Recently we have introduced a new Folder Contacts feature that allows you to actively manage your contacts to prevent duplicates and keep your data clean.
This feature also allows you two new actions that will make your life easier. You can now Edit contacts and all their details. This data is then used for contact matching. And will also be used in the future for new features such as invoice payments. We have also added a new Merge contacts feature that opens up a lot of new possibilities. Make sure to try it.
You can edit & merge contacts either directly in the invoice detail or in the Folder Contacts screen.
This is how you navigate to the Folder Contacts screen:
This is how you access the Edit & Merge functions from invoice detail:
How to use MERGE CONTACTS in Datamolino
Depending on the quality of input documents it can happen that you have contact duplicates with multiple names or ID variations in the folder. Merging duplicate contacts can help you manage this and improve future results. This how it works:
When you merge contacts, all invoices will be assigned to the main contact.
In the future if Datamolino captures one of the "merged contacts" variations the invoices will be matched to the main contact. This means improved accuracy.
There may be multiple reasons for name variations and contact duplication. The new contact matching based on Company ID & VAT ID should eliminate most instances.
Here is a list of cases where Merging contacts can be useful:
There are multiple name variations of the same contact due to small data capture errors. Merging contacts will ensure all merged variations are matched to the main target contact.
Some invoices are "logo invoices" where the name of the company is shown only as logo image and Datamolino is capturing an alternate name such as the web address or similar placeholder. Merging these into a contact with the proper company name will make sure the correct company name is matched.
Some users do not want a separate contact for each franchise or type of service such as taxi. Merging these contacts effectively creates a "contact group" that can be managed as one. This helps with pairing multiple contacts to one contact in target system such as Xero. (i.e. grouping expenses of the same category under one contact)
When you are editing your contact, you can see a new option to Merge Contacts. The edit screen also gives you an idea about how many contacts are already associated with the contact. Also how many contacts are already merged with the contact that you are looking at. Please note that if you do not see the "Merge Contacts" button you are editing the main contact that already includes other merged contacts.
These are the individual merging steps and results:
Click on Edit contact
Then click the button Merge Contacts
Choose the target contact. (The contact where you started the merge will be merged with the target contact. The target contact is the main contact)
Click on the "Merge Contacts" button if you are sure that you are merging the correct contacts. This action cannot be undone.
The contact that you have started editing will be merged with the target contact, which is the main contact.
In the future if Datamolino captures data that can be matched with a merged contact the invoice will be matched with the main target contact.
Example usage:
For example, when importing 'logo invoices', the supplier name is usually not written on the invoice, so Datamolino tries to find some alternative text.
It may capture the supplier as 'www.uber.com'. Now, you can merge www.uber.com to the previously captured contact 'UBER'. The next time when you upload the same logo document with www.uber.com present, it will show up as 'UBER' on the invoice which is a target contact.
Important note: When you're inside a document, the contact you have currently open will be merged with Target contact. You're selecting the Target contact from the dropdown at the bottom of the screen.
When to EDIT contacts
Use this option when you wish to change how the supplier/customer name shows in Datamolino. The new contact will show up on all historical invoices and future ones too.
You can also add additional contact info. This can help Datamolino correctly match the contact in the future. The additional data will also show up in raw data capture results if you are using the API or Excel to download results.
*Important note: Before editing, please make sure to check if the right name already exists in the dropdown (if it does, you might want to use the merge function, please refer to the above steps.)
If you wish to add/change any other information like address, email and financial details, please use the dropdown 'Xero/QuickBooks contact' on the right side which syncs with your accounting package. Please check here for more details.
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