Discounts & Allowances

The Orderful for NetSuite connector supports EDI discount and allowance/charge processing through SAC (Service/Promotion/Allowance/Charge) loops on inbound 850 Purchase Orders. Discounts from the EDI message are mapped to NetSuite Discount Items on Sales Orders using the Authorized Discount configuration.

This page covers how SAC data flows from EDI into NetSuite, how to configure discount handling, and how discounts appear on outbound transactions (810 Invoice, 856 ASN).

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How It Works

When an 850 Purchase Order contains SAC loops (at the header level, line level, or both), the connector:

1. Extracts discount data from the SAC segments (dollar amount, percentage, and SAC code)
2. Looks up the SAC code against the customer's Authorized Discount records
3. Maps matched discounts to NetSuite Discount Items on the Sales Order
4. Stores a reference to the Authorized Discount record on the Sales Order for use in outbound transactions

Discounts that don't match any Authorized Discount record are silently skipped — no error is thrown, and the discount is not applied to the Sales Order. Ensure all expected SAC codes are configured before processing orders.

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Authorized Discount Configuration

Authorized Discounts are configured per customer (or globally) in NetSuite. They map an EDI SAC code to a NetSuite Discount Item.

Creating an Authorized Discount

1. Navigate to Lists > Relationships > Customers and open the customer record
2. Go to the EDI tab
3. In the Orderful Authorized Discounts table, add a new row:

Global Discounts: To create a discount mapping that applies to all customers, leave the Customer field blank. Customer-specific mappings take priority over global mappings.

Discount Item Setup

The Discount Item selected in the Authorized Discount record must be configured in NetSuite under Lists > Accounting > Discount Items. Key settings on the Discount Item:

• Rate: If "Accept EDI Amount" is unchecked on the Authorized Discount, the Discount Item's configured rate is used. This can be a fixed dollar amount or a percentage.
• Apply Before Sales Tax: Controls whether the discount reduces the taxable amount.
• Account: The GL account to post the discount against.

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SAC Data: What the EDI Provides

Each SAC segment in an 850 Purchase Order can include:

SAC loops can appear at two levels:

• Header-level SAC (transactionSets[0].SAC_loop): Applies to the entire order
• Line-level SAC (PO1_loop[].SAC_loop): Applies to a specific line item

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How Discounts Map to Sales Orders

The connector handles discounts differently depending on the number and level of discounts on the order.

Single Header-Level Discount

When there is exactly one transaction-level discount, the connector uses NetSuite's native header discount fields:

• discountitem — set to the Authorized Discount's Discount Item
• discountrate — set to the dollar amount or percentage from the EDI

This applies the discount to the entire order total automatically.

Multiple Header-Level Discounts

When there are two or more transaction-level discounts, the connector:

1. Adds all product line items to the Sales Order
2. Inserts a Subtotal line item (to establish the order total as the discount base)
3. Adds each discount as a separate Discount line item after the Subtotal

Each discount line item applies to the running subtotal, so discounts cascade correctly. The Subtotal item is resolved automatically — the connector searches for an existing Subtotal item in your account, or creates one if needed. You can also configure a specific Subtotal item in the script's Company Preferences.

Line-Level Discounts

When a SAC loop appears on a specific PO1 line, the connector adds a Discount line item immediately after the corresponding product line. NetSuite applies line-level discounts to the preceding line's total.

Mixed Header and Line-Level Discounts

An order can have both line-level and header-level discounts. Line-level discounts are inserted after their respective product lines, and header-level discounts are appended after a Subtotal line at the end.

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Dollar Amounts vs. Percentages

EDI SAC segments can provide a dollar amount, a percentage, or both. The connector handles each scenario:

Note: When "Accept EDI Amount" is unchecked on the Authorized Discount record, the connector does not set a rate — it lets the Discount Item's natively configured rate in NetSuite take effect.

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Discounts on Outbound Transactions

810 Invoice

When generating an outbound 810 Invoice, the connector reads discount lines from the NetSuite Invoice and maps them back to SAC loops in the EDI message. The Authorized Discount record is used to resolve the SAC code:

1. If the Invoice line has an Orderful EDI Discount column reference, the connector looks up that Authorized Discount record to get the SAC code
2. If no direct reference exists, the connector falls back to looking up the Discount Item against customer-specific or global Authorized Discount records

856 ASN

Discount information from the originating Sales Order can carry through to the 856 ASN SAC loops using the same lookup mechanism.

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Troubleshooting

Discount is not applied to the Sales Order

• Verify an Authorized Discount record exists for the customer with the correct SAC code
• Check the Orderful Transaction's raw EDI payload to confirm the SAC loop is present
• SAC codes are case-sensitive — ensure the code matches exactly

Discount amount is $0.00

• If "Accept EDI Amount" is checked, verify the EDI message includes a non-zero amount or percentDecimalFormat in the SAC segment
• If the EDI only provides a percentage and no dollar amount, ensure you are on connector version 1.20.77 or later (earlier versions did not support percentage-only SAC discounts)

Discount shows wrong amount

• If "Accept EDI Amount" is unchecked, the Discount Item's configured rate is used regardless of what the EDI sends
• If both a dollar amount and percentage are provided in the EDI, the dollar amount takes precedence
• For header-level discounts, verify a Subtotal line is present to ensure discounts apply to the full order total

Multiple discounts only affecting the last line item

• This occurs when no Subtotal line is present before header-level discounts. Upgrade to connector version 1.20.77 or later, which automatically inserts a Subtotal line for multi-discount orders.

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Version History