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The Complete Guide to Managing

Fixed Assets in NetSuite
The Complete Guide to Managing Fixed Assets in NetSuite

The vast majority of businesses have fixed assets that they must account for
properly, but accurately tracking assets period over period can be a manual and
complicated ordeal. It’s critical to correctly depreciate and account for each year
of fixed assets’ lives since they’re shown on the balance sheet. The NetSuite Fixed
Assets Management SuiteApp helps make this tedious and recurring process
easier to manage by eliminating the need to depreciate and manage assets
manually, greatly reducing the burden on your staff. This ebook will walk through
how the NetSuite Fixed Assets application works and best practices for setting up
and monitoring fixed assets with it.

Fixed Assets Management SuiteApp

The NetSuite Fixed Assets Management (FAM) SuiteApp is designed to work

across a wide variety of businesses and can store a range of different assets.
It supports standard and user-defined depreciation methods and can link the
two methods together. You can categorize assets into asset types in setup and
provide defaults for the assets, making asset creation, depreciation, and retirement
less time-consuming and error-prone. You can also use the tool to manage
nondepreciating assets such as cell phones, software, and hired plant
or machinery.

The FAM SuiteApp is an add-on that NetSuite customers can purchase, and it
must be installed and set up to access these fixed asset capabilities.

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Below are a few tasks that you must complete
after installation: Account Account Type
• Set up the General Ledger Accounts for FAM.
PPE (Property, Plant, and
Fixed Asset Account
• Set up Fixed Assets General Preferences, Fixed Equipment)
Assets Report Preferences, and Fixed Assets Country-
Accumulated Depreciation Depreciation Account
Specific Preferences.
• Set up the Asset Transfer Accounts.
• Set up your FAM Diagnostics Portlet to monitor the Depreciation Expense Depreciation Expense Account

health of your fixed assets from your dashboard.

Write Off, Write Down, and Review Chart
• Assign Depreciation Methods to an asset. Gain (Loss) on Sale of Assets
Disposal Cost Account of Accounts
for Setup for
• Set up Alternative Methods
Fixed Assets
(Tax Depreciation Methods).
• Define Asset Types.
Setting Up Depreciation Methods
• Migrate fixed asset data from your previous system
via CSV Import.
Each asset needs to be assigned a depreciation method

Fixed Assets can be marked and created through many so that NetSuite can calculate the asset’s depreciation.

different transactions, including Purchase Orders, Vendor You can link depreciation methods so that an asset can

Bills, or Journal Entries. Once you select an eligible Fixed depreciate using one method for the first part of its life

Asset Account type on a transaction, the FAM SuiteApp and then switch to a different method for its remaining

will mark the asset for creation. life. The FAM SuiteApp lets you maintain separate book
depreciation and tax depreciation calculations. Book

Review Chart of Accounts for Setup for Fixed Assets (accounting) depreciation of fixed assets is linked to
journal postings and transactions in NetSuite. You can
Fixed Assets accounts must be properly created to reflect use any of the preconfigured depreciation methods or
information correctly in your Balance Sheet and P&L create a new depreciation method.
reports. Once you set up the accounts, you must link
them to the FAM module in order to use them.

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You can create a New Depreciation Method in the FAM
SuiteApp. To create a custom method, you need the
following information:
• Name for the depreciation method
• Depreciation Method Description
• Depreciation Period (monthly or annually)
• End Period Number FAM
Depreciation
• Next Depreciation Period Method List
• Depreciation Rate Table
• Depreciation Formula

Setting Up Asset Types

You must set up Asset Types prior to creating assets in

the FAM module. You can build a variety of Asset Types
for identification and reporting purposes. To create an
Asset Type, you must enter the below information:
• Name for the Asset Type
FAM Asset
• Asset Type Description
Type List
• Default Depreciation Method for Asset Type
• Residual Percentage
• Asset Lifetime

You can also indicate on the Asset Type page if it will be

used for assets generated from an operating lease.

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Asset Creation

There are four different methods to create assets in the

FAM SuiteApp.

Asset Proposal is the best practice method for creating

new asset records. With this method, the SuiteApp
Manage
captures any assets that have been purchased through Proposals
transaction records, such as bills and journal entries. You
can then preview and make changes to an asset record
prior to finalizing it.

For example, when equipment is purchased and entered

Manual Asset
via a bill, the Equipment account line item will show up
Creation
as an asset waiting to be created. When using the Asset
Proposal approach, you can review the asset prior to assets from older systems. All details regarding the

creation so that if you used an incorrect account line, for assets, such as Name, Asset Type, Depreciation Method,

example, you can reject the asset and change the account Remaining Life, Current Value, and more, can be entered

utilized on the bill. into a CSV template and uploaded into the FAM SuiteApp
so your team doesn’t have to manually input historical
Asset Creation is another way to create assets through assets one by one. You can also use these imports to
transaction records. This method eliminates the preview bring in Depreciation History Records.
process that’s part of the Asset Proposal path—once
you enter an asset through a transaction, it’s ready to Finally, you can create assets manually if you’re not

be created. starting with a transaction record. This method is typically

used for assets being transferred from older systems, and
CSV Imports are another way to create fixed assets and you simply enter in all the details related to the asset and
the recommended approach for bringing in historical create it.

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Managing Fixed Assets

Once you create asset records in NetSuite, you can

manage them in a variety of ways to ensure accuracy and
compliance. Along with Asset Depreciation, you can split,
revalue, transfer, and dispose of assets.

Asset Depreciation can automatically depreciate assets

for the first time or depreciate an asset following a
revision of the depreciation method or period. It can be
performed periodically for a single asset type or across
several asset types. The FAM SuiteApp will decide which
assets require depreciation by checking the depreciation
start date, last depreciation period, and the depreciation
rules. When posting the depreciation values, the system Managing
Fixed Assets
will create a batch of GL Journal Entries.

Fixed Asset Split is another asset management option

available for assets that have not been disposed of or
defined as inactive. The Quantity field on an asset record
tracks the number of individual elements that form the
asset. Asset split lets you separate a specific quantity
Asset
from the original asset and create a new asset record.
Depreciation

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Fixed Asset Revaluation allows you to write down or
revalue an existing asset. You can enter in a new Net
Book Value for the asset and post the difference to the
general ledger. You can also change the depreciation
method and the asset lifetime through Fixed
Asset revaluation.

Fixed Asset Transfer lets you transfer an asset recorded

in one segment, such as a department or location, to
another segment. To transfer assets between subsidiaries,
Asset Transfer
you must set up Asset Transfer Accounts.

Fixed Assets Disposal lets you manage assets that Account Account Type
you’re either selling or disposing of. Through this feature,
Right-of-Use Asset Account(s) Fixed Asset
you can indicate the Disposal Type as a sale or a write-off.
Once indicated, you can add additional details such as the Accumulated Depreciation
Fixed Asset
Right-of-Use Account(s)
disposal date and quantity to dispose. This will establish
a write-off journal entry for an asset. If the asset is being Accounts Payable/Long-Term
Lease Liability
sold, you can specify the customer who bought it and the Liability/Other Current Liability

purchase price. The SuiteApp will create a journal entry,

Interest Expense Expense
along with a sales invoice.

Gain/Loss on Modification Other Income

Fixed Asset Leases Lease
Accounting

The FAM SuiteApp also supports the recording and

The correct GL Accounts must also be created for Lease
tracking of Leased Assets. There are several setup
Accounting, as shown in the table above.
permissions that you must review and enable to ensure
that assets are tracked accurately.

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The SuiteApp lets you Propose Lease Assets, create
Leases Assets manually, or import Lease Assets.

Based on the information entered in the lease asset

records, the SuiteApp will generate lease amortization
schedules, create lease journal entries, and record
lease interest.

Reporting

The FAM SuiteApp provides comprehensive reporting

across assets, valuation, and depreciation. With these
reports, you can report on assets across locations,
subsidiaries, asset types, and more.
Leased Assets

The Asset Register report lists costs, accumulated

depreciation, and net book value for each asset between
the periods selected.

The Asset Summary report lists cost or valuation,

depreciation, and net book value totals for the selected
asset types and the specified period.

The Depreciation Schedule Net Book Value

Fixed Assets
report shows the current value of the asset for the Report
specific period.

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The Depreciation Schedule Period Depreciation
report shows the total depreciation for each asset for
the specified period.

The Depreciation Monthly Report shows the

depreciation expense for the period by asset, the asset
records, and the journal entries.

The Fixed Assets Listing shows the total acquisition

costs, additions, disposals, transfers, and write-ups for
the fiscal year. It is an annual report, and by default, set
to the current year, and you can set it to run monthly
or quarterly.

Fixed Asset
Report Types

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Supporting You Along the Way

If you want to learn more about customization in NetSuite, check out this
Learning Cloud Support (LCS) course:

• Fixed Assets Curriculum

LCS provides subscription-based training that allows all NetSuite users to engage
in continuous education easily and cost-effectively. With on-demand learning,
hands-on lab exercises, and multiple training options, LCS can help accelerate your
entire organization’s system knowledge and productivity.

Join the NetSuite Support Community

The NetSuite Support Community is an online gathering place for NetSuite
professionals to share information, experiences, and advice. Ask a Support Guru
for help or start a public discussion with the community.

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