NetSuite 2010.2: The New User Interface

As version 2010.2 gets ready to be rolled out, the biggest change everyone is talking about is the new user-interface. I just came from a NetSuite webinar that broke down this new interface, and I am very excited by the clean and intuitive design they’ve adopted.

The only stumbling block I foresee with this 2010.2 is custom forms – NetSuite users will have to upgrade all their custom forms. These upgrades can take place at your own pace, and are not automatic.

NetSuite has provided a migration tool to help administrators roll-out their custom form upgrades, which allows for testing, tweaking, more testing, and then deployment only when satisfied. A future blog post will be written on this topic by one of our technical consultants.

And like anything NetSuite, here at ERP Guru we are ready to assist you in any way, be it with upgrading your forms to testing existing scripts and modifications with version 2010.2
Contact us for any and all 2010.2 help.

Apart from the custom form issue, there are a ton of great new features that not only enhance productivity, but make NetSuite even easier to use. The design optimizes the use of whitespace and there has far clearer distinctions between local and global information.

Click on the screenshots below to see a few of the new UI features in 2010.2.

2010.2 Home Screen

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2010.2 Records

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The Wonders of NetSuite Reporting : The Menu Bar

For a long time now, we have been receiving request from our fellow NetSuiters on how to customize various reports. While complex customizations do require advanced searches, you can generally use the wonderful menu bar located at the bottom of most reports (financial and sales) to help you reach the Valhalla of reporting.

As you can see from the screenshot below the menu bar alone doesn’t seem to have all that much to offer. However you can unleash the true power of your report by clicking on the "More" link hidden at the end of the filter list.

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Clicking the "More" link will display a complete new list of filters for your report. You will have access to Class, Department (one of the most requested), Location, Item and Customer.

The sheer number of possibilities that the "More" link provides you with may prompt you to ask “what are those cute buttons on the right?" Those my fellow NetSuiters are EVEN more customizations for your report!

On the picture below, you can see options to change what is displayed on the report.

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If those tips to help you reach better report still does not get you there, customization might be required *wink*. But don't be afraid to experiment with the menu in the reports, you could be surprise how far you can get.

Clicking the wrench button labeled “Options” gives you new display options. "View" allows you to add borders to your report cell or set it as a white page. "Expand Level" allows you to quickly expand or collapse the hierarchy of the report to a particular level and the "Display title" displays your report title. Less obvious is the "Show drill-down ballons" which gives you more information on the record before you click on it.

Located close to the wrench icon is the graph icon. Clicking on it will allow you to generate a column, a pie or a line chart for a better visual reporting. However, exercise caution when using these graphs as they not always relevant to the data shown in report.

Finally, for you out there who still want even more report customization, try using the “Find” box to locate data within a large report as this might save you some time. Finally using the little blue arrows completely on the right will automatically get you to a major category. i.e. Under Assets your first category might be Current Assets. A blue arrow will be provided for every type of Assets of that level.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with the menu options in the reports, you could be surprised how much you will learn!

Blanking Out Prices By CSV Import in NetSuite

How do you blank out existing prices on your items? It seems like this question comes up on a fairly regular basis. There are a variety of reasons why you would want to blank out prices and today's blog post will demonstrate the most efficient way to do it.

It's actually fairly simple. I use the Multiple File CSV Import to do it, because I've encountered problems trying to clear out prices with Single File CSV Import.

First, we need to create two separate Excel files. Don't forget to save them as CSV (comma-separated values), or it won't be accepted in the CSV Import.

The first sheet, which I call the Master Sheet, simply has one column – your items' internal IDs.

The second file, which I call the Slave Sheet, has the Item Internal IDs (to link to the Master Sheet), the Price Level and the Price. You could also include Price Quantity if you use quantity-based pricing in your NetSuite account.

It's possible to do an item export from NetSuite with this information, and then just divide that export into the two sheets.

Now that we have our Excel sheets, go to Setup --> Import/Export --> Import CSV Records.

In Import Type, choose Item. Then choose the item type for which you want to update prices. You can only update one type of item per import.

For the CSV File(s), first choose Multiple files to upload. For the Primary File, choose your Master Sheet and for the Linked File (Optional) - Item Pricing, choose your Slave Sheet. Then click Next.

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On the next page, choose Update in the Data Handling section. Then, click on Advanced Options and check the Overwrite Missing Fields check box. Click Next when you're done.

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On the following page, choose both Item Internal ID columns in the drop-downs and click Next.

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The Field Mapping page comes next. Make sure to map the Internal ID field from the Master sheet with the Internal ID field in NetSuite. You may also need to enter default values for some required fields, such as the Pricing Currency and Pricing Quantity which I did not include in my CSV files.

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Click Next, then click Run (or Save & Run if you want to reuse your import in the future) and you're done!