Cross-subsidiary user access issues in consolidation module after role changes

ERP NetSuite
, , , , , , , ,
1

We made some role changes last week to tighten security and now several finance team members can’t run consolidated reports anymore. These users need to see data across all our subsidiaries for month-end consolidation, but after the role update they’re only seeing their primary subsidiary. We have five subsidiaries that need to roll up into consolidated financials. The users can’t run the consolidated balance sheet or income statement - they get permission errors. This was escalated by our finance team because we’re three days from close and they can’t complete their work. I’ve verified the users still have the Consolidation role assigned, so I’m not sure what’s blocking subsidiary access specifically. Need help understanding what permission or setting controls cross-subsidiary visibility in the consolidation module.

2

Check the subsidiary restrictions on the role itself. Go to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Roles, open the Consolidation role, and look at the Subsidiaries subtab. If this got changed to restrict to specific subsidiaries during your security update, that would explain why users can’t see data across all subs. It should either be set to ‘All’ or explicitly include all five subsidiaries that need to be consolidated.

3

We had this exact problem two months ago. The issue was that someone changed the ‘Restrict Subsidiaries’ setting at the employee record level. Even though the role had full subsidiary access, the employee records were set to restrict to their home subsidiary. You need to check both the role AND the employee/user record. Also, make sure the consolidated reports themselves don’t have subsidiary filters that are excluding data. Sometimes saved searches used by consolidation reports have hardcoded subsidiary filters that need updating.

4

Your issue is caused by the intersection of role permissions and user subsidiary access settings. Here’s the systematic troubleshooting approach:

ROLE CHANGES REMOVED SUBSIDIARY ACCESS - check these specific settings:

  1. ROLE-LEVEL SUBSIDIARY RESTRICTIONS: • Navigate to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Roles

    • Find and edit your Consolidation role

    • Click on the Subsidiaries subtab

    • Verify the setting here - it should show ‘All Subsidiaries’ OR explicitly list all five subsidiaries

    • If it shows only one subsidiary or a subset, this is your problem

    • Change to include all subsidiaries needed for consolidation

    • IMPORTANT: This setting controls what subsidiaries users with this role CAN access, but doesn’t guarantee they WILL access them

  2. USER-LEVEL SUBSIDIARY RESTRICTIONS: • Go to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Users

    • Open each affected user’s record

    • Look at the Access subtab

    • Check the ‘Subsidiaries’ section - all five subsidiaries should be checked/selected

    • If any subsidiaries are missing, check them

    • This setting controls which subsidiaries the specific user can see regardless of role permissions

  3. EMPLOYEE RECORD SUBSIDIARY SETTINGS (often overlooked): • Navigate to Lists > Employees > Employees

    • Open each affected user’s employee record

    • Check if there’s a ‘Restrict to Subsidiaries’ or similar field

    • This can override both role and user settings

    • Make sure this is set to allow access to all needed subsidiaries

USERS CAN’T RUN CONSOLIDATED REPORTS - verify these permissions:

  1. CONSOLIDATION-SPECIFIC PERMISSIONS: • In the Consolidation role (Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Roles > Edit Consolidation role)

    • Go to the Permissions subtab

    • Find ‘Reports’ section and verify these are set to ‘Full’ or ‘View’:

    • Financial Statements
    • Consolidated Financial Statements
    • Balance Sheet
    • Income Statement • Also check ‘Lists’ section:
    • Subsidiaries (should be ‘View’ at minimum)
    • Accounts (should be ‘View’ at minimum)

  2. SAVED SEARCH PERMISSIONS: • If your consolidated reports use custom saved searches, check the search permissions

    • Navigate to Lists > Search > Saved Searches

    • Find the searches used by consolidation reports

    • Edit each search and check the ‘Available’ tab

    • Make sure the Consolidation role is listed with appropriate access

    • Check the ‘Audience’ subtab to ensure it’s not restricted to specific subsidiaries

  3. REPORT FILTERS: • Open the consolidated balance sheet report that’s failing

    • Check if there are any subsidiary filters applied

    • These might have been added during your security changes

    • Remove subsidiary filters or change them to include all five subsidiaries

FINANCE TEAM ESCALATED - immediate resolution steps:

For your three-day deadline, do this in order:

  1. QUICK FIX (do this first, takes 15 minutes): • For each affected user, go to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Users

    • Open user record > Access subtab

    • Under Subsidiaries section, check ALL five subsidiary boxes

    • Save

    • Have user log out and log back in

    • Test consolidated report access immediately

  2. IF THAT DOESN’T WORK (takes 30 minutes): • Go to Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Roles

    • Edit the Consolidation role

    • Subsidiaries subtab: change to ‘All Subsidiaries’ (not individual selection)

    • Permissions subtab: verify all financial reporting permissions are ‘Full’

    • Save role

    • Have users log out/in and retest

  3. IF STILL BLOCKED (verify report configuration): • Navigate to Reports > Financial > Consolidated Balance Sheet

    • Click Customize

    • Check Filters tab - remove any subsidiary-specific filters

    • Check Results tab - ensure subsidiary column is included

    • Save customized version or update default

SYSTEMATIC VERIFICATION after fix:

Test each affected user’s access with these steps:

• Log in as the user (or have them test)

• Navigate to Reports > Financial > Balance Sheet

• Click Customize

• In Filters, select ‘All Subsidiaries’ or check all five subsidiary boxes

• Generate report

• Verify all subsidiaries appear in results

• Repeat for Income Statement and Consolidated Financial Statements

The most likely cause based on your description: during your role changes, someone modified the subsidiary restrictions either at the role level or user level (or both). The Consolidation role assignment is still there, but the subsidiary access component of that role got restricted. Fix both the role’s subsidiary settings AND each user’s subsidiary access settings to resolve this completely.

For future security updates: always test consolidated reporting access in a sandbox environment before applying role changes to production, especially during close periods.

5

Also verify the individual user records. Each user has their own subsidiary access settings under Setup > Users/Roles > Manage Users. Even if the role grants access to all subsidiaries, the user record itself might be restricted to specific subsidiaries. Look at the Access subtab on each affected user and make sure all five subsidiaries are checked. This is a common gotcha when people update security settings.

6

Three days from close with broken consolidation access is a crisis. While you’re troubleshooting the root cause, create a temporary workaround: grant your finance team the Administrator role temporarily with explicit documentation of why and when you’ll remove it. This gets them unblocked immediately. Then investigate properly without the time pressure. After close, you can figure out the exact permission issue and fix the Consolidation role correctly.

7

Be careful with the temporary admin access approach. If you’re SOX compliant or have other regulatory requirements, granting admin roles even temporarily can be an audit finding. Better to identify and fix the specific permission issue. The problem is almost certainly in the subsidiary restrictions either at role level or user level. Check both places systematically for each affected user.