log, that this Cash account was created by "System Administration" during the payroll process operated by QBO "Full Service Payroll". That is - someone, or something, created that Cash account, directed payroll transactions to it, and essentially left these orphan transactions in that account (see attachment, if you can). 

Still, what would be a nice fix of merging the accounts is not something QBO will let me do. Is there any other solution - merge them back the other way? Merge them both into a new, third account? Create a Bank account, make them both subaccounts, then somehow merge them that way?

Thanks for the help!

Hello, Wiltshs.

I appreciate that you've followed my peers' response. When you create a company, QuickBooks Online creates specific accounts by default.  

In the chart of accounts, it’s important to understand that some of these default accounts can’t be changed. For reference in combining accounts in the Chart of Accounts, and which accounts you can edit, merge, or make inactive. Please see this article: Manage default and special accounts in your QuickBooks Online chart of accounts. 

You can also bookmark the reference, for other insights: Merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online.

However, if you get the same warning message after following the merging process in the article, you can reach the Customer Support team to investigate this further. They got the tools to review your account and pull up your account to conduct screen-share when needed.

Here's how:

1. Login to your QBO company, then open QB Assistant by clicking the Help menu.
2. Select Talk to a human. 
3. When asked, enter "getting an error message when merging accounts." 
4. Proceed with I still need a human.
5. Click the Get help from a human link.
6. Choose either Get a call back or Start a message.

Feel free to place a comment if you other concerns in QuickBooks. I'm ready to help anytime. Take care!

Thank you. I feel I've been pretty diligent, including reading all about Default Accounts. But nothing in the documentation explains what that default account might be for, I think that's what's troubling. None of the documentation explains why my only banking (checking) account would be a default for anything. I get Sales, Services, Undeposited Accounts, etc but not this banking account.

I guess I'll try calling, thanks.

Update 7/6/22: I spent three hours on the phone with Maria, who was doing her best to help me, and act as a go between with next level tech support, who kept wanting me to try the same actions over and over again. But no one could actually tell me the meaning of "this is reserved for a default account" nor how or why that might be the case for a checking account, and prevents the merge per the earlier dialogue. This has now been escalated further and I am hoping for a call back today. No one can quite believe me that this is not related to payroll or online banking and that nothing in the UI explains or provides for solving this.

I'll update when I hear more.

Update 7/8/22: 90 minutes on the phone with Danielle, then the phone call was dropped. Still, it seems that this was escalated to a manager who was supposed to call me back, but no one has yet. Bottom line is that they still don't really seem to know what this error means: "You cannot merge any account with XXX because it is reserved for a default account".

Did you figure this out? I am having the same issue! 

No, it's still an open ticket with a promised monthly update on status. According to the supervisor I spoke to, this is an acknowledged bug, is related to (for some reason) an automated merchant account set up by the Payroll team, although no one knows why. BUt there is no fix. And whenever I contact support, I have to go back through the same troubleshooting steps as no one believes me, until I show them again. The last time I contacted support, the person on the other end told me the "issue was resolved" (it wasn't) and was just taking me backwards. Very frustrating. 

Hello, Wiltshs. 

Thank you, and I appreciate your efforts in sharing the update and workaround with other users. This surely helps other users who experience the same problem.  

To further guide you in managing the growth of your business and sales transactions using QBO, I'd recommend checking out this article: QuickBooks Help Articles. It includes topics about account management, managing customers and income, and banking, to name a few.   

Loop me in anytime here if you need another help or anything related to QuickBooks. Take care!

See solution added today.

Thank you SOOOO much for your post. It sure did solve the issue I was having. 

Hello @Wiltshs,

I have reviewed the solution you’ve shared and it's correct and accurate. Thank you for sharing your inputs to help address the issue.

We love to see members supporting one another! Have a great day.

Experienced this same issue and was so glad to see this question and resolution -- I performed the steps noted in the response in order to merge the cash and bank and it worked! 

Thank you! You are a lifesaver!

OMG - THANK YOU!!!!   I was on with tech support for a couple hours, they escalated and then a couple weeks later i got an email saying it was resolved but it wasn't!!   I decided to search again, found this post and i fixed it.  I really appreciate it!!

THANK YOU! This worked perfectly!!! (AND it was QUICK!)