Retiring Records Instead Of Deleting Them
An item you stopped selling, a supplier you stopped using, a branch you closed: make it inactive and it leaves everyday work, while every document and report that already names it stays exactly as it was.
Most of the records your other work points at can be retired rather than deleted. The rules are the same everywhere, on the web, in the mobile app, through the API and in the app’s offline queue. This page is the overview; each record’s own article has the detail.
What Retiring Does
- It leaves the pickers. A retired record no longer appears where new work starts, so nobody picks it by mistake.
- New work naming it is refused. A form, a saved link, an import row, the API or a queued offline action that names it gets a message with its name, rather than saving quietly.
- What already carries it keeps it. An old invoice, employee or count that names it still opens, still saves and still reports it. In the app, an edit screen shows it as “Name (inactive)” instead of an empty field.
- Alerts skip it. Low-stock lists, reorder suggestions and scheduled counts leave a retired record alone.
- It can come back. Make it active again at any time and it returns to the pickers with its history intact.
When Retiring Is Refused
A record cannot be retired while it still holds something that would be stranded, because nobody could pick it afterwards to finish that work. The message lists what is in the way. Defaults the system falls back on, such as the default warehouse, the General category, system ledger accounts and the default adjustment reasons, cannot be retired at all.
Record By Record
| Record | Where | Refused while it has |
|---|---|---|
| Item | Status field or Make inactive on the item; many at once from the list or an import | Stock on hand or an open stock hold |
| Supplier | Vendors, switch to Inactive | An open purchase order or a contract in force. Bills and payments still go through. |
| Customer | Status: Active, Prospect, Suspended or Inactive | Unpaid invoices, an open sales order, a recurring schedule or a stock hold. Payments and credit notes still go through. |
| Warehouse | Edit, Status: Inactive | Stock or assets, open transfers, orders or counts, POS counters or users assigned to it |
| Location or bin | Edit, Status: Inactive | Stock or assets, open transfers or counts, POS counters or users assigned to it |
| Item category | Edit, Status: Inactive | Nothing; items already in it keep it |
| Ledger account | Chart of Accounts, Status: Inactive | A balance, an open bank account, a petty cash float, a depreciating asset or a draft that posts to it |
| Bank account | Close account; Reopen account undoes it | Unmatched statement lines or an open payment run paying from it |
| Adjustment reason | Settings › Adjustment Reasons, Status: Inactive | Nothing; the two defaults cannot be retired |
| Department | Settings › Departments, Status: Inactive | Open requisitions, current employees, active users, open vacancies or a ticket category routing to it |
| POS till | Settings › POS Counters, Status: Closed | An open cash drawer |
| Count plan | Status: Paused or Archived | Nothing; sessions already started keep it |
| Leave type | Leave › Leave Types, untick Active | A pending request of that type |
| Job position | Human Resources › Positions, untick Active | A current employee in it or a vacancy still hiring into it |
| Ticket category | Support › Settings › Categories & SLA, untick Active | Nothing; tickets already in it keep it |
| User | Users, deactivate | A step on an active approval rule naming them |
People And Projects
- Employees are not switched off; their employment status does it. Former and suspended employees are kept off new shifts, leave, advances, tickets and tasks, and payroll can still pay a final settlement.
- Projects that are completed or cancelled take no new time, tasks, expense claim lines or purchase orders. Reopen a project on its page to work on it again.
Finding A Retired Record
Each of these lists has a Status filter, on the web and in the mobile app. Set it to Inactive (or Closed, Paused or Archived) to find a record again, then open it and make it active.
Retire Or Delete?
| Use | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Retire | A real record you have stopped using. | Hidden from new work, history kept, reversible at any time. |
| Delete | A record created by mistake that nothing points at yet. | Moves to Trash. Refused once other records depend on it. |
Common Mistakes
- Renaming a retired record and reusing it for something new. Its history would then appear to belong to the new one; retire the old record and create a fresh one.
- Expecting a settlement to be blocked. Supplier bills, customer payments, credit notes and returns still go through, because they finish what already happened.
- Looking for a missing option in the wrong place. If something is missing from a picker, check its Status first.
Need help with this topic?
Capture the module, record number, branch or warehouse, user, visible message, and what you expected to happen before contacting support.