One great trick we've deployed many times is to combine the power of saved searches with workflows to get an easy to manage system for adding, removing and changing the recipients for emails.  This customization is fairly easy to setup and leverages many native features so you know it will remain stable throughout future releases.

The idea here is to use the Contact records associated with the entity to keep an up to date list of contacts and what transactions they want to be notified of.  To start we will create a custom list called "Email Group".  This will help us categorize contacts into logical groups for sending emails.  (You can also leverage the native "Role" field on contacts for this as well if you prefer).

Next we will create a custom field on the contact record that we can use to select what group each contact should be a part of.

Now we can add our contacts associated with our customer and assign them the proper email group

The next step is to create a saved search of contacts and make it a summary search so we can use it to source the value of the transaction body field.  In the criteria we want to exclude Inactive contacts, but include contacts with the Order Notifications email group.

Then our results tab will include one summarized field using the NS_CONCAT function.  This will concatenate all the results of the search into a single comma separated field value.

Lastly, don't forget to give your saved search a filter so the system knows how to filter the results to get only the contacts applied to the correct company/customer.

Now let's create a custom Transaction Body field that will hold the results of our saved search.  Make sure to UNCHECK the store value checkbox so the value is dynamically sourced whenever the record is loaded.  We used a Long Text field type just in case there were a lot of unique email addresses to be notified.

Also we need to define the saved search we created in the Validation & Defaulting subtab.  Remember to choose what field on the transaction should be used to filter your results.  Since the Available Filter in your saved search was based on the Customer field, we should choose the same field in our custom field configuration

Now our Sales Order form will dynamically source ALL email addresses that are tagged with the "Order Notifications" email group.  And these addresses will automatically be filtered to only the contacts associated with the Customer defined on the transaction.

Then in your workflow you can add a Send Email action and assign the new transaction body field as part of the recipients.  Note how we are using the CC Address parameter within the action and using the field ID of our new transaction body field to define the addresses to be copied.  This is a great way to circumvent the restrictions placed on trying to select a field from the list in the From Field parameter.  We have tested using this method in the Free Form Address field and the workflow will return an error.  However, using the field ID in either the CC or BCC fields seems to work just fine.

Since an email does require a Primary Recipient you do need to define a recipient in one of the fields other than the CC or BCC.  You can use a native field as pictured above OR you can put in a static address of purchaseorders@mycompany.com.  This way all communication emailed out of NetSuite is stored in a shared inbox for your company to review if needed.

The power of this functionality comes with the ease of maintenance for our users.  For instance if Curtis Johnson were to leave the company and we need to add a new contact, it is as simple as managing the native Contact list on our Customer record.  Curtis Johnson can be inactived and a new contact created with the same email group.  Or if the accounting team wants to be made aware of new orders place, then they can easily receive the "Order Notifications" tag.

Now when the next order is placed they will all be notified via email.

If you would like to learn more about the Send Email action you can read our blog post specifically on this topic.  Also if you would like help with or have questions about leveraging the customizability of NetSuite to build no-code automation in your environment please reach out.

The next step is to build your custom field that will sit on the Employee record.  To do so navigate to Customization > Lists, Records and Fields > Entity Fields > New

Enter a name and ID for your field then select the Currency type. (NOTE - you can also use Decimal Number as well)

Next we need to select the Employee record under the Applies To and UNCHECK the Store Value box.  This is key to getting this to work so make sure you uncheck this box so NetSuite can dynamically source the correct value every time the record is loaded.

The last step is we need to add the saved search we made under the Validation & Defaulting subtab

Once saved you can view the Employee record to see the value automatically populated.

While this is incredibly helpful when viewing records we run into a problem in that this field is NOT reportable.  Meaning it does not display a value when added to a report or saved search.  This is because we unchecked the Store Value box on the custom field configuration.  This is because the value cannot be dynamically sourced if it is stored, BUT if it is not stored then it cannot be reported on.  To overcome this "catch 22" we can leverage workflows.  Then nice thing about workflows is any non-stored field is still dynamically sourced during the workflow execution and then can be used as a condition or even used to set the value of another field.

To do this we need to first create a saved search that will trigger our workflow.  The criteria of this workflow would be any Employee that is a Sales Rep. (NOTE - The results and filters to do not matter in this case, but you can customize those as you feel comfortable.)

The make another Custom Entity Field that will be used to store the value being calculated by the saved search.  Be sure to keep the store value box checked.  (Make sure the field type matches the field type you created in your non-stored field).

Lastly, create a scheduled workflow based on the Employee record and use your saved search as the criteria.  Also setup the frequency you would prefer.  We will use Daily at 11:00pm, so every night the total sales will be calculated and stored.

In the first State add a Set Field Value and use the Entry trigger.  (NOTE - We do not need to use any extra Conditions, Contexts or Event Types as this is already controlled by the Saved Search and Schedule we setup in the previous steps)

In the parameters find your stored field and then use the From Field parameters to set the value from your non-stored field

Then save your workflow.  Now every night at 11:00pm the workflow will run on ALL employee records where Is Sales Rep = T.  The Employee Total Sales field will be calculated from the first saved search we built, then the calculated value will be stored in the Employee Total Sales (stored) field.  This way you can report on the stored field in other saved searches or reports.  You can also set the frequency of your workflow to be more often if you need more "real-time" information.  This same concept also works in Event Based workflows but requires a user to create or edit the record to trigger the workflow to store the new value.

One other thing to note is you can set the field display type of the non-stored field to "hidden" in the field configuration and that field will not be shown to users as they view employee records but still can be accessible to workflows as normal.

This little trick is an amazing leap forward in automating and optimizing data throughout your system, as you can now automatically calculate and store data between many different record types with your NetSuite environment.  Be sure to follow us and check back often for more great tips and tricks to help you maximize your NetSuite investment!

Adding links within your saved search can not only help users navigate through NetSuite quickly and easily, but also provide quick access to records and information directly related to the content searched and displayed within your saved search.  One of the most common ways to utilize links within saved searches is to provide a link to a joined record.  For example, if you have created a Item Search then the native Edit/View link provided by the system will only navigate to the Item record.  

However, you may be joining to related transactions within this search and may want to give the user an easy way to open the transaction record.  This is easily done through a Formula (HTML) and an "href" element.  Add a Formula (HTML) into the results of your saved search and then use the following formula:

'<a href=''https://system.netsuite.com/app/accounting/transactions/transaction.nl?id='|| {internalid} ||'&whence=''>View</a>'

A few things to note with this formula:

1. You can also replace "system" in the URL with youraccountnumber.app where youraccountnumber is the account number of your NetSuite environment. (ie https//1234567.app.netsuite.com/app/accounting, etc)  This will restrict your link to ONLY work within the environment you have entered.
2. The text entered between the <a> and </a> elements is what is displayed to the user to click on.  You can change this to whatever you like.  You can also use double pipes to concatenate a field value here as well.  So instead of the link saying "View" you can have it list the Document Number of the transaction by instead changing the formula to:

Now the Transaction Number will be displayed AND it will be clickable to the user, redirecting them to the transaction listed in the results row of the saved search.

To help manage the user experience you can also update the <a> element with a notation so a new window is opened.  This way the user does not have to go back and reload the saved search after viewing or updating the transaction.  To do so we need to add a target attribute.  The resulting formula HTML would look like this:

'<a href=''https://system.netsuite.com/app/accounting/transactions/transaction.nl?id='|| {internalid} ||'&whence='' target="_blank">'|| {number} ||'</a>'

Another nice trick to help the user experience is to open the record in Edit mode to save the user from more clicks to make changes to the record.  To do so we can add a parameter of "e=T" into the URL.  The resulting URL would be:

'<a href=''https://system.netsuite.com/app/accounting/transactions/transaction.nl?id='|| {internalid} ||'&e=T&whence='' target="_blank">'|| {number} ||'</a>'

Now that we have a good grasp on how links will work we can work on turning this into a button instead of just hyperlinked text.  To do this we need to add a <button> wrapper around the Link Text so it is displayed as a button instead of hyperlinked text.  The resulting URL would be:

'<a href=''https://system.netsuite.com/app/accounting/transactions/transaction.nl?id='|| {internalid} ||'&e=T&whence='' target="_blank"><button type="button">'|| {number} ||'</button></a>'

Now we have a button displayed instead of hyperlinked text showing in our saved search.   Also, when clicked a new window will open AND the record will be opened in edit mode so the user can quickly and easily update the information.

You can also change some of the formatting of the button by using the "style" attribute inside the <button> element.  Some applicable attributes would be:

• font-size
• font-weight
• font-style
• color
• background-color

So you could give your button a color with a style attribute and the resulting URL would be:

'<a href=''https://system.netsuite.com/app/accounting/transactions/transaction.nl?id='|| {internalid} ||'&e=T&whence='' target="_blank"><button type="button" style="background-color:red">'|| {number} ||'</button></a>'

And the user would see a formatted button in the saved search

One more feature you could add into this would be to open a pop-up window for the record instead of a new window or in the same window.  To do this you would add a "onclick" attribute into the overall <a> element.  The syntax can be quite tricky but the resulting formula would be:

'<a href="#" onclick="window.open(''https://system.netsuite.com/app/accounting/transactions/transaction.nl?id='|| {internalid} ||'&e=T&whence='',''selection'',''dependent=yes,height=600,width=800,scrollbars=no,statusbar=no,titlebar=no,menubar=no,resizeable=yes,location=no'');"><button type="button" >'|| {number} ||'</button></a>'

The the user can open/edit the record right within a pop up window, make their changes, then quickly close the window and return to the saved search quickly to keep working through the rest of the result.

You can also use the parameters within the "onclick" attribute to help control the size and functionality of the pop-up window by changing the "height", "width", "location" or other parameters.

If you would like more information on how to leverage saved searches within your NetSuite environment or need help with any customization or enhancement feel free to reach out to us at any time.  Also be sure to subscribe and follow our blog for more great tips and tricks.