>...but naming it "INACTIVE" instead of "ACTIVE". It would be most user-friendly to show them the text ACTIVE and then a "Y" or "N", rather showing them INACTIVE and then a "Y" or "N".

If I were designing this I would use a logical field with inactive represented as .T. and would call it "Inactive."

As I input the data I would not need to do anything for an active record since the default of a logical field is .F. Then I would specifically have to set it to .T. to inactivate the record.

The code would read something like:
SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE NOT INACTIVE...

It could be shown onscreen as either a checkbox or text with a "Y" mask.

I guess my mind works the same way as this programmer's and your boss'.