Intro: If QuickBooks refuses to let you delete an account, because there was some activity in that account at some time in the past, you can merge the account into an existing account. The account you don't want will disappear from the Chart of Accounts, and all of the account's history will be combined with the account you choose.

Step 1: Choose the Account to Merge
Circumvent the inability to delete an account by merging an unwanted account into an existing account. Click once on the name of the account you want to remove. Then click the Account button in the Chart of Accounts window, and choose Edit. The Edit account window will appear.

Step 2: Enter the Name of the Account to Merge Into
Enter the name of an existing account in the Name field. The name you enter must be spelled exactly like the name of the account into which you want to merge this account. If necessary, change the Type to match the type of the account into which you want to merge. Note that you cannot merge accounts into or out of the Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable types.

Step 3: Confirm the Merge Process
Click the OK button and you will see this window, asking if you want to merge the accounts. Click Yes to execute the merge, or No if you decided you do not want to merge these accounts.

Step 4: View Transaction History from Original Account
From now on, if you want to view transactions that occurred in the original account, you will need to examine the contents of the account into which you merged. Click on the account name in the Chart of Accounts window. Click the Reports button in this window and choose Quick Report from the top of the menu that appears (or press Ctrl+q). The resulting report will show all transactions from the account you selected.