NetSuite Admin Tip | SuiteAnalytics Workbook to Identify Active Employees with Inactive Supervisor

Pratik Teredesai-Oracle

In many organizations, the Supervisor field on the Employee record represents the reporting structure used for approvals, escalations, notifications, task ownership, and operational reporting. Over time, these reporting relationships can become outdated due to promotions, reorganizations, or employee terminations. 

One common issue administrators encounter is active employees still assigned to supervisors who are already inactive. When this happens, it can lead to: 

• Broken or delayed approval workflows 
• Incorrect organizational reporting 
• Confusion in employee hierarchy visibility 
• Operational inefficiencies in HR or management processes 

A practical way to audit this is by using SuiteAnalytics Datasets and Workbooks. Instead of reviewing employee records one by one, you can create a Pivot Workbook that shows all active employees (subordinates), their assigned supervisors, and whether those supervisors are inactive. 

This allows administrators to quickly identify hierarchy issues and correct them before they impact business processes. 

 

 

 

 

Applies To 

• NetSuite SuiteAnalytics 
• Employee records 

 

Before You Start 

• Use a role with access to Analytics > Datasets / Workbooks 
• Confirm your account uses the Employee > Supervisor field (standard manager relationship) 

Steps 

Part 1: Create the Dataset 

1. Click the Analytics tab. 
    
2. Click Datasets. 
3. Click New Dataset. 
4. Record Type: Click Employee. 
    
5. Fields list: 
   Note: Click and drag the following to Criteria Builder:  

• Is Inactive  

1. Filter Is Inactive: Select No. 
2. Click Apply. 
    

• Supervisor  

1. Move NO VALUE to the right side. 
2. Change any of dropdown to none of. 
3. Click Apply. 
    

• Supervisor: Click and drag to the Data Grid. 
    

1. Records list: Click Supervisor. 
2. Fields list:  

• Is Inactive: Click and drag to the Data Grid. 
   

1. Click Save. 
2. Enter a unique name for the Dataset. 
3. Click Save. 
    

Part 2: Create the Workbook (Pivot) 

1. Click Create New Workbook. 
    
2. Select Pivot. 
    
3. Click and drag the following fields to Layout > Rows in the order specified:  

• Is inactive 
• Supervisor 
• Entity ID 
   

1. Entity ID: Click the three dots menu:  

• Click Rename... 
• Custom: Enter Subordinates 
• Click OK 
   

1. Click the Refresh results icon. 
    
2. Is Inactive: Click the three dots menu:  

• Click Sort Descending 

1. Click Save. 
2. Enter a unique name for the Workbook. 
3. Click Save. 

Best Practices / Tips  

• Use unique names for both the Dataset and Workbook to make them easy to locate later. 

Common Mistakes  

• Forgetting to set Is Inactive to No in the Dataset criteria, which may include inactive Employee records. 
• Not updating the Supervisor criteria (moving NO VALUE and changing any of to none of), which may affect the intended results. 
• Skipping Refresh results, which can cause the Pivot to display outdated results. 

 

After completing this workbook, you will be able to: 

• See only active employees that have a Supervisor populated 
• View each employee (“Subordinate”) grouped under their Supervisor 
• Identify Supervisors who are inactive, so you can: 
• Correct org reporting lines 
• Prevent approval routing issues (if approvals depend on Supervisor) 
• Reduce confusion in HR/CRM visibility and hierarchy 

 

Related SuiteAnswers Article 

• 101159 Create a SuiteAnalytics Workbook to View all Active and Inactive Supervisors and Their Subordinates 

 

 
DISCLAIMER: Oracle + NetSuite Inc. does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the use, results of use, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any data or information relating to the sample code. 

 

Oracle + NetSuite Inc. disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and in particular, disclaims all warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and warranties related to the code, or any service or software related thereto. 
 
Oracle + NetSuite Inc. shall not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or costs of any type arising out of any action taken by you or others related to the sample code. 

 

We would love to hear how you integrate SuiteAnalytics Workbook into your NetSuite processes! Share your insights and experiences in the NetSuite Admin Corner.