Account Transfer and Deletion
The Transfer Account tool moves all the history of an account in your Chart of Accounts (transactions, balances, budgets and any other reference) to another account, and then permanently deletes the original account. It's used to fix chart-of-accounts mistakes without losing history — for example, when you created a duplicate account by mistake, or when you want to merge two accounts that really represent the same thing.
What is it and what is it for?
Once you've posted years of transactions against an account, you can't simply "rename" or delete it if you created it by mistake — the system won't let you while it still has movements. This tool solves that: it reassigns every document, balance and reference pointing to the Original Account so that, from then on, it points to the Destination Account instead, and once it's done it deletes the Original Account, which is left empty and no longer appears in your Chart of Accounts.
Typical use cases:
- Duplicate account: you accidentally created two accounts for the same concept and want to keep only one, preserving the full history.
- Chart of accounts correction: an account was created with the wrong classification or purpose and you'd rather move its history to the correct account than leave both active.
- Chart of accounts simplification: you want to reduce the number of accounts by merging several into one more general account.
How to use it
- Open the tool. Go to the Tools menu and select Accounting Accounts Consolidation.
- Choose the Original Account. This is the account you want to empty out and delete; all of its history will be moved to the destination account.
- Choose the Destination Account. This is the account that will "receive" and keep all the history from the original account.
- Click the submit button. AdmCloud validates both accounts (see the validations section) and shows a confirmation message warning you that the original account will be deleted. Only confirm if you're sure: this action cannot be undone.
- Wait for the process to finish. The transfer runs as a background process (it doesn't block your session); once you confirm, AdmCloud automatically takes you to the Processes screen, where you can watch its progress and confirm when it's done.
What gets transferred
The process reassigns every reference to the Original Account in any table in the system that points to a ledger account: transactions and their lines, journal entries, budgets, historical balances, default-account preferences, and so on. No document or movement is lost — from then on, everything that used to show up under the Original Account simply shows up under the Destination Account.
Validations and requirements
Both accounts must meet the following conditions for the transfer to run:
| Requirement | Reason |
|---|---|
| The Original Account and the Destination Account must be different | Transferring an account into itself doesn't make sense. |
| Both accounts must exist | Basic integrity check. |
| Both accounts must be detail accounts (not group accounts) | Only detail accounts receive direct postings; a group account is a total that groups other accounts and can neither receive nor give up transactions. |
| The Destination Account cannot be inactive | It wouldn't make sense to move history into an account that's no longer in use. |
| Both accounts must belong to the same Subsidiary | Accounting history cannot cross between different subsidiaries. |
| Both accounts must use the same Currency | Prevents mixing balances and history expressed in different currencies. |
If any of these conditions isn't met, AdmCloud rejects the operation before starting the process and tells you what the problem is (for example, that the accounts belong to different subsidiaries, or that the destination account is inactive).
Availability and permissions
- The menu option only appears if the Accounting module is active for your company (it's a core module, active in the vast majority of cases; on the Enterprise plan an administrator may have turned it off).
- To use it you need both permissions at Edit level: "Chart of Accounts" and "System Configuration". In practice, this reserves the tool for administrator users.
Tips and common pitfalls
This action is irreversible. Once confirmed, the Original Account is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. If you're unsure, first check the account's history in the Trial Balance or its movement detail before transferring it.
You don't need to stay on the screen. The process runs in the background — you can keep working and check its progress later from the Processes screen.
"Not a detail account" error. If the system rejects your Original Account or Destination Account for not being a detail account, check in the Chart of Accounts whether you marked it as a group account (one that groups/totals other accounts, rather than one that receives direct postings).