The quick answer
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Transfer and click Import CSV. On Bulk Asset Transfer, choose a CSV file with a header row and one row per asset, then enter a Transfer Date and click Submit. For a department move the file needs two columns: Asset, which holds each asset's internal ID rather than its FAM number, and Department. FAM queues one CSV Asset Transfer process on FAM Process Status. When it completes, each asset in the file shows the new department with its cost and net book value unchanged. In this example each asset also got its own transfer journal and its own four history rows, and each lost its forecast depreciation rows until Precompute Depreciation Values on Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup rebuilt them.
The screenshots show sample data. The company, user, asset, department and file names are fictional. Use your own assets and departments when following the steps.
Before you start
Larkspur Printing Co. is moving its bindery equipment from the Press Room to Finishing. Two assets go: FAM000061 Folding Machine - Line 1 (cost 24,000.00, straight line over 48 months, 500.00 a month) and FAM000062 Saddle Stitcher - Line 1 (19,200.00 over 48 months, 400.00 a month). Both started depreciating on 03/01/2026 and are posted through August, so their Last Depreciation Date is 08/31/2026. Cumulative Depreciation is 3,000.00 on the folder and 2,400.00 on the stitcher. A third asset in the same department, FAM000063 Paper Cutter - Bay 3, stays where it is and is not in the file.
You need Fixed Assets Management installed and a role that can run Asset Transfer, upload files and view FAM Process Status. The target department has to exist already, be valid for the assets' subsidiary and be available to your role, and the transfer date has to fall in a period you can post to. The example is deliberately small: one subsidiary, one accounting book and department-only transfers, with no alternate depreciation methods or compound assets. That's the scope of the example, not a product limit, and compound assets, extra books and tax methods change the stages and history you'll see. A subsidiary transfer always posts a journal and needs valid Asset Transfer Accounts, and an asset type change can alter accounts and useful life, so give those their own file and check each result. The Bulk Asset Transfer page tells you not to upload a file that carries both an Asset Type and a Subsidiary transfer.
A transfer journal is recorded only if Post on Department Change is enabled on the Fixed Assets System Setup page (General subtab, Asset Management, Transfer section). There are matching settings for class and location. It's enabled in this example. If your account uses custom FAM journals or journal approval, the journals may wait for approval before they post, and until then the Posting Reference may stay empty.
Don't edit Department on each asset record instead. That changes the field but leaves the cost and accumulated depreciation posted under the old department where they were, and creates no transfer journal.
01. Check the assets before the transfer
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets. The list shows five assets, all Depreciating. FAM000061, FAM000062 and FAM000063 are the ones this example looks at.
Click View on FAM000061. The header shows Asset Original Cost 24,000.00, Cumulative Depreciation 3,000.00 and Current Net Book Value 21,000.00.
On the General subtab, Department is Press Room, Class is Production and Location is Columbus. Last Depreciation Date is 08/31/2026, which matters for the transfer date later.
Click the Depreciation History subtab, then Depreciation Histories on the Accounting Method row. The 08/31/2026 row carries a journal number and Net Book Value 21,000.00. The 09/30/2026 row above it, 500.00 with Net Book Value 20,500.00, has no Posting Reference. That's the next monthly forecast row.
Check FAM000062 the same way. It's also in Press Room and also depreciated through 08/31/2026, with Cumulative Depreciation 2,400.00 and Current Net Book Value 16,800.00.
02. Prepare the CSV file
The Bulk Asset Transfer page links a sample file. Its columns are Asset, Asset Type, Subsidiary, Class, Department and Location, with notes under the header to delete the instruction rows before importing and to remove the Asset Type or Subsidiary column. For a department move you only need two columns, so keep Asset and Department and delete every column you aren't changing. A column you leave in with an empty cell clears that field, while a column you leave out stays as it is. The file can't carry custom columns or custom fields.
In Asset, enter each asset's internal ID: 218 for FAM000061 and 219 for FAM000062. The internal ID is the number after id= in the address of the asset record, not the FAM number. In Department, enter Finishing, spelled exactly like the department's name. Save the file as a real CSV, not a workbook renamed to .csv. UTF-8 is a safe encoding. This one is called finishing-transfer.csv and has three lines: a header and one row per asset.
03. Upload the file on Bulk Asset Transfer
Go to Fixed Assets > Transactions > Asset Transfer and click Import CSV. Bulk Asset Transfer opens with a required Select File, a required Transfer Date, and three lines of guidance: the file can update Subsidiary, Department, Class, Location and Asset Type, a journal is recorded only if the matching Post on Change preference is enabled, and a file mustn't carry both an Asset Type and a Subsidiary transfer.
Under Select File, choose finishing-transfer.csv. In Transfer Date, enter 09/01/2026, the first day after the assets' Last Depreciation Date of 08/31/2026. The transfer date is the effective date of the new department. If an asset isn't depreciated through the period before the transfer date, the process may calculate catch-up depreciation for the missing periods, so check Last Depreciation Date on every asset in the file or run depreciation first. A future-dated transfer also needs future-dated depreciation allowed in FAM setup.
Click Submit. NetSuite opens FAM Process Status with one CSV Asset Transfer process at the top, status Queued.
04. Follow the CSV Asset Transfer process
Click Refresh. The status changes to In Progress and Process Stage shows 3/12: Generate Depreciation Schedule Values. Keep clicking Refresh until the status is Completed.
Click Details and read every stage and the Errors column, not only the final status. In this run, 1/12 Map CSV Data to Asset Records reports Lines processed: 2, 2/12 Validate Asset Transfer Values reports Assets validated successfully: 2, 3/12 Generate Depreciation Schedule Values reports Assets/Tax methods processed: 2, 4/12 Create Journal Entries reports Transactions created: 2, 8/12 Transfer Assets reports Assets transferred: 2 and 12/12 Delete Old Forecast Values reports the forecast rows deleted. 5/12 Prepare Data to Update Records is Completed with no message and the rest are Not Required, which means they had nothing to do. Stage names, counts and messages vary with FAM version and setup.
Failure handling depends on the stage, so don't treat the process as all-or-nothing. A validation problem should stop the affected asset, but a failure in a later stage can leave catch-up depreciation already posted. How a row with an unknown Asset value is handled isn't covered here, so try a first batch with one asset, then a small file. If a stage shows errors, work out which assets, journals and history rows were created before you upload the file again.
05. Confirm the new department on both assets
Go to Fixed Assets > Lists > Assets and click View on FAM000061. Asset Original Cost is still 24,000.00, Cumulative Depreciation 3,000.00 and Current Net Book Value 21,000.00. On the General subtab, Department is now Finishing. Class, Location and Last Depreciation Date haven't changed.
Check FAM000062 too: cost 19,200.00, Cumulative Depreciation 2,400.00, Current Net Book Value 16,800.00 and Department Finishing.
06. Check each asset's history and journal
On FAM000061, click the Depreciation History subtab, then Depreciation Histories. The top four rows are dated 09/01/2026 and all show Journal #JE512: Acquisition 24,000.00, Depreciation 3,000.00, Depreciation -3,000.00 and Transfer 24,000.00. The Transfer row and the -3,000.00 row take the cost and accumulated depreciation out of Press Room, and the other two bring them back in under Finishing. That four-row pattern is what this example produced. It can differ with catch-up depreciation, alternate methods, extra books or compound assets. Below them are the posted months and the acquisition. The forecast rows from 09/30/2026 onward are gone.
Click Journal #JE512. Date is 09/01/2026 and Posting Period is Sep 2026. The Lines subtab shows 27,000.00, the total of the debits and also of the credits. The two Asset Transfer Out (FAM) lines under Press Room credit 1620 Fixed Assets : Print Equipment 24,000.00 and debit 1625 Accumulated Depreciation 3,000.00. The two Asset Transfer In (FAM) lines under Finishing debit 1620 24,000.00 and credit 1625 3,000.00. Class and Location are the same on all four lines, each account nets to zero and no expense account is touched.
In this example each asset in the file got its own journal. Open FAM000062's Depreciation Histories: its four 09/01/2026 rows point at Journal #JE513, not JE512, and its forecast rows are gone too.
Finally, open FAM000063 Paper Cutter - Bay 3, which wasn't in the file. Its Department is still Press Room, and its Depreciation Histories still list the forecast, month by month to 02/28/2029. Only the assets in the file lost theirs.
Check the result
- CSV Asset Transfer is Completed on FAM Process Status, with Lines processed: 2, Assets transferred: 2 and no errors.
- FAM000061 and FAM000062 both show Department Finishing, with cost, cumulative depreciation and net book value unchanged.
- Each has four 09/01/2026 history rows on its own journal, JE512 and JE513.
- FAM000063, which wasn't in the file, is unchanged and still has its forecast.
07. Regenerate the depreciation schedules
The transfer deleted the forecast rows of both assets. The scheduled Generate Depreciation Schedule process may fill missing schedules when it next runs, but you don't have to wait. Go to Fixed Assets > Setup > System Setup and click Precompute Depreciation Values. NetSuite opens FAM Process Status with a Generate Depreciation Schedule process, here 6119. Click Refresh until it's Completed. Precompute only builds forecast rows. Your next depreciation run posts the journals.
Open FAM000062's Depreciation Histories. The forecast is back: the 09/30/2026 row is Depreciation 400.00 with Net Book Value 16,400.00 and no Posting Reference, running to 0.00 on 02/28/2030. Then open FAM000061's. Its 09/30/2026 row is Depreciation 500.00 with Net Book Value 20,500.00, running to 0.00 on 02/28/2030. For plain straight-line assets like these, the remaining 21,000.00 depreciates at the same 500.00 a month over the remaining 42 months, now under Finishing.
Common questions
Does the Asset column in the bulk transfer CSV take the FAM number?
No. It takes the asset record's internal ID, such as 218, not FAM000061. Use the exact column names from the sample file, and don't rename Asset to anything else.
Does the file need one row per asset?
Yes. Put a header row first, then one row for each asset you're moving. For a department-only transfer, Asset and Department are the only two columns you need.
What happens to columns I leave out, or leave blank?
A column that's left out of the file leaves the asset's value alone. A column that's in the file with an empty cell clears that field when the transfer completes. Delete the columns you aren't changing instead of blanking them.
What should I enter as the Transfer Date?
The date the new department should take effect. Use the first day after each asset's Last Depreciation Date. If an asset is depreciated only through an earlier period, the process may calculate catch-up depreciation for the missing periods before it transfers the asset. Here 09/01/2026 followed a Last Depreciation Date of 08/31/2026, so none was needed.
Where do I watch the transfer?
Submit queues one CSV Asset Transfer process on FAM Process Status. Click Details on its row to read each stage: Lines processed, Assets validated successfully, Transactions created, Assets transferred and DHRs deleted, plus the Errors column.
Does a bulk transfer create one journal or one per asset?
In this example each asset got its own journal, JE512 and JE513, with its own four depreciation history rows. Treat that as an observed result, not a guarantee. Catch-up depreciation, alternate methods, extra accounting books or journal approvals can change the journals and rows in your account.
Why did the depreciation forecast disappear after the transfer?
The transfer deletes the unposted forecast rows of every asset it moves, because they were worked out for the old classification. Posted months stay. Assets that weren't in the file keep their forecast. Precompute Depreciation Values rebuilds the missing rows without posting anything.
How do I know every row in the file worked?
Open the process Details and read each stage and the Errors column. Then check each asset: its department, its history rows and its journal. A Completed status alone doesn't tell you every asset moved, and failure handling depends on the stage, so find out what was already created before you rerun a file after an error.
Can I change the asset type and the subsidiary in the same file?
No. The Bulk Asset Transfer page tells you not to upload a file with both an Asset Type and a Subsidiary transfer, and an asset type change is safest on its own. A subsidiary transfer always posts a journal and needs valid Asset Transfer Accounts, and an asset type change can alter accounts and useful life. Do each in its own file, and check each result.