Including Additional Items Related to the Configurable Item

With NetSuite CPQ Configurator, you can add items related to your main configurable item to transactions. Additional items (called breakout items) complete the main item and are usually used or sold together. For example, if your configurable item is a desk, you may have a lamp or a desk mat as additional items. Depending on your business needs, you can create a product that adds only additional items to transactions without a main configured item.

An additional item is included in configurations and later in transactions if its rule matches the answers that users select on the product interface. For more information about rules, see Activating Building Blocks with Rules. You can view active additional items under the Items option in the Audit menu on the product interface.

After submitting the configuration, active additional items are assigned dedicated transaction lines and listed below the main configured item.

You can specify an additional item using one of the following options:

Selecting an existing item in NetSuite.
Obtaining the item number or number from the user interface with a resolve expression.
Selecting an item creation record that provides the information to create the item automatically.

If you use a resolve expression to specify an additional item, you can retrieve different items depending on users' choices with a single additional item record. For more information about resolve expressions, see Obtaining Answer Data with Resolve Expressions.

If you use the item creation record to specify the additional item, NetSuite CPQ Configurator automatically creates the additional item when users submit the configuration. For more information, see Creating Items Required by the Configuration.

The additional item price is displayed on the transaction line, but not on the user interface. Also, take into account that the price calculations for the main configurable exclude the additional item price.

Different additional items can be linked to the same item record. When submitting the configuration to transactions, you can consolidate the corresponding additional item lines into a single line. For more information, see Consolidating Additional Item Lines on Transactions.

When including additional items in transactions, you can set line fields by selecting mapping records in the Apply Column Mappings field during the setup. In the Common Column Mappings field, you can view the mapping records automatically applied to all additional items. These mapping records have the Apply to all items box checked. For more information about mapping records, see Setting Transaction Body and Line Fields Based on Configuration Data.

Note:

Before mapping records were introduced, you could set transaction line fields through the Order Column Mapping field. If you want to switch from this field to mapping records, move the field information to mapping records and clear the field. After clearing the field, it will become hidden.

To create an additional item:

In NetSuite, go to CPQ > Configurator > Product Maintenance.
Click Edit next to the product you want to modify.
On the Items subtab, click New CPQC Breakout Item.
Enter a descriptive name for the additional item.

This name is displayed under the Items option in the Audit menu of the user interface. The item name added to transactions belongs to the item record.
(Optional) In the Description field, enter a brief explanation of the additional item.

The description is displayed under the Items option in the Audit menu and on the transaction line.
Provide a sequence number to determine the order in which the additional item is displayed on the transaction lines.

Additional items with a lower sequence number are displayed higher on the transaction lines.

You can enter a negative or positive number. For example, -2 or 5.
(Optional) To define a specific date range in which this additional item is active and included in configurations and later in transactions:
- In the Effective Date field, select a start date.
  
  Before this date, the additional item is inactive.
- (Optional) In the Cancel Date field, select an end date.
  
  After this date, the additional item is inactive.
Note:
If you define a date range, the additional item must meet the date range and the conditions expressed in its rule to be active.
To define the additional item, three options are available:
- In the Item field, select an item from NetSuite.
  
  When you select this option, the Item Display Image and the Average Cost fields are automatically filled in with information from the item record (if available).
- In the Item from Q/A field, enter a resolve expression to obtain the item name or number of the additional item from answers on the user interface.
  
  To write the resolve expression, use question and answer codes separated by the forward slash character and enclosed in curly braces. For example, {A/1}. Question and answer codes are replaced with the corresponding answer value.
- In the Item Creation field, select the item creation record that stores the information to create the additional item. The additional item is created if the rules of the item creation record and the additional item match the answers that users select on the product interface. For more information, see Creating Items Required by the Configuration.
In the QTY field, enter a number or a resolve expression to define how many units of this additional item the configuration requires.
In the Price field, enter a number without the currency symbol or a resolve expression. This value replaces the price on the item or the item creation records.

Note:
Use a dot to add decimals to the price value.
In the Price Multiplier field, you can enter a number or a resolve expression to obtain a more flexible price structure. For example, you can use a resolve expression to multiply the price by the quantity users select in an answer.
(Optional) In the Apply Column Mappings field, select the mapping records you want to use to set line fields for the additional item when added to transactions. For more information about mapping records, see Setting Transaction Body and Line Fields Based on Configuration Data.
In the Show Rule field, provide the question and answer combination that determines whether the additional item is included in the transaction.

Enter question and answer codes separated by the forward slash character. For example, A/1. Use operators to combine multiple question and answer sets. For example, A/1&B/2.
(Optional) To add an additional rule to the item rule, select a rule category. If the additional item and the category rules match the answers that users select on the interface, the additional item in included in the configuration and later in transactions. For more information, see Working with Rule Categories in NetSuite CPQ Configurator.
Click Save.

To copy or delete additional items, see Working with Product Building Blocks.

Consolidating Additional Item Lines on Transactions

When submitting configurations to transactions, you can consolidate multiple additional item lines linked to the same item record (same internal ID) into a single line item.

To apply the options for consolidating additional items, go to the product record during the setup and open it for editing. Three options are available:

Consolidate items.
Calculate rate for consolidated items.
Merge data mappings for consolidated items.

When additional item lines are consolidated, the quantity and the price of every additional item are summarized. To consolidate additional item lines, check the Consolidate items box.

If you use the price of the item record and multiple price levels are enabled in your account, the price level on the consolidated item line will be labeled as Custom. For more information about multiple prices and currencies in NetSuite, see Using Multiple Prices or Currencies and Using Multiple Pricing.

You can also calculate the rate for the consolidated additional item line by checking the Calculate rate for consolidated items box. Additional items linked to the same item record may have different prices. For this reason, the rate field on the transaction will display the average price of all the additional item prices. Take into account that the rate calculated as an average might be a decimal number with multiple decimal places—for example, 19.999999.

During the consolidation, you can merge the mapping records applied to individual additional items. To do this, check the Merge data mappings for consolidated items box. Individual mapping records are those listed in the Apply Column Mappings field on the additional item record. Overlapping fields will be set based on the information of the mapping record linked to the additional item with the higher sequence number.

To create an additional item:

Consolidating Additional Item Lines on Transactions

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