Troubleshooting Negative Total Error

If you get the error The total cannot be negative, it means that when NetSuite calculated the total of the order data sent by NetSuite Connector, the total was negative. This topic includes the common causes for this error.

NetSuite Automation

You may have some automations running in NetSuite that automatically calculate and subtract things like commissions for the sales team. If an order comes in with a $0 total (a completely discounted order), the script may be subtracting further to send the order into negative total.

Make sure you either exclude the records that NetSuite Connector syncs or change the automation to not subtract an amount that would make the order negative.

Discount Items

If the order has a discount, make sure the discount item is set as nontaxable in NetSuite. This is crucial if the discount is posting as a line item. Typically, charging tax will cause the order total in NetSuite to not match your storefront total. In some instances, charging tax may turn the total into negative and cause the total to not post. If the discount is a line item, the order will have negative amount. If you assign tax to that negative amount, you will get a negative tax amount. For example, a line item discount of –$1.00 with a 10% tax rate would yield -$0.1. If you have completely discounted the order ($0 total), then the negative tax amount will subtract from 0 to make the order negative. The same thing happens with low order totals, if the total is low enough such that the negative tax amount would reduce the total past 0.

To fix this issue, change your discount item to not use a tax schedule or set to a nontaxable schedule. You can make this setting in the Accounting subtab of the item record.

Note:

It is possible that an item is assigned to a tax schedule named non-taxable to still have tax charged to the item. Only having the name as non-taxable is not sufficient. The configuration of the tax schedule and the designated area like state, county, city, or province in the tax schedule must be set to not charge tax.

To verify that the discount item is not taxed, manually create the order that is shipping to the same address as the order with the error. Enter the discount line item and check if NetSuite assigns tax to the item. If yes, then either of the following is true:

Related Topics

Troubleshooting Order or Fulfillment Sync Errors in NetSuite Connector
Troubleshooting Common Order Sync Errors in NetSuite Connector

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