Account and Contact Hierarchies

You can set a Parent Account for accounts and a Reports To contact for contacts. By using these fields, you can build hierarchies that allow you to see the functional relationships of your accounts or contacts. For example, when working with a client that has multiple offices or subsidiaries, its account hierarchy will allow you to see a nested list of all related accounts.

In this article:

Add a Parent Account or Reported-To Contact

  1. Open a Create Account, Edit Account, Create Contact, or Edit Contact slider.

    1. Click people Accounts in the left navigation pane.
    2. Click the + add icon in the upper-right corner.

    1. Go to the details page for the account you want to edit.
    2. Click the edit pencil icon.

    1. Click person Contacts in the left navigation pane.
    2. Click the + add icon in the upper-right corner.

    1. Go to the details page for the contact you want to edit.
    2. Click the edit pencil icon.
  2. The slider you opened will either have the Parent Account field (for accounts) or the Reports To field (for contacts).
  3. Type the name of the account/contact this one will be under. As you type, you will see a list of suggested accounts/contacts.
  4. Click a suggestion to select that account/contact.
    When adding a parent account or a managing contact, you can only select existing accounts or contacts. If the parent account or managing contact do not yet exist, they will need to be added before you can assign them here.
  5. When you are done adding information or making updates, click Save.

Viewing a Hierarchy

  1. Go to the details page for the account or contact.
  2. Click the tree icon to open the hierarchy slider.
  3. The account/contact that you are currently viewing will be bold. You can click any account/contact in the hierarchy to jump to its details page without closing the slider. If an account/contact is inactive, it will be labeled as such. Contacts will also be labeled with the account they are in.

Merging Accounts and Contacts in Hierarchies

When merging accounts or contacts that are in hierarchies, it is important to keep certain merging rules in mind. (Accounts are being used for these examples, but the same rules apply for contacts.)

  • All child accounts will become the children of the resulting account.
  • The resulting account will keep the parent of the "primary" account of the merge (the account whose details page you are starting the merge from). If the primary account does not have a parent, neither will the resulting account, even if the other does have a parent.

For more information about merging accounts and contacts, please see:

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