Duplicate Accounts: When to Merge, When to Add a Parent, and When to Escalate

When the same person or family shows up twice, confirm it's really a duplicate, then pick the fix: merge two accounts that belong to the same family, use Add Parent for a second parent with no account yet, or delete or deactivate a stray account. Merging needs the Account Merge permission and an admin can't undo it, so check every match before you submit.

Applies to: Org admins · All plans (merging needs the Account Merge permission, which the Administrator and Registrar roles include) · Customer (family) accounts

Where: Customers > Account Management > Search > Merge Accounts, and the account's Account Overview (Add Parent, Delete, Account Settings)

Step 1: Confirm the duplicate is real

Two records with different email addresses aren't always duplicates. Check:

One person, or two people in one household? Two parents who each have their own sign-in aren't a duplicate person; see Step 2.
The same child on both parents' accounts? A true duplicate, and the usual reason to merge.
A coach or volunteer sign-up under one email address and a parent account under another? One person with two accounts: a true duplicate.
The same email address with different capital letters on two accounts, for example one that starts with a capital letter? It's the same person. Merge them.
A hidden record? If Add Parent says "This email address is already in use by one of your existing account members. Please access the existing member instead of creating a new member or use a unique email address for this new member." but searching for that address finds nobody, the other account is probably deactivated. On the Search page, click the Show more fields link (for example "Show 7 more fields."), check Include Inactive? and search again. Inactive accounts are marked [Inactive].
An admin user? People under Administration > Manage Users are admin users, not customer accounts. One email address can be both an admin user and a parent; that isn't a duplicate, and Merge Accounts doesn't change admin access.

Signs of a duplicate: a parent can't see their child's team site although the child is on the roster, last season's registrations are missing from the family's history, or the same child appears twice in search results.

Step 2: Choose the fix

Situation	Fix
One person or family split across two accounts (different email addresses, or one address in different capital letters)	Merge the accounts (Steps 3 and 4).
A second parent who already has an account with you (Add Parent shows the "already in use" message)	Merge the accounts, and map the second parent to New so they keep their own sign-in.
A second parent or guardian with no account yet	Click Add Parent on the account's Account Overview, or the family uses My Account > Members > Add Parent. Each parent signs in with their own email address.
Parents who both follow the teams but shouldn't share one family account	Don't merge or add the parent. The other parent follows the teams with Family & Friends, or is added to one team's roster each season.
A stray account that has never had a transaction	Click Delete on its Account Overview.
A stray account with registrations, orders or payments	Deactivate it: Account Settings on its Account Overview, check Yes, deactivate this account, click Save. The balance must be $0.
The same family in two organizations	Not a duplicate. Each organization has its own accounts, and they can't be merged across organizations.
The same child twice inside one account	Merge Accounts only combines two different accounts. Contact TeamSideline Support.

Everyone on a family account sees the same account, including its members, registrations, order history and each other's contact details, and team sites you publish for the children include every parent on it. Family & Friends see game and event times and locations for every current team of the person who invited them, in the TeamSideline app too, and get game reminders and your organization's game-change emails, but never roster contact details or team-site messages.

Step 3: Know what a merge does

The To account is kept. Make it the account the family will keep signing in with. For a person you match on both accounts, the To details are kept and the From details only fill in blanks.
Everything moves. Registrations, orders, transactions, payment plans and account notes move to the To account, and the From account is removed.
Your matches decide who's who. Match two different children and TeamSideline treats them as one: the From child is removed and their registrations move to the other child. This is the most common merge mistake.
Choose New for anyone not already on the To account, such as the second parent or a sibling. A parent moved with New keeps their own sign-in and joins as a non-primary parent.
Matching a From parent to a To parent ends the From sign-in's access. The From email address isn't kept, and signing in with it creates a new, empty account, so that parent signs in with the To parent's address.
Team sites follow the merge. Parents are added to the children's current roster-linked team sites, and later team sites include every parent on the account.
An admin can't undo a merge. Only TeamSideline Support can move members and their registrations to another account.

Step 4: Merge the accounts

You need the Account Merge permission. Go to Customers > Account Management > Search and click Merge Accounts. Select the From account, then the To account, choose a Merge To match or New for every member, and click Submit. For the full steps and messages, follow How to merge duplicate customer accounts (Merge Accounts).

What you'll see: "Merge Complete." and the To account's Account Overview. The merge is also logged in Administration > Manage Users > Activity Log (Enhanced plan and up).

Step 5: Check the result

On the To account's Account Overview, check that every family member is listed, and only once.
Click Enrollments and check that each registration is under the right person, not rolled up under one sibling.
Check that each parent's email address is the one they sign in with.
Ask the family to sign in with that address, and spot-check team site access for at least one child.

If the merge went wrong

If a member disappeared or registrations moved to the wrong child, don't patch it by adding people again; that makes it harder to correct. Contact TeamSideline Support with your organization's name and website address, the names of the From and To accounts, which member is missing and which registrations should move back to them (program, division and team), and that member's email address and date of birth.

If you aren't sure how to map a complicated family, such as several children on both accounts or a parent who is also a coach, contact TeamSideline Support before you merge.

If it doesn't work

There's no Merge Accounts button. Your admin role doesn't include the Account Merge permission. Ask an admin with the Administrator role to merge the accounts or give you the permission.
The Delete button is missing. The account has a transaction (any registration or order, even a free one, or any payment, credit or fee), or your role lacks the Delete Customer permission. Deactivate the account instead.
Yes, deactivate this account is grayed out. The balance isn't $0. If there's no Deactivate option at all, your role lacks the Deactivate Customer Account permission.

Good to know: preventing duplicates

Ask families who forget their password to click Forgot your password? on your sign-in page instead of creating a new account.
When a family asks for a second parent's access, first ask whether that parent already has an account with you: if so, merge; if not, use Add Parent.
Changing someone's sign-in email address to match another account doesn't combine the accounts. Use Merge Accounts.
To find duplicates in bulk, export Reports > Report Exports > Account Information with Primary Accounts and Additional Parents, and sort by last name or email address. No tool removes duplicates automatically; you merge each pair.

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