this works perfect, but when i change the entitystatus to a custom field (list) from the customer record it throws an error:

message: "An nlobjSearchColumn contains an invalid column, or is not in proper syntax: custentity_sp_temp_status.",

Is reason why this would be? the field Id is correct

what does the custom entity field look like

it's a drop down list on the customer record and I am trying to grab the internal id from my script running on a sales order

i meant the custom field definition

oh that is it - just checked all the tabs on the field and someone set the field access to a specific role!