Question regarding 'Entity (Line)' name fields in report customization

Question

Hello,

While customizing a report, I noticed several options to enable names under 'Entity (Line)'. I enabled all of them, but I don't see any difference in the output. Do you know the specific functionality behind these different name options?

Thank you.

Chelsea Jacobs · Accepted Answer

Hi @User_8LGY2

It would be helpful to know what kind of Report you're attempting to run but my initial guess is something to do with Vendors/Payments. SuiteAnswer 32901 helps explain the different between an Entity and Entity(line) fields. Keep in mind that any type you see "Line" it's indicating data at the Line-Level, not the Header Level.

Entity fields are for header level information, ex. the Vendor assigned to the Bill.

Entity (line) fields are for line-level information, like the Vendor assigned to that GL expense line on the Bill.

Why would they be different? There are certain reports in NetSuite like the Purchase by Vendor report that restrict the Bill amounts to Expenses only and won't include other GL account types found on the Bill like Other Current Liability. Creating a custom report and using the Entity(line) field would allow you to see all Bill amounts for that vendor regardless of their GL type. See SuiteAnswer 41423.

I also wanted to call out that reporting in NS can be difficult to navigate. There are often tables with similar names on the same report (ex. Budget, Finance, Finance & Budget), duplicated fields (Name(Group), Name(Group)), and tables/fields that result in blank values when they're not applicable, like you're seeing above. It can take a little research/guess work to figure out which tables and fields to pull from when customizing a report. My rule of thumb, and others may have additional tips, is to start with the same table the rest of the report is pulling from. For example, if I customize an A/P Payment History by Bill report and there are two tables available in the Edit Columns section:

* Payments by Bill
* Transaction Dimension

I'll click on each existing column shown in the Report Preview table see which table the data came from. If all fields are coming from "Payments by Bill" (ex. Payments by Bill: Amount Paid), I'll start with adding additional fields from that table first and verify the results. However, if the fields are pulling from both tables, like the A/P Payment History by Bill report does, I'll need to be more critical about where I find the fields I'm looking for. I'll select the first table in the Add Fields list and then select the "Help" link at the bottom so it can tell me more about that table. I'll then click on a specific field in that table and the Help link will populate with info about that field found within the table as well.

Hope that info helps!

Chelsea Jacobs · Accepted Answer

Hi @User_8LGY2

I've found the same to be true, two fields with the exact same name and three results:

* Both fields are empty
* One field populates data, one field does not
* Both fields share the same data