How to Connect NetSuite to Abacus – Abacus

Abacus supports a direct integration with NetSuite that syncs over reimbursable expenses as well as corporate card expenses.

When reimbursable expenses are approved in Abacus, we will sync over a Bill and a Bill Payment into NetSuite to reconcile those expenses.

When corporate card expenses are approved, we push in individual entries for those charges. The entry will include two line items:

A debit against the account
An offsetting credit against your corporate card account.

You also have an option to sync on an accrual basis.

Connect to NetSuite

Step 1: Enable Features in NetSuite

An admin must enable several options to allow Abacus and NetSuite to communicate. Log into NetSuite as an admin and navigate to Setup > Company > Enable Features.

On the SuiteCloud tab be sure to check the following four options that must be turned on in order to sync data:

Client SuiteScript
Server SuiteScript
Token-based Authentication
SuiteSignOn

Those options will look like this:

Step 2: Install Abacus in Your NetSuite

Now you must install the "Abacus Bundle" integration package in your NetSuite account. In the main navigation, go to Customization > SuiteBundler > Search & Install Bundles.

On this page you can search for "Abacus" and, when it appears as a search result, select it. Then click on Install > Install Bundle.

On the Preview Bundle Update page, select Update Bundle.

This will bring you to the Installed Bundles page, where you will see the download of Abacus pending. It will take a minute or two to download. We recommend waiting until it has loaded completely, as this bundle includes a custom role you'll need in the next step.

Step 3: Abacus Settings in NetSuite

Now, you will assign the Abacus Integration Role included in the bundle above to a NetSuite member. This will be the member log-in that you use later to initiate the connection between Abacus and NetSuite, so the credentials should be accessible and, preferably, be for a system admin.

We recommend that you create a new NetSuite member and assign the Abacus permissions to that member. This will allow the account to remain usable if someone leaves your accounting team.

Navigate to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Users.
Select the member you want to assign the role to.
Click on Edit.
Select the Access tab.
Under Roles, add Abacus Integration.

The Manage Member bar will look like this:

If you have multiple subsidiaries, make sure the member to whom you are assigning the integration role is assigned to the exact subsidiary you will be connecting to Abacus.

Step 4: Connect Abacus to NetSuite

You are now ready to go to the Abacus web site and log in as an Administrator.

Navigate to Accounting Sync settings.
Click Connect to NetSuite.
Enter the username and password of the NetSuite account that was registered to the Abacus Integration Role in Step 3.
Click on Next.

You will now be asked to pick which company in NetSuite you would like to connect to. If this login can only access one company, there will only be one option in the list.

If the list is empty, none of the companies have a member with the Abacus Integration Role (See Step 3).

Select the company from the dropdown menu.
Click on Connect.

Customize Your NetSuite Integration

Once Abacus is connected to NetSuite, the next step is customizing the integration with your NetSuite.

Step 1: Select a Default Expense Account

First, select a default expense account on the Accounting Sync settings page in Abacus. This default expense account will be applied for any expenses that are missing a category. This should be something like "miscellaneous" or "other expense" in your chart of accounts. Keep in mind that if any items in your GL change in NetSuite, they will also need to be updated in Abacus.

Step 2: Choose Your Sync Option for Corporate Card Transactions

Toggle Accounting Sync Settings off if you want corporate card transactions to sync automatically to NetSuite once they are in a "completed" state.

In this mode, corporate card transactions will sync automatically to NetSuite after an admin approves the transaction and it is marked as complete.

Toggle Accounting Sync Settings on if you prefer a manual, pre-reviewed sync.

This setting requires an additional review of corporate card transactions prior to syncing them to NetSuite. Approved corporate card transactions will appear on the Accounting page in the Admin menu bar. Admins can view and edit transaction details before syncing them to NetSuite. Learn more about the manual accounting sync feature here.

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Step 3: Select a Source Bank Account

You can select Cash or Accrual method for your reimbursable sync, and then choose the bank account where you want Bills and Bill Payments synched.

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Cash Method

Abacus will create a Bill and corresponding Bill Payment in this account each time we debit this bank account for reimbursements (no more than once a day for the sum of all expenses approved that day). Each expense in that batch will be represented as a line item in that Bill. The Bill Payment amount will match the debit you see in your bank account for easy reconciliation.

Accrual Method

Abacus will create a new Purchase Transaction for each expense against an Abacus Clearing account. Expenses sync based on the date the expense was incurred, rather than the date it was reimbursed. When the expense is reimbursed, we will create a transfer in the amount of the associated debit from your bank register to the Clearing account so everything zeroes out.

You can read more about these options here.

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Step 4: Select an AP Account (Optional)

This is the AP account you want to be associated with the Bill and Bill Payment.

Step 5: Sync Corporate Cards to NetSuite

If you have corporate cards you are managing in Abacus, we can sync transactions into NetSuite as individual Journal Entries or Credit Card Transactions.

You may specify which field you'd like the Abacus merchant to sync into. You have three options:

Memo field
Name field from Other Names list
Name field from Vendor list

Make a selection at the bottom of your Accounting sync page and click Save.

Step 6: Customize Your Corporate Card Sync

You have several customization options for the corporate card sync, depending on how you'd like the data to sync.

Transaction Type

For Transaction type, you can choose to sync card transactions to NetSuite as either Journal Entries or Corporate Card transactions.

Vendor/Merchant

For thevendor/merchant, you can opt to sync that information into the Memo field or the Name field.

For the Name field, choose whether you want the vendor name stored in your Other Names list or the Vendor list.

Many customers choose to sync the vendors to the Name field from the Other Names list to avoid cluttering the vendor list.

Step 7: Select Default Mappings for Class, Location, and Department

Abacus pulls in Class, Location, and Department information from NetSuite. You have the option to create custom fields in Abacus and map them to these fields in NetSuite.

You can optionally add default mappings for Class, Location, and Department in your Accounting Sync settings page. Each expense that is missing this field will be associated with the default item you select here:

Step 8: Map Your Categories

The final step is to map Abacus categories to your NetSuite categories.

Click on the Categories tab. You will now see a new column called NetSuite Chart of Accounts. You can add and remove categories in the Category column on the left (this is what everyone on your team will see in Abacus) and then map them to the corresponding category/account in NetSuite on the right.

Sync Custom Fields to NetSuite (Location, Department, and Class)

You can create custom Team or Expense Fields in Abacus and sync them to Location, Department, and Class fields in NetSuite.

Team Fields are customizable fields that you can add to a member's profile, like Department or Team. This data will be attached to employees expenses automatically.
Expense Fields are customizable fields that you can add to the expense submission form. You can create a custom drop-down menu on the expense form for your employees to fill out while submitting their expenses.