First Things First…What is a Sage 300 Master Record?

A master record is the primary record in each Sage 300 module – Vendors for Accounts Payable, Accounts for General Ledger, Customers for Accounts Receivables, Items for Inventory Control, plus anything that is found in the setup folder for the module. So, if you go to Sage 300 Inventory Control and Inventory Control Setup – anything the customer sets up is a master record – Categories, Account sets, Price lists, etc.  (If it is something a user creates and it is not a transaction in Sage 300, then it is probably a master record.)

Why Deleting Master Records in Sage 300 Is a Big No No?

Let’s look at an example – When you enter an item in Sage 300 and sell that item – an order, shipment and an invoice are created in Sage 300. The invoice then goes to Accounts Receivable. Now it can be seen in the AR Invoicing Batch, Posting Journals and in the AR Customer Activity.

It then travels to the General Ledger. So, creating one item and performing one transaction against it, generates item history in approximately 20 different tables. If you delete the item master record you’ve now created a data integrity issue in all of those tables!

Oh No! I Deleted a Master Record (e.g. Customer, Vendor, Item etc.). What Now?

If you delete master records that have transactional history, then watch out for bad juju. When Front Line Systems upgrades your database (every two Sage 300 versions, or every 18 to 24 months), the deleted master records may cause the upgrade to fail. To ensure a smooth upgrade our team has to go back and rebuild those missing records (which costs you more money).

When Would It Be Okay to Delete a Record?

Our answer is NEVER. However, there is an exception. If you set up a customer or item incorrectly and don’t have any transactions against the record (haven’t sold anything, shipped or received anything) then you can delete the record without a problem.

What’s the Correct Way to Delete Records?

Do not delete records that have transactions against them (including really old customers/items in the system). We realize that trying to search for customers or items when thousands of your clients or items are inactive can be painful. Especially if you’ve had Sage 300 for a long time. However taking shortcuts and just deleting the records is not the answer.

The best practice for deleting records is to mark the record (customer, vendor or item) as inactive on the appropriate screen as soon as you know the record is inactive.

If those inactive records are making it cumbersome to get around, you can have Front Line Systems purge the oldest data out of your system. Any records that are marked inactive during that time period, can be included in the data purge. Call Front Line Systems if you are interested in learning more about cleaning up your database.

For more information on Sage 300, visit us at www.flsinc.net or call Front Line Systems at 866-435-0243. Thank you!

About Front Line Systems

Front Line Systems is an ERP Consulting Firm (specializing in Sage 300) with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are dedicated to helping businesses solve their accounting, manufacturing and warehouse concerns. We believe that your business has an amazing capacity for innovation and growth and that technology can help get you there.

Front Line Systems is a technology partner that solves problems and creates solutions for the life of your business. We provide ERP Consulting, Warehouse Management Consulting, CRM Consulting Services etc. in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Connecticut (New England) and serve clients across the US. Contact us at 866-435-0243 to get started today.