The forms in NetSuite provide a simple way to collect and store information in an organized format. But sometimes the standard forms don’t adequately meet your company’s needs. In situations like that, you will want to create custom forms.
Types of Custom Forms
There are three main types of forms you can customize.
Entry Forms
First, there are entry forms. Entry forms are used to collect information and store it in NetSuite. Some of the record types that use entry forms to collect information include Employee, Vendor, and Client records.
Transaction Forms
Second, there are transaction forms. Transaction forms are used to add transactions like Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, and Work Orders to NetSuite. They are also used to print transactions.
Address Forms
Third, there are address forms. Technically, there is only one standard address form, but it has enough unique characteristics to warrant a separate tab from entry forms and transaction forms. Because there is only one standard address form, we will not be covering it in detail. However, you can learn more about it by simply clicking through the tabs in the Custom Address Entry Form page.
Creating Custom Forms
You have two main options for creating custom forms. First, you could navigate to Customization > Forms, and choose the type of form you want to create. Under the Edit column of that page, you’ll have the option to click Edit or Customize. If a form has the Customize option, that means it is a standard form. Forms that have the Edit option, on the other hand, have already been customized. Choose the standard form you want to change and click Customize. Alternatively, you could customize a form by editing a record that uses that form. Simply navigate to the record whose form you want to customize, click Edit, and under the Customize tab in the upper right corner, select Customize Form.
When you customize a form, you will want to give the form a unique name; otherwise, NetSuite will automatically apply “Custom” to the beginning of the original name of the standard form. You will also have the option of providing a script ID for the form.
Customization Options on Forms
You can change the appearance of either entry or transaction forms in similar ways. According to SuiteAnswers, “On the custom form, you can rearrange, rename, hide, or disable fields, subtabs, and buttons. You can also make specific fields mandatory, add custom fields, or apply custom code.” The benefit of having a standard form as the starting point is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you need a custom form. Once you have selected a standard form to customize, however, there is essentially no limit on how much you can change the appearance of that form. Use the subtabs to adjust the appearance of the form.
Using Custom Forms
When you initially create either a custom entry or transaction form, there are some checkbox options in the first field group that direct how that form will be used.
Inactive
The first of these is Inactive. If you mark a form as Inactive, then you would only see it on the Custom Forms page (provided you have also checked the Show Inactives box on that page).
Store Form with Record
A second checkbox is Store Form with Record. This option would override a user’s preferred form. If you customize a form and then check this option, it would also cause records created with the standard form to reflect the customized form. According to the NetSuite Field Help, this checkbox “ensures that your records are viewed and edited with this form regardless of who is viewing or editing the record.”
Form is Preferred
This checkbox simply indicates that you wish for this custom form to be preferred over the standard NetSuite form. In other words, when a user creates a new record or transaction, this form would be the one NetSuite defaults to. Note that you can mark only one form as preferred for any given record or transaction type. In the event that you want to have different preferred forms for different roles, you can specify that on the Manage Roles page.
Study Tips
For more in-depth study of custom forms, check out the following Help Center pages: Custom Forms; Creating Custom Entry and Transaction Forms; Custom Entry Form Properties; and Custom Transaction Forms Properties.
Conclusion
We hope this brief flyover of custom forms has been helpful!
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