NetSuite 2021.1 Release Highlights

Get ready for NetSuite’s first half-yearly upgrade of 2021! The rollout began in February 2021 and will extend into April. The new release is packed with great new features, updates and bug fixes to improve your NetSuite experience. The tentative release dates for 2021.1 are February 19, March 19, and April 16, with more information on your upgrade date available on the New Release portlet on your NetSuite dashboard. To make the most of this upgrade, the Tvarana team encourages NetSuite users to take advantage of the Release Preview account to test features get familiar all of NetSuite’s capabilities. To opt-in for a Release Preview account:

• Navigate to Setup > Company > Release Preview from your production account
• Click Request Release Preview
• Your account should be available within 3-5 days 

The 79Consulting team can also get your business ready for the transition to 2021.1 and cater to any customization requests. Set up a call with one our team to learn more.

Continue reading for our comprehensive list of new highlights from NetSuite’s 2020.1 upgrade.

Platform Updates

• Changes to Name and Display Name Fields on Account Record
  • NetSuite has always separated the GL Account Number and GL Account Name fields.  This caused issues when building reports and accessing GL lists on user forms.  NetSuite now offers an option for “Display Name” for GL accounts that concatenates the 2 values when the “Use Account Numbers” preference is enabled.  This will ensure consistency for users across the platform
• Enhancements to Bank Import
  • The import process will not stop upon the first failure when importing for multiple accounts.  More detailed error reporting is available to aid the user in resolving the import errors.
  • The import process now shows you the lines that have been imported and provides processing updates by line on the Match Bank Data page.
• Bank Feeds SuiteApp Enhancements
  • For US and Canada banks, the Link Bank Accounts now has the option to rebuild connections, Update MFA, delete and exclude an account.  Previously you could only add a new or exclude an account. 
  • The Configuration for Financial Institutions page is not a popup instead of an embedded window.  
• Retract Weekly Timesheets
  • Previously, once submitted an employee could not retract the timesheet.  Now a user can request a retraction as long as the timesheet status is still pending approval.  The supervisor is notified of the retraction and approval of time is no longer allowed.  The employee will have to resubmit once their changes are completed.
• Expense Report Policies Enhancements
  • Enhancements have been added to allow expense line limits and bypassing the limit warnings when required fields are completed. These settings are configurable for your users.
• Fixed Assets Enhancements
  • The user form for each asset will look a little different.  The content is all there, it is just reorganized.
  • The reporting has been enhanced to align with other report types in NetSuite.  You will see some changes to column headers and failed reports will no longer be listed.
  • The FAM scripts have been updated to use SuiteScript 2.1!  This should improve performance.  The Report clean up manager can now be scheduled or run manually as needed.

Deprecations important for NetSuite Users 

• Deprecation of Reconcile Bank Statement and Reconcile Credit Card Statement Pages
  • This has already been deprecated, but the pages have not been removed.  Even though NetSuite has not published a removal date, they are recommending you convert to a new process as these pages will be removed in the near future.
• Advance Notice: End of Support for Some Browsers
  • As of 2021.2 release, NetSuite will not longer support Internet Explorer 11, Edge and all versions of Safari prior to 13.1.  If you use the browsers, please convert to a supported browser now.
• End of Support for Reset Button on Standard Form Pages
  • Some records and forms had the option of click a RESET button to return the form or record to it’s last saved or original format.  You would need to now use the browser refresh to reload the form or transaction.  
• Deprecation of the NetSuite Inbound Single Sign-on Feature
  • This is fully deprecated of as this release.  You will need to switch to Open ID Connect SSO or SAML SSO.

SuiteCloud Platform – SuiteScript Updates

• Secrets Management
  • SuiteScript 2.x now includes the power to store, access, and manage API secrets. API secrets include hashes, passwords, keys, and other secrets for managing digital authentication credentials. Developers can use API secrets management to store these values.
• SuiteScript 2.1 Debugger
  • The Debugger for SuiteScript 2.1 is now available. Developers can use this debugger to debug SuiteScript 2.1 scripts, and it supports on-demand debugging and debugging of scheduled scripts, Suitelets, and user event scripts.
• Changes to Workbook API
  • The Workbook API (Beta) also provides new functionality for Conditional Formatting, Localization Support and Measured Steps.
• Changes to “CurrentRecord” API method
  • As of 2021.1, a new sub-record is created and returned if a script uses CurrentRecord.getSubrecord(options) to get a sub-record that does not exist. It is no longer possible to use this approach with this change in behavior to verify if a record has a current sub-record. To decide if the field contains a sub record, developers can use the CurrentRecord.hasSubrecord(options) method.
• N/suiteAppInfo Module
  • There is a new module for N/suiteAppInfo available. This module contains methods that allow developers to access information about bundles and SuiteApps that have been built.
• New “Vicarious Email” Option
  • A new “Vicarious Email” permission is available to allow users to submit email messages on behalf of another user. This permission also restricts anonymous users from sending email messages using SuiteScript by shopping in a NetSuite web store or using an online form.
•  Asynchronous Server-Side Support
  • Now, SuiteScript 2.1 completely supports non-blocking promises on the asynchronous server end. It enables developers to upload and deploy SuiteScript 2.1 scripts that include keywords that include async, wait, and promise.
• Copying Files
  • Developers can now use the N/file module to copy files in the File Cabinet. File.copy(options) is a newer approach that allows users to copy an existing file into the file cabinet.
• SuiteQL – New functions
  • For use in SuiteQL queries, new built-in functions are available. These new functions use the BUILTIN RESULT prefix and allow users to specify the SuiteQL expression’s result type.
• Ability to Check Password Fields
  • For both SuiteScript 1.0 and SuiteScript 2.x, a new method for checking a user-entered password is available in this release. Developers will verify whether a password in a record matches the password entered by the user using this new process.
• Deprecation of User Credential Authentication for RESTlets
  • The authentication of user credentials for newly developed RESTlets is no longer supported. Any RESTlets created with user credential authentication after January 1, 2021 will stop functioning after the account is updated to 2021.1.

SuiteTalk Web Services Integration Updates

• REST Record Services
  • All records listed in the REST API Browser are now available as beta records in REST web services if the REST Record Service (Beta) feature is enabled.
• Record Data Retrieval
  • As of 2021.1, developers may use the GET method to retrieve unique body fields of a record. The response only contains the fields specified in the request. Developers can selectively retrieve body fields, but sub-list and sub-record field selective retrieval is not supported.
• Support to formula field names in datasets
  • If developers use formulas in datasets prior to 2021.1, the formula field was returned in the REST response as the field ID instead of the formula expression evaluated. As of 2021.1, the user-defined name of the formula field is returned as the field ID for the formula field when you execute a dataset in REST.
• Paging
  • Support for Paging in Dataset Lists – As of 2021.1, users can use collection paging when listing all datasets.
• Asynchronous Execution
  • In REST web services, developers can now asynchronously execute requests. For long-term requests, asynchronous execution of requests is useful.
•  New Option to support OAUTH2 Authorization
  • Within the OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code Grant flow for integration records, you can now use public clients. There are fewer strict authentication guidelines for public clients than for confidential clients.
• “Available Without Login” – change of default value
  • As of the 2021.1 endpoint, the default value for the Available Without Login field when uploading images and web site hosting files to the File Cabinet is set to false. For endpoints prior to 2021.1, the default value is true.
• Deprecation of Inbound SSO
  • As of the NetSuite 2021.1 release, the ssoLogin and mapSso operations are no longer available. This affects all endpoints, and even though the SOAP schema remains for older endpoints, the methods are not working.
• SOAP Web Services
  • SOAP web services version 2021.1 is now available. When the NetSuite account is upgraded to 2021.1, the new WSDL becomes available in the production NetSuite account.

• New Pack Station Mobile App
  • Identify picked items that have the same shipping route and pack them at the same time
  • Gain visibility into items and orders packed across multiple cartons or pallets, throughout the packing process
  • Print customizable carton labels, pallet labels, bill of lading, and packing lists from a kiosk device
  • Capture weights from a weighing scale through your kiosk device
  • Requires the SCM mobile bundle to be installed, the Pack Station Mobile App is a paid add on, does not require WMS
• Basic Bin Management Enhancement
  • Ability to partially receive and transfer between BINs for LOT items, where mixed LOTs from the same BIN can be partially assigned.
• FEFO Lot Allocations
  • Automated LOT allocation based on “First Expiry First Out” on the sales order line
• Invoice Groups Feature Enhancements
  • Add to Group button appears on the invoice record when an invoice is eligible for grouping
  • Ability to add invoices that are not associated with a Sales Order to a invoice group
• Electronic Bank Payments Enhancements
  • Processing of Vendor Prepayment Transactions
  • Support for Multi-Subsidiary Customers and Vendors
• Default Vendor Payment Account
  • Ability to set the default account at 3 different levels
    • Company Level, Subsidiary Level, Vendor Level
• Print Vendor Bills and Vendor Credits
  • Ability to print multiple Bill and Bill Credits in the “Print Checks and Forms” page
• Create Bill from Item Receipt
  • Ability to create vendor bills directly from an item receipt with advanced receiving turned on. Create bills based on item receipt line items and quantities received
• Centralized Purchasing and Billing
  • Centralized Purchasing and Billing enables you to receive orders and fulfill vendor returns across multiple subsidiaries. This feature provides a flexible item receipt process and lets you avoid unnecessary order transfers between locations.
  • New Line fields are added when the feature is enabled. 
    • Due To/From Subsidiary, Target Location
  • Similarly to billing, the Centralized Purchasing and Billing feature enables the automation of intercompany cross charges between the credit subsidiary and the target subsidiary.

• SuiteAnalytics Updates
  • Warehouse Beta database
  • Calculated measures
  • Conditional formatting

Commerce Platform

• Ability to enable all Commerce products independently – Site Builder will no longer be automatically enabled when the Webstore feature is enabled for an account. It is now possible to enable all Commerce products independently of each other by checking the Website feature plus the relevant product feature.

If your company uses a SuiteCommerce product but not Site Builder, you can now 

uncheck the Site Builder option for your account. This will remove all site builder options and records from the navigation menu.

• Commerce gets its own top-level tab –  The new top-level Commerce tab provides you with easy access to all features related to your Commerce sites that were previously available under Setup -> Site Builder, Setup -> SuiteCommerce Advanced and Lists -> Website. The Commerce tab only contains menus that are related to the products you have enabled and is organized in a way that makes finding features more intuitive.

• Ability to Hide Web Store Prices from Customer Segments – If you use Personalized Catalog Views on SuiteCommerce or SuiteCommerce Advanced 2021.1 or later, item prices in your web store can be hidden for one or more customer segments. The below visibility options are available in the Customer Segments Manager:
  1. Display Fully – members of customer segments with this visibility level are able to see all items and item prices in the item segment and are able to add them to their shopping carts.
  2.  Disable Purchase – members of customer segments with this visibility level are able to see all items and item prices in the item segment, but they cannot add them to their shopping carts.
  3. Disable Purchase and Hide Price – members of customer segments with this visibility level are able to see all items in the item segment, but they cannot see the item prices or add the items to their shopping carts

If your website has items that are not mapped to a customer segment, you can choose the “Hide Fully” visibility option to define whether these items are displayed or not.

• Enhanced Merchandising Zone – the new merchandising zone includes a configurable display, support for multiple languages, and is compatible with SuiteCommerce themes. You can now choose to display products in a grid, a horizontal/vertical slider; include a heading; and choose the number of items to display.
• Exporting and Importing Bulk Translation Content –  export bulk content that requires translation on your web store and import the translated content back into SMT from the Translations tab in Overview Mode. Translatable content includes CMS Pages and CMS Content Types.
• Country Specific Payment Method – restrict a customer’s payment methods by the country specified in their shipping address. This feature can be enabled by using the  “Restrict Payment Methods by Country of Shipping Address” field on the Web Site Setup record.
• Multi-Language Support for Facets – Multi-language support has been extended to facets on the product list page, allowing shoppers to view facets in languages other than English.