Article Contents
- Introduction
- Who Can Merge Contacts
- Where to Find the Merge Contacts Feature
- How Merging Works
- What Data Is Migrated When You Merge Contacts
- Validation and Reasons a Merge May Be Blocked
Introduction
Hiro is designed to keep your Address Book clean and intentional. Every contact must have a perfectly unique name, which helps avoid ambiguity across projects, invoices, registers and reporting.
Occasionally though, a situation arises where two contacts genuinely represent the same person or organisation and need to be consolidated. This is usually the result of a specific, identifiable event rather than day-to-day use.
Common scenarios include:
A contact created with a small spelling mistake that wasn’t noticed at the time
Data imported from another system where naming conventions didn’t quite align with Hiro
A placeholder or test contact that was later replaced with the correct record
An individual or company that already existed but was re-entered before it was discovered
In these cases, merging contacts allows you to deliberately consolidate records and continue working from a single, accurate source of truth.
Who Can Merge Contacts
Merging contacts is a privileged action in Hiro because it permanently alters historical data.
There are two ways a user can be permitted to merge contacts:
Global Administrators
Global administrators can merge contacts by default, as they have full access across Hiro.Users with the “Merge Contacts” privilege
If you want a user to merge contacts without granting full global administrator access, you can enable the specific merge contacts privilege for that user.
👉 How privileges work, and how to configure them, is covered in detail here.
If you do not have the required privilege, the merge option will not be visible.
Where to Find the Merge Contacts Feature
You can access the merge screen from the Address Book module.
If you have permission to merge contacts, you’ll see a Merge Contacts button just above the search box on the Address Book landing page.
If you do not see this button, it means the privilege has not been enabled for your user account.
How Merging Works
Merging contacts is a one-time, irreversible action.
When you merge one contact into another:
The “merged from” contact is permanently deleted
Only the data on the “merged into” contact is retained
Details such as street address, ABN, phone numbers and email addresses are not combined
Any incorrect or outdated details on the source contact are discarded
Because of this, it’s important to choose carefully:
Merge the incorrect or duplicate contact into the correct one
Not the other way around
Once completed, the merge cannot be undone.
What Data Is Migrated When You Merge Contacts
When a merge is permitted, Hiro automatically re-links a large amount of related data so nothing is lost operationally.
The following data is migrated from the old contact to the retained contact:
Address Book and relationships
Linked individuals are reassigned to the retained company
“Care of” mailing relationships are updated safely
Previous names are recorded for audit and reference
Staff tags are transferred
Attachments are reassigned
Address Book notes are created to record the merge
Projects and financial data
Enquiries and jobs where the contact is the billing entity
Invoice billing entity and “attention to” references
Invoice notes documenting the change
Receipts received from the contact
Project contact associations
Financial correspondence contacts on jobs
Registers and operational records
Asset Register suppliers and related bookings
Hazardous Chemicals manufacturer or supplier references
Key Projects client or contact person links
HS&E Plans
Staff documents and licences
Transmittals and document recipients
Call logs
External systems
- If the contact exists in Xero, the merged contact is archived there
- Updated contact details are pushed to Xero where relevant
All of this happens automatically as part of a single merge transaction.
Validation and Reasons a Merge May Be Blocked
Before a merge is allowed, Hiro performs extensive validation to protect data integrity. You may be prevented from merging contacts if any of the following apply:
You attempt to merge a contact into itself
You try to merge a company into an individual contact
- A company is merged into a linked individual that already has jobs or invoices, as this would result in jobs being attached to an invalid contact type
A linked individual is merged into a different, unrelated company
The merge would create chained “care of” relationships, which are not supported
- The contact is used in roles that cannot be reassigned safely, such as:
Being a billing entity on active projects
Being an invoice attention contact in certain configurations
Acting as a supplier or provider in the Asset Register
No reason for the merge is provided
When a merge is blocked, Hiro will explain why, often listing the specific records that need to be resolved first.