A Summary Account** in NetSuite is a non-posting account used to group related posting accounts for reporting and organizational purposes. These accounts don’t hold transactional data themselves but serve as a parent to child (posting) accounts. To create a summary account, navigate to Lists > Accounting > Accounts > New, and choose the appropriate account type. Make sure to check the “Summary Account” box and do not assign it to any transaction. Then, link relevant posting accounts as sub-accounts under this summary account to establish a hierarchy.
The main feature of summary accounts is enhanced **financial reporting. They allow you to view totals for a group of accounts in reports like the Balance Sheet or Income Statement without cluttering the view with too much detail. They also support better chart of accounts organization and improve analysis by enabling drill-down from a high-level view to individual accounts. Since they are non-posting, they help maintain accounting integrity while offering flexibility in structuring financial data.