NetLease - Modification audit trail
Overview
Whenever a modification is processed in NetLease, the system captures key before-and-after information and preserves a pre-modification snapshot of the full amortization schedule. This documentation supports audit readiness, reconciliation, and review of lease accounting changes over time.
The audit trail is composed of the following elements:
- The Lease Modification record, which appears as a sublist entry on the lease record and contains before-and-after field values.
- A pre-modification schedule Excel file, which is automatically generated and attached to the modification record upon processing.
The Modification Record Sublist
After a modification is processed, the corresponding Lease Modification record is accessible as a sublist entry on the lease record under the Modifications sublist. Navigate to the lease record and locate the Modifications sublist to view all modifications associated with the lease.
Click Edit or the ID number to drill into the modification record. The modification record contains both the values that existed on the lease before the modification was applied and the new values that were applied as a result of the modification. These before-and-after values are captured for key lease fields including, but not limited to:
- Lease end date
- Incremental borrowing rate
- Lease term and remaining term
- Useful life
- Lease classification
- Exchange rate
- Liability and asset balances at the time of modification
- Payment uplift settings
- Initial direct costs, lease incentives, and prepaid payments
- Commencement and initial payment dates
The modification record also links to the journal entry or entries created as part of modification processing, and records the effective date and effective accounting period of the modification.
Payment Information Limitation
The payment sublist displayed on the modification record shows the adjusted lease payment schedule as entered at the time the modification was submitted. However, this sublist does not visually distinguish between the old payment information and the new payment information in a side-by-side format. While the underlying payment records (customrecord_laa_lease_payment) do store both the previous and updated payment values for changed payment lines, the modification form's payment sublist presents the current state of the payment schedule and does not provide a labeled before-and-after comparison column. Users requiring a detailed before-and-after view of payment changes should review the pre-modification schedule Excel file attached to the modification record.
Pre-Modification Schedule Excel File
When a modification is processed, NetLease automatically generates an Excel file containing the full amortization schedule as it existed immediately before any modification calculations were applied. This file is attached to the modification record and is accessible via the Documents subtab on the modification record.
Click the link to download the file to your local desktop. Open the file once downloaded to view. The Excel file contains a single worksheet labeled Schedule, and its structure mirrors the data visible on the lease record's Schedule tab, using the same saved search and column layout as the Export button on the schedule.
Pre-Modification File Naming Convention
The pre-modification schedule file is named according to the following convention:
Lease_[LeaseID]_Mod_[ModificationID]_[YYYY-MM-DD]_[ModificationType]_Pre_Mod.xlsx
Each segment of the file name is described in the table below:
| Segment | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Lease_[LeaseID] | The internal ID of the lease record. | Lease_1042 |
| Mod_[ModificationID] | The internal ID of the modification record. Ensures uniqueness across multiple modifications on the same lease. | Mod_87 |
| [YYYY-MM-DD] | The effective date of the modification, formatted as a zero-padded year-month-day string. | 2024-04-01 |
| [ModificationType] | The modification type name with spaces replaced by underscores (e.g., Standard, Scope_Decrease, ROU_Impairment, Renewal). | Standard |
| Pre_Mod | A fixed suffix indicating this file represents the schedule prior to the modification being applied. | Pre_Mod |
A complete example file name would appear as:
Lease_1042_Mod_87_2024-04-01_Standard_Pre_Mod.xlsx
Reversal Modifications
When a modification is reversed, NetLease generates a second pre-modification schedule file for the same modification record. This file follows the same naming convention described above, with the addition of a _Reversed suffix appended to the file name. For example:
Lease_1042_Mod_87_2024-04-01_Standard_Pre_Mod_Reversed.xlsx
This file represents the schedule as it existed immediately before the reversal was processed, allowing the state of the schedule at each distinct processing event to be preserved separately. For more information on modification reversals, refer to the NetLease - Modification Reversals knowledge base article.
True Up Modifications
True Up modifications follow a different file generation process and produce their own dedicated Excel report rather than the standard pre-modification schedule file described in this article. The True Up Excel file includes the corrected amortization schedule, a journal entry tie-out section, and a schedule tab matching the current lease schedule. For details on the True Up audit file, refer to the NetLease - True Up Modifications knowledge base article.
Considerations
- The pre-modification schedule file is generated automatically by the system during modification processing. No manual action is required to create it.
- The file is saved to the NetLease Reports folder in the NetSuite File Cabinet and is also attached directly to the modification record for convenient access.
- If the modification is processed for a lease classification for which no matching export saved search is configured (for example, an unrecognized or unsupported classification), no pre-modification schedule file will be generated.
- Both the modification record sublist on the lease and the attached Excel file should be reviewed together to obtain a complete picture of the changes made during a modification.
- If you wish to turn off the schedule file generation, the feature can be opted out of via NetLease > NetLease Setup > System Setup > General > Modification Settings. Check the Do Not Save Schedules Prior to Modification as Attachments box. Click Save.
