NetSuite is basically a massive database of all the information related to your business. And, for the most part, this information is stored in records. When you need to find records in NetSuite, however, what are some of the key ways you would do that?
Lists
One of the first things you may think of would be to use the Lists tab in NetSuite. This method works for you as long as you know the exact navigation path of any given type of record (or as long as you don’t mind taking a minute to click around for it!).
Navigating
The navigation through the Lists tab will take you to a list of a specific type of record, and from there you can search for the exact record within that record type that you need. For example, if you need to see an employee record, you would start by navigating to Lists > Employees > Employees. If you get to “New” in your navigation, then you’ve gone too far (unless, of course, you want to create a new record within that group).
Once you get to the actual list of records within any given record type, you can either scroll through the list to find the record you need, or you can streamline the process using the search options on that page. For example, in the list of employees, there are a couple ways you can narrow down the results you are shown.
Sorting
Notice, in the above picture, that the first sorting option you have is to change how you’re viewing the page. The default view is “Basic,” but you may want to see employees who are new hires or employees who have upcoming reviews. The selection you make in the “View” box will change the information that is shown in the list of employees.
The second way you would sort through the list of employees is by using the filter options. In the above picture, you’ll notice that you could filter by Type, Department, and Location. These are the filter options for the Basic view. If you change the view, then your filter options will change as well.
A final way you can sort through the information in this list is by using the “Quick Sort” dropdown list. Quick Sort allows you to sort by recent records, whether those records were recently created, recently modified, recently viewed, etc. The options in Quick Sort remain the same no matter which view you are using.
Uses
Sometimes, you aren’t looking for a specific record so much as you’re looking for a group of records that meet certain criteria. In those situations, using Lists to find those records is probably the best option for you.
Global Search
While searching for records using Lists certainly has its uses, at times you may prefer to use the Global Search bar to find records in NetSuite, particularly when you’re searching for a specific record.
Overview
The Global Search bar is located top and center of NetSuite. You can search for basically anything in NetSuite here, and NetSuite will show you every result. Your search can be as broad or as specific as you need it to be. For example, suppose you searched for “employee” in the Global Search bar. NetSuite would bring up everything it can find that has “employee” in the name.
Notice, in the above picture, that the types of results you get can vary widely, from contacts to customers to groups to pages. NetSuite could also pull up tasks, projects, and saved searches, to name a few additional types of records not pictured. Once you find the exact record you need, you could select either Edit or View next to the record to open it.
Search Prefixes and Keywords
As you can imagine, conducting a broad search like “employee” has its limitations. The Global Search bar is a powerful tool, but only if you have an adequate grasp of certain search tools. One of those tools is to start your search with a search prefix. A search prefix is just an abbreviation of the type of record you need. If you’re looking for a specific record within a record type, then you would use a colon after the search prefix and include a keyword from the record you are searching for. For example, if you were searching for an employee named Joe, your search prefix would be something like “em” or “emp” followed by a colon and the keyword “joe.” Your entire search would look like either em:joe or emp:joe. Using a search prefix saves you time, but typing in employee:joe would pull up the same record that em:joe or emp:joe would pull up.
The abbreviations you use as search prefixes are entirely up to you. You just want to make sure that the abbreviation can apply only to one type of record. For example, “inv” could mean either “inventory” or “invoice.”
Using OR
If you want to search for multiple keywords at once, you could insert OR between the keywords. For example, suppose you want to pull up the employee record for Joe, but you can’t remember if his name is spelled “Joe” or just “Jo.” Your search would be something like, emp:joe OR jo. It’s important to note, however, that NetSuite treats keywords the same way it treats search prefixes. NetSuite will pull up everything that starts with the letters in your keywords. In other words, if you do conduct a search like emp:joe OR jo, be ready for NetSuite to pull up all the “Joneses” and “Johns” along with your desired “Jo” record. The more specific your keyword is, the fewer irrelevant results you will have.
The % Wildcard
You can place the % symbol either before or after your keyword to change how NetSuite searches for the information in your keyword. Placing % directly after your keyword will instruct NetSuite to return only results that begin with your keyword. Placing % directly before your keyword, on the other hand, will instruct NetSuite to return any results that contain your keyword. For example, a search like emp:li% would pull up only employees whose first or last name begins with “Li.” A search like emp:%li, however, would pull up all the employees that have “li” anywhere in their names.
Inactive Records
Another helpful search tool is that you can use the plus sign after your keyword to instruct NetSuite to include inactive records in your search. So if you wanted to search or all the active and inactive employees named Bob, your search would look like this: emp:bob+.
Conclusion
While these search tools are not exhaustive, they do cover some of the basics. Being able to find records in NetSuite, either through the Lists tab or by using the Global Search bar, will increase your overall efficiency in using NetSuite. If this post helped you understand NetSuite better, be sure to subscribe to our mailing list below to receive future posts directly in your inbox once a week!