An account code is a unique identifier for an account, while an account path establishes the account hierarchy.

Account codes

An account code is a unique key that identifies an account in a ServiceNow instance. This code is stored in the Account Code field on the Account form.

An account code must be unique. Attempting to insert a new record with previously existing account code in the Account [customer_account] table, the value for the code results in the following error:

java.sql.BatchUpdateException: Duplicate entry for key account_path

Account paths

An account path establishes the hierarchy among different accounts. This path is stored in the Account Path on the Account form.

An account path is a combination of the account codes for each account in the hierarchy. For example, let's use the following accounts to demonstrate account paths.Account hierarchy example with three levels of parent and child companies
Table 1. Example of accounts to demonstrate account paths
Account Account Code Account Path
Boxeo ~~~~1

~~~~1

Boxeo is the parent company. The account path for Boxeo is the same as the account code, which indicates that it’s the first element in the hierarchy.
Boxeo USA ~~~~2

~~~~1/~~~~2

Boxeo USA is a child company of Boxeo. The structure of the account path is interpreted as Boxeo/Boxeo USA.
Boxeo EMEA ~~~~3

~~~~1/~~~~3

Boxeo EMEA is also a child company of Boxeo and the structure of the account path is interpreted as Boxeo/Boxeo EMEA.
Boxeo France ~~~~5

~~~~1/~~~~3/~~~~5

Boxeo France is a child company of Boxeo EMEA. The structure of this account path is interpreted as Boxeo/Boxeo EMEA/Boxeo France.

Importing account records

If you create your account records by importing the data from some source system through a transform map, make sure that you execute the business rules. The Account Path is added, updated, and deleted based on the insertion, updating, and deletion of records in the Account [customer_account] table through the business rules. If the business rules aren’t executed, it can result in empty account paths, which can then result in data access issues.
Note: If you don’t execute the business rules during import, run the script in the Update account path business rule for the newly imported records to set the account paths correctly.