NetSuite Matrix Items

NetSuite for Administrators

If you have items that come in a variety of different combinations, you will want to use the NetSuite Matrix Items feature. Let’s take a look at this feature and how it works.

Matrix Items Overview

To use matrix items, you’ll need to enable the Matrix Items feature. You can find this feature on the Items section of the Items & Inventory tab of Enable Features. How would you use matrix items? A common use-case for matrix items would be with clothing. Suppose you sell a certain shirt style in three different colors and three different sizes. A customer could buy the shirt in any of the colors and any of the sizes. It’s the same shirt, so you’ll want to make sure all your inventory is connected somehow in NetSuite. But you also need a way to track your inventory of the different possible combinations. The NetSuite Matrix Items feature uses parent items and subitems to accomplish this. The parent items keep everything clearly connected in NetSuite, but the child items track inventory for each combination and show up on the transaction records.

Creating Matrix Items

You have two options for creating matrix items in NetSuite: using the Matrix Item Assistant or setting up the records manually. We’ll take a quick look at each.

The Matrix Item Assistant

The Matrix Item Assistant will guide you through the process of creating matrix items. To start, navigate to Lists > Accounting > Items > New. Here, select the Matrix Item Assistant link next to the type of item you wish to create.
New Matrix Item Assistant page

This will open the Matrix Item Assistant for that type of item. Here, you’ll be guided through the process of creating a matrix item, starting with the item basics. For the Set Up Item Basics stage, provide a name or number for this item, as well as a display name. On this page you can also select the preferred vendor for this item, connect the item to a subsidiary, and choose a purchase price. When you’re done, hit Next.

set up item basics

In the Create Item Property Lists section, you’ll connect this item with different lists. You can use previously existing lists or create new ones. Lists are essentially the categories or types of variants for these items. Let’s go back to our shirt example. One category will be size, so you would name this list “Size” and add different available sizes in the list. When you’re done with the size list, you’ll need to set up your color list. To do that, hit the Save & Create Another button. You can do this for as many types of variants possible for this item. When you’ve added all the necessary variant lists, hit Next.

Create item property lists

On the Choose Property Combinations page, choose all the variants that are applicable for this item. You’ll see the lists of options you created in the previous step. When you’ve selected the variants that apply to this item, hit Next.

choose matrix item property combinations

You’ll be taken to a page where you can see all the possible combinations. These represent all the child items that NetSuite will create. If any of these combinations should not be created, use the checkbox to simply deselect that item. Then, hit the Finish button. Now, these child items are available for selection on transactions.

choose and create matrix items

Manually Create Matrix Items

While using the Matrix Item Assistant is the recommended (and simpler) way to create matrix items, you can also manually create matrix items. To do that, start by creating custom lists and custom item fields for the different categories and variants within those categories. Then, navigate to Lists > Accounting > Items > New, and select the Create Matrix Items link next to the appropriate item type.
create matrix items manually

This will take you to a new item record that you can set up. To establish the child variants of this item, scroll down to the Accounting subtab and locate the Matrix Items sublist. You’ll see all the categories you’ve previously created, and you can select the various options for this item. When you’re finished, hover over the Actions link and select Create Matrix.

create matrix items on sublist of inventory item
Whether you create matrix items manually or using the Matrix Item Assistant, you are all set now to start selecting the child item combinations on transaction records.

Conclusion

Creating and using the NetSuite Matrix Items feature allows you to easily add, track, and work with item variations. If this is a feature you would like to begin using in your account or if you have any other NetSuite needs, SuiteRep would love to come on board and help. Our diverse NetSuite experience enables us to provide NetSuite solutions tailored to your unique needs. Contact us to get the conversation started.