The quick answer
Go to Customization > Centers and Tabs > KPI Scorecards > New and name the scorecard. On Content > KPIs, add Custom KPI #1, #2 and so on, with a Label for each. On Date Ranges, add the ranges you want as columns. On Custom, point each custom KPI at a saved search. On Highlighting, add rules such as Greater Than 40,000 for this fiscal quarter with a background color. Save, then go to Home, click Personalize, add the KPI Scorecard portlet and choose your scorecard in its Set Up dialog. Each search needs exactly one Results field with a summary type, such as Amount with Sum, no date criteria and a date field on Available Filters, because the scorecard supplies the dates.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own searches and values when following the steps.
Before you start
In this example, Alex Morgan at Example Supply Co. tracks sales for three product categories: Safety Gear, Fasteners and Abrasives. There's already one saved transaction search per category, KPI Sales - Safety Gear, KPI Sales - Fasteners and KPI Sales - Abrasives. Each returns the sales order lines for its class and sums the Amount. Alex wants all three on the Home dashboard, side by side for last fiscal quarter, last month and this fiscal quarter, with anything past a target colored.
The walkthrough uses the Administrator role. The KPI Scorecards feature has to be on under Setup > Company > Enable Features, and you need permission to create scorecards under Customization > Centers and Tabs > KPI Scorecards. Who can use the scorecard is set on its Audience subtab. Anyone who views it also needs access to each saved search, through the search's owner, audience or public setting, and to the records it returns. Those are separate controls, so check all of them when someone else sees an empty or partial scorecard.
A KPI Scorecard lays out KPIs as rows and date ranges as columns. The KPI list includes standard KPIs such as Sales and Expenses, plus ten slots, Custom KPI #1 to #10, for your own saved searches. The values come from the searches when the portlet loads or refreshes, so your numbers depend on your transactions, subsidiaries, currency and fiscal calendar.
01. Check the saved searches
A saved search only works as a custom KPI when it returns a single total and leaves the dates to the scorecard. Check that before you build anything. Go to Reports > Saved Searches > All Saved Searches. The three category searches are in the list.
Click Edit next to KPI Sales - Abrasives. On Criteria, Type is Sales Order, Main Line is false and Class is Abrasives. There's no date criterion. With Main Line false, the search returns line rows and Amount is the line amount, so the KPI is the sum of the qualifying sales order lines, not a count of orders.
Open the Results subtab. Amount is the only column, with Summary Type Sum, so the search returns one total. A custom KPI needs exactly one Results field with a summary type. Other Results fields can stay, but they can't have a summary type. Leave Summary Criteria empty too.
Open the Available Filters subtab. Date is listed. The scorecard applies each of its date ranges through that filter. A date criterion on the Criteria subtab would fight it, which is why there isn't one.
Leave the search without saving. The other two searches are set up the same way for their class.
02. Create the scorecard and add custom KPIs
Go to Customization > Centers and Tabs > KPI Scorecards > New.
In Name, enter Category Sales Scorecard. Owner defaults to you. Leave Use Periods clear. Checked, it makes the scorecard work with accounting periods instead of date ranges, the Date Ranges subtab becomes Periods, and each search then needs Period on Available Filters. Decide before you save, because the box can't be cleared afterwards.
On Content > KPIs, choose Custom KPI #1 in KPI, enter Safety Gear in Label and click Add. Add Custom KPI #2 with the label Fasteners and Custom KPI #3 with the label Abrasives. The labels become the row headings on the dashboard. They don't rename the searches.
03. Add the date ranges
Open the Date Ranges subtab. Add last fiscal quarter, then last month, then this fiscal quarter, clicking Add after each. They become the portlet's columns in this order.
04. Point each custom KPI at its search
Open the Custom subtab. It has a field for each of the ten custom KPI slots. Set Custom KPI #1 to KPI Sales - Safety Gear, Custom KPI #2 to KPI Sales - Fasteners and Custom KPI #3 to KPI Sales - Abrasives.
05. Add highlighting rules and save
Open the Highlighting subtab. A rule names a KPI (or All), a condition in Highlight if..., a Threshold and a Date Range. The conditions are Less Than, Greater Than, Magnitude Greater Than, Magnitude Less Than and Always. The rule can then set a Text Color, a Background Color, Bold and Headline.
In the first line, set KPI to Safety Gear, Highlight if... to Greater Than, Threshold to 40,000 and Date Range to this fiscal quarter. Pick a green Background Color, check Bold and Headline, and click Add. Headline puts the matching value in a card above the grid. Greater Than is strict, so a value of exactly 40,000 wouldn't be highlighted.
In the next line, set KPI to Abrasives, Highlight if... to Less Than and Threshold to 15,000. Open Date Range. It only offers All and the three ranges on this scorecard. Choose this fiscal quarter, pick a rose Background Color, check Bold and click Add.
Click Save. The scorecard opens in view mode with both rules on the Highlighting subtab.
06. Add the scorecard to Home
Go to Home and click Personalize. In Standard Content, page right with the arrow and click the KPI Scorecard tile. It's next to KPI Meter and Key Performance Indicators, which are different portlets. The tiles you see, and where, depend on your role and enabled features. Close the Personalize panel.
The new portlet reads Portlet not set up. Click its Set Up link. In the KPI Scorecard dialog, choose Category Sales Scorecard in the KPI Scorecard field. Leave Restrict To at All and Orientation at KPIs on Left, and click Save. Orientation KPIs on Left puts the KPIs in rows and the date ranges in columns.
07. Read the highlighted values
The portlet takes the scorecard's name, Category Sales Scorecard. The headline card shows Safety Gear $46,730 because of the Headline rule. Below it, the grid has Safety Gear, Fasteners and Abrasives against Last Fiscal Quarter, Last Month and This Fiscal Quarter.
Safety Gear this fiscal quarter, $46,730, is green and bold because it's above 40,000. Abrasives this fiscal quarter, $12,640, is rose and bold because it's below 15,000. Fasteners has no rule, so none of its values are colored.
Look at Abrasives last month. $5,105 is also under 15,000, but it stays plain because the rule only covers this fiscal quarter. Safety Gear last fiscal quarter, $39,215, is under 40,000 and plain too. A rule scoped to one date range doesn't touch the same KPI's other columns.
Check the result
- The portlet is titled Category Sales Scorecard and its headline card shows Safety Gear $46,730.
- The rows are Safety Gear, Fasteners and Abrasives, and the columns are Last Fiscal Quarter, Last Month and This Fiscal Quarter.
- Safety Gear this fiscal quarter, $46,730, is green and bold.
- Abrasives this fiscal quarter, $12,640, is rose and bold.
- Abrasives last month, $5,105, and Safety Gear last fiscal quarter, $39,215, are plain.
The values in the grid are drill-down links. Clicking one opens the saved search results for that KPI and date range, filtered by what your role can see. If a total looks wrong, that's the quickest way to see which sales order lines went into it.
Common questions
How do I build a KPI scorecard from saved searches in NetSuite?
Build one saved search per number you want to track, each returning a single summarized total with no date criteria and a date field on Available Filters. Then go to Customization > Centers and Tabs > KPI Scorecards > New, add Custom KPI lines, add date ranges, map each custom KPI to its search on the Custom subtab and save. Add the KPI Scorecard portlet from Personalize on Home and choose the scorecard in Set Up.
How do I use a saved search as a custom KPI?
Give the search exactly one Results field with a summary type, such as Amount with Sum, leave date criteria off, and put a date field on Available Filters. Then pick it in a Custom KPI slot on the scorecard's Custom subtab. The scorecard applies each of its date ranges through that date filter.
Why doesn't my saved search show up as a custom KPI?
Usually it breaks one of the rules. Check that only one Results field has a summary type, that there's no date criterion on Criteria, and that a date field is on Available Filters. If the scorecard uses periods, the search needs Period on Available Filters instead. Your role also has to be able to see the search.
Where are KPI Scorecards in NetSuite, and how do I add one to my dashboard?
They're under Customization > Centers and Tabs > KPI Scorecards, once the KPI Scorecards feature is enabled. To show one on Home, click Personalize, add the KPI Scorecard tile, then click Set Up on the new portlet and choose your scorecard. Don't confuse it with the KPI Meter or Key Performance Indicators portlets.
What's the difference between the KPIs, Date Ranges, Custom and Highlighting subtabs?
KPIs sets the rows and their labels. Date Ranges sets the columns. Custom connects each Custom KPI slot to a saved search. Highlighting holds the threshold rules that color, bold or headline specific values.
How do I highlight scorecard values above or below a threshold?
On the Highlighting subtab, pick the KPI, choose Greater Than or Less Than, enter the threshold and choose a date range. Then set a background or text color and check Bold if you want it. In this example Safety Gear above 40,000 this fiscal quarter turns green, and Abrasives below 15,000 this fiscal quarter turns rose.
What does the Headline option do on KPI Scorecard highlighting?
It copies the matching value into a card at the top of the portlet, above the grid. Here, Safety Gear's $46,730 for this fiscal quarter shows as the headline because it's above 40,000.
Why is only one date range highlighted on my KPI scorecard?
A highlighting rule only applies to the Date Range you pick on it, unless you pick All. That's why Abrasives last month, $5,105, stays plain even though it's under 15,000. The rule only covers this fiscal quarter, where Abrasives is $12,640.
What does Use Periods change?
It switches the scorecard from date ranges to accounting periods, and each search then needs Period on Available Filters. You can't clear it after the scorecard is saved, so decide before you save.
Why can't another user see my scorecard's values?
They need to be in the scorecard's audience, have access to each saved search, and be able to see the records those searches return. Values are filtered by the viewer's permissions, so the same scorecard can show different totals to different people.