How to Build a Detailed Trial Balance in NetSuite for Controllers

Introduction

The standard NetSuite trial balance displays the GL account. But, solid financial data often also relies on the department, class, and location segments. This article walks through how to build a detailed trial balance in NetSuite that controllers can rely on for review, audits, and management reporting.

With this report, you can view GL details by department, class, and location without jumping between reports.

Why this report matters for controllers

A detailed trial balance becomes a core control when:

• You are validating monthly close balances before sign-off

• Auditors ask for support by GL account and segment

• Management wants clarity on where the activity is happening

• You need confidence that departments, classes, and locations are posting correctly

Instead of pulling multiple saved searches or exports, this report consolidates everything into one view.

Step-by-step: Building the detailed trial balance report in NetSuite

1. Log in to NetSuite

2. Navigate to Reports > Financial > Trial Balance

3. Click Customize

4. Set the Report Name to
   [Company Name] Detailed Trial Balance

Add the following columns

From Account by Type:

• Account Type > Long Name
  I like to rename the column label to Account Type

• Internal ID

From Trial Balance:

• Department > Name
  Rename the column label to Department

• Class > Name
  Rename the column label to Class

• Location > Name

Be deliberate with column labels and ordering. Clean, consistent naming makes this report reliable for audits, reviews, and downstream analysis.

5. Click Save

How Controller Cathy actually uses this report

Once in place, this report becomes part of your regular workflow:

• Monthly close review before final approval

• Audit support without scrambling for custom reports

• Management reporting that ties back cleanly to the GL

• Spotting mis-postings across departments, classes, or locations early

The goal is not more data. The goal is confidence in the numbers before they leave the accounting team.

If you want help standardizing NetSuite reports or tightening up your close and audit workflows, feel free to reach out.