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NetSuite Document Management: File Cabinet Limits and Add-On Options

Sherman Hsieh
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NetSuite Document Management: File Cabinet Limits and Add-On Options

Last updated: November 3, 2026 · Independent guide · We do not sell rankings or coverage.

NetSuite document management runs on the File Cabinet, a folder-based store where every file can be attached to customer, vendor and transaction records. Oracle’s current service tier table lists file storage from up to 100 GB on the Standard tier to up to 4,000 GB on Ultimate, access is controlled at the folder level rather than the file level, and the built-in File Cabinet search matches file and folder names. Companies that need retained version history, retention schedules or invoice capture beyond NetSuite’s own Bill Capture usually add a SuiteApp or connect an external repository.

How we researched this

Every menu path, field label and limit below comes from Oracle’s NetSuite Applications Suite online help. Oracle’s help pages show no publication date; all were checked on November 3, 2026. Retention periods come from IRS pages and the eCFR. Add-on capabilities come from vendor pages. We also read the ranking pages from Tipalti, Folio3 and Workiro, which all sell NetSuite products or services. We did not test a live account.

Before you start

  • Role. Oracle says only users with the Administrator role and users with the Documents and Files permission can use the File Cabinet (Oracle, no date shown). Checking storage use needs the Billing Information permission (Oracle, no date shown).
  • Features. File Cabinet is enabled on the Company subtab of Setup > Company > Enable Features. Bill Capture also needs Bill Capture and A/P on the Accounting subtab, plus Custom Records, Client SuiteScript and Server SuiteScript on the SuiteCloud subtab (Oracle, no date shown).
  • Location. Oracle says Bill Capture is available only in the United States (Oracle, no date shown).

Step 1: Check storage capacity and current use

Go to Setup > Company > View Billing Information. The Current Used Quantity column for the File Cabinet Size (GB) component shows how much space the File Cabinet uses (Oracle, no date shown). Administrators can also see capacity at Setup > Company > Service Tier Dashboard, which is not available in sandbox accounts (Oracle, no date shown).

Service tier File storage Users Monthly transaction lines
Standard Up to 100 GB Up to 100 Up to 200K
Premium Up to 1,000 GB Up to 1,000 Up to 2M
Enterprise Up to 2,000 GB Up to 2,000 Up to 10M
Ultimate Up to 4,000 GB Up to 4,000 Up to 50M

Source: Oracle, NetSuite Service Tier Structure, no date shown, checked November 3, 2026.

Oracle’s upload help page still says each account comes with 10 GB of total storage unless more was purchased (Oracle, no date shown). Because the two pages disagree, confirm your figure on the Billing Information page. If you go over the storage limit, administrators get a banner and an email, and Oracle grants a 90-day grace period for File Cabinet storage only (Oracle, no date shown). The Oracle pages cited here do not give a price for extra storage.

Step 2: Build a folder structure

Click the Documents tab, then New Folder. Enter the Folder Name, choose the parent in Sub-Folder of, add a Description, and click Save. Checking Private makes the contents visible only to you (Oracle, no date shown).

Oracle warns that many subfolders can slow performance, says you should not create more than 50,000 subfolders, and notes that the Move To list shows only 20,000 folders (Oracle, no date shown). A structure by document type and year, such as AP Invoices > 2026, keeps the count low and lines up with retention periods.

Step 3: Restrict access by folder

Go to Documents > Files > File Cabinet, click Edit on the folder, and set Restrict by Class, Restrict by Department, Restrict by Location, Restrict by Group or Restrict by Subsidiary (Oracle, no date shown).

You cannot restrict individual files, only the folder. Employees in a parent subsidiary can open all child subsidiary folders, so use a group restriction if that is too broad. A subfolder created after the parent was restricted to a group inherits that restriction, but later changes to the parent do not flow down, so you must update existing subfolders by hand (Oracle, no date shown).

Step 4: Attach documents to records

On any record, open the Communication subtab, then the Files subtab. Either pick a file in Attach Existing Files and click Attach, or click New File, select a Folder, browse to the file and click Save. You can do this in view mode without editing the record (Oracle, no date shown).

The attached file lives in the folder you chose, and a user needs access to that folder to open it from the record. You cannot attach a file straight from Attachments Sent or Attachments Received; move it to another folder first (Oracle, no date shown). The Hide Attachment Folders preference at Setup > Company > General Preferences, checked by default for new customers, hides those two folders from the File Cabinet while users still open the files from records (Oracle, no date shown). Oracle’s File Drag and Drop SuiteApp adds a drop zone to records that have a Files subtab, including custom records, and sends uploads to a destination folder the administrator sets (Oracle, no date shown).

Step 5: Capture vendor invoices with Bill Capture

Bill Capture creates vendor bills from uploaded or emailed PDF, JPEG or PNG files. Oracle says it uses the OCI Document Understanding Custom Generative Model to extract values and suggests matches to vendors, items and purchase orders. Bills appear at Transactions > Payables > Scanned Vendor Bills, where a reviewer checks each one on the Review Scanned Bill page before creating the bill. Email capture runs through the Transaction Email Capture SuiteApp (Oracle, no date shown).

At Setup > Users/Roles > User Management > Manage Roles, give AP clerks Documents and Files at Create plus Scanned Vendor Bills and Bills at Full. The Bills permission alone does not allow uploads (Oracle, no date shown).

Plan around the published limits: uploads up to 8 MB per file, emails up to 20 attachments and 10 MB in total, PDFs up to 30 pages, one bill per file, and a recommended maximum of 50 files per upload (Oracle, no date shown). Three-way match and approvals still run through your normal bill workflow; see our three-way match guide.

Step 6: Make documents findable

On the File Cabinet page, enter a keyword in the Search box and click Search. Oracle says this searches keywords from file and folder names (Oracle, no date shown). Oracle does not describe it as a content search, so name files by vendor, invoice number and date.

To find records by their attachments, build an advanced search on transactions or vendors, choose File Fields… in the Filter list on the Criteria subtab, and add file fields as columns on the Results subtab (Oracle, no date shown). Our NetSuite saved search guide covers the AP search setup in more detail.

Step 7: Map retention periods to folders

NetSuite’s help does not describe an automatic retention or disposal schedule for File Cabinet files, so the schedule lives in your policy and folder design. The main federal periods for finance and AP records, checked November 3, 2026, are below. State law, contracts and industry rules can require longer periods.

Record type Minimum period Source
Records supporting an income tax return (general case) 3 years; 6 years if income is underreported by more than 25%; 7 years for a bad debt or worthless securities claim IRS, updated June 30, 2026
Property and asset records Until the limitations period expires for the year you dispose of the property IRS, updated June 30, 2026
Employment tax records At least 4 years after filing the fourth quarter for the year IRS, updated June 12, 2026
Customer orders and invoices received, time cards (FLSA) At least 2 years 29 CFR 516.6, eCFR current as of October 23, 2026

If you scan paper invoices and destroy the originals, IRS Rev. Proc. 97-22 sets the standard for the storage system. It requires reasonable integrity controls, a quality assurance program, an indexed retrieval system and legible output, and allows destroying originals only after you test the system (IRS, Rev. Proc. 97-22, no date shown). Rev. Proc. 98-25 adds documented controls against unauthorized addition, alteration or deletion of records (IRS, updated August 21, 2026). Our document retention policy template shows how to lay out a schedule by record type.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

  • Relying on file-level privacy. NetSuite only restricts folders. Move sensitive files, such as W-9s or payroll documents, into their own restricted folder.
  • Overwriting by accident. On a .zip upload through Advanced Add, the Overwrite Files with Same Name box replaces existing files with the same path and name (Oracle, no date shown). Leave it cleared unless you mean to replace files.
  • Using the inactive flag as deletion. Oracle says you can make an inactive file active again at any time (Oracle, no date shown). Inactivating a file does not dispose of it under a retention policy.

Limitations of the native File Cabinet

Oracle’s editing page says a replacement upload replaces the previous version and does not describe a list of retained earlier versions (Oracle, no date shown). Every file has system notes, and some file types carry a File Content Hash that changes when the content changes (Oracle, no date shown).

Search covers names, access control stops at the folder, the help pages cited here do not describe automatic retention or legal hold, and storage is tied to your service tier. For developers, SuiteScript methods that load file content into memory have a 10 MB limit (Oracle, no date shown).

When companies add a third-party tool

Companies usually add a tool when storage approaches the tier limit, when contracts need retained version history, or when legal or audit teams want enforced retention. Options are connectors to an external repository and AP-focused document systems. The claims below come from the vendors, which sell these products.

Add-on Where files live Versioning, OCR, retention Limitations stated or not addressed
Box for Oracle NetSuite Box folders organized by record type Box keeps up to 50 prior versions on Business plans and 100 on Enterprise; retention policies come with Box Governance Governance is included only in Enterprise Plus and Enterprise Advanced, paid add-on otherwise; v3 needs a migration
ExtendDocs (Celigo) SharePoint and OneDrive Listing cites OneDrive and SharePoint data retention policies; search bar inside NetSuite No pricing or versioning detail on the listing
PairSoft (PaperSave, DocuPeak) PairSoft cloud repository OCR capture, including mobile camera; indexing Page does not describe versioning or retention rules
Charted Advanced Document Management NetSuite or AWS Uses NetSuite search and audit trail Vendor says audit trails come from NetSuite rather than a separate versioning system; no retention controls described

Sources: Box SuiteApp v3, Box versions, Box retention, ExtendDocs listing, PairSoft, Charted; all no date shown, checked November 3, 2026. None of these vendors publishes a price on the pages cited.

If you already run Box or Microsoft 365 retention policies, a connector adds the least new governance work. For a wider view of repository software, see our guide to enterprise content management software.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

How much storage does the NetSuite File Cabinet include?

Oracle’s service tier table lists up to 100 GB for Standard, 1,000 GB for Premium, 2,000 GB for Enterprise and 4,000 GB for Ultimate. Oracle’s upload help page still cites 10 GB per account, so check Setup > Company > View Billing Information for your actual allowance and use.

Does NetSuite keep old versions of files?

Oracle’s documentation describes replacing a file with a new upload and does not describe a retained version list, though system notes record changes. To restore earlier contract drafts, use a repository with version history, such as Box or SharePoint, through a connector.

Can NetSuite search inside PDF invoices?

Oracle describes File Cabinet search as matching file and folder names. Bill Capture extracts values to create bill records, but it does not make the File Cabinet searchable by content.

How long should we keep AP invoices in NetSuite?

The IRS default for records that support a tax return is 3 years, rising to 6 or 7 years in specific cases, and property records are kept until the limitations period ends for the year of disposal. Check state rules and contracts before you set yours.

Sources

Sherman Hsieh

CEO & Editor-in-Chief, Business-Software.com
Independent analysis of enterprise software — ERP, CRM and more
Sherman Hsieh is the founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Business-Software.com. He leads the site's independent, buyer-focused coverage of ERP, CRM, and other business systems, including vendor-neutral comparisons, pricing analysis, and implementation guidance. Before founding Business-Software.com, Sherman was an executive at Siebel ...

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