Hi Experts, I am facing an issue related to Work Order costing and GL impact in NetSuite and would appreciate your help in understanding the system behavior. Scenario: * Costing Method: Average Cost * Work Order Quantity: 2 Transaction Sequence: * Work Order Issue 1 – Issued components for quantity 1 * Work Order Completion 1 – Completed 1 quantity (GL impact generated) * Work Order Issue 2 – Issued components for the remaining quantity * Work Order Completion 2 – Completed 1 quantity Observation: * After creating the second Work Order Issue, the GL Impact of the first Work Order Completion changed. * When I created the second Work Order Completion, there was no GL impact generated. Questions: * Why does the GL impact of the first completion change after creating the second issue? * Why does the second Work Order Completion not generate any GL impact? * Is this behavior related to Average Costing or WIP cost reallocation in NetSuite? * How does NetSuite allocate component cost when issues and completions are created sequentially for partial quantities? Any insights on whether this is standard NetSuite behavior or if something needs to be configured differently would be greatly appreciated.

Hi @User_56FCN, The behavior you are seeing is standard NetSuite behavior for Work Orders (WOs) using Average Costing and Work In Process (WIP). It is caused by how NetSuite reallocates costs across partial completions to ensure the total WIP is cleared correctly by the time the Work Order is closed. * Why the 1st Completion Changed* NetSuite uses a dynamic costing engine. When you created the 2nd Issue, the total cost pool for the Work Order changed. To maintain the "Average Cost" across the entire order, the system recalculated and updated the GL impact of the 1st Completion to reflect the new weighted average of all issued components. * Why the 2nd Completion has no GL impact* This happens when the 1st Completion already cleared the WIP balance available at that moment. If your Manufacturing Preferences are set to "Use Open WIP Amount," the system pulls all available WIP into the first completion it can. The GL impact for the 2nd unit often remains $0 until the Costing Engine finishes its background run or until the Work Order is Closed, which triggers the final "true-up." * Allocation Logic* In a WIP-enabled environment, NetSuite treats the Work Order as a single "bucket" for costs. When you issue components, their value is moved from Inventory to the WIP Asset account. When a completion is saved, NetSuite attempts to relieve that WIP bucket to value the finished assembly. Because you are using Average Costing the system doesn't "lock" the cost of the first unit; instead, it constantly re-averages the total cost of all issued components across all completed units. If you complete a unit before issuing all components, the system may pull the entire current WIP balance into that first unit. Once the remaining components are issued, the costing engine redistributes that total pool across both units, which updates the GL impact of the first completion and often leaves the second completion with a $0 impact until the final Work Order Close clears the remaining balance to a variance account. Hope this helps!

Hi @User_56FCN, When you use Backflush, NetSuite triggersthe Issue and Completion simultaneously. This creates a direct link between specific component costs and that specific completion, rather than drawing from a pre-funded "WIP bucket."Because the "Issue" (cost in) and "Completion" (cost out) happen in the same transaction, each completion posts its own GL impact immediately. However, if the component's Average Cost changes between the first and second backflush, the costing engine may still retroactively update the first completion's GL impact to maintain a consistent weighted average for the finished assembly.

nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Oracle Communities

Child Item

Ask A Guru

Child Item

No GL Impact on Second Work Order Completion After Additional Work Order Issue (Average Costing) Qu

User_56FCN

Hi Experts,

I am facing an issue related to Work Order costing and GL impact in NetSuite and would appreciate your help in understanding the system behavior.

Scenario:

Costing Method: Average Cost
Work Order Quantity: 2

Transaction Sequence:

Work Order Issue 1 – Issued components for quantity 1
Work Order Completion 1 – Completed 1 quantity (GL impact generated)
Work Order Issue 2 – Issued components for the remaining quantity
Work Order Completion 2 – Completed 1 quantity

Observation:

After creating the second Work Order Issue, the GL Impact of the first Work Order Completion changed.
When I created the second Work Order Completion, there was no GL impact generated.

Questions:

Why does the GL impact of the first completion change after creating the second issue?
Why does the second Work Order Completion not generate any GL impact?
Is this behavior related to Average Costing or WIP cost reallocation in NetSuite?
How does NetSuite allocate component cost when issues and completions are created sequentially for partial quantities?

Any insights on whether this is standard NetSuite behavior or if something needs to be configured differently would be greatly appreciated.

Find more posts tagged with

costing

Advanced Manufacturing

workorder

average cost

Component react.asset.answerThread had an error.

You are not allowed to view comments.

Child Item

Upcoming Events

SuiteWorld | October 25–28, 2026 | Las Vegas
Big ideas. No travel required. SuiteWorld On Air brings the best of SuiteWorld directly to you. Stream keynotes live, access exclusive virtual content, and connect with the NetSuite community from wherever you are. Explore what's next for NetSuite, see AI innovation in action, and discover practical insights designed to…
Learning Lab | DC
Drive better outcomes with AI built into NetSuite Next Capital Hilton,1001 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 Join NetSuite experts for a free half-day event where you'll get a tour of NetSuite Next, explore AI-powered capabilities built into the platform, and learn practical ways to optimize NetSuite for your business. At…
Inside the Suite | DC
Take NetSuite Next for a hands-on test drive Capital Hilton, 1001 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 What to expect: Inside the Suite is designed for companies exploring modern ERP solutions. This event gives you the opportunity to experience NetSuite Next - the next evolution of NetSuite that brings AI directly into how…
What's Next for Product Companies with NetSuite
WEBINAR What's Next for Product Companies with NetSuite See how NetSuite Next uses AI to improve accuracy and protect margins Ask. Understand. Act. Use Ask Oracle to search, navigate, analyze business data, surface insights, get guidance, and take action using natural language—all through a single conversational…

More events