NATASHA’S FINANCIAL USER NOTES

MODULE 1: SUBSIDIARIES, CLASSIFICATIONS, AND CHART OF ACCOUNTS

 OneWorld lets you to manage data for a hierarchical structure of separate subsidiaries within your global org
 Each subsidiary can be further categorized with classifications to organize data for reporting
 But first, must set up the CoA

SUBSIDIARIES
 Subsidiary: separate company/ legal entity; Setup > Subsidiaries > New
o Create one subsidiary for each legal entity in org
o Organized like a tree with one parent company (root)  rolled up for consolidated reporting
o Can be international or domestic
o Up to 125 subsidiary records (the parent counts; elimination doesn’t)
 Can add more by contacting support
 Elimination subsidiary: when related companies within a consolidated company transact, bookkeeping may
require eliminating the revenue/expenses for subsidiaries at the consolidated level to remove the effect of
investment in subsidiaries  offset intercompany transactions
o Used only for journal entries (not transactions)
o Cannot be selected on a bank / credit card account record or on item records
o Cannot be a parent
 Before you create subsidiary records in NS:
1) Diagram the parent-child relationships in your subsidiary hierarchy
 Work from top down
 Focus on the required reporting outcomes when drawing links
 Leave room for expansion!
2) Record the country and base currency for the subsidiary
3) Record the tax nexus: jurisdiction – the country automatically determines the first nexus
 These cannot change after you save a subsidiary record:
o Sub-subsidiary of (the o Elimination o Edition
parent subsidiary) o Currency o Country
 Use Sandbox first and test it to ensure that it will meet the reporting outcome required
o Don’t experiment in Production account bc subsidiaries can’t be deleted
o Inactive subsidiaries WILL show in reports and report filters

CLASSIFICATIONS
 Departments, locations, classes (DLC): identify and organize data for reporting  gives ownership to a
transaction
o E.g. generate financial reports by location (income statement by branch office)
o For financials, transactions, items, and employees (NOT customers!)
 OneWorld: subsidiaries are the main classification used to organize your records
o DLCs can be used too, but must be associated with a subsidiary
 Setup > Company > Enable Features > Company subtab
 Departments: listed first on transactions and can designate transactions and resources as part of an internal team
 Financial > Lists > Departments > New
 Locations: Financial > Lists > Locations > New
o Up to 50 location records in your account
o Save for inventory, don’t change too much
 Classes: for wider segments within your business, product lines (e.g. Retail sales, web sales, seasonal sales)
o Financial > Lists > Classes > New
 Reports: track and measure against any one/mix of DLCs

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 Other accounting systems use separate GL accounts for each area of the org  NS uses classifications to segment,
resulting in a simpler GL, flexible financial reports, fewer errors
 Best Practices
o Plan org chart and reqmts first, THEN set up classifications
o Segment data by classifications to meet your financial reporting needs
o Don’t create classification records unnecessarily! (i.e. it doesn’t need to be reported upon)

CHART OF ACCOUNTS (COA)

 When creating accounts, consider:
o Accounting features auto-creates new accounts based on the feature enabled
o Hierarchy for each account type
o Naming convention for each account
o Do we want account numbering?
o Do we want to limit the availability of some accounts to a single DCL?
o OneWorld: do you want to limit the availability of some accounts to a subset of your subsidiaries?
o Do you want to track non-monetary data for reports/income statements?  statistical accounts
o Do you want to create a summary account record solely for reporting purposes?
 CoA provides a set of destinations for posting transactions, and categorizes these transactions for reporting
 Each account must have an account type  organize data in account registers and financial reports
a) Income Statement accounts: COGS, deferred expense, income, other expense, other income
b) Balance Sheet accounts: AP, AR, Bank, deferred revenue, equity, fixed asset, other current assets &
liabilities
c) Cash Flow accounts: net of income & other income, AP, AR, Equity, Fixed asset, other current
assets/liabilities
d) Statistical accounts: track non-monetary data such as head count, sq feet
 Account numbers: disabled by default; when enabled (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences) 4-digit
#s are automatically associated with existing accounts: (ALEICEO)
o 1xxx Asset o 3xxx Equity o 5xxx COGS o 8xxx Other
o 2xxx o 4xxx Income o 6xxx Expense income
Liabilities
 Parent account: Financial > Lists > Accounts > New to create a new account
o Check summary box to make a reporting account record
 Auto- inactivates the account
 Summary accounts: a non-posting, inactive parent account w active child records
 Child account: just select the parent account in the Subaccount of field
o Must be of the same type as parent account
 Bank account: must be linked to only one subsidiary
o if Multiple Currency enabled, select one currency for this account
o General Rate Type & Cashflow Rate Type (for consolidated reporting) can be set
 Best practice is to use the default values
 Limit the use of an account to:
o A subset of subsidiaries
 Select 1 or more
 Check include children box = that sub + all its children subs
o DCLs – designate the DCLs on the account
o Set role restrictions: both account AND role restrictions must be used for accounts
 Account register: list of transactions for an account, for a date range, w the ending balance
o review and manage transactions for posting / non posting accounts
o Available account registers depend on the types of accounts in your CoA
o Access and edit transaction records from registers, reconcile accounts, and mark transactions as cleared
 Best practices
o Review feature-specific, system-generated accounts prior to creating new ones
 Rename/renumber accounts to align w company accounts
o Use common CoA across subs
o If using account #s, unify your numbering convention across subs
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 MODULE 2: ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

 Setup > Company > Enable features:

o > Accounting subtab > A/R
o > Transactions subtab > Sales Orders
o > Company subtab > Multiple currencies
o > Company subtab > Currency exchange rate integration

MANAGING CUSTOMERS
 Customer: company/individual who has / is buying (first time or more)
o Accept Payment at Top Level Customer means customers may pay bills of sub customers
 Multi-currency customers can use an unlimited number of currencies
o Sub customers don’t have to transact in the currency of the parent customer
 Financial subtab of the customer record = info related to their account with your company  credit card data,
price level, taxation, and account balance
o Default receivables account is not mandatory to set up
 Customer records allow you to track info on your customer in one place, e.g.:
o Transaction history o CRM info (contacts, events, tasks, calls,
o Items purchased messages, campaigns)
o Financial info o File cabinet documents
 Lists > Relationships > Customers > New

CREATE AN INVOICE
 Invoice: record of a sale to customer  process of creating bills for goods/services
o Does not have to be tied to a SO
o Enter SO  Fulfill items on SO (ship)  Invoice SO
o AR increases by amount of bill  bc customer OWES you
 Record an invoice when payment is not received at the time of delivery
o Amount = total due to be paid to you by customer
o Represented in the AR liability account
 Customers > Sales > Create Invoices
o Terms on the customer record will appear by default on invoice created for the customer
 Customers > Sales > Invoice Sales Orders
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 o Invoicing a SO turns an approved SO into an invoice  record of a sale!
o Many SOs can generate one invoice
 Invoicing preferences: used to determine the way billable lines display on invoices
o Most appropriate to use with projects
o Options:
 Combine Time Items on Invoices
 Combine Expense items on Invoices
 Combine Billable items on Invoices
o Global invoicing preferences: Setup > Accounting > Invoicing preferences
o Individual form preferences: Setup > Customization > Transaction Forms > Customize
 Electronic Invoicing SuiteApp: enables you to create electronic invoices (e-invoices) to help comply with legal
reqmts in your country / automate your O2C process
o Generated from NS invoice records using custom templates that you create
o Send them to customers individually or in batches
 COGS is not an expense account but acts like one
o Inventory-related transactions that post to COGS: Item-fulfillment, standalone invoices

PROCESSING PAYMENTS AND CREDITS

 Customer Payments: when customer makes a payment, record it and apply it to the right invoice or cash sale 
decreases the amount due & tracks income
o To apply payment on the Customer Payment page = Customers > AR > Accept Customer Payments
 Payments can be applied to one/many invoices simultaneously
o To apply payment on Invoice = Customers > Sales > Create Invoice > List > BUTTON
 Customer Deposits: for advanced payments
o Recorded as a liability until goods/services delivered & doesn’t affect customer’s AR balance
o Once the order is filled, the deposit is applied against the invoice & liability is canceled out
o To record deposit on Customer Deposit page = Customers > AR > Record customer deposits
o To record deposit on SO = Customers > Sales > enter SOs > list > BUTTON
 Customer credits/refunds: when you receive a return request, credit the customer in the amount they paid for the
item  can be a credit memo or cash refund (i.e. check, visa, or cash)
a) Credit memo: record of a credit a customer is due  can be applied to an invoice to decrease amount
owed
 Invoices require credit memo before a refund (but not cash sale, SO, or deposits)
 Affects Accounts Receivable for open/future invoices (not liability)
b) Refund: transaction that records a payment you make to the customer  currency or check

BEST PRACTICES
 Establish policies/procedures and document entire AR process
 Ensure transaction dates and posting dates are in correct accounting period
 Reconcile ledgers for accuracy of recorded transactions
o Adjustments should be made in the subledger of the customer record(How??)
 They should never be entered through a JE!

MODULE 3: BILLING SCHEDULES

 Billing schedule: defines the schedule to bill a sale over a range of time / contract term
o E.g. bill monthly for the sale of a 1-year membership
o Manages the billing process by tracking when to invoice customers & by how much $
 Enable Features > Transactions subtab > check Advanced Billing
 Before using a billing schedule, consider:
o How often do you bill/invoice your customers?
o Do you need to apply a schedule at the header level (per sale) or line level (per item)?
o Do you have multiple patterns for billing?
o Do you need to develop pro-rate billing schedules?

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 o Do you need to cancel billing schedules once they’re started?
o Do you use Advanced Projects?
o How is billing done for work undertaken as part of a project?

CREATING A BILLING SCHEDULE

 Financial > Lists > Billing Schedules > New
 Set Type, Initial Amount (for Standard), Payment Terms, Recurrence Frequency & Count
 In Arrears checked means billed at end of each period (vs. beginning)
o Must always be checked for a Time & Materials and Fixed Bid Billing Schedule
 NS allows you to create billing schedules that bill more than 100% of the invoice amount
o The % defined (to bill on a recurring basis) is a % of the total bill, including initial amount
o Yellow e.g. below = 12 recurrences billed quarterly means every quarter, you’re actually receiving 3 bills. So
50% first, and then the remaining 50% is billed in 4 separate quarters. 1/8 * 4 = the other 50%. ??

EXAMPLES OF STANDARD BILLING SCHEDULES

EXAMPLES OF FIXED BID INTERVAL BILLING SCHEDULES (PROJECTS)

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 EXAMPLES OF TIME & MATERIALS BILLING SCHEDULES (PROJECTS)

APPLYING BILLING SCHEDULES

 To an Item: assign sale/resale item records in the Pricing subtab
o When the item is chosen on a sales transaction (SO), the billing schedule is applied by default
 Inventory (icld.  Assembly (icld.  Non-inventory
matrix + serialized)  Other charge
serialized)  Kit/package  Service
 To a Sales Order: billing schedule is defined at the header level on the Billings subtab
o Entire SO is divided into bills according to the schedule
o Can be applied to entire SO, or for each line item on an order
 To a Line Item: if SO form is customized, a billing schedule can be attached at line item level
o SO lines will be billed independent of each other, according to schedule
o If the schedule falls on the same day, line items will be combined into one bill!
 To a Project: on the Financial subtab of a project record
o Select Billing Type and Billing Schedule

INVOICE SALES ORDERS: 2 WAYS

1) Invoice SO page: invoices display according to the date in the “Next Bill On or Before” field
o Transactions > Sales > Invoice Sales Orders
2) SO: use the Next Bill button to create the next bill according to schedule
o Or use Bill Remaining to bill entire unbilled portion, regardless of schedule
 Invoices can also be created based on Billing Schedules (not from SO) in the billing queue under Bill
Orders

VIEW SCHEDULE HISTORY

 The schedule history or planned bill dates can be viewed from the SO in the Billing subtab
o Schedules sub-subtab: displays planned billing schedules for the order
 Related Records subtab displays actual bills with links

BEST PRACTICES
 Avoid creating single line billing schedules
 Create a naming convention for billing schedules that adequately identify them

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 MODULE 4: ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

 Accounts Payable: debts owed

resulting from buying goods/services
on account or on credit
 Enable Features
o > Accounting tab > check AP
box
o > Transactions tab > PO check
box and Vendor Return
Authorizations check box
o > Company tab > Multiple
Currencies and Currency
Exchange Rate Integration

MANAGING VENDORS
 Vendors supply you with goods/services you need to run your business
 Vendor records are used to:
o Track associated items and pricing, addresses for a vendor’s locations and offices
o Track financial data and purchasing transactions (terms, tax info, currencies)
o Track CRM info (contacts, notes, messages, marketing campaigns)
o Attach and track files
 NS keeps a running balance for each vendor based on bills entered and payments made
 Lists > Relationships > Vendors > New
 When creating a vendor, the most important area to focus on is not the address**?

ONE WORLD: SHARING VENDORS WITH MULTIPLE SUBSIDIARIES

 You can assign a primary subsidiary, and an unlimited # of secondary subsidiaries
o Useful when multiple subs use the same vendor  and multiple currencies per vendor too
o When you view a shared vendor record, you can see the vendor’s total outstanding balance and total
unbilled balance (sum of all assigned subs’ balances) in the primary subs’ currency
 Note: you can define multiple secondary subsidiaries only through the UI, not SuiteScript or CSV
 You cannot share a vendor record that’s also paired with a customer record

PURCHASE ORDERS
 A PO is the first step in authorizing vendors to provide items/materials/services to you  commitment
 Vendors > purchases > Enter PO
 Purchase requisitions can be used to purchase items/materials/services from vendors
o Must be approved & converted into a PO before purchase can be made
 Creating POs allows us to track items that we expect to receive/received/yet to receive
 No accounting impact until you receive the order
 Must identify the customer or the project, and check the Billable box ?

RECEIVING AGAINST A PO
 POs can skip OR need approval before the status of Pending Receipt
 Vendors > Purchases > Receive Orders. When a PO is received:
1) An item receipt is issued
2) Your inventory is updated with new on-hand quantities

BILL POS
 Vendors > Purchases > Bill POs

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 o Select all vendors for which you want to create bills
o Check the box in the “Bill” column next to all POs you want to bill
o You can use the same PO for both expenses and for items
 When a PO does not exist and no inventory is received (e.g. phone/internet) create a bill manually to pay for
goods/services received  Vendors > Purchases > Enter Bills

APPROVE & PAY VENDOR BILLS

 The two account types used to pay vendor bills = bank or credit card
 Approved by users with appropriate permissions
 Bulk approvals: Vendors > Purchases > Approve Bills > check off the bills to approve
 Single bill: Edit the bill and update Approval Status; Vendors > Purchases > Enter Bills > List
 Pay multiple vendors: Vendors > Accounts Payable > Pay Bills > check off boxes
 Pay single vendor: Vendors > Accounts Payable > Pay Single Vendor
 All of the above can also be reached through Transactions > Payables > …

CREATE & APPLY VENDOR CREDITS

 Vendor credit: A transaction to show credit from a vendor that you can apply toward your payables
account
o The credit may result from returned goods or negotiating a discount
o Credits applied against a vendor decreases the amount owed to the vendor
 3 ways to create vendor credit:
1) Manually: discount or credit negotiated after receiving a bill or is independent of an existing bill  Create a
Bill Credit record, select the item (e.g. “Allowances for damaged goods”)
 Vendors > Accounts Payable > Enter Vendor Credit
 Transactions > Payables > Enter Vendor Credit
2) Vendor Bill: discount or credit for some/all items on an existing Bill
 Transactions > Payables > Enter Bills > List > View the Bill > Click “Credit” button
3) Vendor Return: credit is associated through the vendor return authorization process
 Click “Refund” button on the Vendor Return Authorization form
 Vendors > Accounts Payable > Enter Vendor Return Auth > List > View > “Refund”
 Maybe I want to apply Vendor Credit on the credit transaction OR on a payment transaction
a) On a Credit Transaction: Vendors > AP > Enter Vendor Credit > List > Edit > Items subtab
b) On many Bill Payments: Vendors > AP > Pay Bills > check the boxes that you want to pay
c) On single Bill Payment: Vendors > AP > Pay Single Vendor > select payee > check “apply” on line item
level

WRITE & PRINT CHECKS

 Vendors > Purchases > Write Checks
o Pay an expense
o Record a non-check transaction
o Record cash transactions
o Enter other non-check debits such as debit card transactions
 A check transaction records the expense directly to your books by

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 o DR: expense account specified in the transaction detail (up)
o CR: bank account selected for the check (down)
 Print a single check immediately after writing a check transaction by clicking Save & Print
o Or print multiple checks from a queue of saved check transactions
 Payroll & HR > Payroll > Print Checks & Forms > Checks > specify the account & check type >
select checks to print
 Standard = 3 checks per sheet
 Voucher = one check with voucher information per sheet

VOID CHECKS
 Navigate to Vendor record > Financial subtab > Transactions tab > Edit the check > Void
 Must then create the voiding JE
 Once a check is voided, it sets the amount to 0, but does not remove it from the system
 Reasons to void check:
o Account for price adjustments
o Stop payment
o A check/payment was created in error

OTHER PAYMENT METHODS

Feature $ comes from $ goes to Payment processed
by
Online Bill Pay Your company Your vendor Printed check
ACH Vendor Your company Your vendor ACH process
Pay
Direct Deposit Your company Your employee ACH process
Electronic Your company Your vendor, Your company’s bank
Payments your employee

BEST PRACTICES
 Establish policies and procedures, document the entire AP process
 Pay invoices on a predetermined schedule
 Ensure transaction dates and posting dates are in the correct accounting period
 Reconcile ledgers for accuracy of recorded transactions
o Adjustments for any reason should always be made in the subledger of the vendor record
 They should never be entered through a JE

MODULE 5: BANKING & PAYMENT PROCESSING

 NS banking offers several processing options to accurately track your cash

 With multi-currency, bank accounts can be denominated in ANY one currency (does not have to be the
subs’)
 Enable Features > Transactions subtab
o Credit card payments
o Electronic funds transfers
o ACH vendor payments

MAKE DEPOSITS
 Record funds deposited (customer pmts) to your bank  cash, checks, electronic credits, credit card transactions
o You can select payments from existing transactions, add funds not related to transaction payments, and
record any cash received back from the bank
 Typically, customer payments are posted to Undeposited Funds (vs. specific bank account)
o Prevents lag time between the amount shown on your books & bank balance
o NS moves funds from UF into GL account for the bank account when we use Make Deposits transaction
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 Financial > Banking > Make Deposits

TRANSFER FUNDS
 Financial > Banking > Transfer Funds
 Movement of funds from one bank account into another
o In NS, bank accounts include accounts for petty cash
o If you set up Credit Card accounts as bank accounts, you can Transfer Funds to pay your credit cards
 NS allows 2 types of bank transfers:
1) Between 2 bank accounts if same currency
2) Between base currency bank account to any foreign currency bank account

ENTER COMPANY CREDIT CARD CHARGES

 To manage charges/payments for company credit card:
o Vendors > Purchases > Use Credit Card > enter each individual transaction

RECONCILE BANK STATEMENTS

 Reconcile bank statements against your bank account registers to keep your accounts accurate
 You can begin an account reconciliation and then resume at a later time. NetSuite preserves the reconciliation
until you return to save it or save and print it
 Transactions > Bank > Reconcile Bank Statements
 Financial > Banking > Reconcile Bank Statements
o Reset: remove all unsaved changes o Delete: delete the bank reconciliation
o Complete later: save your bank o Go to register: for the account
reconciliation to work on later o Enter new transactions: that are not
o Refresh: refresh the info on the page previously recorded (e.g. bank services
o History: view list of completed bank charges)
reconciliations
 All reconciled transactions are automatically marked cleared
 The simplest way to post interest accrued in Reconcile Bank Statement = New Deposits subtab ??
o There’s also new charges ??

RECONCILE CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS

 Do this to keep your accounts accurate
 Verify transactions on your CC account and your ledger account:
o Payments and credits
o Charge and cash advances
o Fees and chargebacks
 Transactions must be both cleared and reconciled before closing a period
 Reconciliation Reports: (each for a selected bank account)
Bank Register Reconciliation Summary Reconciliation Detail Reconciliation History
 Lists all  Summarizes the reconciled and  Lists the reconciled and  Lists the completed reconciliations for
transactions unreconciled items unreconciled items from a a bank account
 View  Shows cleared and outstanding bank account  View statement balances, link to the
existing transactions  Lists all transactions for the detail report, and track historical
transactions  Includes previous and ending time period of the statement reconciliation data
 View-only bank balance amounts  Lists amounts of each  Shows statement date, bank account,
 Totals of cleared and transaction, for cleared and statement balance, amount reconciled
outstanding transactions during uncleared items for the statement, previous reconciled
time period  Viewable only after bank balance and any differences
 Viewable only after bank account has been reconciled  Not available from the reports menu
account has been reconciled

PAYMENT PROCESSING
 NS offers many payment processing options to capture funds and disburse payments from your account

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 Automated Clearing House (ACH) Processing: real time + internet + immediate accounting impact on your
books
o used with Direct Deposit, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), and ACH Vendor Payments features
o Pay employees by depositing money directly into their bank accounts
o Accept electronic payments from your customers
o Send electronic payments to vendors
o First, you must apply for an account with Coastal and set up your company bank accounts
 Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): enables customers to authorize the transfer of fund from their bank accounts
to your bank accounts to pay their invoices
o Submitting a cash sale, SO, or customer payment with EFT selected as the payment method generates an EFT
transaction which must be approved by an admin before it’s processed for payment
1. Activate the feature (only your company’s admin can do this)
2. Apply to Coastal for an ACH processing account
3. Set up customer records for ACH payments
 ACH Vendor payments: authorizes the transfer of funds from your account to vendors’ bank to pay bills
o Must be approved by admin or a user with the Approve Vendor Payments permission
o Same 3 steps as EFT, but for vendors (vs. customers)
 Customer CC Processing: to efficiently handle CC payments for
SO and Website orders
o NS integrates with several CC gateways so you (using your
processor) can accept credit payments
o The gateway manages the flow of data & funds electronically
between you + customer + processors
 Electronic Payments: this SuiteApp allows you to process bank
payments of your vendor bills, employee expenses, partner and
employee commissions, and customer refunds, and to receive bank payments from customers
o Extends the processing capabilities of EFH and ACH Vendor Payments feature
o Can generate payment files that contain instructions for facilitating EFT between bank accounts
 Standard format of each payment file depends on banking industry/country where payment file is used
o Provides a check verification feature by generating a file format that contains info on all my issued checks
o Note: it generates bank payment formats but does not transmit them to the bank  payment files can be
imported to your bank’s payment SW or submitted electronically to your bank for processing

BEST PRACTICES
 Reconciliation reports should always match your bank statements
 Ensure transactions are both cleared and reconciled before closing a period

MODULE 6: WORKING WITH JOURNAL ENTRIES

 If you must adjust the balances in your ledger account without entering a posting transaction, make a manual JE
 JEs allow posting directly into GL accounts
 NS enforces double-entry bookkeeping, so JEs post changes to accounts using offsetting debits and credits
 Use JEs when transactions aren’t sufficient  e.g. JEs can be used to:
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 o Enter / adjust opening balances
o Post accruals
o Enter an adjustment (e.g. for depreciation) that is not possible as a standard transaction
o Transfer amounts from one ledger account into another, representing flow of funds through company
o Consolidate multiple subsidiary accounts into a single account for the purposes of consolidated reporting
 Accounting Preferences >
o GL section > Void Transaction Using Reversing Journals: Permits the creation of JEs that void
transactions on days/periods different from OG transaction date
o GL section > Require Approvals on JEs: before JEs are posted
o Classifications > Always Allow Per Line Classification on Journals
o Classifications > Allow Non-Balancing Classifications on Journals
o Classifications > Allow Empty Classifications on Journals
o Revenue Recognition > Create Revenue Recognition Journals in GL > choose between detail/summary
JEs

JOURNAL ENTRIES
 Use JEs to process simple journal transactions
o Financial > Other > Make Journal Entries
o Remember the principles of double entry bookkeeping to keep books in balance
o No line limit!  but total amount of debit lines = total amount of credit lines
 A reversing JE is an exact opposite of the original JE (and cannot be changed directly)
o Permanently linked to the OG entry  Any changes made to the OG entry affects the reversing transaction
 Copying JEs saves time when creating a new JE  prepopulates header and line-level data
o Financial > Other > Make Journal Entries > List > View selected JE > Actions > Make Copy
 Users with the Journal Approval permission must approve the JE before it can post to the GL
o Financial > Other > Approve Journal Entries > check off the JEs to approve
o Users with the permission can approve their own JEs while entering them
 Import Journal Entries if the journal is large or must be repeated often
o Financial > Other > Make Journal Entries > Import
o Source document must be saved as a CSV file using the Single JE Template file (found in import page)
o Supports JEs with up to 10k lines
o There may be a performance impact during import and in the UI for JEs over 1k lines
o Large JEs may not be editable in the UI

BILL VARIANCE JOURNAL ENTRIES

 Use the vendor bill variances process
to generate journal postings to variance
accounts based on the discrepancies
 Discrepancies can occur due to timing
(e.g. bill only for amount received) or bc
PO rate is an estimate
 Vendors > Purchases > Post Vendor
Bill Variances
 Once variances are created and
posted, we cannot modify POs,
receipts, and vendor bills

MEMORIZED TRANSACTIONS
 When you memorize a transaction, you set up the transaction to recur over time
 Eliminates the data entry process and serves as useful reminder
 Can memorize these transactions:
o Write checks o Make JEs o Create invoices
o Enter SOs o Use Credit Card o Create statement charges

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 o Enter POs o Enter work orders o Enter cash sales
o Prepare estimates o Enter bills
 Create a transaction in Transactions > Financial > Make Journal Entries > fill form > Actions > Memorize
 When you memorize a transaction, you can define:
1. Schedule
2. Frequency
3. Posting options
 Remind me allows manual review before creating JE/transaction is posted
 Defer Entry delays creation of JE
 To post a transaction, Financial > Lists > Enter Memorized Transactions
o Process several memorized transactions at once OR individually
 For a history of transactions, Financial > Lists > Enter Memorized Transactions > List > View >
Transactions subtab

INTERCOMPANY JOURNAL ENTRIES

 Intercompany JE (ICJE): facilitates the transfer of amounts between 2 subsidiaries
o Record debits and credits to be posted to ledger accounts for transactions between 2 subs
o Adjust the value of any set of accounts without entering transactions (e.g. invoices/bills)
o Typically include the same IC account on each sub
 When consolidated reports are generated, the account is 0
o Cannot be created if they include an elimination subsidiary
 Can be used to transfer:
a) Between bank accounts of separate subs
b) Assets between subs
c) Revenue when one sub sells on behalf of another
d) Expenses when one sub pays an expense on behalf of another
 Set From/To subsidiaries
o Financial > Other > Make Intercompany Journal Entries
o Set the subs involved in t
o he transaction
 In Subsidiary field, select the sub initiating the transaction
 In To Subsidiary field, select the second sub
 Set currency: will default based on the Subsidiary field
o Can be changed to the subsidiary set in the To Subsidiary field
o Can only consist of currencies of the selected subs
o Set the exchange rate if needed
 Enter ICJE Lines:
o First line must post to the sub selected in Subsidiary field
o Usually includes one IC account on each sub
o Amounts will be in the currency selected

ELIMINATION JOURNAL ENTRIES

 Regular journal entries, except they’re associated with elimination subs
o Can still be memorized, imported, reversed, deferred, and have amortization schedules attached
 Not the same as ICJEs and can only be posted to ONE subsidiary
 Some entries can be eliminated automatically. Manual/Auto elimination depends on:
1) Complexity of your org
2) How often you trade between subs
3) Nature of the trading between subs
 Manual elimination is good for orgs that trade between entities rarely
o Must manually track which entries need elimination and how much must be eliminated
o NS does not perform a validation of entries
o Financial > Other > Make Journal Entries > Select elimination sub > Complete remaining fields as
normal JE

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 Automatic IC Mgmt feature manages IC transactions & generates elimination JEs automatically
o Reduces the need to manually create, track, and eliminate IC transactions
o Reduces manual steps required to manage and report IC activity
o NS generates the elimination JEs based on the IC transaction lines and IC journal lines marked to be
eliminated  as part of period close, NS evaluates the activity in IC accounts and creates the JEs to
eliminate artificial profit/loss amounts
o Financial > Other > Make Intercompany Journal Entries
 Using ICJE forces balanced elimination lines
 If a regular JE is used and the lines to be eliminated don’t balance, NS assumes the data is correct and
posts the entry without validation

BEST PRACTICES
 Copy an existing JE to save time when creating a new JE
 Import JEs that are large or need to be repeated often
 Create a memorized transaction for JEs that recur over time
 Ensure ICJEs balance between subsidiaries and within each sub involved in the ICJE
 Create manual elimination JES for orgs that trade between entities rarely
 Set up customer/vendor relationships for all subs when you need to track their inter-subsidiary trading

Journal Description/Details
Type
Standard These are manually entered journal entries to record transactions within the NetSuite application

Reversing Entries will be flagged as reversing journal entries at the time of creation within the NetSuite application.

Recurring A journal entry can be ‘memorized’ upon entry, where the user will create the schedule for the recurrence of the entry in
the future.

Import Entries based on external calculations, from other systems can be imported into the NetSuite system in a CSV (Comma
Separated Value) format.

Allocations A schedule is created to define the structure of a future allocation based on the balance within a specific account.

Automated NetSuite automatically provides entries for amortization schedules, revenue recognition and foreign exchange gain/loss.
Entries

Inter-Company Inter-Company journal entries are used to post to two subsidiaries using a single transaction. The journal entries must
balance by subsidiary, be in a single currency, and the debit and credit totals for each of the subsidiaries must match.

Inter-Company An Inter-Company Allocation is similar to an Allocation, except that the destination accounts can specify subsidiaries
Allocation different from the source subsidiary. Inter-company receivable or payable accounts are specified on the schedule.
Journals and Inter-company journals are created as part of the company’s month end process.

Statistical Statistical journal entries are used with statistical accounts to make single-sided transactions by class, department, and
location. Statistical journals do not need to be in balance. They appear as a positive, debit amount. You can, however,
balance statistical journals against a statistical balancing dummy account, if you feel it is necessary.

Elimination Elimination journal entries are regular journal entries that are associated with elimination subsidiaries. Elimination
journal entries can be created to reverse the effect of intercompany transactions, thereby maintaining balance in the
consolidated books. An elimination journal entry must be associated with a single elimination subsidiary. See
Elimination Journal Entries. Use the Automated Intercompany Management feature to automatically generate elimination
journal entries when closing a period

MODULE 7: BUDGETING

 Budgets = estimates of income / expense for a specified period of time, and are useful for financial planning
 Each budget covers a year & permits the entry of an amount, per account, for each accounting period in the year
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 o Create budgets for DCLs, items, customers, projects, subsidiaries
o Set up budgets within NS or use the CSV import assistant
o Base a budget on a previous budget / a previous year’s financials
o Create multiple budgets for the same time period and combination of criteria
o Enter budgets for statistical accounts
 Financial > lists > Set up budgets or Transactions > Financial > Setup budgets

 You can enter budget amounts in the following ways

o Individually for each month
o Fill: to copy an amount entered in the first month to all months for an account (line level)
o Distribute: to evenly divide the amount entered in the first month to all months for an account (line level)
including the first month
o Clear: clear the existing values (button beside Save)

CREATE BUDGET IN PREFERRED TOOL

 You can import external applications’ budget data as CSV files to create NS budget records
 Import: Must ensure that the values in CSV are properly formatted and saved as Comma Delimited
o Account name must exactly match the account name in CoA
o If there’s a subaccount, the account field must include the parent account name and subaccount name,
separated by a colon (Parent: Child). The format for subs should be the same as for subaccounts
o The account name shouldn’t have account numbers
o If multiple budgets are enabled, category is mandatory
o The year format must match that of the accounting period; Setup > Accounting > Manage Accounting
Periods
o Numbers/amounts must not contain the separator or Currency character (, $)
o Financial > Lists > Setup Budgets > Import
 Select the file, review the auto-mappings, monitor error handling, check the status of import
o Can import in sections, and runs as a background task
 View imported data at Financial > Lists > setup Budgets > List > View or Edit
o Minor amendments can be made directly in NS without re-importing
o Or re-import as an amendment/replacement  this overwrites all existing budget data, so the CSV file must
update all fields and not just the fields you want to change

COPY BUDGETS
 Financial > Lists > Copy Budgets
 Saves time by creating budget based on previous year’s actuals or copying previous years’ budget
 Keep or remove classification details
 Increase/decrease amounts by a % (e.g. copy last year’s budget but increase it by 5%)
 Separate by account types

MULTIPLE BUDGETS
 NS allows only one budget per fiscal year when the Multiple Budget feature is not enabled
 By enabling this feature, NS allows you to create several what-if scenarios
o More than one budget per year can be created and maintained for the same time period
o Create as many budget scenarios as needed with each of the scenarios defined by a budget category
 Budget categories can be chosen when generating budget reports
 Budget categories: potential outcomes, created to NAME the budget scenarios best, worst, and most likely
o Create as many as you need, name them appropriately to reflect the scenario
o Usually done if interest rates can vary, so have one for interest rates rise by < 2.5%, fall > 2.5%, etc
o Legacy is the default category assigned to any budget created prior to enabling Multiple Budgets
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 o Setup > Other Setup > accounting Lists > New
 Or set the filter Type to Budget Category and click New

SUBSIDIARY BUDGETS IN ONEWORLD

 Budgets are more complex in OneWorld
 Create separate budgets and track results for each subsidiary, including eliminations subs
 Budget categories can be defined as Local or Global
o Local: associated w one sub only, entered and held in the currency of that sub
 When budget amounts are consolidated or viewed in another context, the amounts can fluctuate
 E.g. Linda at Apple Australia enters a local budget in AUD. James in NY generates a budget vs. actual
report in Jan for Q1 using Local budget. When James runs the same Q1 report in Feb, the budget figures
have changed due to exchange rate variances.
o Global: entered and held in the currency of the Root (parent) level sub
 When local subs look at their budget amounts, the budget figures can fluctuate
o Budget amounts for each sub for each budget type don’t have to equal (but logically would be) when entered
in separate currencies
 E.g. James in NY enters a Global budget for Apple Australia in USD. Linda in Sydney enters a local
budget for Apple Australia in AUD. In theory, their figures would match.
o When generating a report, the Global or Local budget can be selected
o Budgets are automatically converted in reports to show in the currency context being viewed
 Budget Exchange Rate table is used to translate budget amounts  Stores the budget exchange rates for each
sub’s base currency in relation to the currencies used by its parent subs, for each period

ELIMINATION SUBSIDIARY BUDGETS

 By default, budgets can only be set on fully-fledged subsidiaries
 If you want to set budget on elimination subsidiaries, set preference Enable Budget with Elimination
Subsidiaries
 Use case: you create a budget on an elimination sub to track how much IC activity is going on. If your
eliminations exceed your budget, you know there’s more IC going on than you thought.

BEST PRACTICES
 Consider using CSV import tool for complex budgets or if large CoA
 Make minor amendments to budgets within NS  faster than using CSV to make changes
 Use Copy Budgets as basis for new budgets: Create the basic budget in NS using Copy Budgets, export the figures
to your preferred budgeting tool for finessing, then re-import the completed budget
 Ensure permissions in employees’ roles restrict unauthorized modification of budget amounts once they are set 
but ensure they have View access for running reports

MODULE 8: EXPENSE ALLOCATIONS

 Enable Features > Accounting subtab > Expense Allocation & Dynamic Allocation
 Expense Allocations: auto distribute expenses without having to split them among DCLs after they’re incurred
o Dynamic allocation must use statistical accounts
o Fixed allocation schedules must have predefined weightings that do not change
 Reassignment of the expenses are achieved through automated JEs created by a pre-defined allocation schedule
 E.g. Apple US office HQ uses a janitorial service for weekly cleaning
o Monthly cleaning invoice is paid and must be split across each depmt based on sq ft
o Since the sq ft is known for each depmt, the split can be accomplished automatically with a schedule
o So when cleaning invoice is paid each month, there’s no need to specify the departments in the transaction
 Before setting this up, consider:
o Is the amount being allocated from/into one account or several accounts? (Source & Destination subtabs)
o When you allocate the amount from the source, do you want to move the amount or allocate for reporting?

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  Do you want to add the amount to the destination account and 0 the balance in source account?  then
select an Account in Source, and leave Credit Account empty
 Do you want to leave the balance in the source account and add the amount to the destination account? 
select an Account AND a Credit Account (creates offsetting credit to transfer amount from source)
o Do you want to enter a % as a weight value for each destination account OR byDCL?
 If you choose DCL, use Source/Credit Accounts box
 Financial > Lists > Create Allocation Schedules > Set the…
o Frequency: how often to reallocate expenses from this account
o Source & duration: Remind forever(indefinitely reallocate based on this schedule) or Number Remaining

INTERCOMPANY EXPENSE ALLOCATION SCHEDULES

 Financial > Lists > Create Intercompany Allocation
Schedules
 Similar to expense allocation schedules, except:
o Only one source subsidiary can be set
o Relevant IC accounts must be selected on source and
destination subsidiaries

USING EXPENSE ALLOCATION

 Process Purchase Transactions: Allocation schedules are not linked to a purchase transaction
o Purchase transactions are processed following your standard business workflow
o Expenditures are then allocated / transferred according to the schedule
 Create Expense Allocation JEs: Financial > Lists > Create Allocation Schedules > Lists > View > Create
Journal Entry
 By Viewing Allocation History, you can view all journals created from that schedule (History subtab)

BEST PRACTICES
 Before setting up your allocation schedule, determine if the source account needs to be zeroed out by the
allocation process or not
 Ensure all destination DCLs are setup correctly
 OneWorld: before setting up an IC allocation schedule, make sure destination accounts are available to the
destination subs
 Use the Reminders portlet to let you know when an allocation schedule is due

MODULE 9: FINANCIAL REPORTS AND KPIS

 Reports: do not use a layout  Customize by using the Report Builder

 Statements: use layouts to arrange/format data on the report  Customize with Financial Report Builder

TYPES OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Income Statement Budget Income Balance Sheet Cash Flow
Statement
 Summary  Summary  Summary  Only one
 Detail  Detail  Detail
 Comparative  Budget vs. Actual  Comparative
 Footer options in a Financial Statement govern the details of the report:
date/period range, classification (DCL), customer, item, subsidiary
o Note: changes to any footer setting requires a Refresh to take effect
 Anatomy of a Financial Statement: each section/row is one line of the report
o Different layouts of rows/sections distinguish various statements

ACCESS FINANCIAL REPORT BUILDER

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 Financial Report Builder is used to customize statements to meet company requirements
 Go to Financial Statement > Customize
o Header and summary rows are defined as one: may contain financial sections
 Header row: title that can display above the financial sections
 Summary/Total row: total of any sections
between it and the header
 They link financial sections, formula rows,
reference rows, and text rows together
o Note: account rows may be collapsed when the
report is run, giving just the section name and a total
 Financial sections: defining a section means specifying
the accounts that will display in it:
o Use criteria (account type) to position accounts
o NS totals all transactions in all of the accounts
chosen for the date period specified
o E.g. NS will grab all Income accounts and total based
on the date range specified in picture on the right
o This total will display on the statement
 Formula rows: display a calculation based on values of other rows  can include any row in a statement
o E.g. Gross Profit subtracts the COGS section from the Income section
 Text rows: displays static text OR provides a blank row
 Reference rows: (balance sheet and cash flow) display a value referenced from a section/row in another financial
statement (e.g. Net Income in the Equity section)

STANDARD KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR

 Key performance indicator (KPI): is a measurement or count of one of your business metrics  spot trends!
o Shows key variances and over-time trends
o Helps identify trends so you can make course corrections in a timely fashion
 NS provides over 75 pre-packaged KPIs based on NS standard reports
 E.g. a KPI on the bank balance with a threshold set will tell you if the company bank balance falls < $X
 E.g. KPI on sales tells you if sales are trending up or down, by how much %
 KPIs you choose depend on the Role used to log into NS and features enabled in your NS account
 NS Help lists all NS standard KPIs  if one is not available, use a custom KPI
 Setup KPIs: Home Dashboard > Personalize > KPI Portlet > Setup > Add Standard KPIs > choose > Done
 Configure the KPIs: move them up and down, set the date/compare ranges, choose employees to display data
for, turn on/off comparisons, set up highlight and threshold functionality (highlight KPI that falls above/below)
o Configure KPI headlines: extra prominence can be given to KPIs using this
 Do not have too many headlines as this dilutes the impact
 If your KPI is set to compare one date range against the other, the change is calculated for you  NS indicates
positive (green) and negative (red) changes which (which depend not on # but on improvement for that indicator)
 We can drill down on each KPI data field to display a report of the underlying data
 We can refresh individual KPI (left side of each row) or entire KPI portlet

BEST PRACTICES
 Financial statements
o Design your statement before you start to create/customize it
o Create header/summary rows first  makes positioning the sections easier
o Use blank Text Rows to give prominence to data in your financial statements
 KPIs
o Portlet should be placed at the top of the wide column in Home Dashboard
o Place KOPIs in logical order in the portlet

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 o When using comparisons, the data ranges you set should complement each other

MODULE 10: PERIOD AND YEAR-END CLOSE

 At the end of an account cycle, the books must be closed to start a new cycle

CLOSING THE PERIOD

 NS presents an orderly process, with controls and audit functionality, to manage/close its accounting periods
o Prevent AR and AP users from posting to the GL while accountants
finalize and make adjustments
o Critical processes (IC, revaluation) done/signed before closing
o Prevent GL change to closed periods
o Audit trail identifying who closes/reopens periods and when
 Things to do at period-end: depends on org, but typically…
o Check and finalize sales/purchasing data entry
o Run and distribute reports
o Generate customer statements
o Run stock adjustments
o Complete bank/cash/deferred revenue reconciliations
o Update budget figures
o Complete VAT/GST statements

CLOSING THE YEAR

 In NS, finalizing the year = closing the last period in the year (these are not 2 separate processes)
 Closing the books for a year:
o Ends the opportunity to post transactions to all ledgers
o Allows the transfer of net income to retained earnings / owner’s equity
o Finalizes the books on a fiscal year for reporting purposes (if OneWorld, this is done for each subsidiary)
o Prevents further posting to the fiscal year
 Things to do at year-end: depends on org, but typically…
o Accruals are in place
o Vendor bills are posted by year-end close date
o Customers are invoiced for unbilled revenue
o Conducting physical inventory counts
o Adjusting tax rates for the new year
o Prepare applicable year-end reports
 You can choose Automatic or Manual close
o Automatic: when you permit NS to automatically close year-end, you’re not required to make JEs to close
out the income statement to retained earnings/owner’s equity
 Financial statement #s display as if the accounts had been closed, based on period(s) selected for reports
 Enables you to generate historical reports, for any year, any time
 Retained earnings account is a system account and cannot be deleted/substituted for another account
 E.g. you want to see a balance sheet for fiscal year 2014. NS assess the cumulative net income through
2014 and displays that value in the retained earnings account for reporting.
o Manual: make JEs to 0 out the income & expense accounts, transfer the balance to retained earnings account
 Restricts ability to run historical reports
 E.g. a JE was entered on Dec 31, 2014. You generate an income statement today, dated for year 2014, the
profit and loss for the statement period is 0. The JE is included in the report.

ONEWORLD: USING MULTIPLE CALENDARS

 If Multiple Calendars feature is enabled, we can use different reporting calendars:
o Respects quarterly/yearly reporting needs per subsidiary reqmts
o Defines fiscal calendars with start/end periods
o Links calendars to subsidiary records
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 Multiple Calendars doesn’t hugely impact period end
o Setup > Company > Manage Accounting Periods > then, select a Fiscal Calendar doesn’t matter
which one
 Periods are shared across calendars (e.g. closing June 2015 closes it in all calendars)
 If you have multiple fiscal calendars that have different start and end periods or that are structured
differently, you can only run GL numbering for the calendars which are in the last month of the period

USING THE PERIOD CLOSE CHECKLIST

 The checklist assists in completing the steps in the period close process
o Once you execute a task and mark it complete during period-end, you CAN revisit task and re-do it
 The checklist is available for regular and adjustment periods, but not for quarter/year end
o Closing all the periods in a quarter automatically closes the quarter (likewise for year-end)
 Provides a list of tasks required to complete the close
o Simple tasks that only have 2 states (check/uncheck) can be set by drilling down from the checklist
 AR, AP, Payroll (if payroll is enabled), Lock All, Close
 Lock AR: prevents posting transactions impacting the AR account without impacting AP and GL
accounts
 Lock AP: same as AR but for AP
 Lock all: prevents posting to AR, AP, and GL accounts  must be done before Review Negative
Inventory
o Identifies dependencies between tasks
o Displays additional tasks depending on the features enabled
 Accounting period states
o Open/Unlocked: transactions can be posted by any user, subject to standard role permissions
o Open/locked: provides extra level of control prior to closing period
 Override Period Restrictions permission is required to edit/post transactions in locked periods
 Locking accounting periods can be done by subsidiary (just check off the subs you want to lock) if
required
o Closed: nobody can make GL changes (regardless of Admin role or permissions)

LOCKING AP, AR, ALL

1) Setup > Accounting > Manage Accounting Periods
o If multiple Calendars is enabled, review the fiscal calendar filter
o Open the Period Close Checklist from the checklist icon beside the period
o If multi-book is provisioned in your account, you can individually close/reopen accounting periods associated
with any book without impacting your other books. Unique period close checklists exist for each book.
2) Preliminary tasks: lock AP, AR, All  limits posting transactions
3) Once AR and AP are locked, the accountant can start reconciling the subledgers to the financial reports
4) Generate Customer Statements: Send statements to remind customers to pay their invoices
o Customers > Accounts Receivable > Generate Statements or Individual Statement
o Transactions > Customers > Generate Statements or Individual Statement
o Lists customer’s transactions (e.g. invoices), finance charges assessed, credit memos issued, pmts received
o It also contains an aging summary at the bottom that shows how long each amount has been due
5) Reconcile subledger reports: subledgers serve as support for the amounts posted to GL and contain the details
of a transaction  AP register, AR register, Bank register
6) Inventory period close tasks: if the inventory feature is enabled, then the Period Close checklist includes checks
for inventory cost and quantity inconsistencies
a) Resolve date/period mismatch: reconcile transactions that are dated outside the selected posting period
 Helps ensure that transaction and period dates are properly aligned
 For each mismatched transaction, amend either the posting period or the transaction date so that the two
will be correctly matched  in the list of mismatches, you can filter by period and edit transactions
b) Review negative inventory: identify any negative inventory values that can be corrected to positive
 This doesn’t create a physical account  a physical count should already be done before this task
 NS allows you to mark the task as complete even if some inventory counts are negative. If this happens,
the Close Period Checklist logs the date and the user who marked the task as complete.

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 c) Review inventory cost accounting: run the costing accounting process for the period close. Steps:
i. Ensure no costing items need to be corrected. If any items show on the list, wait until they’re resolved.
ii. Process status is Not running
iii. Costing calculations have completed

d) Review inventory activity: run the inventory Activity Detail report for the period to ensure details are
correct
 Filter and customize the report as needed
 Provides a view of specific inventory values
 Details are based on the item level total inventory value in a specific subsidiary context

MULTIPLE CURRENCIES & ONEWORLD PERIOD CLOSE TASKS

 Multiple Currencies Period Close Tasks
o Revalue Open Foreign Currency Balances calculates the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on open
balances within a selected period  determines the unrealized gains/losses from the fluctuations
 Currency revaluation can be done outside of period-end as well
o If you want to run period-end foreign currency revaluation for multiple subsidiaries at once, check the
“Include Children” box, and then select the account categories to include in the revaluation
 OneWorld Period Close Tasks: ensure consolidated financials and reporting accuracy
o Create IC Adjustments: if IC Time & Expense has been enabled  can be automated
o Calculate Consolidated Exchange Rates
 Used for consolidated reporting where different currencies are used between subsidiaries
 Auto calculation rechecks the rates from which consolidated rates were derived and updates consolidated
rates accordingly  click the Calculate button
 Once marked Complete, consolidated exchange rates for the period cannot be changed

ELIMINATE INTERCOPANY TRANSACTIONS

 IC reconciliation report: before you run elimination for the period, run this report as part of period-end process
to identify any problems associated with IC transactions
o Finds unmatched or incorrectly matched IC transactions
 Eliminate IC Transactions is the last task on the checklist  posts elimination JEs
 The IC Elimination report provides an audit trail of IC eliminations for a period  Run this after posting IC
elimination to view the source transactions marked for elimination and the resulting elimination JEs

GL AUDIT NUMBERING
 Enable Features > Accounting subtab > GL Audit Numbering
 If you enabled GL Audit Numbering, it’s required at period close
 Applies gapless numbering sequences to all GL posting transactions, enabling your company to meet international
auditing requirements  verify that the GL audit numbering is gapless
 Can be applied only in the last month of the fiscal year/period/quarter, depending on the GL numbering method
o If OneWorld, create sequences for each subsidiary
o f Multi-Book accounting, you can define book-specific numbering sequences

CLOSING AND REOPENING PERIODS

 Closing a period: all tasks must be completed before the final task (Close)
o All prior periods must be close before you can close a current period
o Once the period is closed, nobody can post transactions to the period without re-opening first
 Select the Close task
 Enter a justification for re-opening (mandatory!)
 May need to redo checklist tasks to close the period again
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  If subsequent periods have since been closed, re-opening a period will reopen those periods too
 Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences > General > check “Allow Quick Close of accounting periods”
o Useful when you’ve reopened one or more closed accounting periods to make a change
o Marks complete all tasks in all reopened accounting periods (don’t need to close one by one)
o User role permissions required:
 Set up Accounting
 Period Closing Management
o Warning: does not run period closing tasks. It only marks the tasks as completed.
 System & user notes: all changes to the Period Close Checklist are logged
o System Notes are automatic, but User notes can be added
o Notes can be viewed on each individual task OR for all tasks for the period

YEAR END REPORTING & PREPARING FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR

 Automatic Close: on your balance sheet, the retained earnings account and the net income account together make
up your cumulative retained earnings balance at any point in time
o Net income from prior fiscal year is in the retained earnings account
o Net income from the current fiscal year is in the net income account
 You can set up a single accounting period at a time or generate all periods for a full year
o Fiscal calendar
o Fiscal year end
o Period format: calendar months, 4 weeks, 4-4-5 weeks
o Year in Period name
o One-day year-end adjustment period

BEST PRACTICES
 Create a checklist of your org’s required tasks at period and year end
o Determines how to map your tasks to NS’s period end checklist
 Use NS’s period end checklist properly  do not side step the tasks
 Close periods in a timely manner
 If reopening a period, make sure the justification is sufficient
o Confirm that any subsequent periods reopened by this action are closed!
 Use automatic close for year-end (vs. manual)
 Use Set Up Full Year to generate all periods for a full year (vs. single accounting period)
 Ensure that your processes and record keeping conform with all legal requirements for your jurisdiction

MODULE 11: SMART DASHBOARDS

 Smart dashboard must display relevant and real time data leveraging off of the various SuiteAnalytics solutions
o Reports: KPIs, KPI Meters, Snapshots
o Saved searches: custom search portlets, custom KPIs, custom KPI meters, trend graphs
 Dashboard layout: one column, 2 columns (2 ways), 3 columns  2 columns is better for smaller screens
 Home Dashboard > Personalize
o Standard Content: support WF, provide o List portlet may display a saved search
analysis o Shortcut links to frequently used reports and
o Report snapshots: 10 max saved searches
o Trend graphs: 5 max o KPI meters: 3 max on Home

TREND GRAPHS
 Visual presentation of key metrics over time  area, line, bar, or column chart

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 When you roll over a point in a trend graph, it will display a value
 Can add 5 on most Standard Center tabs (Home, Transactions, Opps), or any Custom tabs
 Cannot be added to tabs that are not standard dashboards, such as: activities, documents, setup
 Custom trend graphs are based on saved searches; custom searches can only display by Date (vs. period)
o Can only be displayed on dashboard that includes a KPI portlet
 Each trend graph portlet can have additional menu options
o print the trend graph chart, download as a file, export as CSV file, etc.
 Show Moving Average: a dotted line representing the rolling average of KPI data values enabled by default
 Period to calculate moving average: # that represents the window of data you want to average based on the date
range selected in the Trend Type field.  E.g. if you select monthly and enter 3 as your window, each point on
your y-axis is a 3-month average.
 Show Last Data Point: display most recent
KPI data point in trend graph  enable by
default
 Include Zero on Y-Axis: set the first y-axis
value for the trend graph to zero, rather than to
the initial KPI data point  disabled by
default, to avoid showing misleadingly
dramatic increases in initial trend graph data.

PORTLET TYPES
 Publish search: up to 6 Custom Search portlets
 List portlet: saved searches on the dashboard (the search in question must be Available for Dashboard View)
o Focuses on a particular metric
o Results can employ highlighting and summarized results
 Report snapshots: offer quick looks at important high-level business results for that report for that period/date
o Can be Custom or Standard report
o Custom Snapshots from current standard summary reports (only summary reports as snapshots!)
o NS Help Center has a list of report snapshots in alphabetical order
 KPI meters: graphical representations of your KPIs  KPI must first be displayed in the KPI Portlet
 Reminders: show important tasks of selected types that are usually past due/soon due to be completed
o Select from standard/custom reminders
o Define the # days in advance that the reminder should be shown
o Clicking a reminder takes you to a page with more detail where you can take action as necessary
o Display as a Headline
o Set highlighting rules
 Shortcuts: links to selected pages, so you can navigate quickly to frequently used pages
 Calendars: lists activities for a selected period ordered by date/time, with links to drill down into individual
activity records  daily, weekly, monthly, or agenda view
 Publish dashboards: must have permission; then the Publish Dashboard link is in the Settings portlet at Home
o Must be in a role with the same Center type for which you are creating the custom dashboard
o Role would be like “PUB: US AP Analyst” and would have to be assigned to you
o When publishing the dashboard, there are settings to apply
 Lock shortcuts: allows users to add/reorder links in their Shortcuts portlets, but cannot remove
 Lock new bar: allows users to add and reorder links in the Create New bars, but cannot remove
 Override existing user’s settings: overrides the
current dashboard for the role and replaces it
o Select the tabs to publish dashboard to
 Select the restriction mode for each tabbed page
o Save and test/edit as necessary

KEYS TO SUCCESS

 Ensure transaction dates and posting dates are in the correct accounting period
 Create a naming convention for billing schedules that adequately identify them
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 Reconcile ledgers for accuracy of recorded transactions
 Ensure transactions are both cleared and reconciled before period close
 Plan your subsidiary structure first by creating a diagram
 Segment your data by classifications to meet your financial reporting needs
 Before setting up allocation sched, determine if the source account needs to be zeroed out or not
 Create a memorized transaction for JEs that recur over time
 Use Copy Budgets as the basis for your new budgets
 Use Automatic Close for year end (vs. manual close)

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