GL Impact Locking

If your company is located in a country where the general ledger impact of a transaction must be locked to the general ledger and must not be changed, an administrator can check the GL Impact Locking box on the Company Information page. If you use NetSuite OneWorld, an administrator can check the GL Impact Locking box on any subsidiary record.

When you use GL Impact Locking for a company or a subsidiary, any change to a general ledger impacted field or entity field on a GL numbered impacting transaction after running a GL audit numbering sequence automatically generates copy and reversal transactions. These transactions display on the GL Impact subtab on the original general ledger impacted transaction.

Tip:

The GL Impact subtab is visible only on standard forms. If you use customized forms (Customization > Forms > Transaction Forms), check the GL Impact Show box during form customization to make this subtab visible.

The GL Impact subtab provides the history of GL impact adjustment copy and GL impact adjustment reversal transactions. From each line, a link is provided to access the transaction details.

For information about the GL Impact Locking box, see Configuring Company Information and Creating Subsidiary Records.

Note:

The GL Audit Numbering feature is required for GL Impact Locking.

Important:

The GL audit numbering sequence must be run before editing the original transaction. Running the GL audit number sequence is a prerequisite for the GL impact adjustment copy and GL impact adjustment reversal transactions if the general ledger impact of the transaction changes due to the edit.

From the GL impact adjustment copy and a GL impact adjustment reversal transactions, the Lines subtab provides the account affected, the debit and credit amounts, any memo, and the name of the entity affected by the transaction. The account value is a link to the account register, and the name of the entity is a link to the entity record.

The affected entities and transaction reversal dates appear in reports and system notes.

Note:

Changing the entity on a posting transaction that impacts A/R and A/P accounts in an open period is a general ledger impacting change and generates GL impact adjustment copy and GL impact adjustment reversal transactions.

In addition, merging two entities with existing posting transactions that impact A/R and A/P accounts impacts historical transactions and automatically generates GL impact adjustment copy and GL impact adjustment reversal transactions.

Important:

You can modify a transaction if it is in an open accounting period.

Any modification that changes the entity, amount, account, class, department, location, currency, or accounting period creates two new transactions. One transaction is a copy (adjustment) of the original transaction and has the same general ledger impact as the original transaction. The GL audit number on the original transaction is removed from the transaction and assigned to the copied transaction. The second transaction is a reversal (adjustment) of the original transaction. The effective date is the same date as the original general ledger impacting transaction.

All transaction modifications are tracked in system notes on the original general ledger impacting transaction. Any modification that generated copy and adjustment journal entries include a View link. Clicking the link displays the GL Impact page, which displays the copy and adjustment journal entries.

Following are fields that impact the general ledger:

account
amount
subsidiary
accounting period
department, class, location, and custom segment
name (entity) on A/P and A/R accounts

Following are fields that do not impact the general ledger:

name (entity) on non-A/P and A/R general ledger lines
memo
date
custom fields
all other fields

GL Impact Example

GL Impact Locking provides a complete audit trail for external reviewers such as tax reviewers. GL Impact Locking ensures that your accounting books contain only accurate and approved information. You should regularly review transactions and make corrections in a timely manner.

Consider the following GL Impact Locking example. Your company assigns GL audit numbers at the time of approval. You recorded a cash sale for $5,000 on February 20, 2017. The company accountant was on vacation until February 22, at which time the transaction was approved and assigned GL audit number 20,053. The approved transaction was Debit Cash $5,000 and Credit Sales $5,000. During the end-of-week cash reconciliation process it was discovered that the cash sale was for $500, not $5,000. The accountant corrected the cash sale to $500, then NetSuite automatically created the following new transactions:

The GL impact adjustment copy transaction with the same original GL impact Debit Cash $5,000 and Credit Sales $5,000 using GL audit number 20,053.
The GL impact adjustment reversal transaction for Debit Sales $5,000 and Credit Cash $5,000 without assigning a GL audit number.

If you do not use GL Impact Locking, the accountant could perform one of the following two tasks:

Modify transaction 20,053 using Debit $500 Cash and Credit $500 Sales without any visible correction in GL.
Delete transaction 20,053, creating a gap in GL audit numbering, and then create a new transaction for the proper amount.

GL Impact Example

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