What are deferred costs?
Deferred costs (also called prepaid expenses) are costs that span multiple accounting periods for example, an annual software subscription paid upfront. Instead of booking the full amount in one period, Moss spreads the cost across the defined period and exports each release as a separate journal entry in NetSuite.
Prerequisites
Before exporting deferred costs to NetSuite, make sure:
Your NetSuite connection is active in Moss
You have configured the Prepaid Expenses Account in your NetSuite settings in Moss (see below)
Step 1: Configure the Prepaid Expenses Account
This is the balance sheet account in NetSuite where prepaid costs are held until they are released.
Go to "Settings" > "Accounting" > "Accounting Integration"
Find the "Prepaid expenses" account field
Search for and select the account from your NetSuite chart of accounts (e.g. a "Deferred Expense" or "Prepaid Expenses" account)
Save your settings
Note: If this field is not configured, deferred cost exports will fail.
Step 2: Mark an Invoice as a Deferred Cost in Moss
Open the invoice in Moss
Click the "Prepaid expense" link on the invoice view
Set the start date, end date
Moss will automatically calculate the release schedule and amounts
Step 3: Export Deferred Cost Releases to NetSuite
Deferred cost releases are exported the same way as regular invoices and transactions.
Go to "Accounting" → "Export"
Select the "Deferred Costs" tab
Select the releases that are due for export and click Export
What gets created in NetSuite
For each deferred cost release, Moss creates a Journal Entry in NetSuite with two lines:
Line | Account | Debit | Credit |
1 | Expense account (from invoice category) | Release amount | – |
2 | Prepaid Expenses account (configured in settings) | – | Release amount |
Transaction date: the release date
Memo: booking description + invoice number
Dimensions: cost center and cost carrier are applied to both lines (if configured)
Accounting period: follows your NetSuite accounting period settings in Moss
Troubleshooting
# | Issue | Solution |
1 | Export fails with "Deferred cost account not configured" | Set the Prepaid Expenses Account in NetSuite settings |
2 | Release not appearing in the export list | Check that the release status is "Ready for export" |
3 | Wrong expense account used | Verify the expense category on the original invoice has a valid account number mapped in NetSuite |