The quick answer
A fixed allocation schedule carries its own destination weights, such as 40, 35 and 25. A dynamic schedule takes its weights from a statistical account, so a change in headcount or square footage changes the split without anyone editing the schedule. Saving either schedule posts nothing. Open Create Allocation Schedules (or the Allocation Schedules Due reminder), open the schedule, and click Create Journal Entry. NetSuite generates the journal for the schedule's Next Date, and the schedule's History subtab links to it.
Shared costs such as rent land on one account with no department behind them. An allocation schedule records where that balance should go and in what proportion, so the split runs the same way every month instead of being rebuilt from memory. The screenshots use sample data and a fictional operating company.
Before you start
A fixed allocation needs the Expense Allocation and Accounting Periods features. A dynamic allocation also needs Statistical Accounts and Dynamic Allocation, and Statistical Accounts in turn requires Multiple Units of Measure. Intercompany allocation adds OneWorld.
Your role needs Edit or Full access to Create Allocation Schedules, plus access to the source and destination accounts, the classifications on the schedule, and the subsidiary. Journal entry and approval permissions are separate; you need them to edit or approve what the run generates. The posting period for the schedule's Next Date has to be open, and if Multi-Book Accounting is on, the schedule's accounting book needs an open period too.
01 · Read a fixed allocation schedule
Start with the balance you're about to move. Run the Income Statement with Column set to Department for the period: Facilities Rent shows 12,000.00 under No Department and nothing in Administration, Engineering or Operations. That 12,000.00 is what the schedule will split.
Then go to Transactions → Financial → Create Allocation Schedules → List and open the schedule that splits Facilities Rent by department.
The Source subtab names the account and classifications NetSuite draws the balance from. Here the source line is Facilities Rent with Department set to Unassigned, so only the undepartmented rent is eligible. The Credit Account fields above the table are blank, which means the run moves the balance out of the source account rather than posting an offsetting credit somewhere else.
Check the recurrence fields too. Frequency, Next Date and Number Remaining decide when the schedule comes due again and whether Next Date advances after a run; a schedule with a Number Remaining stops when it reaches zero.
The Destination subtab is where the proportions live. Administration, Engineering and Operations carry weights of 40, 35 and 25, and Values are percentages is checked, so those numbers are percentages directly and they total 100. Without that box, NetSuite normalises the weights: each department gets its weight divided by the total, so 40, 35 and 25 still land on 40, 35 and 25 percent, and 40, 30 and 10 would become 50, 37.5 and 12.5.
A fixed schedule fixes the proportions, not the amount. Whatever balance is eligible at the next run, on the same source filters, gets the same 40/35/25.
02 · Compare a dynamic schedule
Open the second schedule, Facilities Rent by Headcount. Its Allocation Mode is Dynamic Allocation, and a Dynamic Allocation section appears with the Weight Source, the statistical account that supplies the weights, along with its Unit Type, Unit of Measure and Date Basis.
On its Destination subtab the department lines show a Weight and a Balance. The Balance is the statistical account's balance for that department and the chosen Date Basis: Administration 8.00, Engineering 2.00. With those two as the only matching destinations, the run weights the split 80 and 20 percent, calculated when the journal is generated rather than when the schedule was saved. In edit mode, Update Sample Weights refreshes the sample values shown on the schedule; the run still uses the balances at generation time.
Statistical balances are maintained with statistical journal entries, statistical schedules, or an absolute-balance update. The statistical account needs the segments the schedule allocates by, with balances recorded for the subsidiary and the destination combinations the schedule uses. A headcount account with balances by department can weight an allocation across departments; it can't weight one across locations it carries no balances for.
An intercompany schedule extends the same idea across subsidiaries. It needs OneWorld, a source subsidiary, destination subsidiaries with access to the accounts involved, and the intercompany clearing-account setup. Cross-subsidiary runs generate intercompany journals, so the single-subsidiary journal in step 04 isn't what you'd see.
03 · Run a due schedule
On the Home dashboard, the Reminders portlet shows Allocation Schedules Due with a count. If it isn't there, add the Reminders portlet and enable that reminder in the portlet's setup; what a role sees depends on its dashboard. Click it to open the list of schedules whose Next Date has arrived, then open the fixed Facilities Rent schedule.
Click Create Journal Entry. There's no separate period prompt in this workflow; the journal takes the schedule's Next Date, so that period has to be open. NetSuite generates the journal and opens it in view mode. Whether it's posted at that point depends on your journal approval settings.
04 · Verify the journal and the History row
Read the journal's lines before trusting the run. The 12,000.00 of undepartmented rent becomes debits of 4,800.00 to Administration, 4,200.00 to Engineering and 3,000.00 to Operations, all on Facilities Rent, with a single 12,000.00 credit to Facilities Rent carrying no department. That shape holds because the destinations use the same account as the source and no Credit Account is set; a Credit Account or different destination accounts change where the credit lands.
Check the Approval Status as well. Generated is not the same as posted. With approvals off, the journal may still need Edit and Save to post; with approvals on, an approver needs to approve it, and a workflow can change the buttons you see.
Then go back to the schedule and open History. Each run gets a row with its ID, posting period, entry date and a link to the journal (and the accounting book, in Multi-Book accounts), so the schedule and its output stay connected.
Finally, run the Income Statement by Department again. Facilities Rent now reads 4,800.00, 4,200.00 and 3,000.00 across the three departments, 12,000.00 in total, with 0.00 left under No Department. The total didn't change; where it sits did.
If a run finishes with no journal, look at why before running it again. The usual causes: no eligible source balance for the account, classifications and subsidiary on the Source subtab; no destination line matched; or, for a dynamic schedule, no statistical balance for the destination classifications under the chosen Date Basis and Next Date. Also check that the schedule isn't inactive or out of remaining runs.
Common questions
What's the difference between a fixed and a dynamic allocation schedule?
A fixed allocation uses the weights typed on the schedule, such as 40, 35 and 25 percent, every time it runs. A dynamic allocation works the weights out at run time from a statistical account, such as Headcount, using the schedule's Date Basis. The balances it will use show in the Destination subtab's Balance column.
Does saving an allocation schedule post anything?
No. Saving records the schedule and its rules. The journal only exists once you open the schedule and click Create Journal Entry, or the schedule is run from the Allocation Schedules Due reminder, and it may still need approval after that.
Why is the allocated amount different from the weight I typed?
The weight is a share of the eligible source balance, not an amount. With 12,000.00 in the source and percentages of 40, 35 and 25, the journal debits 4,800.00, 4,200.00 and 3,000.00. A dynamic schedule can land on different amounts from one run to the next because its weights come from the statistical balance at the time it runs.
Can the destination percentages total less than 100?
Yes. NetSuite allocates only that share of the eligible source balance and the rest stays in the source account, where a later run can pick it up. With Values are percentages checked the numbers are literal percentages; without it they're relative weights that NetSuite normalises to 100.
What does a blank Credit Account mean?
It means there's no separate account taking the offsetting credit. The run debits the destinations and credits the source account itself, which is why the example journal debits the three departments and credits Facilities Rent for the full 12,000.00 with no department.
Why did my schedule run without creating a journal?
The source filters found no eligible balance, no destination line matched, or, on a dynamic schedule, the statistical account had no balance for the destination classifications under the chosen Date Basis. Check the Source subtab and the History subtab before running it again.
How do the statistical balances behind a dynamic schedule get updated?
Through statistical journal entries, a statistical schedule, or an absolute-balance update on the statistical account, not through the allocation journal. Record the new headcount there and the next generated allocation uses it.