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  1. Contacts - Allow duplicate contact names

    190 votes

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    103 comments  ·  Contacts & files » Contact  ·  Admin →
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    Not in pipeline  ·  AdminKelly Munro (Community Manager, Xero) responded

    Hi everyone, we want to thank you all for your meaningful feedback and detail of the uses you each have for enabling duplicate names for contacts.

    Right now, the contact name field is the key identifier that interacts with many other Xero features, and as such, changing how this field functions is not a small feat.

    As noted by others in the comments, some users have found adding unique characters or using the account number in the contact name useful.

    At this time we don’t have plans for developing the ability to have duplicate names of a contact in Xero. However, the work happening around core features might open the door for improvements like this down the line.

    For now, we'll keep a close watch on the support this idea continues to build, and we’ll make sure to share updates if anything changes.

    Joy Foot supported this idea  · 
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    Joy Foot commented  · 

    there must be a limit on number of votes needed to be considered. 84 votes need to go up up up up up. so everyone you know at work who has access, get them to please place a vote. you meet a friend who uses Xero, get them to see this post and vote

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    Joy Foot commented  · 

    This is frustrating indeed and so unprofessional. when you print invoice to send it will have Joy Foot 4 .... wow. and then i have to keep looking up to see which one i am invoicing to make sure I sent to right Joy!
    A account no. will be precise as the field to record people in contacts with. e.g. if i had a field acnt no. and i input 350458 - it would pick up the right Joy Foot and address etc... without the client needing to see Joy Foot 3 or 4.

    why is this so difficult? i come from a basic programming background and this is the easiest field to add?

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    Joy Foot commented  · 

    we can keep chipping away at it another 100 eh :)

    all they have to do is add a reference ID field which becomes the main identifier rather than the name - that way no matter how you spell the clients name or make error in typing etc., through the main ID field can show all entries under it.

    we need more votes. get everyone in your companies to put in a vote that have a log on!!! and friends and family who use it!!!

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    Joy Foot commented  · 

    since the invoice is printed to ship out with, having dots or numbers etc looks a bit ridiculous or even unprofessional as customer sees this as mistypes etc. :)

    since address field is different in its content it should allow same names. in cases where entry is being made with no address details i can understand the relevance of the confusion with same names in the backend program and mixup of records. however, perhaps assigning a ID to each customer might help? ID can be entered by end user e.g. we have debtor nos. that can be entered on top and if this is diff for each it is irrelevant what the client name is...?