Duplicate Detection Preferences

You can change how NetSuite searches for duplicates on the Duplicate Detection page. You can have NetSuite search for duplicates among customer, contact, partner, or vendor records and search for matching information in certain fields.

To prevent you from merging records that are not duplicates, you can only merge records if they have the same tax registration number or if both records do not have tax registration numbers entered. If you use NetSuite OneWorld, records with different subsidiaries cannot be merged.

To set up Duplicate Detection:

1. Go to Setup > Company > Company Management > Duplicate Detection.

   Note:

   You may have to scroll the Company menu to see the Company Management section.

2. Check the Detect Duplicates Across Subsidiaries (Customers and Vendors Only) box to search for duplicate customers and vendors, even if they are within different subsidiaries.

3. Check the box next to each type of record you would like use duplicate detection with.

   For example, check the Detect Customer Duplicates box to be alerted of possible duplicate customer records.

   There are four types of records you can detect duplicates for:

   • Customer

   • Vendor

   • Partner

   • Contact

   

4. For each type of record, in the Fields to Match On box, select the fields from respective record type you want to use when searching for similar information.

   Depending on your settings in Home > Set Preferences, you may see all fields listed in the form or you may have to click the Select Multiple icon , and select your fields from there.

   Note:

   Duplicate detection does not support the following entity custom field types: Time Of Day, Rich Text, Password, and Date/Time. These types of custom fields will not appear in the Fields to Match On box.

   For a record of type Customer, selecting the field Company Name, makes the system search for duplicate matches in the Company Name field in the Customer Form.

   Records must have matching information in all of the fields you select to be returned as possible duplicates.

   For example, if you check the Detect Customer Duplicated box and then select phone and email in the Fields to Match On field, customers must have a matching phone number and a matching email address to be considered duplicates.

   

   You can base duplicate detection criteria on custom fields. On the Set Up Duplicate Detection page, the list of fields for each entity type includes To create or modify custom entity fields: you have created for those record types. Check the Store Value box when creating a custom entity field to make it available as criteria in duplicate detection.

5. If you want to exclude specific email domains from Email (domain only) duplicate detection, click the Excluded Domains subtab, and enter the domains you want to exclude. Press Enter after each domain. Enter these excluded domains without the top-level domain (.com, .net, etc.). For example, to exclude Gmail email addresses, you would enter gmail.

   

   Click anywhere on the list, press Enter and type the domain to be included without the dot com or dot net ending.

6. On the Other Preferences tab, check the Show Duplicate Warning Popup on Records if you want to present a popup warning when a user clicks Save when the cursor is in a duplicate criteria field.

   Normally, users are warned of possible duplicates when they click from a duplicate criteria field on a record to another field. Sometimes the cursor is still in a duplicate criteria field when the user clicks Save, and this standard warning is not presented. Enabling this preference allows users to still be notified.

   

7. Choose how you would like to resolve duplicate records that have conflicting login access.

   If two duplicate records each have login access, but the records have different email addresses, they are considered to have conflicting login access. The following options are available:

   • Manually: Duplicate records with conflicting login access are not merged. You must manually remove the login access of one of the records before they can be merged.

   • By deleting the duplicates' access: When merging records, the login access of duplicate records is deleted when it is merged into the primary record.

8. Click Save.

When you click Save, NetSuite begins searching for duplicate records based on your criteria.

Note:

The initial search can take a significant amount of time based on the number of customer and contact records you have in your account. You will not see duplicate alerts or be able to merge records until this initial search is complete.

After the search is complete, possible duplicate records are flagged with a notice and a link to a page where you can decide how to manage the duplicates. For more information, see Merging or Deleting Duplicate Records.

You can also go to Lists > Mass Update > Mass Duplicate Record Merge to search for all possible duplicate contact and customer records based on the criteria you have set.

Duplicate Entity Management Permission

Access to the Manage Duplicates page is controlled by the Duplicate Entity Management permission.

To limit a role's ability to perform merges:

1. Go to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Roles.

2. Click Customize or Edit for a role.

3. On the Permissions tab, click Lists.

4. Add the Duplicate Entity Management permission to the role.

5. Select View to hide the Merge button from users with this role.

Related Topics

Setting Up Duplicate Detection

Duplicate Record Notification

General Notices