NetSuite ERP Functional Areas
ERP questions test the flow of transactions and how they post to the general ledger. The core cycle is quote → sales order → item fulfillment → invoice → payment, with each step creating a linked transaction. The trap is knowing which step affects inventory versus the GL. An item fulfillment reduces inventory quantity and posts cost of goods sold; the invoice creates the receivable and revenue. A sales order itself is non-posting-it commits inventory but does not hit the GL.
On the purchasing side: purchase order → item receipt → vendor bill → bill payment. The item receipt increases inventory and accrues the liability (if accrual accounting is on); the vendor bill records the payable. Questions often ask which transaction changes inventory-receipts and fulfillments, not orders and bills.
Know the accounting preferences that shape behavior: accounting basis (cash vs. accrual), and whether the account uses Advanced Inventory or Multi-Location Inventory. Also know items: inventory items track quantity and cost; non-inventory items do not; service items have no stock. Assembly/build transactions consume components and produce a finished good, affecting component and assembly inventory.
A frequent scenario: revenue is recorded but inventory did not decrease. The likely cause is an invoice created without a fulfillment, or a non-inventory item used where an inventory item was intended. Another trap: journal entries post directly to the GL and bypass subledgers, so they will not update inventory or receivables aging.
Rule of thumb: orders commit, receipts/fulfillments move inventory, bills/invoices post to the GL, payments settle. Map every transaction question onto that chain.