How to Track Disputes in NetSuite

📌 Invoice disputes aren’t just isolated incidents; they often signal systemic issues with pricing, fulfillment, or contracts. By tracking disputes by root cause over time, finance teams can identify patterns, streamline resolution processes, and prevent future disputes.

NetSuite provides built-in reporting, saved searches, and dashboards that can be customized to track dispute data by reason codes or categories. Here's a step-by-step guide to setting it up.

How to Track Disputes by root cause over time in NetSuite

Step 1: Identify and Define Root Causes

Before you can report on dispute causes, you need a structured way to capture them in NetSuite.

• Create Custom Fields for Root Cause
  Navigate to Customization > Lists, Records, & Fields > Transaction Body Fields > New
  
  
  1. Field Type: List/Record or Selection (dropdown)
     
     
  2. Label: “Dispute Reason” or “Root Cause”
     
     
  3. Apply To: Invoices, Credit Memos, or Case records (based on how your organization logs disputes)
     
     
  4. Add values like: Pricing Error, Product Damage, Delivery Delay, Contract Disagreement, etc.
     
     
• Enable the Field for Data Entry
  Make sure the field is visible on the transaction or case form. Go to Customization > Forms > Transaction Forms. Customize the appropriate form and add the new field to a visible location.

Step 2: Create a Saved Search to Track Disputes

• Navigate to: Lists > Saved Searches > All Saved Searches > New > Case or Transaction (depending on how disputes are logged)
  
  
• Set Criteria:
  
  
  1. Status = Open or Resolved
     
     
  2. Date Created = within desired time period
     
     
  3. Dispute Reason is not empty
     
     
• Set Results Columns:
  
  
  1. Root Cause (custom field)
     
     
  2. Date Created or Month Created (grouped for trend view)
     
     
  3. Amount
     
     
  4. Status
     
• Summarize Data:
  
  
  1. Group by Root Cause and Month
     
     
  2. Add a Count or Sum of Amount to show volume or value of disputes
     
• Optional Visualization:
  Use Available Filters to dynamically view data by time frame or customer.

Step 3: Build a Custom Dashboard for Visualization

• Go to: Home > Dashboards > New Dashboard (or Personalize Dashboard)
  
  
• Add Saved Search Portlets:
  
  
  1. Add your dispute saved search to a “Trend Graph” or “KPI Meter” portlet
     
     
  2. Filter by root cause and display over time (monthly or quarterly)
     
     
• Add Key Metrics:
  
  
  1. Total disputes this month
     
     
  2. Average resolution time
     
     
  3. Top 3 root causes

Step 4: Use NetSuite Reports (Optional)

• Navigate to: Reports > Support > Cases by Type (if using case records)
  
  
  1. Customize the report to add your custom "Root Cause" field
     
     
  2. Group by Month
     
     
  3. Summarize by Count or Amount

Step 5: Extend with External Analytics (Optional)

If you need advanced visualizations or cross-system reporting:

• Connect NetSuite with BI Tools:
  Export saved search results or use a connector to send data to:
  
  
  1. Power BI
     
     
  2. Tableau
     
     
  3. Google Looker Studio
     
     
• Use ExtendInsights or CloudExtend:
  Export your saved search to Excel for pivot charts or trend graphs with custom formatting.

Step 6: Analyze and Act

• Look for recurring issues tied to specific root causes.
  
  
• Segment by customer, product, or time frame to detect hotspots.
  
  
• Feed these insights back into process improvement initiatives whether that’s updating contracts, training sales teams, or reviewing shipping processes.

Pro tip: Disputes are rarely one-off. If your team struggles with visibility or delayed responses, solutions like Growfin plug into NetSuite, auto-log disputes, and create a collector-facing dashboard with real-time status, dispute categorization, and alerts so resolution doesn’t fall through the cracks.

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