🧩 Custom PDF Automation System in NetSuite (Auto-Generate, Save & Email PDFs)

Introduction

In many organizations, accounting and operations teams still manually print or email PDFs for Invoices, Statements, or Purchase Orders.
With SuiteScript and Advanced PDF templates, you can automate this process — generating and sending professional PDFs automatically whenever a transaction is created, approved, or updated.

This tutorial teaches you how to build a complete PDF automation framework that handles generation, saving, and emailing of transaction PDFs — with logging and configuration flexibility.

💡 Why Automate PDF Generation?

✅ Automated PDFs improve consistency, speed, and auditability.

🧱 Step 1: Create or Customize Your Advanced PDF Template

1. Go to Customization → Forms → Advanced PDF/HTML Templates.
2. Choose a transaction type (e.g., Invoice).
3. Click Customize → Name: Invoice PDF (Custom).
4. Use FreeMarker syntax for dynamic fields: <p><b>Invoice #:</b> ${record.tranid}</p> <p><b>Date:</b> ${record.trandate}</p> <p><b>Total Amount:</b> ${record.total}</p>
5. Save your template.
6. Note the Template ID for use in the script.

⚙️ Step 2: Build a PDF Generation Script (SuiteScript 2.1)

Here’s a sample User Event Script to auto-generate and email a PDF when an invoice is created or approved.

/**
 * @NApiVersion 2.1
 * @NScriptType UserEventScript
 */
define(['N/render', 'N/record', 'N/file', 'N/email', 'N/runtime', 'N/log'], 
(render, record, file, email, runtime, log) => {

  const afterSubmit = (ctx) => {
    if (ctx.type === ctx.UserEventType.DELETE) return;

    try {
      const rec = ctx.newRecord;
      const recId = rec.id;
      const recType = rec.type;

      // Render PDF
      const pdfFile = render.transaction({
        entityId: recId,
        printMode: render.PrintMode.PDF
      });

      const folderId = runtime.getCurrentScript().getParameter('custscript_pdf_folder');
      pdfFile.folder = folderId;
      pdfFile.name = `${recType}_${recId}.pdf`;
      const fileId = pdfFile.save();

      log.audit('PDF Generated', `File ID: ${fileId}`);

      // Email PDF to customer
      const customerId = rec.getValue('entity');
      const emailRecipient = record.lookupFields({
        type: 'customer',
        id: customerId,
        columns: ['email']
      }).email;

      if (emailRecipient) {
        email.send({
          author: runtime.getCurrentUser().id,
          recipients: emailRecipient,
          subject: `Your ${recType} #${recId}`,
          body: 'Please find your attached PDF document.',
          attachments: [file.load({ id: fileId })]
        });
        log.audit('Email Sent', `To: ${emailRecipient}`);
      }

    } catch (e) {
      log.error('PDF Automation Error', e);
    }
  };

  return { afterSubmit };
});

✅ This script automatically:

• Generates a PDF
• Saves it to a File Cabinet folder
• Emails it to the customer

🧠 Step 3: Add Script Parameters

✅ Enables flexible control without editing code.

🧩 Step 4: Schedule or Trigger via Workflow

• Use Workflow Action Script to trigger PDF generation when Approval Status = Approved.
• Or use a Scheduled Script for batch PDF generation:
  • Example: Send all approved Invoices at 6 PM daily.
  • Retrieve records via Saved Search and loop through the render/email process.

📁 Step 5: Store PDFs in Organized Folders

Structure your File Cabinet by type and date:

/PDF_Automation/
 ├── Invoices/
 ├── PurchaseOrders/
 ├── Statements/
 └── CustomReports/

Add folder structure dynamically:

const yearFolder = file.createFolder({ name: new Date().getFullYear(), parent: parentFolderId });

✅ Keeps historical copies organized and audit-friendly.

📈 Step 6: Build PDF Automation Dashboard

Create a Custom Record: customrecord_pdf_log

Then, use:

• Saved Search: “PDFs Sent This Week”
• Workbook: PDF success rate by record type
• Portlet: Total PDFs Sent Today

✅ Great for audit and performance visibility.

🧮 Step 7: Handle Bulk PDF Generation (Map/Reduce)

For large batches (e.g., 5,000+ invoices):

• Use Map/Reduce to process in parallel
• Load records from saved search
• Render & email each one in the map stage
• Log results in the summarize stage

This ensures high performance without exceeding governance limits.

🧩 Step 8: Add Custom Branding & Conditional Content

In FreeMarker template:

<#if record.total gt 5000>
  <p><b>Preferred Customer Discount Applied!</b></p>
</#if>
<#if record.custbody_po_number?has_content>
  <p><b>Customer PO:</b> ${record.custbody_po_number}</p>
</#if>

✅ Adds dynamic content based on transaction data.

⚡ Step 9: Integrate with External Storage or CRM

You can enhance your automation further:

• Upload generated PDFs to Google Drive, OneDrive, or SFTP via RESTlet.
• Attach PDFs to CRM systems like Salesforce using middleware (Boomi / Celigo).
• Include public URL links in email body for cloud access.

🧰 Step 10: Common Issues & Fixes

📚 Related Tutorials

• 👉 Advanced PDF Customization Guide
• 👉 SuiteScript Error Handling Framework
• 👉 Integration Logging & Monitoring Dashboard

❓ FAQ

Q1. Can I send different templates for different subsidiaries?
Yes — add logic to select the template ID dynamically based on subsidiary.

Q2. Can PDFs be generated on-demand by users?
Yes — create a Suitelet with a “Generate PDF” button to trigger manual generation.

Q3. Can I send multiple PDFs in one email?
Yes — attach multiple files in the attachments array.

Q4. Does this work for custom records?
Yes — use render.xmlToPdf() and a custom FreeMarker XML template.

🧭 Summary

The Custom PDF Automation System eliminates manual effort and brings full consistency to your document workflow.
From invoices to statements, it ensures every transaction generates a professional, branded PDF — automatically saved, emailed, and logged.

This framework can be easily extended for bulk reporting, EDI documentation, or multi-brand templates, turning NetSuite into a fully automated document delivery engine.