What Is NetSuite? The Ultimate Guide for 2024

What Is Netsuite? Discover the power of this unified cloud business suite and how it can transform your business. WHAT.EDU.VN provides a comprehensive overview, covering everything from ERP basics to advanced modules. Explore how this business management suite can streamline your operations and drive growth.

1. Understanding NetSuite: A Comprehensive Overview

NetSuite stands as a premier cloud-based business management suite, offering a unified platform to manage various enterprise-grade tools. At its core, NetSuite revolves around Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), but it has expanded over the years to include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRM), eCommerce, Professional Services Automation (PSA), and many more functionalities. This makes NetSuite a versatile solution for businesses of all sizes looking to streamline their operations.

2. What is ERP and Why Choose a Cloud-Based Solution?

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a software platform that integrates core business processes such as financials, supply chain, manufacturing, and human resources. It acts as a central repository, allowing different departments and team members to access and share information seamlessly.

ERP systems automate and streamline accounting, inventory management, and order processing, providing real-time data and insights for better decision-making. While ERP systems can be implemented on-premises, cloud-based solutions offer numerous advantages. Popular ERP systems include SAP, Oracle, Acumatica, and NetSuite.

Why Use an ERP System?

• Improved Efficiency: Automate processes, reduce manual tasks, and free up resources for more strategic activities.
• Enhanced Decision-Making: Access real-time data and insights for informed decision-making.
• Increased Collaboration: Facilitate communication and collaboration across departments.
• Greater Flexibility: Customize the system to meet specific business needs and scale as required.
• Reduced Costs: Streamline processes, eliminate manual data entry, and minimize errors.

3. Benefits of Cloud ERP

A cloud-based ERP system is hosted and delivered via the internet, eliminating the need for on-premises servers. This offers several key benefits:

• Cost Savings: Reduce upfront investment in hardware and software infrastructure. Pay a subscription fee for access.
• Scalability: Easily scale up or down to meet changing business demands.
• Flexibility: Access the system from anywhere with an internet connection, enabling remote work and collaboration.
• Security: Benefit from robust security measures to protect sensitive business data.
• Integration: Seamlessly integrate with other business applications like CRM and Supply Chain Management (SCM).

4. Why is NetSuite So Popular?

NetSuite isn’t just a trendy ERP tool; it spearheaded the cloud revolution in business software. Its popularity stems from disrupting traditional business practices and redefining how businesses operate.

NetSuite continuously innovates to remain at the forefront of business software technology. After two decades of advocating for cloud solutions, NetSuite has become a leading ERP solution due to several factors.

5. Key Benefits of NetSuite

• All-in-One Solution: Consolidate accounting, CRM, e-commerce, and inventory management into a single system for streamlined operations. Log in from anywhere for secure and reliable access.
• Scalability: Easily scale up or down to adapt to changing business needs and rapid growth.
• Customizable: Benefit from extensive development options and a community of third-party developers offering numerous “bundles” for NetSuite users.
• Integratable: Connect seamlessly with various applications, databases, and APIs.
• User-Friendly Interface: Navigate the system easily, reducing the learning curve and improving productivity.
• Mobile Accessibility: Stay connected and work remotely with access from mobile devices.
• Advanced Reporting and Analytics: Track KPIs, identify trends, and make informed decisions with robust reporting capabilities.
• Industry-Specific Functionality: Tailored functionality for specific sectors like retail, manufacturing, and healthcare.
• Intuitive UI: Administrators can access critical information displayed elegantly and optimally on dashboards.

6. Core NetSuite Accounting/ERP Functionality

NetSuite is sold in packages containing department-specific features known as modules. The ERP package is the most common, including functionalities like:

• General Ledger: Central repository for financial data, including account balances, transactions, and budgets.
• Accounts Payable: Automates bill payments and tracks vendor payments, including purchase orders and invoice recording.
• Accounts Receivable: Manages accounts receivable, including invoice creation, customer payment tracking, and collections management.
• Bank Reconciliation: Reconciles bank accounts with financial records to ensure transaction accuracy and identify discrepancies.
• Financial Reporting: Provides balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements for tracking financial performance and making informed decisions.
• Cash Management: Manages company cash flow, including bank account reconciliation and forecasting.
• Budgeting: Creates and tracks budgets, compares actual results to budgeted amounts, and analyzes variances.
• Fixed Asset Management: Tracks and manages company fixed assets, including depreciation calculations and asset disposals.
• Revenue Recognition: Manages and recognizes revenue in accordance with accounting standards, including support for ASC 606 and IFRS 15.
• Multi-Currency: Conducts financial transactions in multiple currencies with automatic conversion using current exchange rates.
• Audit Trail: Provides a comprehensive record of all financial transactions for easy tracking and auditing.
• Tax Calculation: Automatically calculates and applies appropriate tax rates based on location and type of goods or services.
• Tax Reporting: Generates tax reports like sales tax and VAT reports to meet reporting obligations.
• Tax Compliance: Helps businesses stay up-to-date with changing tax laws and regulations, alerting them to potential compliance issues.
• Tax Filing: Assists with preparing and filing tax returns, including electronic submission of tax forms.

7. NetSuite Inventory Management

• Item Management: Create and manage inventory items, including item numbers, descriptions, pricing, and images.
• Inventory Management: Track and manage inventory levels, including reordering and replenishment.
• Bin Management: Track and manage inventory within specific storage locations (bins) in a warehouse.
• Lot and Serial Number Tracking: Track and manage inventory using unique lot or serial numbers.
• Drop Shipments: Manage and track orders fulfilled directly by vendors.
• Intercompany Transactions: Track and manage inventory movements between different entities within the company.

8. NetSuite Order Management

• Order Entry: Create and manage customer orders, including quotes, order entry, and returns processing.
• Order Fulfillment: Manage the fulfillment process for customer orders, including picking, packing, and shipping.
• Returns Management: Manage and track customer returns, including processing returns and issuing credits or replacements.
• Customer Management: Track and manage customer information, including contact details, order history, and notes.
• Pricing and Discounting: Create and manage custom pricing and discounting rules for products and services.
• Quotes and Proposals: Create and manage quotes and proposals for potential customers.
• Subscriptions: Manage recurring orders and subscription billing.
• Customer Self-Service: Provide a customer portal for placing orders, tracking shipments, and viewing order history.

9. Purchasing and Receiving in NetSuite

• Purchase Order Creation: Create and manage purchase orders for items and services.
• Vendor Management: Manage vendor information, including contact details, payment terms, and shipping methods.
• Inventory Management: Track inventory levels, replenish stock, and manage demand forecasts.
• Receiving Goods: Track the receipt of goods and compare them to the original purchase order for accuracy.
• Invoicing and Payment: Manage invoices and payments with integration to financial software.

10. NetSuite Project Management

• Project Planning and Scheduling: Create and manage project schedules, including tasks, resources, budgets, and milestones.
• Resource Management: Manage and allocate resources, including personnel, equipment, and materials.
• Budget Tracking: Track project budgets, including actual costs and variances from the original budget.
• Time and Expense Tracking: Track time and expenses with integration to time sheets and expense reports.
• Collaboration: Collaborate with team members through communication, file sharing, and task assignments.
• Task Dependencies: Specify dependencies between tasks.
• Risk Management: Identify and manage project risks, assigning risk owners and creating mitigation plans.
• Change Management: Track and manage changes to projects, creating change requests and tracking their approval process.
• Document Management: Store and manage project-related documents, including contracts, proposals, and specification sheets.
• Project Templates: Create and use templates for common types of projects to simplify setup.

11. Employee Management

• Employee Records: Create and manage employee records, including personal and professional information, job titles, and salary details.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Track employee time and attendance, including clocking in and out, scheduling shifts, and managing time off requests.
• Payroll: Calculate and issue employee pay, including integration with payroll tax and benefits systems.
• Performance Management: Create and manage employee performance evaluations, setting goals, tracking progress, and providing feedback.
• Talent Management: Recruit and onboard new employees, as well as manage employee training and development.
• Policy and Compliance: Manage employee policies and compliance with laws and regulations.

12. Popular NetSuite Modules and Add-Ons

NetSuite offers various modules to expand its functionality while maintaining complete data integration. These modules are sold separately or in specific packages tailored to your needs.

13. NetSuite CRM

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module manages customer interactions and data, automating sales, marketing, and customer service processes.

Key features include:

• Contact and Lead Management: Create and manage records for contacts and leads, including communication history and sales stages.
• Sales Forecasting: Create and track sales forecasts, setting targets and measuring performance.
• Opportunity Management: Create and manage opportunities, tracking deal status and likelihood of closing.
• Account Management: Create and manage accounts, tracking customer interactions, purchases, and support tickets.
• Marketing Automation: Automate marketing campaigns, including email marketing, lead nurturing, and social media marketing.
• Customer Service: Manage customer service requests, tracking and resolving issues and creating knowledge base articles.

14. NetSuite eCommerce (SuiteCommerce)

NetSuite SuiteCommerce is an e-commerce platform for businesses of all sizes, offering tools for creating and managing online stores.

Key features include:

• Website Design and Management: Create and manage an e-commerce website with templates, customization options, and content management.
• Product Listings: Create and manage product listings, including descriptions, images, pricing, and inventory levels.
• Order Management: Manage orders, capturing them from various channels, routing them to fulfillment locations, and tracking their status.
• Customer Management: Create and manage customer records, tracking communication and purchasing history.
• Marketing Automation: Automate marketing campaigns.
• Reporting and Analytics: Track e-commerce performance and customer interactions with reporting and analytics tools.
• Integration with Other Systems: Integrate with other NetSuite modules like CRM and financial software for a comprehensive view of customer data.

15. NetSuite WMS (Warehouse Management)

NetSuite Warehouse Management System (WMS) helps businesses manage and optimize their warehouse operations, streamlining receiving, storage, and shipping processes.

Key features include:

• Receiving: Manage the receipt of goods, tracking and verifying incoming shipments, creating purchase orders, and generating receiving reports.
• Putaway and Storage: Create and manage storage locations within the warehouse, optimizing space use.
• Picking and Packing: Manage the picking and packing process, creating pick lists and packing slips, and tracking order progress.
• Shipping: Manage the shipping process, creating shipping labels and documents, tracking shipping costs, and managing carrier relationships.
• Inventory Management: Track inventory levels, replenish stock, and manage demand forecasts.

16. NetSuite Manufacturing

NetSuite’s manufacturing module manages the production process from raw materials to finished goods, optimizing manufacturing operations.

Key features include:

• Bill of Materials (BOM) Management: Create and manage BOMs, listing materials and components needed to manufacture a product.
• Work Order Management: Create and manage work orders, specifying materials, resources, and processes involved in production.
• Inventory Management: Track inventory levels, replenish stock, and manage demand forecasts.
• Capacity Planning: Create and manage capacity plans to ensure sufficient resources and capacity to meet demand.
• Quality Control: Manage quality control processes, tracking defects, conducting inspections, and generating quality reports.

17. NetSuite OneWorld

NetSuite OneWorld manages global operations with multi-currency and multi-language support, tax management, and global shipping options. It’s ideal for businesses with complex international operations.

Key features include:

• Multi-Currency and Multi-Language Support: Manage transactions and customer interactions in multiple currencies and languages.
• Tax Management: Manage taxes, specifying tax rates and rules for different countries and regions, and tracking tax payments and liabilities.
• Global Shipping Options: Manage global shipping, creating shipping labels and documents, tracking shipping costs, and managing carrier relationships.
• Subsidiary Management: Create and manage subsidiaries, tracking financial data, operations, and customer interactions for each.
• Consolidated Reporting: Generate consolidated financial reports for all subsidiaries, analyzing global operations.
• Country-Specific Features: Support for VAT in the European Union and GST in Australia.

18. NetSuite OpenAir

NetSuite OpenAir is a project management and professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing projects, resources, and financials. It’s designed for businesses in the consulting, technology, and professional services sectors.

Key features include:

• Project Management: Manage projects, creating project schedules, tasks, resources, budgets, and milestones.
• Resource Management: Manage and allocate resources.
• Time and Expense Tracking: Track time and expenses, approving time sheets and expense reports.
• Financial Management: Manage financial aspects of projects, including invoicing, billing, and revenue recognition.
• Collaboration: Collaborate with team members.

19. NetSuite Payroll

NetSuite Payroll helps businesses manage employee payroll and benefits, automating payroll processes.

Key features include:

• Payroll Processing: Process employee payroll, calculating and distributing paychecks, tracking deductions and contributions, and managing employee tax information.
• Benefits Management: Manage employee benefits, enrolling employees in benefit plans, tracking benefit usage, and calculating benefit costs.
• Time and Attendance Tracking: Track employee time and attendance, approving time sheets and tracking paid time off.
• Payroll Tax Compliance: Manage payroll tax compliance, calculating and filing payroll tax returns, and tracking tax payments and liabilities.
• Employee Self-Service: Employees can access their payroll and benefits information through a self-service portal.
• Mobile Access: Access the Payroll module from a mobile device, approving time sheets and entering payroll data.

20. NetSuite ERP SuiteSuccess

NetSuite SuiteSuccess is designed for small and medium-sized businesses, offering tools and features for managing financials, operations, and customer relationships. It includes pre-configured business processes, industry-specific functionality, and best practices for quick implementation.

21. SuiteCloud Platform: The Foundation of NetSuite

The SuiteCloud platform is the environment on which all NetSuite features and functionalities are built. It allows NetSuite users to extend the usefulness of the ERP system, offering customization, configuration, security, integration, and ease of use.

22. Oracle NetSuite Analytics

NetSuite Analytics allows users to create custom reports and dashboards to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and make data-driven decisions.

Main features include:

• Custom Reports: Create custom reports to display data in tables, charts, and graphs, scheduling them for automatic generation and delivery.
• Dashboards: Create custom dashboards to display real-time data visually, tracking KPIs and making data-driven decisions.
• Data Visualization: Use visualization options like pie charts, bar charts, and line graphs to make data more meaningful.
• Data Filtering and Sorting: Filter and sort data to focus on specific sets or find specific information.
• Collaboration: Share reports and dashboards and collaborate on data analysis in real-time.

23. NetSuite ERP Customization vs. Configuration

• Customization: Requires scripting or third-party applications to modify the NetSuite platform.
• Configuration: Uses natively included features to tailor the NetSuite platform to specific needs, like form builders, workflow automation, custom reports, and custom fields.

Customizing NetSuite should be a last resort. Modules or third-party add-ons are often better solutions.

24. Ways to Customize NetSuite

SuiteScript

SuiteScript is a JavaScript-based programming language used to customize and extend NetSuite’s functionality, automating business processes, integrating with other systems, and customizing the user experience.

Types of SuiteScripts:

• User Event Scripts: Triggered by specific actions within NetSuite, automating processes, validating data, or performing custom actions.
• Scheduled Scripts: Automatically run on a regular basis, performing periodic tasks like generating reports or sending emails.
• Client Scripts: Run in the client’s web browser, customizing the user interface or adding custom functionality to forms and pages.
• Map/Reduce Scripts: Process large sets of data in a distributed manner, performing complex calculations, data transformations, or data integrations.

25. Oracle NetSuite Integration APIs

NetSuite integration connects NetSuite with other systems like accounting software, CRM, or e-commerce platforms, automating business processes, exchanging data, and streamlining operations.

Integration methods include:

• NetSuite’s Native Integration Tools: Using tools like the NetSuite Connector and the NetSuite Web Services API.
• Third-Party Integration Solutions: Integrations developed by NetSuite partners or independent software vendors (ISVs).
• Custom Integration Solutions: Developing custom solutions using tools like SuiteScript or SuiteFlow for complex requirements.

26. SuiteFlow Automation

SuiteFlow creates custom workflows to automate business processes and streamline operations using a visual workflow builder.

You can use SuiteFlow to automate tasks such as sending emails, updating records, or creating tasks. You can also use SuiteFlow to validate data before it is saved, or to customize the user experience by hiding or displaying fields or buttons based on specific conditions.

27. NetSuite ERP Configuration

Custom Fields

Custom fields store information specific to your business, added to records like transactions, contacts, and items.

Custom Forms

Custom forms customize standard forms for data entry and viewing, tailoring the look and feel of NetSuite, capturing additional data, or simplifying the user experience.

Custom Workflows

Workflows automate actions triggered by specific events, streamlining business processes and improving efficiency.

Workflows in NetSuite can automate tasks, validate data, and customize the user experience.

28. NetSuite ERP Adoption

With over 33,000 active customers and positive reviews, NetSuite is a leading ERP solution.

29. Who Uses Oracle NetSuite?

While large enterprises use NetSuite, it shines in the mid-market and SME segments due to the advantages of cloud-based solutions.

30. NetSuite Industry Adoption

NetSuite is flexible and adopted by various industries, with Computer and Software companies dominating.

31. NetSuite Pricing Model

NetSuite’s pricing depends on:

1. Specific modules and features.
2. Number of users.
3. Length of the contract.
4. Business size and industry.
5. Customizations or integrations needed.

32. How to Buy NetSuite

NetSuite is often bought with the help of a NetSuite partner (VAR) due to their expertise in configuration and implementation. Purchases can be made directly through NetSuite, but this is only recommended for experienced users or those planning to use the SuiteSuccess program.

33. NetSuite Partners

NetSuite has a community of businesses providing additional services and software, categorized as:

• Solution Providers: Sell NetSuite software and solutions.
• Alliance Partners: Offer professional services like consulting, implementation, training, and support.
• SuiteCloud Development Network (SDN): Develop integrations or customizations.
• OEM Partners: Incorporate NetSuite functionality into their products or services.
• Independent Software Vendors (ISVs): Develop software applications that run on top of NetSuite.
• Referral Partners: Refer potential customers to NetSuite.

34. NetSuite Implementation

NetSuite implementation involves:

1. Planning: Defining business requirements and goals.
2. Customization: Customizing NetSuite to meet specific business needs.
3. Testing: Testing the customized version to ensure it meets business requirements.
4. Deployment: Rolling out NetSuite to the organization and training users.

The implementation is crucial and can be one of the largest upfront costs.

35. NetSuite Support Options

There are four support options:

• Basic Support: Included with all subscriptions, offering online resources and phone support.
• Premium Support: Similar to basic but offers priority queueing, weekend support, upgrade notices, and Commerce support.
• Advanced Customer Report (ACS): Provides additional resources and support options, including priority phone support, dedicated account management, specialized resources, and customized training.
• Partner Support: Choosing a NetSuite partner for specific types of support.

36. NetSuite FAQ

• What is NetSuite Used For? Managing financials, operations, and customer relationships in one platform.
• Is NetSuite the Same as Oracle? Owned by Oracle but operates as a separate business unit.
• Why is NetSuite So Popular? Comprehensive features, cloud-based architecture, and scalability.
• How Much is NetSuite a Month? Pricing varies based on specific needs.
• Is NetSuite Easy to Learn? Challenging but offers training and certification programs.
• What Problems Does NetSuite Solve? Inefficient processes, lack of visibility, and the need to consolidate multiple systems.
• Who are Some NetSuite Competitors? SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Acumatica, and Epicor ERP.

37. Final Thoughts on NetSuite

NetSuite is a comprehensive ERP software with tools and features for managing financials, operations, and customer relationships. It offers customization and integration options, as well as various support options to help users maximize the software’s potential.

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