The ZoneCapture tool leverages NetSuite’s native email plug-in functionality to collect emails from vendors or those sent by your Accounts Payable (AP) team. However, if the original email originates from another NetSuite instance, it will never be delivered to your email plug-in, causing the attached PDF to be missing from your ZoneCapture overview. Since NetSuite blocks the email before it reaches the email plug-in, ZoneCapture cannot process it or notify you about the incoming transaction.
NetSuite acknowledges this limitation in their SuiteAnswers article ID 41949. (Note: You must be logged into NetSuite to access the link.)
Email Flow Overview
Vendor sends email with PDF -> AP Inbox –> Autoforwarding to your NetSuite plug-in > Received by NetSuite plug-in > ZoneCapture scripts initiate processing
Note: Some accounts skip the AP Inbox step and provide the NetSuite email plugin address directly to their vendors
Workarounds to Successfully Process Vendor Bills in NetSuite
NetSuite’s email blocking behaviour can disrupt automated processed of ZoneCapture, but the below solutions provide effective ways to ensure vendor bills are processed successfully. Depending on the volume of affected emails, you can choose between manual forwarding, SMTP rerouting, script-based solutions, or no-code email rerouting services. These setups must be configured outside NetSuite and should be handled by your IT department or ERP partner, as Zone does not have access to your company mailboxes.
1. Manual Autoforwarding
If there are just a few transactions, you can consider manually forwarding the email. Simply login to your mailbox, find the missing email from a vendor using NetSuite, hit Forward button and then use the long NetSuite email address of your plugin. When manually forwarding emails, the original sender is masked and NetSuite no longer see this email as an infinite loop.
If there are only a few affected transactions, you can manually forward the email to bypass NetSuite’s infinite loop detection:
- Log in to your mailbox.
- Locate the missing vendor email originating from another NetSuite instance.
- Click Forward and send it to the long NetSuite email address associated with your plug-in.
Since manually forwarded emails mask the original sender, NetSuite no longer detects them as part of an infinite loop.
2. Forward Emails via a Middleware Server (SMTP Rerouting)
Instead of forwarding via Gmail/Outlook or any other mailbox provider you may use, route your emails through an SMTP relay that removes NetSuite-related headers. This prevents NetSuite from recognizing the email's origin.
- Requires setting up an SMTP relay (e.g., Postfix, SendGrid, AWS SES).
- The relay must be configured to remove headers like X-Mailer and DKIM-Signature.
- Once stripped, the email is resent to the designated NetSuite plug-in address.
- Compliance checks may be necessary when using third-party providers.
3. Convert Email to a New Email in Google Apps Script
Instead of forwarding, use Google Apps Script to extract email content and send it as a fresh
email. As this email behaves like it was created from scratch, there is no longer any issue with NetSuite infinite loop.
- The script must be developed and deployed within Google Workspace (G Suite).
- Gmail rules can be configured to label and filter emails originating from another NetSuite instance.
- The script should periodically check for labeled emails (e.g., every 5 minutes).
- When a match is found, the script reconstructs the email and sends it as a new message.
4. Use a No-Code Email Rerouter (Mailgun, SendGrid, CloudMailin)
Services like Mailgun, SendGrid, or CloudMailin allow emails to be ingested, modified, and resent
as new emails. This removes NetSuite's ability to detect the original sender.
- Requires an account with a provider such as Mailgun, SendGrid, or CloudMailin.
- The inbound email processing feature must be configured to capture relevant emails.
- Headers and metadata associated with NetSuite should be stripped or rewritten before resending.
- API-based configuration may be needed for advanced customizations.