NetSuite 2021 Release 1 Emphasize Financial Controls, Automation and Flexibility

While last year’s social and economic upheaval affected every organization, some have emerged stronger than they were before the crisis. They’ve done so by pursuing new revenue streams, finding ways to operate more efficiently and carefully considering every expense. Many of these companies also relied on NetSuite’s accounting solutions, helping them to remain productive, collaborate and share information securely.

Now, these same organizations are shifting into higher gear with a renewed focus on growth. NetSuite 2021 Release 1 supports this return to growth with new features that automate processes for better efficiency, make it easier to control costs and save time by simplifying routine tasks.

Improve Financial Controls

Centralized purchasing for multiple subsidiaries

Companies with subsidiaries can wind up spending more money than necessary by buying the same goods multiple times, often from the same vendor, but also paying different prices. They can save on those purchases by combining them into a single order, using the volume to secure better pricing. But processing an order for multiple subsidiaries is time-consuming, especially if the process is manual and involves additional accounting steps to handle cross charges.

NetSuite 2021 Release 1 simplifies the process with centralized purchasing and billing. This new capability enables organizations with multiple business units or subsidiaries to consolidate procurement within a single department. This not only saves money, but also improves efficiency by standardizing the procurement process and reducing order volume.

Orders can be shipped from the vendor to the appropriate subsidiary locations directly, eliminating the need to manually split and redirect items individually. And because vendor payments, returns and credits can also be managed centrally, intercompany accounting is much easier. NetSuite allocates the expense proportionally to each subsidiary automatically, saving time during the close process.

Spend management

Controlling costs is as important as it has ever been. Focusing on growth doesn’t mean ignoring financial realities. Companies still need to stick to budgets and control spending. NetSuite’s new expense commitments and budget validation feature helps by validating purchase requests and orders against available budgets. Alerts notify managers if a pending purchase request would put their department over budget, allowing them to either reject the request or seek additional funds before the purchase is made.

Automate Everyday Tasks

Approvals on the go

The emergence of work-from-anywhere policies means managers are in the office less often. Just because they’re working remotely, however, doesn’t mean they don’t have to check their employee’s expense reports, authorize vendor payments or handle other administrative tasks.

SuiteApprovals now allows managers to review and approve or reject transactions via email using a mobile device. Staff can use the accompanying email approval log to review and audit email approval actions before they are updated in the system. This leads to more flexible and quicker transaction approvals. 

Timely, accurate bank data

Finance leaders need to know how much cash is available at any given moment. For companies that operate globally, this is no easy task, especially if it involves manually downloading and consolidating data from multiple bank accounts in multiple currencies.

NetSuite’s Bank Feeds SuiteApp saves time and increases the productivity of accounting staff by automatically importing bank and credit card data from thousands of financial institutions. Previously available for North America and Europe, the Bank Feeds SuiteApp now connects with banks in Asia, Australia and New Zealand as well.

Businesses operating in these regions will now have convenient, secure access to review their latest transactions and current cash balances from within NetSuite. With timely, accurate bank data, companies in Asia, Australia and New Zealand will be able to make more informed financial decisions.

Automated subscription billing credits

In 2021 Release 1, NetSuite has enhanced billing capabilities for companies with recurring revenue business models. Invoices for previous service periods can be automatically updated to reflect credits or other changes to the original invoice amount, improving accuracy and eliminating manual steps to issue credit memos for every change.

Increase Flexibility

Customized document numbering

Doing business in multiple countries creates unique accounting challenges. International standards like those established by the IASB offer a consistent set of accounting rules for companies to follow, but they don’t address the myriad other financial regulations companies must comply with.

For instance, many countries have detailed rules for the organization and retention of financial records, including numbering conventions for various documents and transactions. Unfortunately, these rules aren’t consistent from country to country. The numbering options in many accounting systems are extremely limited, however, so companies operating internationally often struggle to comply.

NetSuite advanced numbering helps alleviate this problem by enabling the use of custom numbering rules for documents and transactions. Companies can define dynamic rules using multiple criteria, segments and priorities to create unique numbering sequences that meet the specific requirements of the various countries they operate in.

Learn More About NetSuite 2021 Release 1

This brief overview is only a snapshot of the latest release. NetSuite 2021 Release 1 introduces dozens of new features and enhancements. Tune in to the 2021 Release 1 podcast episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube to learn more.

You can also connect with your NetSuite Account Manager.