Consequences of Inactivating Accounts

Kathi,

I don't think you'll be able to find a comprehensive list of this but there are a few rules I've used in the past that seem to have worked out:

- Any report that uses a list to filter the results will inherently exclude inactives (unless you've included them in your list).

- Reports that summarize dollars will include all of the dollars regardless of the status of the patron record (i.e. a report like Campaign Giving Comparison).

- Reports that list information for specific customer numbers generally exclude inactive records.  A solicitation tracking report for instance.

Like I said, these are just guidelines I've built up from experience.  If there is a specific report you have questions about, I'd check the documentation for that report and read through the Selection Logic section to see if there is a mention of how the report handles inactive patrons.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Levi, that is helpful and somewhat frustrating to know :)

Most of those accounts that I would inactivate would not be an issue; however, the v.11 migration default is to inactivate deceased patron accounts, and I am still trying to decide whether to keep that default or not. We have never deactivated deceased accounts in the past, but I was considering it moving forward. I wondered if the network default is to do so, can I safely assume that standard reports that pull historical data like ticket purchases and contributions will not automatically exclude inactives? I could not imagine the network defaulting to a setting that would terribly skew historical numbers, but I'm not so sure I am confident enough to inactivate my deceased accounts before further, and tedious, investigation.  

Thanks!