IN BRIEF
The Family Merge tool allows administrators to merge duplicate family or student records into a single account. This feature helps consolidate contact details, ledger history, students, enrollments, and policies to maintain accurate records and improve communication.
- Overview
- Accessing the Feature
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- Additional Notes
- Troubleshooting & FAQs
- Related Articles
Overview
Duplicate families and student records can occur when an existing customer creates a new account online instead of logging into their original one. The Family Merge tool helps correct this by combining multiple family accounts into one unified record. When merged:
- Ledger transactions, students, and enrollments are consolidated
- Contact information, family notes, and policy acceptance details are preserved
- Discounts and payment authorizations are reviewed and updated
Important: When families are merged, the original records are deleted, and a new family record is created using the selected data. This process cannot easily be undone, so staff should carefully verify all selections before completing the merge. (See Troubleshooting & FAQs for more details.)
Accessing the Feature
- From the top navigation menu, select the Families icon.
- Use the filters on the left-hand side to locate the families to merge.
- Enable the boxes next to up to five families you wish to merge.
- Select the Family Merge icon at the bottom of the screen.
- The Merge Families Wizard will open and guide you through the merge process.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Once the Merge Families Wizard opens, follow the guided steps to complete the merge process.
Before You Begin
- If the selected Primary Guardian has saved payment details or a secondary guardian is promoted to Primary, their payment information will transfer to the new record.
- However, the “This Payment Method is Authorized for Recurring Billing” option will be disabled and must be manually re-enabled by either:
- The family via the Customer Portal, or
- A staff member in the Office Portal (with cardholder authorization).
- Any secondary guardians whose access is revoked will have their payment details hidden until the new Primary Guardian restores their access.
Merging Families and Guardians
The first part of the Merge Families Wizard handles guardian-related selections. You’ll confirm which details to retain for each guardian and the overall family record.
Follow the wizard’s prompts for each question:
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Select the default family
- Displays all selected families with their policy acceptance status and last updated date/time.
- The chosen “base” family serves as the foundation for the merged record.
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Select the Primary Guardian
- Lists all guardians with policy acceptance details.
- The selected guardian becomes the Primary Guardian on the new family account; others remain secondary.
- If the chosen guardian did not previously accept family/student policies, they must do so after the merge.
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Select family information to keep
- Displays family-level details (such as custom fields) for you to select.
- If all families share identical information, only one version appears.
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Assign guardian emails
- Lists all emails from the merged families.
- Use dropdown menus to assign each email to a guardian.
- Selecting a blank option removes that email from the final record.
- If you want to reassign an email from one guardian to another, first deselect it (choose blank) to make that guardian available again.
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Assign guardian phone numbers
- Functions similarly to email assignment.
- Phone numbers not assigned to a guardian will be deleted.
- You can reassign phone numbers by temporarily selecting a blank option.
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Assign guardian addresses
- Displays each unique address only once.
- Use checkboxes to link multiple guardians to one address.
- Select the trash can icon to remove an address entirely from all records.
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Summary of Guardians
- Shows a review of all guardians with their assigned contact information.
- You may delete a guardian from the merge using the trash can icon.
- The System will alert you if the address format (e.g., postal code) differs from your business location.
Once verified, select Next to proceed to the student merge section.
Merging Students
The remaining steps of the Merge Families Wizard cover merging student records. Follow the prompts to select which profiles and details to retain.
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Merge student profiles
- Each student associated with the family will appear in turn.
- You’ll be asked: “Does the following student need to be merged with any of the students listed below?”
- Selecting one or more profiles merges their enrollments, evaluations, and attendance into a single record.
- If the student should remain separate, choose “No, go to next student.”
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Select student details to keep
- If you merge profiles, the wizard will display fields such as Name, Birthdate, and Gender.
- Choose which version of each detail to retain.
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Summary of Students
- Displays the final list of student profiles and retained details.
- Review for accuracy, then select Save to finalize the merge.
Additional Notes
- The system prevents merging any of the following families to avoid data issues:
- “--, Point of Sale”
- “--, Gift Certificate”
- After selecting Save, the system checks whether any of the families’ data changed since the merge began.
- If changes are detected, the merge will fail.
- Staff should monitor the Background Tasks window to ensure completion.
- After merging, it is strongly recommended that families log in via the Customer Portal or Mobile App to:
- Accept required family/student policies
- Verify merged details
- Re-enable recurring billing or add new payment methods
- Review any outstanding balances or updated enrollments
This helps ensure the correct Primary Guardian has access, accepts policies, and can update contact or payment information—streamlining billing and improving communication accuracy.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
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Q: How many families can I merge at once?
- You can merge up to five family accounts in a single merge process.
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What happens if I accidentally merge the wrong families?
- Family merges are not automatically reversible. In some cases, our team may be able to restore the original family data, depending on what changes have been made since the merge. Please note that data restoration is not guaranteed and may be subject to a service fee if recovery is possible.
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Will stored payment methods transfer?
- Yes. If the Primary Guardian selected during the merge process has stored payment information, or if a secondary guardian is promoted to Primary, their payment details will be retained.
- Following the merge, however, "This Payment Method is Authorized for Recurring Billing" will be disabled and will either need to be re-enabled by the family via the Customer Portal, or a staff member may re-enable it in the Office Portal with the cardholder's permission.
- Yes. If the Primary Guardian selected during the merge process has stored payment information, or if a secondary guardian is promoted to Primary, their payment details will be retained.
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Can secondary guardians lose portal access?
- Yes. If the primary guardian changes during the merge, all access for secondary guardians is revoked and the new primary guardian will need to issue new invitations to access the account.
- Any secondary guardians who have their Customer Portal access revoked due to the merge process will have their payment details hidden until the new Primary Guardian chooses to grant them login access.
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Can I just merge duplicate student records on a single family?
- Yes. Enable the selection box next to the family containing the duplicate student records, launch the Merge Family Wizard, then merge the student profiles at the appropriate point in the process.