How to merge clients, projects, and people

Merging entities in Operating helps you clean up duplicates, consolidate data across systems, or handle project continuations. This guide walks you through how to merge entities and what to expect during the process.

Written By Lauri Eurén

Last updated About 2 months ago

When to Use Merging

You might want to merge entities in the following scenarios:

  1. CRM Project Continuation
    A project created from your CRM overlaps with an existing one in Operating. Merge them to avoid fragmentation.

  2. Duplicate Data
    You’ve accidentally created or imported duplicates — e.g., multiple people or clients representing the same real-world entity.

  3. Multiple ERP Entries
    You have several project entries in your ERP, but they’re treated as a single project for time tracking or resource planning. Merge to unify reporting.

What Happens During a Merge

  • Conflict Resolution: You can choose which data to keep when values differ (e.g., descriptions, owners, dates).

  • Preview Mode: You’ll see a side-by-side preview of the entities.

  • External References: If the merged entity came from an external source (e.g., CRM, CSV import), the external ID/reference is preserved in the final merged entity.

How to Merge Entities

  1. Go to the relevant entity list
    Navigate to Person profile, a Project Details page, or a Client Details page

  2. Click "Merge"
    Click the three dots in the top right corner, and then merge projects/clients/people

  3. Select which entities to merge
    Select the entity you want to merge into.

  4. Review and resolve conflicts

    • You’ll see a preview screen.

    • Choose which entity’s data to keep in case of a conflict

    • Fields that don’t conflict will be auto-merged.

  5. Confirm the merge
    Once confirmed, the merged entity becomes your master record. Any external IDs or references from integrations (CRM, CSV, etc.) will be preserved and moved.

Note: Merging cannot be undone — double-check the data before confirming.

Things to Keep in Mind

  • Merging is irreversible. Always review the preview carefully.

  • Merging will remove all budgets from the other project, and use the budgets that has "Keep this data" selected.

  • External systems linked via integrations will continue syncing using the preserved external ID/reference.

  • Things that prevent merging projects:

    • If you try to merge a confirmed project into a tentative one. Tentative projects can’t have confirmed allocations, that’s why it’s prevented

    • If the billing types conflict. Change both billing types to the desired one to continue with the merge.