Purging Data

Note:  The Purge Data option is only available to those users defined as a supervisor within the User Security option.

Tip:  If desired, print the applicable reports (or export reports to a file) containing the information to be purged in order to retain a hard copy of the data.  Reports you may want to print include:  1) Employee Detail Listing for Payroll for inactive employees if you will be deleting inactive employees in Payroll; 2) Payroll Register - Itemized (with or without subtotals) for months to be purged in Payroll; 3) Vendor Inquiry for months to be purged in Accounts Payable; 4) Purchase Order Inquiry for months to be purged in Accounts Payable; 5) Requisition Inquiry for months to be purged in Accounts Payable; 6) Invoice Distribution Report for months to be purged in Accounts Payable; 7) desired Flexible Financial Reports for months to be purged in General Ledger; 8) Account Inquiry for months to be purged in General Ledger; and 9) Check Register by Checking Account or Check Register by Type for months to be purged if deleting cleared checks.

IMPORTANT:  All users must be logged out of the School Accounting System (and the Web Link module, if applicable) in order to complete the Purge Data option.  If your organization has licensed the Web Link module, edit the Web Link Setup Options from within the School Accounting System in order to disconnect users currently logged into Web Link and prevent users from logging into Web Link while completing the purge (see Steps 1, 2, 2e, 2f, 2g, and 3 for Completing Web Link Setup Options).  

1.  From the School Accounting System screen, select the Utilities menu and then Purge Data.

2.  A prompt appears stating users will need to be logged out of the system in order to complete the purge process; click OK.

3.  The Purge Data screen appears; complete the desired options.

Note:  The count that displays as Total Purgeable for an option is the maximum number of entries or records available to be purged (based on five years prior to the current date); once a specific date is selected, the count is updated to reflect the number of entries or records available to be purged as of that date.  If there are not any purgeable entries for an option, the Total Purgeable reflects zero (0) and the field is disabled.  

4.  Click the System Wide tab.

a.  In the Delete Unused section, select the Users field to purge inactive users (those without the Active field selected in the User Security option) that do not have any history, such as from creating entries or batches, or being tied to records.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.  

b.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

Note:  If inactive users are purged, the activity for those users in the Activity Log is purged automatically, if applicable.

5.  Click the General Ledger tab.

a.  In the Delete Unused section, select the applicable fields (Funds, Later Fiscal Years, and/or Received Froms) for which items to delete.  Select the Funds field to purge inactive funds (those without the Active field selected in the Fund File) that do not have any entries.  Select the Later Fiscal Years field to delete future fiscal years for funds in the Fund File that do not have any entries (for example, those fiscal years that were added by mistake).  Select the Received Froms field to purge inactive received froms (those without the Active field selected in the Received Froms File) that do not have any history.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

b.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

c.  In the Delete Unused Chart of Accounts Numbers List, select the funds for which to purge inactive account numbers (those without the Active field selected in the Chart of Accounts File) that do not have any entries, by selecting the box under the Selected column to the left of each desired fund number.  A checkmark will appear in the box if a fund is selected.

Note:  If an inactive account number has entries, it will be reflected in the count that displays in the Inactive Chart of Account Numbers field (column) for the fund; however, it will not be deleted unless the entries are also deleted.

d.  In the General Ledger History and Batches List, select the funds for the specified fiscal year(s) for which to purge the General Ledger entries, detail records, and batches (such as cash receipts, manual journal entries, budgets, and General Ledger entries posted from other modules) by selecting the box under the Selected column to the left of each desired fund number and fiscal year.  A checkmark will appear in the box if a fund is selected.

Note:  Only funds with entries for fiscal year ending dates that are at least five years prior to the current date display for purging.

6.  Click the Accounts Payable tab.

a.  In the Delete Unused section, select the applicable fields (Vendors and/or Ship To Addresses) for which items to delete.  Select the Vendors field to purge inactive vendors (those without the Active field selected in the Vendor File) that do not have any history.  Select the Ship To Addresses field to purge inactive ship to addresses (those without the Active field selected in the Ship To Address File) that do not have any history.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

b.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

Note:  Items that are outstanding or include an outstanding balance will not be purged.

Tip:  If the history is purged and the applicable cleared checks (including direct deposit stubs and automatic payment stubs) are not also deleted (purged), the checks will still be accessible in the Checks File Maintenance but will not have any detail tied to them.

Tip:  The selected calendar year ending dates for the vendor 1099s that are purged will still appear when accessing the Vendor 1099s option in Accounts Payable if the cleared checks, direct deposit stubs, and automatic payment stubs are not also deleted (purged); if one of those years is then selected within the Vendor 1099s option, the 1099s could be regenerated if needed.

7.  Click the Payroll tab.

a.  In the Delete Unused section, select the applicable fields (Deductions, Pay Codes, and/or Payees) for which items to delete.  Select the Deductions field to purge inactive deductions (those without the Active field selected in the Deduction File) that do not have any history.  Select the Pay Codes field to purge inactive pay codes (those without the Active field selected in the Pay Code File) that do not have any history.  Select the Payees field to purge inactive payees (those without the Active field selected in the Payee File) that do not have any history and are not tied to any deductions, taxes, checking accounts, or direct deposit banks.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

b.  In the Delete Inactive Employees List, select the employee statuses for which to purge inactive employees (those without the Active field selected in the Employee File) that do not have any history, by selecting the box under the Selected column to the left of each desired employee status.  Only the employee statuses containing inactive employees will appear in the list.  A checkmark will appear in the box if an employee status is selected.

Note:  If an inactive employee has history, it will be reflected in the count that displays in the Inactive Count field (column) for the employee status; however, it will not be deleted unless the history is also deleted.

c.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

Note:  The Payroll History and Batches field does not include (purge) the leave entries created from completing the Adjust Leave Balances option; those leave entries are purged when an inactive employee is deleted.

Tip:  If the payroll history is purged and the applicable cleared checks (including direct deposit stubs and automatic payment stubs) are not also deleted (purged), the checks will still be accessible in the Checks File Maintenance but will not have any detail tied to them.

Tip:  The selected calendar year ending dates for the quarterly 941s and employee W2s that are purged will still appear when accessing the Quarterly 941s option or the Employee W2s option in Payroll if the cleared checks, direct deposit stubs, and automatic payment stubs are not also deleted (purged); if one of those quarters is then selected within the Quarterly 941s option or one of those calendar years is selected within the Employee W2s option, the 941s or W2s could be regenerated if needed.

8.  Click the Human Resources tab (only enabled if there is data entered for the module).

a.  Select the Clear ALL Data for this Module field to delete all the data from the Human Resources module, and only if the module is currently licensed, enter in the appropriate password (given to you by Customer Support) when prompted and click OK.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

Tip:  If applicable, contact Customer Support to obtain the password if the module is currently licensed.

Note:  The prompt for the password will not appear if your organization no longer has the module licensed.  If this field is selected, all the other fields on the screen (tab) will be disabled.

b.  In the Delete Unused section, select the applicable fields (Benefits, Employer History, and/or Positions) for which items to delete.  Select the Benefits field to purge inactive benefits (those without the Active field selected in the Benefit File) that are either not entered for any employee in the Employee File, or are entered in the Employee File but without the Enrollment Date, Waived Date, Withdrawal Date, COBRA Start Date, or COBRA End Date fields completed.  Select the Employer History field to purge inactive employer history records (those without the Active field selected in the Employer History File) that are not entered for any employee in the Employee File.  Select the Positions field to purge inactive positions (those without the Active field selected in the Position File) that do not have any employees assigned (from within either the Position File or the Employee File).  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

c.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

Note:  If this field is selected, the purged training events will be deleted from the Training Event File and the Training Events screen in the Employee File for the applicable employees.

9.  Click the Negotiations tab (only enabled if there is data entered for the module).

a.  Select the Clear ALL Data for this Module field to delete all the data from the Negotiations module, and only if the module is currently licensed, enter in the appropriate password (given to you by Customer Support) when prompted and click OK.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

Tip:  If applicable, contact Customer Support to obtain the password if the module is currently licensed.

Note:  The prompt for the password will not appear if your organization no longer has the module licensed.  If this field is selected, all the other fields on the screen (tab) will be disabled.

b.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

10. Click the Fixed Asset Inventory tab (only enabled if there is data entered for the module).

a.  Select the Clear ALL Data for this Module field to delete all the data from the Fixed Asset Inventory module, and only if the module is currently licensed, enter in the appropriate password (given to you by Customer Support) when prompted and click OK.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

Tip:  If applicable, contact Customer Support to obtain the password if the module is currently licensed.

Note:  The prompt for the password will not appear if your organization no longer has the module licensed.  If this field is selected, all the other fields on the screen (tab) will be disabled.

b.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

11. Click the Accounts Receivable tab (only enabled if there is data entered for the module).

a.  Select the Clear ALL Data for this Module field to delete all the data from the Accounts Receivable module, and only if the module is currently licensed, enter in the appropriate password (given to you by Customer Support) when prompted and click OK.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

Tip:  If applicable, contact Customer Support to obtain the password if the module is currently licensed.

Note:  The prompt for the password will not appear if your organization no longer has the module licensed.  If this field is selected, all the other fields on the screen (tab) will be disabled.

b.  In the Delete Unused section, select the applicable fields (Customers and/or Staff) for which items to delete.  Select the Customers field to purge inactive customers (those without the Active field selected in the Customer File) that do not have any history.  Select the Staff field to purge inactive staff members (those without the Active field selected in the Staff File) that do not have any history.  A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.

c.  Complete the Purge section with the desired selections.

Note:  Items that are outstanding or include an outstanding balance will not be purged.

Tip:  If the Accounts Receivable module is tied to the General Ledger module using accrual or cash basis and the Accounts Receivable history is purged, the entries posted from Accounts Receivable to General Ledger will not be purged (deleted) unless the General Ledger History and Batches are selected to also be purged.

12. After selecting all the desired options to purge, click the Execute button.

13. If your organization has licensed the Web Link module and both the Prevent New Web Link Logins field and the Disconnect Existing Web Link Logins field are not selected in the Web Link Setup Options, a prompt will appear stating those fields must be selected in order to continue.  If prompted, click OK and the Web Link Setup Options screen will open; select the two fields and click the Save button to save the changes.  Then click the Execute button again.  

14. If any other users are logged into the School Accounting System, a message will appear stating the purge cannot continue.  To view a list of the users logged in, click Yes and then inform the users to log out of the School Accounting System.  Once the users are logged out, click the Execute button again.

15. When prompted to continue purging, click Yes.

16. The Backup Database screen will appear; make a backup as normal.

Note:  A backup must be made or else the system will not continue with the process.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to select the Make an Additional Copy field when making the backup in order to retain the backup for a longer period of time (for organizations using the School Accounting System-Online version, specify the additional backup copy to be created locally on your computer or organization's local network, or on a flash drive).

Steps to Backup

17. After the backup has been made, the system will start purging the data and the Progress screen (tab) will display showing the various tasks being completed.

18. After the purge is completed, a message will appear in the status bar.

19. Click the X in the upper right-hand corner to close the Purge Data screen.