Charge group cannot be deleted or recoded: seeded, or still holding components

You tried to delete a charge group (or a charge component) on Charge Components, or to change a standard group's code, and the app refused.

What you see

On Charge Components, in the Charge groups card:

• Groups marked Standard have no bin icon at all, and the group panel says "A standard group: rename it or change its default GST rate; it cannot be deleted." Anything that tries to delete one from outside the screen is refused with "Seeded groups cannot be deleted; deactivate them", and an attempt to give one a new code with "Seeded groups keep their code". The panel's Code is read-only for every group.
• Delete charge group? ("<name> (<code>) will be removed. A group with components cannot be deleted; move them to another group first.") fails with "The group still holds ledgers or sub-groups; move them first." The wording comes from the chart of accounts, which shares the same refusal; on this screen it means the group still has charge components in it (the Components column is not 0).

In the component grid, Delete charge component? ("<name> (<code>) will be removed. Components used on a pricing plan, estimate or termsheet cannot be deleted; deactivate them instead.") fails with "That conflicts with existing data." when anything still refers to the component: a pricing plan line, a benefit plan line, an estimate line, an offer line, a demand line or a channel-partner commission.

Why it happens

The four standard groups (Unit Base Price, Project Fixed Charges (PFC), Project Maintenance Charges, Society Formation Charges) are seeded into every organization and the app refers to them by code: the unit base price group is what the payment plan collects, and reseeding places the standard components back into their groups. Deleting or recoding one would break those links, so a standard group can be renamed, re-rated or made inactive, never removed.

A group is the section of an estimate that its components print under, with a default GST rate. If a group with components disappeared, those components would lose their section and their default rate on every future estimate, so the group must be emptied first.

A component is referenced by every plan line, estimate line, offer line, demand line and commission that uses it. Those records must keep reading the same charge, which is why a used component is deactivated (hidden from pickers, kept on existing lines) rather than deleted.

How to fix it

1. Standard group: open it with the pencil, untick Active and press Save changes. It keeps its components but is no longer offered for new ones. You need the Edit permission on Charge Components; in the default roles that is the Administrator and the Finance Lead. Leave the code as it is; rename with Name if the label bothers you.
2. Group with components: filter the grid by Charge group (tick Show inactive too, since inactive components count) to list its components, open each one, pick another Charge group and press Save changes (the Edit permission on Charge Components). When the Components column reads 0, press the bin icon and confirm Delete (the Delete permission on Charge Components, held by the Administrator and the Finance Lead).
3. Component in use: open it, untick Active and Save changes. Existing lines keep it; pickers stop offering it. To take it off a plan, remove its line on the project's Unit Pricing tab and Save charges; it can be deleted only once nothing else (estimate, offer, benefit plan, demand or commission) refers to it either.
4. If a group you want to reuse is inactive, tick Show inactive (beside the component filters under the card) so inactive groups are listed too, open it and tick Active again.

Related

• Charge Components
• Unit Pricing
• "Not a charge the buyer pays": the component's kind does not belong on this record
• Lookup cannot be deleted