The quick answer
With the Transaction Line Distribution SuiteApp installed, create a distribution template under Lists > Accounting > Transaction Dist. Templates > New with the department percentages, and choose it in Dist. Default Template on the vendor bill. Each expense line picks the template up in Line Dist. Template. Check Line Dist. Exclude on a line that should stay where it is, and use Enter Quick Distribution when one line needs a different split this time. Save the bill, then let the TD_MR_JournalEntryForm Map/Reduce script run, or run it now with Save and Execute on an unscheduled deployment. For each distributed line, the script creates a journal that credits the line's department and debits each destination department, and the bill's Dist. Related Journal links to it.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
A shared cost usually arrives on one bill, coded to whoever received the invoice. In the example, an October office lease from Harborline Property Partners is coded to Administration, but Operations, Engineering and Customer Success share the floor. Transaction Line Distribution leaves the bill as entered and posts a separate reclassification journal, so you can trace every moved amount back to its bill line.
This is a different tool from allocation schedules. An allocation schedule reallocates account balances on a schedule. Transaction Line Distribution works on individual transaction lines and links the journal to the source transaction. If you want the balance-based approach, see how to allocate an unassigned expense between departments.
The example assumes:
- the free Transaction Line Distribution SuiteApp is installed, and Setup > Accounting > Transaction Dist. Preferences includes bills (check the SuiteApp's installation notes too, since some versions expect extra setup such as the Online Forms feature);
- the Administrator role (other users need the SuiteApp's roles or permissions, such as its CFO and A/P clerk roles, to create templates, enter distributed bills and run its script);
- one subsidiary, US dollars and an open Oct 2026 period;
- bills that save as Approved. The script only distributes approved bills, so if your account routes bills for approval, the journal waits until the bill is approved.
The template is Intracompany, so the split stays in one subsidiary and the script creates a regular journal. Intercompany templates distribute to other subsidiaries, create an advanced intercompany journal, and need intercompany setup such as representing entities.
01. Create the distribution template
Go to Lists > Accounting > Transaction Dist. Templates > New. Type Shared Office Split in Template Name and choose the subsidiary in Source Subsidiary. Set Rate Type to Distribution Weight (%) so each line is a percentage, and Type to Intracompany.
The Use Source checkboxes decide what the journal keeps from the bill line. Clear Use Source Department, because the departments should come from the template lines. Leave Use Source Accounts checked so the expense stays on the same account, and leave class, location and custom segments checked too.
On the Custom subtab, add one line per destination: the subsidiary in Destination Subsidiary, a Distribution Percentage, and a Destination Department. Click Add after each. The example uses 40% Operations, 35% Engineering and 25% Customer Success, which total 100%. Destination Account stays blank because Use Source Accounts keeps the bill line's account; fill it in only when you want the journal to move the amount to another account. Click Save.
The saved template lists the three lines on its Custom subtab.
02. Choose the template on the bill
Go to Transactions > Payables > Enter Bills. Choose Harborline Property Partners in Vendor and type HPP-1027 in Reference No. The date is 10/05/2026 and Approval Status is Approved.
In Classification, choose Shared Office Split in Dist. Default Template. Dist. Type fills in as Intracompany and Dist. Rate Type as Distribution Weight (%), and both become read-only.
03. Enter the lines and exclude one
Open the Expenses subtab. The first line is 3,200.00 on 6410 Office Lease for a records storage room that belongs to Administration alone. Set Department to Administration, check Line Dist. Exclude, and click Add. The second line is 8,400.00 on the same account for the third-floor shared office, also in Administration. Click Add.
Both lines show Shared Office Split in Line Dist. Template, copied from the bill's default template. If that column is blank on a line you want distributed, choose the template there yourself, because the script only distributes lines that carry a template or a quick rule. The exclusion wins on the 3,200.00 line, so only the 8,400.00 line will be split.
04. Override the split for one line
This month the shared floor splits 50/35/15 instead of 40/35/25. Changing the template would change every future bill, so use a quick distribution for this line. Click Enter Quick Distribution. In the Quick Distribution Rule window, check the 8,400.00 line under Transaction Lines. Distribution Information repeats the template's settings, and Distribution Lines start from 40.0%, 35.0% and 25.0%.
Change Operations to 50 and click OK, then Save. The lines now add up to 110%, so the window shows an error asking you to check that the weights total 100%, and nothing is saved. Don't rely on that message alone in your own account. Add up the percentages before you save, because a distribution that doesn't total 100% won't be processed.
Change Customer Success to 15 and click OK. The lines read 50.0%, 35.0% and 15.0%. Click Save. The window closes and the rule is stored on the 8,400.00 line only. The template still says 40/35/25.
05. Save the bill
Click Save. HPP-1027 opens with Amount 11,600.00, Dist. Default Template Shared Office Split, Dist. Type Intracompany and Dist. Rate Type Distribution Weight (%). Dist. Related Journal is empty. The bill doesn't post the distribution. The SuiteApp's script does that in a separate run, after the bill is approved.
On the Expenses subtab, the 3,200.00 line shows Line Dist. Exclude Yes. The bill itself still posts both lines to Administration.
06. Run the journal script
The TD_MR_JournalEntryForm Map/Reduce script picks up approved bills and creates the journals. In the example, its scheduled deployment runs every hour, so in normal use you wait for the next run. Whether automatic runs happen in your account depends on how that deployment is set up. To run it now, go to Customization > Scripting > Scripts, choose Map/Reduce in Type, and click View for TD_MR_JournalEntryForm. On the Deployments subtab, open a deployment meant for manual runs. In the example that's TD_MR_Unscheduled_Deployment1, which is Not Scheduled; deployment names can differ in your account.
Click Edit, open the menu next to Save, and choose Save and Execute. The option only appears on a deployment with Deployed checked.
Map/Reduce Script Status opens with the new run at the top, Pending.
Click Refresh until the run shows Complete. If it fails, or finishes without a journal, check the bill's TD Journal Creation Error field, the script's execution log, and any error email from the SuiteApp.
07. Open the generated journal
Go to Transactions > Payables > Enter Bills > List and open HPP-1027. Dist. Related Journal now reads Journal #JE318. Click it.
JE318 has the memo Created by Transaction Line Distribution, and Dist. Related Trans. links back to Bill #HPP-1027.
Check the result (example values)
- JE318 comes from the 8,400.00 line and credits 6410 Office Lease 8,400.00 in Administration.
- It debits the same account 4,200.00 to Operations, 2,940.00 to Engineering and 1,260.00 to Customer Success, which is 50%, 35% and 15% of 8,400.00. The debits add up to the credit.
- The 3,200.00 storage line isn't on the journal, so it stays in Administration.
- The bill's Dist. Related Journal and the journal's Dist. Related Trans. link to each other.
- The Shared Office Split template still reads 40/35/25. Only the bill line carries the 50/35/15 quick rule.
Common questions
How is Transaction Line Distribution different from an allocation schedule?
Transaction Line Distribution works on one transaction line at a time. The bill line carries a template or a quick rule, and the SuiteApp's script creates a journal linked to that bill. An allocation schedule reallocates an account balance on a schedule, whatever transactions made up the balance.
Why is Dist. Related Journal still empty after I save the bill?
The bill doesn't create the journal. The TD_MR_JournalEntryForm Map/Reduce script does, and it only picks up approved bills. Wait for its scheduled deployment, or run a manual deployment with Save and Execute, then check the field again.
Does the vendor bill's own GL impact change?
No. The bill still posts every line to its own account and department, 11,600.00 to Administration in the example. The separate journal then moves the 8,400.00 distributed line out of Administration and into Operations, Engineering and Customer Success.
What does Use Source Department do?
When it's checked, the journal keeps the department from the bill line. When it's cleared, the journal uses the departments on the template lines. In the example it's cleared, so the debits land in Operations, Engineering and Customer Success instead of back in Administration.
Should I exclude a line or give it a quick rule?
Check Line Dist. Exclude when a line shouldn't be distributed at all, like the 3,200.00 storage room that belongs to Administration. Use Enter Quick Distribution when a line should be distributed, but with a different split than the template this time. The quick rule only applies to the lines you select, and the template doesn't change.
Why was my quick distribution rejected?
Distribution Weight (%) lines have to total exactly 100%. Changing Operations from 40 to 50 made the lines total 110%, so the window refused to save. Lowering Customer Success to 15 brought it back to 100%.
Can I change the distribution after the journal exists?
This guide doesn't cover that. Once the journal is created, the bill and journal are linked, so changing the bill's distribution afterward can leave them out of step. Test corrections in a sandbox first and follow your usual adjustment process.
What happens when a percentage doesn't split the amount evenly?
Each share is the line amount times its percentage, rounded to cents. The 8,400.00 line splits exactly into 4,200.00, 2,940.00 and 1,260.00. When a split produces fractions of a cent, open the journal and check that the debits still add up to the credit.