18.2 Ledger Impact and Field-Type Changes
Key Takeaways
A posting edit needs both the field's old and new values and the Impact row's before-and-after ledger views.
An invoice changed from $500 to $450 is a $50 reduction in the invoice amount. The current GL Impact page shows the later posting, and the audit trail Amount column is not that $50 difference.
Changing a custom field to a fundamentally different or unsupported type deletes the data stored in the field. Free-Form Text to List/Record is not a supported conversion.
Free-Form Text and Text Area system notes store the exact old and new text only when Store Value is checked. System note descriptions truncate after 300 characters.
The custom field setup History subtab records the type change. The former text, when it was logged, is on each record's system notes.
When the change hits the ledger
The study guide keeps the same objective and then asks two follow-up questions. What do you review when the change affects the general ledger? What happens to the history of a field when its type changes? A posting edit needs both logs. The field row says what the user saved. The Impact row says what the ledger showed before that save and after it. Opening only one of them leaves out either the amount on the form or the posting that followed.
A $500 invoice edited to $450
A posted invoice of $500 is edited and saved at $450. The invoice amount is $50 lower than the amount stored before the edit. Because the invoice posts, that $50 difference changes the general ledger. It is a posting change, not a caption that sits only on the form.
System Notes on that invoice hold both halves of the review. The amount row stores the old value and the new value: $500, then $450. It also stores who made the edit, that user's role, and when. That row does not draw the debit and credit lines. Help's own illustration of this pattern is an invoice edited from five widgets to ten. The field note stores what changed on the transaction. The Impact note stores the ledger effect.
The ledger row uses Impact in the Field column when Accounting is enabled. View under Old Value opens the debits and credits from the $500 invoice. View under New Value opens them for the $450 invoice. The $50 figure is the reduction in the invoice amount. Those two views show the debits and credits before and after that reduction. Account numbers stay on the company's own chart of accounts.
The GL Impact page shows the impact of the invoice as it stands after the edit, the $450 posting. It does not keep the $500 posting in an Old Value column. If the review stops on that page, the $50 reduction is not stored there.
The Transaction Audit Trail can list the invoice, but Amount there is the transaction total. Help shows zero for a change that did not affect the original amount, so a memo-only edit can show zero while System Notes still store the memo. The edit from $500 to $450 did change the amount, so CHANGE alone does not mean zero, and the column still does not store the $50 difference. You get $50 from the old and new amount values and from the two Impact views. A void is stored as CHANGE, and deleted or voided rows show zero.
My Login Audit can show the sign-in. The numbering log can show that the invoice number was assigned or later deleted. Neither stores $500, $450, or the Impact views. If Log System Notes on Updates Only is on, the original $500 entry may have no creation note. The edit to $450 is an update, so that change can still be logged. A missing creation line does not mean the invoice was entered at $450.
What Help says when a custom field type changes
Avoid a custom field type change when you can. Existing data is preserved whenever possible. A fundamentally different type deletes the data already entered, and NetSuite shows a warning. Help's contrast is a phone number field changed to rich text, which would keep its data, and a date/time field changed to a check box, which would not. An unsupported conversion deletes stored data and removes sourcing or filtering that used the old type. Help calls that data loss and does not state a percentage.
Free-Form Text to List/Record is not a supported conversion. Decimal Number, Percent, or Currency can become Integer Number, rounded to 0 decimal places. Decimal Number or Percent can become Currency, rounded to 2 decimal places. Integer can become Decimal, Currency, or Percent without change. Currency can become Decimal or Percent without change. Decimal and Percent can convert to each other. Free-Form Text, Text Area, Check Box, Date, Phone Number, and the other types on that Help row can become Free-Form Text or Text Area. A checked box becomes T and a cleared box becomes F. Select can become Multiple Select only while the List/Record type stays the same. Text and Text Area can become Rich Text or Long Text, and Date can become Date/Time in the user's current time zone.
Changing the source list on a List/Record or Multiple Select field does not preserve existing data. A rich text field cannot convert to another type. If a large conversion times out, data reverts to the pre-conversion state and customizations made before Save are lost. Review type-sensitive filters first, or a form that uses the field can error. You also cannot change a type used in duplicate detection.
The field setup page has its own trail. History lists the date, user, label change, field type change, record type change, store value change, and notes. System Notes on that page record the setting's old and new values, the context, and who set it. Custom segments do not have this history. The page proves the type changed. It does not store every record's former text.
Free-Form Text changed to List/Record
An administrator changes a custom field from Free-Form Text to List/Record and can no longer read the old sentence in the current field. That result matches Help. The conversion is not supported, and the types are fundamentally different: one stored typed text, and the other stores a selection from a list or record. Stored values in the field are deleted. The current field expects a list or record selection. It will not keep displaying the sentence saved under the old type.
Open System Notes on the record and filter to that field. While it was Free-Form Text and Store Value was checked, the note stored the exact old and new text. Text Area is logged the same way. If Store Value was clear, those text types record no changes. Long Text and Rich Text notes store a character count, not the passage. Notes written before this conversion are the ones that can still show the sentence.
Two limits are documented. The current field value is deleted, and system note descriptions stop at 300 characters, with the rest truncated. Help does not say the older Free-Form Text notes are erased, and it publishes no percentage of missing values. After the change, the current field is the wrong place to read the old sentence, and later notes log the list selection rather than that sentence. Use the setup History subtab for who changed the type and when, then each record's system notes for the earlier text. Sign-in logs and the numbering log do not keep that sentence.
| Change | Where to look | What can be lost |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice amount from $500 to $450 | Amount row on System Notes, plus Impact Old Value and New Value | The GL Impact page shows the $450 posting only. The $50 difference is not an account number |
| Many transaction creates, changes, or deletes | Transaction Audit Trail | Amount is the transaction total, or zero when the original amount did not change |
| Free-Form Text field changed to List/Record | Record System Notes from the free-form period; field setup History for the type change | Current stored values are deleted. Descriptions past 300 characters are truncated. No loss percentage is published |
| Free-Form Text or Text Area edit with Store Value checked | Old and new values on that record | If Store Value is clear, no value note is written. Long Text and Rich Text notes keep a character count |
| Sign-in, or a number used by a cash sale that was never created | My Login Audit or the Login Audit Trail; Transaction Numbering Audit Log | Neither log keeps the old sentence or the $50 amount comparison |
Name the change, open the log that stores it, and state the limit Help puts on what that log still contains. Practice those choices with the Oracle NetSuite Foundation practice questions.
A posted invoice is edited from $500 to $450. What should the reviewer open to explain the $50 reduction?
Only the current GL Impact page, because it stores the $500 posting and the $450 posting as Old Value and New Value
My Login Audit, because a role switch records the $50 difference beside the IP address
The Transaction Numbering Audit Log, because its Amount column is defined as the difference between the two invoice totals
System Notes for the amount's old and new values, plus View under Old Value and View under New Value on the Impact row
An administrator changes a custom field from Free-Form Text to List/Record and can no longer read the old sentence in the field. Which statement matches current Help?
The conversion is not supported, so stored values in the field are deleted. Exact text logged while the field was Free-Form Text with Store Value checked is the place to read the old sentence.
The conversion is supported without change, so the sentence remains in the current field and is copied into My Login Audit.
Help deletes a documented percentage of the old values and keeps the rest displayed in the List/Record field.
The Transaction Numbering Audit Log Message column stores the former free-form text for every record.
A user changes only the memo on a posted invoice and does not change the $500 amount. On Transaction Audit Trail results, what does Help say the Amount column shows for that change?
The memo text, truncated to 300 characters
Zero, because the change did not affect the original amount
The old ledger impact and the new ledger impact in the same cell
The internal number of a cash sale that failed credit card processing
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.
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