Overview

You may receive the Client ID Already Exists error in the following situations:

• You have duplicated clients in SmartVault that share the same tax ID, even if the name and client ID are different. It is easy to identify this in the SmartVault Connected Desktop by sorting on the name and looking for similar client names, e.g., John and Mary Smith vs. John A. & Mary Smith. 
• You migrate your clients from one tax software solution to another and you did not use the exact same name or client ID during the transfer. 

SmartVault uses at least 2 of 3 factors to determine if a client is the same: Name, Client ID and Tax ID. If two of these are different (e.g., Name and Client ID), but the tax ID is the same for both clients, SmartVault will display this error message. 

To resolve this error, you must merge the two client records together so that the entity aliases for both records are stored in the most current client details. 

Resolving this Error

1. In the Connected Desktop, sort on the Name column.

   

2. Verify that both clients are effectively similar, but have different names (spelling, initials, suffix, etc.) and client IDs, but share the same tax ID. You can do this by clicking on each client and using the Client Info tab to validate.
3. Identify with the customer the latest client they use in their tax software (usually ProSeries or Lacerte).
4. Right-click on each client in the Connected Desktop and select Open Client in Portal.

   

5. Click the pencil icon to edit each client and scroll to the bottom of the client details. You’ll notice one record as one set of alias information and the other has a different set.
6. On the client that is the most current, scroll to the top of the record and copy the First Name field if it is different from the older client record and paste it into the older client record.
   • Do the same for the Middle Initial field if any values are different in both records.
   • Do the same for the Last Name field if any values are different in both records. 
7. Click Save on the old record so both client records have the exact same name.
8. If there is an email contact on both records, remove the email contact from the older record.
   • On the old record, click the vault icon to open the client vault.
   • Click the Container properties icon in the upper right-hand corner of the folder list.

     

   • Click Manage Group Members > Client Contacts tab > Remove. 
9. Go back to the Connected Desktop and find the two duplicate clients. Verify they have exactly the same name.
10. Press the Ctrl key on the keyboard and select both clients.
11. Right-click and select Merge Clients.
12. Select the client you want to merge the old one into.

    

13. Click OK and check the Connected Desktop. The old client folders should be merged into the new client.