This article is relevant if you are seeking to upload a chart of accounts into NetSuite.
Background
We produce many implementations for our clients. Most of the time, our clients will constitute a new chart of accounts as part of the exercise of getting a new system in place. This is one of the many items that need to be taken care of. See my article on Sequencing Data Imports to Go Live on NetSuite. Many times, because they are new to NetSuite, I suggest the client get the chart into NetSuite as a way to learn the tools.
It may be helpful to the reader to understand an approach for getting a new chart into NetSuite using the CSV Import tool. Of course, you can manually add the accounts one by one. In any case, the steps below should be helpful for the effort in front of you.
Preparation for Chart of Accounts Upload
The first task is to get organized. The best mood for being productive is to know that it is going to take longer than you may think to complete the effort. The good news is that you will learn some of the nuances of NetSuite CSV imports which will help you in future situations. Once you are in the right mood, prepare your plan of attack. Answer some of the following questions:
- Do some of the accounts only belong in some of the subsidiaries?
- Do you want to use the Summary account feature so that the account is designed to not accept transactions but only used for reporting roll-up?
- How do you want to use hierarchies to help you roll up general ledger transactions?
- Do you know how you want to sequence the chart?
Export the Current Chart to CSV
Organize your Chart in the Spreadsheet
- Consider how Account Types offer basic sequencing.
- Consider heading : subheadings and thus parent : child relationships help your chart become easy to understand.
- Consider how you can sort your spreadsheet so it will mimic how you will see it in NetSuite. See images in this article on some helper constructs I use.
- Once your sorting is good, consider numbering the Account Numbers and increment by 10 to give yourself room to allow for changes without a difficult revamp.
- Remember vLookup in Excel is quite helpful. But cut-and-paste is going to be your friend.
Import your Chart into NetSuite
- Upload only a few accounts and watch how the import tool behaves. Do more as your confidence grows.
- Import all the non-hierarchical accounts first. These are the easiest.
- Remember that you can update existing accounts by providing the internal ID as a key. Hence don’t lose this reference in your spreadsheet work.
- Note, the Summary switch is not supported during the upload. Hence plan to take care of this at some point in your work.
- Upload the sub accounts one level at a time. Here are sample import values so you can see the format of the data. Note the use of the account number and the colon to represent hierarchy:
- “2300 Unearned Revenue”
- “6816 Administrative : Insurance”
- In a One World Account, you may want to upload all accounts (except for Bank accounts) under the root subsidiary and make the accounts available for all children. After the CSV upload, manually modify the account switches for refinement.
Be Patient
Marty Zigman
Holding all three official certifications, Marty is regarded as the top NetSuite expert and leads a team of senior professionals at Prolecto Resources, Inc. He is a former Deloitte & Touche CPA and has held CTO roles. For over 30 years, Marty has produced leadership in ERP, CRM and eCommerce business systems. Contact Marty to set up a conversation.
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Hey Marty,
I have to say thank you for providing such get content. Aside from SuiteAnswers, their are simply not enough practical guide resources for NetSuite such as this. Keep up the good work!
Marty
Hi Marty,
I love your posts and find them very helpful and relevant to many users.
In regards to Chart of Account uploads, I highly recommend utilizing the external ID as a reference key, especially when you have a hierarchical COA. This allows you to map the parent accounts along with the child accounts in the same upload. Be careful when performing the mapping to ensure the “subaccount of” column is mapped referencing the external ID of the parent account. Establishing the external ID will also make uploading the opening trial balances much easier come Go-Lives because you will not have to do any vlookups to find a corresponding internal ID or even more difficult, the name of the account in NetSuite.
Best regards,
Cassius Kellogg
Thank you Marty.
Hi Cassius,
Thank you for that thinking. The external ID is a great idea. Since we do so much work in customizations, we often don’t use the external ID in our day-to-day affairs due to some limitations. I like it in this approach!
Marty