The quick answer
Headcount by department goes into a statistical account. Create a units type for people at Lists → Accounting → Units Of Measure → New, then an account at Lists → Accounting → Accounts → New with Type Statistical and that unit type. Load the counts with Transactions → Financial → Make Statistical Journal Entries: one line per department on the statistical account, with no balancing line. Once saved, the account holds a headcount balance per department that a dynamic allocation schedule can use as its weight.
An employee list tells you who works in which department, but it isn't a balance, and an allocation schedule can only take its weights from an account. A statistical account holds a non-monetary number, such as people, square feet or machine hours, by subsidiary and classification, with no monetary GL impact. This walkthrough records September headcount for three departments: 4 in Sales, 3 in Engineering and 1 in Administration. The screenshots use sample data and fictional person and company names.
Before you start
Statistical accounts are a feature you turn on at Setup → Company → Enable Features, on the Accounting subtab under Advanced Features. They count in units of measure, so they depend on Multiple Units of Measure as well. A driver by department needs the Departments feature and the department records themselves; here those are Sales, Engineering and Administration. If you're going to feed the account into an allocation, the schedule also needs Expense Allocation, Dynamic Allocation and Accounting Periods.
You need a role that can create units types and accounts and enter statistical journals, and the posting period for the journal date has to be open. The walkthrough uses an Administrator role in a OneWorld account with a subsidiary called Northfield US.
01 · Find the counts you need
Go to Lists → Employees → Employees. The Department column is where the headcount comes from: Dana Ortiz, Luis Brenner, Maya Chen and Owen Fairley in Sales, Rita Novak, Sam Adeyemi and Theo Lindqvist in Engineering, and one person in Administration.
Those counts stay on the employee records. Nothing in NetSuite turns them into a number an allocation can read until you put them in a statistical account. Check the list against what you actually want to count: inactive employees, people with no department, or a part-time headcount you'd rather weight as FTEs can all make the list differ from the driver you mean.
02 · Check the features
Go to Setup → Company → Enable Features and click the Accounting subtab. Under Advanced Features, Statistical Accounts is checked. Dynamic Allocation, which will later read the statistical balance, is checked too. In this account both boxes show checked but greyed out, so they can't be cleared from this page.
03 · Create a units type
Every statistical account counts in a unit type, so create one for people first. Go to Lists → Accounting → Units Of Measure → New and enter Type Name Staff.
In the units row, enter Name Employee, Plural Name Employees, Abbreviation emp and Plural Abbreviation emp, and check Base Unit. The Conversion Rate becomes 1. A units type has exactly one base unit, and that's what the statistical account will use as its default. Click Add, then Save.
The Units Of Measure list now shows Staff with base unit Employee (Employees).
04 · Create the statistical account
Go to Lists → Accounting → Accounts → New. Enter Number 9910 and Name Employee Count.
In Type, choose Statistical. The currency and rate fields disappear and Unit Type and Default Unit take their place. Choose Unit Type Staff, and Default Unit fills with its base unit, Employee. Subsidiaries shows Northfield US selected; the account's subsidiaries have to include the subsidiary you'll enter the journal for. Choose the unit type carefully, because you normally can't change it once the account is saved.
Click Save. The account record shows 9910 Employee Count, Type Statistical, Unit Type Staff and Default Unit Employee.
05 · Enter a statistical journal
Go to Transactions → Financial → Make Statistical Journal Entries.
Choose Subsidiary Northfield US. Date defaults to today, here 09/30/2026, which is the date these counts apply to. Accounting Period was left blank in this example, and the saved journal landed in Sep 2026. In Memo, enter September headcount so the entry says what it records.
In Unit of Measure Type, choose Staff. Unit of Measure shows Employee, and the Lines subtab total reads 0.00 emp. Leave Absolute Update cleared. These are the first counts on the account, so adding them sets the balance.
On the Lines subtab, add three lines on account 9910 Employee Count: Amount 4 with Department Sales, Amount 3 with Department Engineering, and Amount 1 with Department Administration. There's no balancing line. A statistical journal is single-sided, so the subtab simply totals the lines: 8.00 emp.
Absolute Update decides what these amounts mean. Cleared, each line adds to the account's existing balance for that department. Checked, the amounts replace the existing balances for those account and department combinations, and NetSuite creates the offsetting activity. The balance is cumulative, so pick one way of maintaining it and stick to it: enter changes with the box cleared, or enter full counts with it checked. If you enter 4, 3 and 1 again next month with the box cleared, Sales goes to 8.
06 · Save and check the journal
Click Save. Here the statistical journal saved as JE412. Statistical journals share the numbering sequence with regular journal entries, so yours will get whatever number comes next. It shows Unit of Measure Type Staff and Unit of Measure Employee, in the Sep 2026 period.
The Lines subtab lists 9910 Employee Count three times: 4 for Sales, 3 for Engineering and 1 for Administration, 8.00 emp in all. Those are the same counts the Employees list showed.
9910 Employee Count now holds a headcount balance for each department in Northfield US. A dynamic allocation schedule that uses it as its weight source reads those balances when it generates the allocation journal, as long as the schedule's subsidiary and destination departments match what the account carries. If 9910 holds only these three balances, the weights come out at 4/8, 3/8 and 1/8. When headcount changes, enter another statistical journal, or set up a statistical schedule that creates statistical journals from a saved search.
Common questions
What is a statistical account, and does it hit the general ledger?
It's an account that holds a non-monetary number, such as employees, square feet or machine hours, by subsidiary and classification. It has no monetary GL impact. 9910 Employee Count records people in the Staff unit type and posts no debit or credit amounts.
Why does a statistical account need a unit type?
The unit type says what the account counts. Staff has one base unit, Employee, abbreviated emp, with a conversion rate of 1, so the journal reads 8.00 emp instead of a bare 8. The base unit becomes the account's Default Unit.
Do statistical journals have to balance?
No. Each line names a statistical account, an amount and optional Department, Class and Location, and there's no offsetting line. JE412's three lines total 8.00 emp on their own.
What does Absolute Update do on a statistical journal?
Cleared, the amounts add to the balance already on the account for each department. Checked, they replace that balance, and NetSuite creates the offsetting activity. JE412 left it cleared because the account started empty, so adding 4, 3 and 1 set the balance.
Which features do I need for statistical accounts?
Statistical Accounts, on the Accounting subtab of Enable Features, plus Multiple Units of Measure, which it depends on. Tracking by department needs the Departments feature. Using the account to weight an allocation also needs Dynamic Allocation, Expense Allocation and Accounting Periods.
How do I update the headcount next month?
Enter another statistical journal. If you have the full counts, check Absolute Update and enter them as they are. If you only want to record changes, leave it cleared and enter the difference. Manual amounts can't be negative, so a department that shrinks is easier to handle with a full count and Absolute Update. Pick one method and stay with it, or the balance drifts.
How do I allocate expenses by number of employees?
Use 9910 Employee Count as the weight source on a dynamic allocation schedule. With 4, 3 and 1 as the only balances, the schedule splits the cost 4/8, 3/8 and 1/8, or 50, 37.5 and 12.5 percent, and it reads the balances when it generates the journal. This walkthrough stops at the statistical balance and doesn't build the schedule.