Ambiguous Record

Learn what an ambiguous record is and how you can resolve it.

Pete Zimek, CAE avatar
Written by Pete Zimek, CAE
Updated over a week ago

In order to understand an ambiguous record, you first need to know the difference between a QuickBooks customer and an Novi AMS member record

Ambiguous Records

If a customer record is ambiguous, it means that we cannot infer whether the QuickBooks Online customer record is a company or a person based on the display name. 

In most cases, our algorithm is able to deduce whether you intend the QuickBooks Online customer to represent a company or a person. In a handful of cases, though, the data on the customer record is insufficient for us to make that determination.

Ambiguous Record Scenarios

Ambiguous records can appear in two different forms. The following are scenarios where a QuickBooks Online record is classified as "ambiguous":

  • Display name does not match the combined individual name fields OR the company name

  • Display name matches both the combined individual name fields AND the company name

Example 1: Ambiguous - INCORRECT

Example 2: Non-Ambiguous - CORRECT

Resolving an Ambiguous Record

Resolving an ambiguous record is easy to accomplish. If you're in DataMaid, Ambiguous records have their own section under Records and can be resolved right from the app.

If you're inside the Novi Analyzer, simply click on the name of the record in the analyzer. This will open directly to the record in question inside QuickBooks Online. In the upper right corner, click the Edit button. Take note of the Display Name value. Decide whether you want the record to be a company or a person.

If you decide the record should be a company:

  • Set the value in the "Company" name field to be what you would like the display name to be.

  • Set the Title, First, Middle, Last, and Suffix name fields to be blank or at least different than the Company name.

  • Finally, select the drop-down in the Display name field and choose the option that matches the company name.

If you decide the record should be a person:

  • Remove the value from the Company name field.

  • Set the values in the First, Middle, Last, and/or Suffix name fields, as applicable.

  • Finally, the display name those values.

Note: If a record only has a Display Name, and the other name fields are blank, Novi will consider this to be a company record.

AE Tip™: If you're still in the data import process and editing a record's display name, make sure that the name will match the corresponding value in your data import spreadsheet.

In any case, making the decision for what type of customer record it is will make the import process from QuickBooks Online to Novi AMS much smoother.

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