Searching System Notes

Note:

Unless identified as System Notes v2, this topic applies to System Notes only. For information about searching System Notes v2, see Searching and Filtering System Notes v2.

Each system note record stores details about a specific change made to a NetSuite record.

NetSuite provides a system note search that you can use to retrieve system notes data. To use this search, go to Reports > New Search and click System Note.

• Use a simple search to retrieve system notes data filtered by: the user(s) who entered the changes, role of the user who entered the changes, the date and time of the changes, the type of change, the field(s) changed, the value before the changes, the context for the change, and the value after the changes. For information, see Defining a Simple Search.

• Use an advanced search to retrieve system notes based on more advanced filtering and results display options. For information about the capabilities available, see Defining an Advanced Search.

• Use a saved search to take advantage of additional functionality such as emailing search results, and of course, the ability to quickly rerun the search. For information, see Defining a Saved Search.

System notes fields also are available to be used as filters and displayed as results for other record types' advanced and saved searches, including the following: contact, customer, employee, issue, item, project, opportunity, partner, transaction, and vendor.

Searching System Notes v2

For information about searching in System Notes v2, see Viewing System Notes v2 and Searching and Filtering System Notes v2.

System Notes and Deleted Records

• System Notes for existing records are never automatically deleted. The only time system notes are deleted is when the record containing the system notes is deleted.

• System Notes v2 are never deleted, even in cases where a record is deleted.

• In some cases, NetSuite creates a log of the deleted record. The log provides some basic information about the deleted record. For more information, see Searching for Deleted Records.

• The Log System Notes on Update Only preference prevents NetSuite from logging system notes when records are created. When this preference is set, system notes are logged only when records are updated. See Setting General Account Preferences.

  Important:

  Before you enable this option, you should first review any saved searches containing system notes fields. These searches may use data from record creation system notes. If your account includes searches that rely on record creation system notes, you can revise the searches before enabling the Log System Notes on Update Only option. Or, you can leave this option disabled

  For example, a case search may use record creation system notes fields to retrieve dates when cases were first escalated. To make this search work with the Log System Notes on Update Only option enabled, you would need to edit this search. Use expressions and return values for cases' Date Created field if the escalation date was not available through record update system notes fields.

  You can view deleted records using a dataset or workbook in Analytics. For more information, see SuiteAnalytics Workbook Overview.

  For custom transaction body fields, if the Log System Notes on Update Only preference is not set, and you have the View access level to a field, the default value of your custom transaction body field is displayed in system notes fields when you create a transaction search. For example, when you create a custom transaction body field and apply it to sales transactions, system notes for this field only appear on the System Information subtab for sales transactions. However, if you create a transaction search and include system notes fields on the Results subtab, you see the custom transaction body field with its default value in the search results on all transactions.

System Notes for Changes to Configuration and Setup Pages

System notes log changes made to enabled features, company information, and account-level preferences.

The following configuration and setup page changes are captured in system notes:

• Company Information (Setup > Company > Company Information)

• Enable Features (Setup > Company > General Preferences)

• General Preferences (Setup > Company > Enable Features)

• Expense Categories (Setup > Accounting > Expense Categories)

• Accounting Lists: Payment Method (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists)

• Accounting Lists: Term (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists)

• Accounting Lists: Cost Category (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists)

• Accounting Lists: Budget Category (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists)

• Accounting Lists: Subscription Term (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists)

• Accounting Preferences (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences)

• Location Costing Groups (Setup > Accounting > Setup Tasks > Location Costing Groups)

• Nexuses (Setup > Accounting > Nexuses)

• Tax Types (Setup > Accounting > Tax Types)

• Tax Codes (Setup > Accounting > Tax Codes)

• Tax Groups (Setup > Accounting > Tax Groups)

Account administrators can use searches to find system notes that were generated on configuration and setup pages. For example, you can create a saved search that shows system notes on features that were enabled.

You can also filter the search results based on record type.

Other Methods for Viewing System Notes

NetSuite provides a variety of other methods that you can use to retrieve system notes for particular record types.

• The audit trail function enables you to retrieve filtered sets of system notes for a selected record type. For information about using the audit trail, see Viewing an Audit Trail for a Record Type and Using the Transaction Audit Trail.

• Each transaction record includes a System Notes subtab on the History subtab where you can view system notes for that transaction. See Viewing Transaction System Notes. History for individual line items also may be available from transaction records. See Line-Level Audit Trail for Transactions.

• Each record of a type other than transaction, such as Employee or Customer, includes a System Notes subtab on the General subtab. You can view system notes for the record on the System Notes subtab.

Related Topics

Auditing Data Changes using Searches

Viewing an Audit Trail for a Record Type

Searching for Deleted Records

Understanding the Context for Changes

General Notices