NetSuite Planning and Budgeting Glossary
Action Menu
A user interface element in NetSuite Planning and Budgeting. Administrators can create “right-click” action menus and associate them with forms. The action menu contains a list of ancillary actions that can be taken on the form. The options in the action menu vary depending on the form. For more information, see Creating and Updating Action Menus in the Oracle Help Center.
Attribute Dimension
A type of dimension that is associated with another standard dimension. The attribute dimension contains members that are used to describe a leaf node member of the associated dimension. For example, the “Item SubType” attribute may describe the member of an "Item" dimension.
A member may have only one member from an attribute dimension associated to it. For example, an "Item" cannot have two "Item Subtypes" (such as "For Sale" and "For Resale").
Cube
A mechanism that stores data for Oracle EPM applications. Another term for a cube is "application database".
Dashboard
A dynamic visual summary of data. Dashboards enable users to chart, evaluate, highlight, comment on, and change key business data.
Data
Values for each record type that are pulled from NetSuite by using saved searches (these searches are denoted by "Data" in the search title). The values are then imported to the application by using NetSuite Data Load Jobs (other import methods are available).
Examples of data include:
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Dimension Values
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Beginning Balance for the Balance Sheet
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Transaction data for expenses
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Employee Values (salary, bonus, payroll transactions, etc.)
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Consolidated Exchange Rate
Form
A grid for entering data. You can create simple forms to meet your needs, and then use the simple forms and other artifacts to create dashboards to summarize the data.
When you create a form, you associate it with a cube, which determines the form's valid members. For example, if you assign a form to the Revenue cube, you can add only accounts that are valid for the Revenue cube. Entered data is saved to the selected cube's database.
Infolet
A self-contained, interactive box-shaped container used to display information by using text and charts. Infolets enable users to view and interact with high-level, essential information generated from different sources. Administrators can create, redesign, delete, and assign permissions to infolets.
KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) synthesize your raw data into critical business metric (Financial, Operational, or otherwise).
Member
Each line in a hierarchy underlying a dimension is called a member. For example, a Year dimension often includes members for each time period, such as quarters and months.
There are two types of members:
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Parent member – A member within a hierarchy that has children. Those children may either be parents themselves or leaf nodes.
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Level 0 member (also called leaf node) – A member of a hierarchy that has no children.
All databases employ member names as well as aliases. The member name is typically a short name (for example, 40100). The alias is a longer (descriptive) name that usually incorporates some part of the member name (for example, “40100 – Revenue”). Refer to your organization's Chart of Accounts.
Metadata
Record types within NetSuite that are used to define the specific data values. Metadata is pulled from NetSuite by using saved searches (these searches are denoted by "Metadata" in the search title). The record types are then imported to the application by using NetSuite Data Load Jobs (other import methods are available).
Examples of metadata include:
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Currencies
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Subsidiaries
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Accounts
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Classes
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Departments
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Locations
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Items
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Relationships
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Customers
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Vendors
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Employee Names (part of NSPB-SuitePeople Sync SuiteApp)
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Employee Location (part of NSPB-SuitePeople Sync SuiteApp)
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Employee Job Codes (part of NSPB-SuitePeople Sync SuiteApp)
POV
Point-of-View. The point of view (POV) is a set of dimension members that you define to determine the context for pages, rows, and columns. For example, if you set Scenario to Forecast, all data shown and entered in pages, rows, and columns is entered into the Forecast scenario.
The POV is set to one member, which a user cannot change, for each POV dimension. To simplify the form, in the POV you can specify only relevant members or include user variables.
Root
The top member in a branch.
Scenario
Scenarios typically segregate Actuals, Forecast, and Budget data.
Smart list
A custom dropdown list that users access from cells in forms. Smart Lists appear in cells as down arrows that expand when users click the cells. Users cannot type in cells that contain Smart Lists.
Standard Dimension
Standard dimensions (also called dimensions) are data categories used to organize business data for retrieval and preservation of values. Common dimensions include Period, Fiscal Year, Entity, Scenario, Version, etc.
Substitution Variables
Global placeholders for information that changes regularly. Application designers or administrators define and manage substitution variables and their corresponding values. Substitution variables can be used in data forms, business rules, members formulas, reports, and Smart View.
For example, the designation “CurrMo” might be a substitution variable representing the current month. If the value for “CurrMo” is currently set to August, when the value within "CurrMo" is set to September, all artifacts using the variable will be updated, globally.
UDA
User Defined Attribute. A word or phrase that describes a member. A UDA may be attached to many members.
User Preferences
User Preferences can be set to control many aspects of function and display, including how reports and forms are printed. Administrators specify defaults for the current application. However, you can override application defaults by setting preferences to control many aspects of the application, such as how numbers appear.
User Variables
User variables act as filters in forms that enable you to focus only on certain members, such as a department. Before you can open a form, you must set your preferences for the user variables that your administrator has set up.
Version
A version typically represent various copies of Actuals, Forecast, and Budget data.