NetSuite Financial User cheat sheet

Chart of accounts segments are defined per subsidiary via the subsidiary's COA reference; a segment value only posts if it is assigned to that subsidiary's chart of accounts.

Account types map to financial statement placement: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Cost of Goods Sold, Expense, Other Asset, Other Liability, Other Income, Other Expense, Deferred Revenue, Unbilled Receivable.

NetSuite is double-entry and multi-book: each transaction posts to a primary book and, when enabled, secondary books through book-specific accounting preferences and currency.

Every posting line records a subsidiary; intercompany transactions must be balanced, and NetSuite auto-generates the due-to/due-from elimination entries when the Intercompany feature is enabled.

The accounting period is a required posting dimension; a period must exist and be unlocked in the period close checklist before a transaction can post to it.

Journal entries have a configurable approval workflow; once approved they cannot be edited, only reversed, and reversal can be scheduled by date or period.

Base currency is set at the company level; each subsidiary has its own currency, and foreign-currency transactions post converted amounts using the exchange rate on the transaction date.

Consolidated reporting converts subsidiary books to the parent currency; cumulative translation adjustment (CTA) captures the rate difference and posts to equity, not to income.

Order-to-cash chain: Sales Order -> Item Fulfillment (reduces inventory, no GL impact) -> Invoice (drives AR and revenue) -> Customer Payment -> Deposit -> Bank Reconciliation.

Procure-to-pay chain: Purchase Order -> Item Receipt (accrues inventory received not billed) -> Vendor Bill (clears the accrual) -> Bill Payment -> Bank Reconciliation.

Billing accounts control deferred revenue: a billing schedule with a deferred revenue account posts the unbilled/deferred entries, and revenue recognition schedules release revenue by period.

Advanced Revenue Management (ARM) uses revenue arrangements, performance obligations, and fair value or SSP allocation to split revenue across elements.

Inventory costing methods are Standard, Average, FIFO, and LIFO (LIFO limited to US); the costing method is set at the item/accounting preferences level and changing it is restricted.

A journal entry must balance debits and credits; NetSuite blocks posting if the entry is out of balance or uses an account not on the subsidiary's COA.

Approval routing is driven by transaction amount thresholds, subsidiaries, departments, or custom rules; an unapproved transaction cannot post to the GL.

Multi-currency payments: the exchange rate on the payment date may differ from the invoice date, generating a realized foreign-exchange gain or loss entry on the payment.

Standard financial statements: Balance Sheet, Income Statement (Profit and Loss), Trial Balance, Cash Flow Statement, and General Ledger; each supports period, subsidiary, and segment filters.

Financial Report Builder (FRB) layouts control row/column definitions, segment expansion, and formulas; the layout is separate from the report definition so one layout can serve many reports.

Saved Searches on transaction and GL lines are the primary ad hoc analysis tool; summary vs. detail and grouping by segment drive the output shape.

Consolidated reports require the parent subsidiary plus the 'consolidated' flag; a report run on a single subsidiary shows only that entity's books.

Budget vs. actual comparisons use budget records per account/period; budgets are per subsidiary and per accounting book.

Ratio and KPI formulas: Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities; Gross Margin = (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue; Quick Ratio = (Current Assets - Inventory) / Current Liabilities.

Report currency and exchange rate type (current, average, historical) determine how foreign balances translate in consolidated output.

SuiteAnalytics Workbook and saved searches can be scheduled and emailed; row-level restrictions and subsidiary restrictions filter what each viewer sees.

Period close follows the Period Close Checklist: lock all, reconcile bank and credit card accounts, review trial balance, then close the period; a closed period rejects new postings unless reopened by an authorized role.

Segregation of duties is enforced through role permissions; the same user should not both create and approve journal entries or both enter and approve vendor bills.

Audit trail: every transaction records created/updated by and date; the system notes tab shows field-level history, and deleted records are recoverable via the Recycle Bin.

Approval workflows and posting restrictions are the main preventive controls; the GL Audit Numbering feature provides gap-free sequential numbering for compliance.

Bank reconciliation matches statement lines to GL transactions; unreconciled items must be investigated before the period is locked.

SOX-relevant controls include restricted role access, approval thresholds, period lock, and review of the trial balance before close.

Reversing journal entries are used to correct closed-period errors: post the correction in the current open period with a reversal date, never reopen a closed period without approval.

The Audit Trail and Login Audit Trail searches support evidence collection for external auditors; retention and access are governed by role permissions.