Renaming accounts is much more straight forward but should also be coordinated with whomever does the taxes so the accounts can be reconciled correctly. I definitely wouldn't delete anything without upper management getting the okay from their accountant and everyone getting a clear explanation of the implication of that decision. Just deleting the check doesn't put the money back in the bank but deleting the check from QB will make it appear that that money is still in the bank. If you delete a transaction between the two accounts, what should happen to the balance in the account you're keeping? If you pay for something with a check and delete the expense account you've suddenly got a check written on an account that's no longer paying for rent, or utilities, or whatever. Let's say you transferred money between accounts and you want to delete one of the accounts. QB won't let you just delete an account because it's a double entry system and you'd have to somehow reconcile all those transactions. If it's a mess you might want to start a new company file with current balances and things but that is a truly last resort kind of major decision and operation that should come only after a frank and serious discussion between the biggest bosses and the accountants.Įven if you think you really wanted to you don't want to delete accounts because there is a history of transactions that should have some value to you. You can't just "delete" an account but you can rename it.