Table of Contents

Disconnecting an Account

Mitchell Ivany Updated by Mitchell Ivany

Read Time: 5 mins

Open Sonar Cast

Deleting an Account

Sonar does not support permanently deleting accounts, as this goes against best practices. Instead, you can either disconnect or archive an account. Both options remove the account from being active while keeping its full history for future reference.

Disconnecting vs. Archiving an Account

You can either Disconnect or Archive an account, and it’s important to understand the difference:

  1. Disconnecting an account removes the account from active status but still allows you to edit the account and reactivate it later. When disconnected:
    1. A final invoice is created for any uninvoiced debits.
    2. The account is removed from its serviceable address.
    3. The account moves into the status set in your Billing Settings (commonly “Inactive,” but this can be customized).
    To update which status an account moves into when disconnected, go to Settings → Billing → Billing Settings → Disconnect Account Status, then click Save.
  2. Archiving an account is for accounts that are already disconnected and set to an Inactive status with no further use. Archiving keeps the account’s history but removes it from your everyday operational views.
    For detailed steps on archiving accounts, see the How to Archive an Account article.

Action

What It Does

Key Details

Disconnect Account

Removes the account from active status while keeping it editable and able to be reactivated later.

- Creates a final invoice for any uninvoiced debits.

- Removes the account from its serviceable address.

- Sets the account to the status defined in Billing Settings (commonly “Inactive”).

Archive Account

Hides an account that is already disconnected and inactive, keeping its history but removing it from daily operations.

- Cannot be reactivated once archived.

- Keeps all account history for future reference.

- Best used for accounts with no further need.

When to Use
  1. Disconnect an account if the customer may return or if you need to retain the option to reactivate their account later.
  2. Archive an account if the customer will not return and you no longer require the account in your day-to-day views but still want to keep the history for records.

How To Disconnect An Account

You can disconnect an account from either the main Accounts view or within the account itself.

  1. In the main Accounts view, locate the account, click the dropdown arrow menu, and select Disconnect Account from the options.
  2. You can also disconnect an account directly from within its page. At the top right, click the Edit menu, then select Disconnect Account from the list of options.

When you choose Disconnect Account from the menu, a confirmation window will appear with key account details. This step helps prevent accidental disconnections. To proceed, click Disconnect.

When you click Disconnect, the account is immediately disconnected, and a confirmation message briefly appears in the top-left corner of the screen. The account status changes to a Disconnected status, and the serviceable address is removed from the Addresses section on the account overview screen. A final invoice is then generated for any outstanding debits and can be found under the Billing -> Invoices tab.

The way the final invoice is prorated depends on the option selected in the dropdown, with the current setting shown by the field labeled Inherit Global Proration Setting.

Disconnecting an Account with Scheduled Events

Scheduled Events exist to automate several functions of account management, and scheduling account disconnections is no exception. This action is initiated from the Account Management View of any account in your instance by clicking on the “Create Scheduled Event” button:

This will open the scheduling modal where you'll be able to set the date and time for the automated action. In this case, the event dropdown should be set to “Disconnect an account”. A completed Scheduled Event may look like this:

When scheduling a new event, only the “Date & Time” and “Event” fields are required, but for disconnections, it's useful to record who made the request and when the request was made in the optional “Description” field.

Once created, you'll be able to review the scheduled event to make changes or confirm the date and time:

Scheduled events are not guaranteed to run at the exact time you set. While the system ensures that an event will never execute before its scheduled time, the precise execution time may vary.

By keeping this in mind, you can set expectations appropriately: events will always respect their minimum start time, but slight delays may occur under heavy demand.

Disconnecting Parent/Child Accounts

When disconnecting a parent account—whether immediately or by scheduling it for a future date—the disconnection only applies to the parent. The child account will remain active. If you plan to disconnect the parent, you’ll need to set up a separate disconnection for the child account as well.

If the child account should stay active, unlink it from the parent first. Furthermore, confirm the child account has a contact with a valid email or mailing address to receive invoices.

Reviewing Disconnected Accounts with Reporting

With Sonar's built-in Business Intelligence reporting, you can review past account deactivations and track related trends. To do this, use the “Activations & Disconnections” report in the Accounts section of the Reports dashboard.

This report will list all activated and disconnected accounts within a set time period, although by default it will show accounts within the last 12 months. Activations and disconnections are broken up into their respective tables that can be filtered and sorted independently:

The report can take some time to update when new accounts are activated or deactivated. Expect up to 15 minutes for new results to appear.

How did we do?

Direct Messages: Overview

FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) Filings: How Sonar Can Help

Contact