NetSuite health check checklist: 12 areas to review in your own account

A NetSuite account rarely breaks in one go. It drifts. A preference is changed to get a transaction through at month-end. A leaver keeps access. A script is deployed for a one-off fix and never switched off. Each change is small, but after a few years the account is slower, harder to close and harder to trust.

A health check is a structured look at that drift. You don't need a consultant to start one. This checklist covers 12 areas you can review in your own account, with the menu paths to find each one and what to look for when you get there. You'll need the Administrator role, or a role with view access to setup, for most of it.

Menu paths can vary with your edition, enabled features and role, so treat them as a guide and check Oracle's NetSuite help if something isn't where you expect.

Controls and set-up

1. Enabled features

Go to Setup > Company > Enable Features and work through each subtab. You're looking for two things: features that are switched on but not used, and features you're paying for, or that would solve a known problem, that are switched off.

Features that are on but unused add fields, forms and confusion. Before switching anything off, check with the people who use that area, as some features can't easily be turned off once there's data behind them.

2. Accounting preferences

Go to Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences. On the General subtab, check Allow Transaction Date Outside of Posting Period. It has three options: Disallow, Warn and Allow. Allow lets users post outside the period with no warning at all, which is rarely what a finance team wants.

On the same subtab, check whether Require Approvals on Journal Entries is set, unless journal approval runs through a workflow instead. On the Items/Transactions subtab, look at Duplicate Number Warnings.

The Audit Trail under the More menu on this page shows who changed each preference, when, and the values before and after. It's worth a look if a setting surprises you.

3. Accounting periods and locks

Go to Setup > Accounting > Manage G/L > Manage Accounting Periods. Look at how far back periods are open. Old periods left open invite back-dated postings that change figures you've already reported.

The page also shows locks for A/R, A/P, payroll (if used) and all G/L transactions. Oracle's help describes how to lock and unlock periods through the Period Close Checklist. If periods are closed months late, or never locked between month-end and close, that's a finding in itself.

4. Chart of accounts and segments

Review the chart of accounts for duplicate or near-duplicate accounts, accounts with the wrong type, and old accounts that should be inactive. Then look at departments, classes, locations and any custom segments. Ask two questions: is each one used consistently, and is it mandatory where your reporting depends on it? A segment that's optional on half your transactions won't give you a reliable report.

Security and access

5. Roles and permissions

Review who has the Administrator role and how many custom roles carry wide permissions. Look for roles that combine duties that should be separate, such as creating vendors and approving payments to them.

NetSuite requires two-factor authentication for the Administrator and other highly privileged roles, and this can't be removed. Use the Two-Factor Authentication Roles page to see which other roles are flagged, and decide whether any more sensitive roles, such as those that approve payments, should require it too.

6. User access and leavers

Go to Setup > Users/Roles > View Login Audit Trail. It shows login activity by user, role, date and IP address. Compare it with your list of current staff. Anyone who has left should not have access, and anyone with access who hasn't logged in for months may not need it.

This is also a good point to compare active users with the number of licences you pay for.

Data and finance

7. Duplicate customers and vendors

Duplicate records split history, confuse credit control and can hide payment errors. If Duplicate Detection is enabled, its settings are under Setup > Company > Duplicate Detection, and an administrator can review flagged records in bulk at Lists > Mass Update > Entity Duplicate Resolution. Oracle's help on duplicate record detection explains the matching rules and the limits on merging.

For vendors, also check who can change bank details and whether those changes are approved.

8. Bank reconciliation

Check that every bank and credit card account is reconciled up to the last month-end, and how old the oldest unmatched items are.

Oracle now uses the Match Bank Data and Reconcile Account Statement pages (Transactions > Bank > Reconcile Account Statement). The older Reconcile Bank Statement and Reconcile Credit Card Statement pages still work but are no longer supported, according to Oracle's bank data matching and reconciliation help. If your team still uses the old pages, plan the move.

9. Open subledger balances

Run your A/R and A/P ageing reports and look past the totals. Common findings are:

• customer payments and deposits left unapplied
• vendor credits never applied to bills
• sales orders fulfilled but never billed
• purchase orders received but never billed, with no accrual.

Each one means the ledger and the subledger tell slightly different stories. Agree the subledger totals to the balance sheet control accounts as part of the check.

Technical layer

10. Scripts and workflows

Go to Customization > Scripting > Script Deployments. For each deployment, ask whether it's still needed, who owns it and whether it's documented. Clearing the Deployed box stops a deployment running without deleting it, which is a safer first step than removing a script.

Check log levels too. Oracle recommends Debug only while testing, and Audit, Error or Emergency in production. Deployments left on Debug fill the execution log and add overhead. Apply the same questions to workflows: which are active, which still matter and which overlap with scripts on the same record.

11. Integrations

Go to Setup > Integration > Manage Integrations. Tick Show Inactives so you also see blocked records. List each integration, what it does, who owns it and how it authenticates.

This matters now. From 2027.1, Oracle won't allow new integrations that use token-based authentication, and SOAP web services are planned for removal in 2028.2. I've covered the dates and a plan in NetSuite TBA to OAuth 2.0 and SOAP to REST. The Web Services Usage Log (Setup > Integration > Web Services Usage Log) shows which integrations still call SOAP.

12. Performance

Users often say "NetSuite is slow" without being able to say where. Oracle's Application Performance Management (APM) SuiteApp gives you the evidence. It tracks record page performance, splits response time between client, server and network, and monitors user event scripts, workflows, RESTlets, scheduled scripts and Suitelets.

Install it from the SuiteApp Marketplace. Oracle notes that older versions installed from the Search & Install Bundles page stopped working on 7 March 2023, so if you have an old bundle, replace it. Then look at your busiest record pages and the slowest scripts and saved searches behind them.

Turning findings into a plan

A checklist produces a list of findings. To be useful, each one needs an owner, a rating for impact and effort, and a date. I sort findings into three groups:

• Quick wins: settings and access fixes that take hours, such as tightening a preference or removing a leaver.
• Next 90 days: clean-ups that need some testing, such as merging duplicates or retiring unused scripts.
• Roadmap: larger changes, such as rebuilding an integration or redesigning segments.

Make changes in a sandbox first where you can, and avoid month-end. Keep a short record of what you changed and why, so the next review has a starting point.

Run the check once a year, and again before a large change such as a new subsidiary, module or integration. Each NetSuite upgrade is also a good prompt; a release readiness check tests your scripts and integrations before each release lands.

If you'd rather have someone independent do it, the NetSuite Health Check covers these areas and more, read-only, with a written report and a prioritised plan. Or book a call to talk it through.

Want an independent view? The fixed-price NetSuite Health Check reviews your account read-only and gives you a findings register and a prioritised plan.