The quick answer
Go to Transactions > Sales > Manage Intercompany Sales Orders and choose the intercompany customer that represents the buying subsidiary. NetSuite fills Subsidiary with the selling subsidiary and defaults Currency. The list only shows unlinked purchase orders for that customer in that currency, so if the purchase order uses another currency it says No records to show until you change Currency to match. Set Location, check the purchase order and click Generate Sales Order. Processed Records links to the new sales order, and both orders then name each other in Paired Intercompany Transaction.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own subsidiaries, entities and items when you follow the steps.
Before you start
You need:
- OneWorld with Automated Intercompany Management turned on. Without it there's no Manage Intercompany Sales Orders page and no pairing fields on the orders.
- Representing entities. The buyer orders from an intercompany vendor that represents the selling subsidiary. The seller sells to an intercompany customer that represents the buying subsidiary. NetSuite can generate these, or you can maintain them by hand. Point their default receivable and payable accounts at your intercompany accounts so the invoice and bill post where elimination can find them.
- An item both subsidiaries can buy and sell.
- An approved intercompany purchase order. A purchase order still Pending Approval doesn't show up in the list.
- Multiple Currencies, if the subsidiaries trade in more than one currency, as they do here.
- The right role permissions. You need access to both subsidiaries, Allow Cross-Subsidiary Record Viewing, view access to purchase orders and create access to sales orders.
In the example, Kestrel Outdoor Canada buys 8 TK-220 Trekking Pole Sets from its sister company Kestrel Outdoor US. The Canadian side has already entered purchase order PO4471 in Canadian dollars.
01. Check the intercompany purchase order
Open purchase order PO4471. It's Pending Receipt, and Vendor is IC-V Kestrel Outdoor US, the vendor that stands for the US subsidiary. The Summary shows Subtotal 250.00, GST/HST 32.50 and Total 282.50.
In Classification, Subsidiary is Kestrel Outdoor Canada and Location is Calgary Warehouse. Intercompany Status is Pending and Paired Intercompany Transaction is blank. The US side has no sales order yet.
On the Items subtab, Currency is Canadian Dollar. The one line is TK-220 Trekking Pole Set, Quantity 8 at Rate 31.25, Amount 250.00.
02. Open Manage Intercompany Sales Orders
Go to Transactions > Sales > Manage Intercompany Sales Orders. In Customer, choose IC-C Kestrel Outdoor Canada, the customer that stands for the buying subsidiary. Subsidiary fills with Kestrel Outdoor US, the side that will sell, and Currency defaults to US Dollar here. The default comes from the customer's setup.
With Intercompany Transaction Status Pending, the list says No records to show. PO4471 is in Canadian dollars, and the page only lists unlinked purchase orders for this customer in the currency you've picked.
An empty list can have other causes too: the wrong customer, a purchase order that's already paired, a role without access to the buying subsidiary, or incomplete intercompany setup.
03. Match the currency and generate
Change Currency to Canadian Dollar. PO4471 appears with Subsidiary Kestrel Outdoor Canada, Currency Canadian Dollar, Amount 282.50 and Status Pending.
In Location, choose Denver Warehouse. NetSuite puts it on the generated lines, and once the orders are paired you can't change an inventory line's location without unpairing both orders. Then check Select for PO4471 and click Generate Sales Order.
If your account makes Location, Department or Class mandatory, automatic generation may be blocked and you'd create the paired sales order by hand instead. Either way, check the lines after generation.
04. Confirm that generation succeeded
Processed Records opens. Generation runs in the background, so the line can still read Line Status Not Started, as it does here. Click Refresh.
After the refresh, the row shows Line Status Complete, Result Success and Result Record Sales Order #SO6093. If Result is a failure, read Error Message before you try again.
05. Review the paired sales order
Click Sales Order #SO6093. It's Pending Fulfillment, for customer IC-C Kestrel Outdoor Canada in Subsidiary Kestrel Outdoor US. The Summary shows Subtotal 250.00, Tax Total 0.00 and Total 250.00. Currency is Canadian Dollar at an Exchange Rate of 0.7310.
The sales order copies the item, quantity and rate. Tax isn't copied. Each side's tax comes from its own subsidiary, nexus and tax codes, so in this example the US order totals 250.00 while the Canadian purchase order totals 282.50. Your sales order may well carry tax. The order can stay in Canadian dollars even though Kestrel Outdoor US keeps its books in US dollars. Sales orders don't post, so treat 0.7310 as provisional and check the rate on the invoice.
In Sales Information, Paired Intercompany Transaction is Purchase Order #PO4471 and Intercompany Status is Paired. Some accounts label the status Linked or the field Paired Transaction. The link opens the buyer's order, and PO4471 now points back to SO6093. On the Items subtab, the line carries Denver Warehouse.
Check the result
- Processed Records shows Purchase Order #PO4471 as Complete and Success, with Sales Order #SO6093.
- SO6093 is Pending Fulfillment in Kestrel Outdoor US, Intercompany Status Paired, linked to Purchase Order #PO4471.
- The line has 8 at 31.25 and Location Denver Warehouse.
From here the US side fulfills and invoices SO6093, and the Canadian side receives and bills PO4471. Neither order posts anything. The fulfillment and receipt move inventory, and the invoice and vendor bill post to the intercompany receivable and payable accounts.
Common questions
Why doesn't my intercompany purchase order show up?
The list only shows unlinked purchase orders for the customer and currency you've chosen, with the status in Intercompany Transaction Status. In the example, PO4471 stayed hidden until Currency changed from US Dollar to Canadian Dollar. If the currency already matches, check that you picked the customer that represents the buying subsidiary, that the order is approved and not already paired, and that your role can see the buying subsidiary.
What's the difference between Paired and Linked?
Both mean the purchase order and sales order are tied together as two halves of one intercompany deal. This account shows Intercompany Status Paired, and some accounts and help pages call the same state Linked. Go by what your own records show.
Why is the sales order total lower than the purchase order total?
Tax isn't copied from the purchase order. PO4471 carries 32.50 of GST/HST for the Canadian side, and SO6093 is taxed by the US side's own setup, which here comes to 0.00. Check tax on each side before you call the difference an error.
Can the sales order be in a different currency from the selling subsidiary?
Yes, if Multiple Currencies is on and the intercompany customer can transact in that currency. The Currency you pick on Manage Intercompany Sales Orders becomes the sales order's currency. Kestrel Outdoor US keeps its books in US dollars, and SO6093 is in Canadian dollars at 0.7310.
What does Reject Purchase Order do?
It marks the selected purchase order Rejected so it drops out of the Pending list. It doesn't create a sales order or delete the purchase order. You can still find it by switching Intercompany Transaction Status to Rejected. This guide doesn't demonstrate it.
Can I change the lines after the orders are paired?
Mostly no. On a paired order NetSuite refuses changes to an inventory line's item, account, location, subsidiary, units or rate, so the two sides stay in step. Set Location before you generate and check every line right afterwards.
What if I generated the sales order without a location?
You can't add it to the paired lines directly. The fix is to break the pairing, usually by swapping both orders' lines to a non-inventory placeholder item, delete the sales order, restore the purchase order and generate again with Location set. It's slow, so set the location the first time.
Does generating the sales order post anything?
No. Purchase orders and sales orders are non-posting. The GL moves later, when the seller fulfills and invoices and the buyer receives and bills. This guide stops at the paired sales order.
What happens if someone changes the purchase order after pairing?
Don't expect the sales order to follow. NetSuite blocks changes to the locked line fields on a paired order, and other edits can leave the two sides out of step. If PO4471 has to change, open SO6093 from Paired Intercompany Transaction and compare them before anyone fulfills or bills.