How to Archive Data in ACE

Important!

Carefully review this article and consult your compliance team before archiving data to avoid irreversible data loss.

Contact support for assistance if needed.

Archiving Overview

ACE offers three archiving tasks that may result in enhanced system performance:

• Use these tasks sparingly to prevent unintended data loss.

• Ensure data availability for future reference.

• Maintain data integrity.

• Carefully consider what you will be archiving because data recovery processes may be complicated.

Portal: Archive Debt Notes

• Removes selected debt notes from the database and saves them as CSV files in the File Manager.

• This task is irreversible. Carefully review and select the note types to archive to prevent any unintended data loss.

Portal: Archive Job Logs

• Removes job logs from the database and saves them as CSV files in the File Manager.

• This task is irreversible. Carefully select the age of job logs to archive to avoid unintended data loss.

Portal: Archive Debts

• Archives core debt information, including balances, demographics, and forms, to separate archive tables.

• This data is not archived: Scores, Transactions, Payment plans, Legal Cases, Documents, Disputes, Deceased Status, Statistics, Worklists, Flags, Letters, Bankruptcy information, checks, forwards.

• Data that has been archived can be searched and restored.

Caution

Some data cannot be recovered once archived. Always exercise caution and follow best practices to prevent data loss. Before archiving accounts, test your logic blocks and use "test" accounts to observe behavior.

Each archival job task should be created in a separate job.

Portal: Archive Debt Notes

Removes selected debt notes from the database and saves them as CSV files in the File Manager. This task is irreversible and may result in data loss.

1. Go to Utilities → Jobs, New

2. Enter Data:

   1. Label: Debt Note Archiving

   2. Description: Archive debt notes from accounts.

   3. Schedule: On Demand

3. Click Apply

4. Add Task:

   1. Select “Portal: Archive Debt Notes”

   2. Active: True

   3. Age In*: select either days or years

   4. Age (number of days/years)*: Age is determined by create date. Any notes older than this age will be archived.

   5. Note Types*: Select the note types to be archived (Example Account Flag).

5. Run the Job

6. Follow the steps outlined in Locating the CSV File to retrieve the report.

Portal: Archive Job Logs

Purges job logs from the database and stores them as CSV files.

1. Go to Utilities → Jobs, New

2. Enter Data:

   1. Label: Job Logs Archive

   2. Description: Archive job logs from the database and store them as CSV files.

   3. Schedule: On Demand

3. Click Apply

4. Add Task:

   1. Select “Portal: Archive Job Logs”

   2. Active: True

   3. Age In* select either days or years

   4. Age (number of days/years): Age is determined by create date. Any notes created past this age will be archived.

5. Run the Job

6. Follow the steps outlined in Locating the CSV File to retrieve the report.

Locating the CSV File

1. Utilities → File Search

2. Locate the Archive Folder

3. Locate, download, and save the CSV file.

Portal: Archive Debts

Uses a logic block to archive core debt information, including balances, demographics, and forms, to separate archive tables. Archived debts are removed from the active system but can be searched and restored if needed. See below for restoration limitations.

Restoration Limitations:

Restoration is limited to specific data types. Some items cannot be restored, which may lead to potential data loss.

Can be Restored:

• Demographic details (see demographic_archive table for full details)

• Debt details (see debt_archive table for full details)

• Notes (see debt_note table for full details)

Cannot be Restored:

• Forms (saved to the debt_archive table and retrievable through a SQL designer report)

• Scores, Transactions, Payment plans, Legal Cases, Documents, Disputes, Deceased Status, Statistics, Worklists, Flags, Letters, Bankruptcy information, checks, forwards.

Steps to Archive Debts:

The example logic block in this job identifies accounts with an assigned date greater than 7 years as criteria for archiving the debts.

1. Go to Utilities → Jobs, New

2. Enter Data into the following fields:

   1. Label: Debt Archiving

   2. Description: Archive debts and selected debt notes.

3. Schedule: on demand

4. Click Apply

5. Add Task:

   1. Select “Portal: Archive Debts”

   2. Active: True

   3. Select the Logic Block: Debt Archive

   4. Note Types: Select the note types you want archived with these debts.

6. Run the Job

How to Restore Archived Debts

You cannot mass restore archived debts, but you can restore them individually. Remember, restoration is limited to specific data types.

To restore an archived debt:

1. Go to Accounts → Search

2. Locate the Archived Field: Select “Archived Only”

3. Select the Account you wish to Restore

4. Scroll to the bottom

5. Click Restore

When a debt is restored, a new agency number is assigned, and the original agency number becomes a reference number. Account notes, balances, and core debt information will be restored. The account may need to be added to the workflow.

Data Handling During Archiving:

When you archive data in ACE:

1. Storage of Debt Information and Demographics:

   1. Debt and demographic information is securely stored within ACE's database tables named debt_archive and demographic_archive.

   2. Use SQL reports to retrieve data from these tables.

      1. See our Sample SQL Report for Demographic Archive Table.

2. Accessing Database Tables:

   1. Refer to SQL Views to download the database tables.

3. Organization Within ACE:

   1. No new files or data are created externally; all data remains organized within ACE's database structure.

4. Archived Debt Notes:

   1. Archived debt notes are stored in a separate file located in the File Manager at Archive/Debt Notes/DebtNotes-<archiveDate>.zip.

Important Notes

• Deactivate Active Payment Plans: Active payment plans must be deactivated before archiving associated accounts as a safety precaution.

• Invoices and Transactions: Invoices containing transactions that have been archived should not be regenerated and will show “Some transactions for this invoice have been archived and are not shown here.”

• Reports and Dashboards: Reports and dashboards using specific tables (client_summary and client_summary_by_placement) will remain unaffected by the archival process.

• Client Profile Retention: The client profile retains all assignment info, collections, commissions, and canceled details on archived debts for reports such as history, transaction history, invoice details, etc. This ensures that the archived data remains comprehensive and accessible for reporting purposes.

• Bundle Accounts: If an account is part of a bundle, it will be removed from the bundle when archived. Non-archived bundle members will remain in the bundle. If the archived account is restored, you may need to add the account to the active bundle.

Bundle Account Behavior

The image below is an example of search results after archiving bundled accounts. It shows two sections: "Debts" and "Archived Debts."

• In the Debts section, there are two active debts with Debt IDs 110510427 and 110510429, both belonging to the same Bundle ID 5546147.

• In the Archived Debts section, there is one archived debt with Debt ID 110624881, and was originally part of the same Bundle ID 5546147.

This illustrates that when an account (Debt ID 110624881) is archived, it is removed from the active bundle, while the non-archived bundle members (Debt IDs 110510427 and 110510429) remain in the bundle.