Add documentation to your records and transactions

You might want documentation for changes and updates that you make as you work in Sage Intacct. To add notes to your records and transactions, you have several options:

  • Use an existing Comments field
  • Create a new Notes custom field
  • Subscribe to and configure Intacct Collaborate

Understand your options

You can create and use notes in several ways. This table describes your options:

Options for creating and using notes, including pros and cons.

Existing Comments field

New Notes custom field

Intacct Collaborate

Description Some objects, such as Supplier and Customer, have a field called Comments, where you can add information. You can add custom fields to your records or transactions, which can serve any purpose. In this case, you can create a new Text area field called Notes. Intacct Collaborate speeds up your internal communications. You can share information and stay updated on project developments in real time, directly within the records. This eliminates the need to switch between Intacct, Salesforce, and email to gather relevant details.Intacct Collaborate creates one space where everyone can stay on the same page. Real-time conversations help you resolve issues quickly, whether it’s handling exceptions, finding missing documents, or clarifying details. This saves you time and reduces friction.
Pros
  • Part of standard Intacct
  • Captured in the audit trail
  • Can be reported on
  • Customizable
  • Captured in the audit trail
  • Can be reported on
  • No character limit
  • Appears on every page in Sage Intacct
  • Can sync with Salesforce
  • Extends across systems and your records
Cons
  • 200 character limit
  • Typically not on the first page of the record or transaction
  • Specific to a record
  • Requires more setup
  • Can only add 1 custom field at a time in the user interface (UI)
  • Specific to a record
  • Cannot be reported on
  • Requires light implementation, or more if you're syncing with Salesforce
Related links

Use an existing Comments field

Some objects, such as the customer or supplier objects, already have a standard field intended to capture notes on records. These fields rarely appear on the first page of the record or transaction, and they have a 200 character limit. Still, the field is captured in the audit trail and can also be included in your reports.

Create a new Notes custom field

If the built-in Comments field or the Collaborate feed works for your business needs, you can create a custom field on records or transactions called Notes. While a custom field requires setup, you can select:

  • What object the field appears on
  • Where the field appears in that object
  • What the field is called
  • What type of field it is

A custom field can also be included in your reports and is captured by the audit trail.

  1. Go to Customization Services or Platform Services > Object customizations, then select Add (circle) next to Custom fields.
  2. In Step 1 Choose object to extend, choose an object to add the custom field to. For example, to add a notes field to a customer record, you would choose Customer from the dropdown list.
  3. Select Next.
  4. In Step 2 Choose field data type from the Data type dropdown list, choose Text area
  5. Select Next.
  6. In Step 3 Choose text area field characteristics, for Label, type Notes. You can also use some other meaningful name to appear on the record or transaction, depending on your business needs.
  7. Choose the Number of rows to display on the transaction or record. We recommend starting with 5. You can always change this setting later. Too many rows can make your records and transactions hard to read.
  8. Set a Field ID, which can be used in integrations, smart rules, smart events, and other customization and platform features.

    The Field ID automatically populates based on the Label.

  9. Optionally, add a Description to explain the purpose of this custom field.
  10. In Step 4 Choose deployment options, set each field to the following:
    • Field is required: Select or deselect as you wish
    • Field is hidden: Not selected
    • Field is inactive: Not selected
    • Section where field appears: Optionally, the name of the section (exactly as it appears inSage Intacct) where you want the field to appear. For example, to add this field to the customer object, you might enter Customer. Then the custom field is added to the Customer section on the Customer tab. Section names are case sensitive.
    • Tab where field appears: Choose the tab where you want the custom field to appear. For example, if you're adding a custom field to the customer object, you might choose Customer to have it appear on the first tab in the record.

    Deployment options and their descriptions.
    OptionDescription

    Field is required

    Makes the field required. Depending on the field type, the user must enter a value or select an option in order for the object to be saved.

    Field is hidden

    Hides the field so that it is not displayed on the page. This option is primarily used by developers.

    Field is inactive

    Hides and deactivates the field, but retains any data previously saved in the field. Select this option if you are no longer using the field, but you want to retain data previously entered in the field.

    Section where field appears

    Specifies the section to which you want to add the field. You can add a field to an existing section or create your own section.

    To add the field to an existing section:

    1. For the Section where field appears, enter the name of the section exactly as it appears on the page.
    2. For the Tab where field appears option, select the tab on which the section appears.

    To add the field to a new section:

    1. For the Section where field appears, enter the name that you want to use for the section.
    2. For the New tab where field appears option, select an existing tab or enter a new name to place the section on a new tab.

    Tab where field appears

    Specifies the tab on which the field appears. You can select an existing tab, or enter the name of a new tab

  11. Select Save.

Add the Notes field to multiple records or transactions quickly

You can only add 1 custom field at a time through the user interface. However, depending on your skill set, you could do one of the following:

  • Duplicate the custom field and adjust parameters to add it to other objects.
  • Create a custom package with multiple custom fields defined within.
    Creating a custom package requires experience with XML. Furthermore, a custom package is created outside of Sage Intacct, then installed in Sage Intacct later. See Customization Packages for more information.

Usually, duplicating a custom field is the easiest option, because the new field retains the same properties as the existing field. The new custom field requires a new name and ID, and some changes in parameters to place it in a new object.

Duplicate your Notes custom field

  1. Go to Customization Services or Platform Services > Object customizations > Custom fields. A list of all custom fields appears.
  2. Find your Notes custom field, then select Edit along the same row.
  3. Select Duplicate.
  4. Choose another Object that you want to add the Notes field to in Step 1 Choose object to extend.
  5. In the Step 1 of 4 dropdown list, choose Select deployment options.
  6. In Section where field appears, enter the name of the section where you want this field to appear.

    Section names are case sensitive.

  7. In Tab where field appears, choose the tab of the transaction or record where you want the field to appear.
  8. Select Save.
  1. Go to Customization Services or Platform Services > Object customizations > Custom fields. A list of all custom fields appears.
  2. Select Edit at the end of the row.
  3. Select Duplicate.
  4. Choose another Object that you want to add the Notes field to in Step 1 Choose object to extend.
  5. In the Step 1 of 4 dropdown list, choose Select deployment options.
  6. In Section where field appears, enter the name of the section where you want this field to appear.

    Section names are case sensitive.

  7. In Tab where field appears, choose the tab of the transaction or record where you want the field to appear.
  8. Select Save.

Subscribe to and configure Intacct Collaborate

Intacct Collaborate is a free subscription item that requires some configuration. After set up, you can post your notes, questions, and answers alongside transactions, records, and other objects in your company to the Collaborate feed. The feed is accessible from every page in Sage Intacct. This feed can also connect to Salesforce and serve as a single place to use for internal communication.

See Collaborate setup for more information on how to subscribe to and configure Intacct Collaborate.