Order rules and flow rules
Controlling what reps must fill in, what they are allowed to change, and which values copy themselves onto orders.
Two different rule types shape order entry. Order rules at Settings → Order entry → Order rules decide what is required and what is permitted. Flow rules at Settings → Data model → Flow rules copy values from a customer onto the order, or from an item onto the line.
Order rules
| Rule | Effect when on |
|---|---|
| Require PO number | The wizard will not advance past Details without a PO number. |
| Require ship date | A requested ship date must be set. |
| Require memo | A memo must be entered. |
| Allow price override | Reps can type a different unit price on a line. Off means the resolved price level price is fixed. |
| Allow manual item | Reps can add a free-text line for something not in the catalog. |
| Allow manual customer | Reps can create a customer inline from the wizard. |
| Allow item price edit | Controls editing of the price on the item record itself from the order context. |
| Recently ordered | Shows previously and recently ordered items on the Items step. |
| Discount line items | Enables line and order discounts in the Pricing step. |
| Customer deposit | Shows the deposit fields on the Pricing step. |
| Default line discount item | The item used to represent a discount on export. |
| Default customer taxable | The taxable value new customers start with. |
| Enable subsidiary / location / department / class | Shows that segment on the order. Segments left off are hidden entirely and fall back to the export defaults. |
A manual line has no NetSuite item to reference, so the export preflight blocks it. Leave manual items on only if someone will convert those lines to real items before export.
Flow rules
A flow rule has a direction, a source key, a target key, an overwrite flag, an active flag, and a position. Customer to order rules run when a rep selects the customer; item to line rules run when a line is added.
| Property | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Direction | customer to order, or item to line |
| Source key | The field read from the customer or item, including custom fields as custom.<key> |
| Target key | The field written on the order or line, including custom fields |
| Overwrite | On replaces a value the rep already entered. Off only fills a blank. |
| Position | Evaluation order within the direction — lower positions run first |
| Active | Inactive rules are kept but skipped |
Evaluation order
- 1Rules are grouped by direction and sorted by position.
- 2Each active rule reads its source key from the source record.
- 3If the value is empty, the rule does nothing.
- 4If the target is already filled and overwrite is off, the rule does nothing.
- 5Otherwise the value is written to the target, and the next rule runs against the updated draft.
Worked examples
- Customer to order, source terms, target terms, overwrite off: the customer's payment terms prefill the order but a rep can still change them for a one-off.
- Customer to order, source custom.delivery_window, target custom.delivery_window, overwrite on: the delivery window always tracks the customer record, even if someone typed something else.
- Item to line, source custom.lot_code, target custom.lot_code, overwrite off: each line inherits the item's lot code unless it was set manually.
- Customer to order, source sales_rep, target sales_rep, overwrite off, position 1, followed by a territory rule at position 2: the rep is set first, then the territory rule fills anything the rep rule left blank.
Overwrite on is right for values that must always match the master record. For anything a rep is allowed to judge, leaving it off avoids the frustrating experience of an edit being undone by the app.
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