NetLease - Custom calendars

Overview

Clients who use alternate accounting periods instead of calendar months (for example, a 4-4-5 or 13-period fiscal calendar) can set up those periods in NetLease as a custom calendar. This article covers how to create a custom calendar and how to apply it to lease types and leases.

Prerequisites

Custom calendars must be enabled. Navigate to NetLease > NetLease Setup > System Setup, and on the System Settings subtab, check the Custom Calendars box.

Create a custom calendar

Navigate to NetLease > NetLease Setup > Manage Custom Calendars.
Click New NetLease Custom Calendar.
Enter a name for the calendar.
Select a Calendar Format that matches the calendar's structure: Calendar Months, 4 Weeks (13 Periods), 4-4-5 Weeks, 5-5-4 Weeks, 4-5-4 Weeks, or Other.
Add the calendar's periods, each with a period name, start date, and end date. Enter them manually in the periods list, or click Sync To Accounting Periods to copy them from NetSuite (see Sync periods from NetSuite accounting periods below). To load periods by CSV instead, see Import periods by CSV below.
Click Save. A custom calendar must have at least one period before it can be saved.

Calendar format affects payment timing

Leases that use a custom calendar with any format other than Calendar Months (including a blank format) are set to Precision payment timing. Selecting a custom calendar as the Default Custom Calendar on a lease type sets that lease type's payment timing to Precision, whatever the calendar's format.

Sync periods from NetSuite accounting periods

If your NetSuite accounting periods are set up the way you want your custom calendar, sync them instead of entering them manually.

Open a new custom calendar, or an existing one in edit mode.
If your account uses multiple fiscal calendars (the NetSuite Multiple Calendars feature), select the fiscal calendar to copy in the Reference Calendar field. The default fiscal calendar is marked "(Default)" in the list. This field only appears in accounts with the NetSuite Multiple Calendars feature enabled.
Click Sync To Accounting Periods. All periods currently on the custom calendar are replaced with your NetSuite accounting periods, limited to the Reference Calendar's periods when one is selected. Adjustment periods, quarters, years, and inactive periods are not included.
Click Save. The Reference Calendar selection is saved with the custom calendar.

Leases that use the calendar pick up the new periods the next time their schedule is generated or the lease is modified.

Import periods by CSV

The custom calendar must already exist before you import its periods, so create it with at least one period first.

Create a CSV file with the custom calendar name, accounting period name, start date, and end date for each period.
Navigate to Setup > Import/Export > Import CSV Records.
Set Import Type to Custom Records and Record Type to NetLease Custom Calendar Period.
Click Select, choose your CSV file, and click Next.
On the Import Options page, leave Data Handling set to Add and click Next.
Map the columns in your CSV to the NetSuite fields as shown below, and click Next. The custom calendar name in each row must exactly match the name of an existing custom calendar.
Click Run to start the import.

Apply a custom calendar to leases

With custom calendars enabled, a Default Custom Calendar field appears on the NetLease Type record:

A Custom Calendar field also appears on the Accounting subtab of the NetLease Lease record:

To apply a custom calendar to all leases of a type, select it in the Default Custom Calendar field on the lease type record. This can be overridden on individual leases.
To apply a custom calendar only to specific leases, leave Default Custom Calendar blank on the lease type record and select the calendar in the Custom Calendar field on each lease.

Select the calendar before generating the schedule

Select the custom calendar on the lease before you generate the lease schedule so the schedule uses the calendar's periods.

Best practices

Do not use custom calendars to create adjustment periods. Adjustment periods are not true periods - they typically span little or no time - and including one in a custom calendar can distort the amortization schedule.
Leave Usage blank unless the leased asset's benefit is consumed unevenly over the lease, for example equipment used mainly in one season. If any period on a calendar has a Usage value, every lease that uses the calendar spreads its amounts by each period's share of total Usage instead of evenly. That applies to lease expense for operating leases and to ROU asset amortization for other lease types. Clicking Sync To Accounting Periods clears Usage values, so enter them after syncing.