A vendor should never be deleted even when the vendor no longer exists unless there have never been any transactions with the vendor. It is permissible to delete a vendor when no new transactions have occurred within the years maintained by the system. For example, if all transactions that occurred four years ago or before have been removed from the system using the purge utility, and there have been no transactions with a vendor named Quality Auto Body in the past four years, then the Quality Auto Body's vendor account could be deleted.
The following alternatives to deleting the vendor are recommended:
Merge a vender into another account. This option is the preferred option if accounts were duplicated or two accounts need to be merged into one. Review [Main] Features > Merging Accounts vs. Deleting Accounts for more details.
Change a vendor to inactive status. Once a vendor is made inactive, it will be removed from a number of reports. Inactive vendors may remain in the same folder they existed in when active but may be hidden from search lists by unselecting Show Inactive at the bottom of the list.
Take the following steps to make a vendor inactive:
Open the vendor window by selecting Expenses > Vendors.
Select the vendor to be made inactive.
Enable the Inactive option on the General tab.
Save vendor information by clicking the OK button.
To make a vendor active again, disable the Inactive option.
NOTE: All inactive (accounts, vendors, etc.) will be grayed on the search lists when the Show Inactive option is enabled at the bottom of the list.