Summary
Special Orders in NetSuite are used when you want to purchase an item specifically to fulfill a customer sales order, rather than pulling it from stock. This is useful for custom products, low-turnover items, or made-to-order goods.
🔍 What is a Special Order?
A Special Order is a procurement workflow in NetSuite where a purchase order is automatically created in response to a sales order. The purchased items are not stocked into inventory but are linked to the sales order for direct fulfillment.
🎯 Key Use Cases
- Made-to-order products
- Custom or one-time items
- Drop shipments to customers
- Low-stock or non-stock items
⚙️ How It Works in NetSuite
1. Item Setup
- Go to the item record.
- Under the Purchasing/Inventory tab, ensure “Special Order Item” is checked.
- Define preferred vendors if necessary.
2. Sales Order Creation
- When a sales order is created using a Special Order item, NetSuite marks it for special procurement.
- In the sales order line, “Create PO” is set to Special Order.
3. Purchase Order Generation
- Once the sales order is approved (and optionally billed), NetSuite automatically generates a linked purchase order.
- The PO is tied directly to the sales order and references the customer details.
4. Receiving & Fulfillment
- The item is received normally in NetSuite.
- Once received, the item is available only for fulfilling the linked sales order (it doesn’t go into general inventory).
- You fulfill the sales order using the received item.
âś… Prerequisites and Settings
🧠Tips & Best Practices
- Do not use for regular inventory items – reserve special orders for non-stock or customer-specific products.
- Monitor PO/SO linkage carefully to avoid fulfillment issues.
- Use Saved Searches or Reports to track pending special orders.
- Combine with Drop Shipment if the item ships directly from vendor to customer.
