NetSuite Review
Regulatory compliance & tax managementAccelerates the financial closing process
Real-time metrics & role-based dashboards
Intuitive planning, budgeting & forecasting
Full billing & revenue management
Pros & Cons
- Wide range of features that can be customized for your business’ needs
- Round the clock support for critical issues you may encounter
- Integrated eCommerce storefront
- You can manage the majority of your business with the platform
- Cloud based so can be accessed from almost anywhere
- It’s difficult to understand what modules you will and won’t need
- Many of the features are only available as separate add-ons
- Sales team can be overly aggressive
Plans & Pricing
It can be difficult to arrive at concrete pricing plans for NetSuite because there are so many variables and permutations baked into the platform. There are many features which can be added or removed based on your needs but it has a core functionality available on all plans. Their site doesn’t give the exact pricing, but you can get a free quote based on the size and volume of your business.
Overview
NetSuite was founded in 1998 by Evan Goldberg as an accounting and ERP platform for small, medium, and enterprise businesses in a wide range of industries. It was acquired by Oracle in 2016 but that didn’t affect its evolution into one of the leading solutions of its kind.
Features and Functionality
NetSuite can be considered a complete business management system. It comes with a diverse range of features such as marketing automation, CRM, procurement, and more. Together, it allows you to streamline processes, get the most important data in one place, and properly manage your resources. It can be accessed via all the major web browsers and via a mobile device with a simpler interface. There are a few features which stand out.
Supply Chain Management
NetSuite brings together multiple functions to allow you to manage your entire supply chain. You’re able to Input and analyze demand, see how it relates to current supplies and make a far-reaching plan based on real-world data. You can then create all of the purchase and work orders you need. It even integrates with customer service features to handle tickets, track any issue that arises, and keep up to date on warranties.
Marketing Automation
The software offers a holistic marketing automation suite that’s integrated directly to the CRM. It empowers you to run multi-channel marketing campaigns that the most important customer touchpoints. You can take advantage of frameworks built into the platform to jumpstart your marketing system or incorporate your own. It includes email marketing, analytics, forms and landing pages, and website optimization for search engines.
Powerful Financial Tools
The NetSuite financial features allows you to do everything from managing billing whether you’re running a service business, SaaS company, or a hybrid model to creating invoices and quotes. The revenue recognition and audit trail features make it simple to comply with relevant tax authorities and properly report profit and loss. Of course, there are detailed analytics, custom dashboards, and global account consolidation.
Ease of Use
Though NetSuite is a powerful platform, it’s not the easiest one to use. It has a large number of features which confuse many new users who try to make the most of it. There’s an entire ecosystem of consultants that have sprung up to help organizations make the transition to NetSuite. There are training programs provided by the company on demand which you can register for to alleviate the burden of learning the platform. Even with that help, the learning curve is often steep.
Add-ons and Integrations
Even though there are a large number of features natively in NetSuite, some functionality is only available as an add-on. You can pick and choose these add-ons as you like and request additional customization so it perfectly aligns with your needs.
Project Management
It offers an entire project management platform which has popular features such as Gantt charts, task creation, assigning tasks, expense tracking, project billing, automated task/job creation, budget, tracking multiple projects, and much more.
Advanced Manufacturing
Manufacturing organizations have a different set of needs and use unique processes. The advanced manufacturing suite takes that into account and offers features such as assembly builds, WIP tracking, finite capacity scheduling, quality management, and more.
NetSuite eCommerce
This important add-on integrates directly with the ERP solution so you have a seamless connection with all of your data. It provides a site builder, landing pages, and support for a large number of products. The integration is designed to offer a templated storefront which can be launched quickly without compromising quality. If you upgrade to the advanced add-on, you have access to more customization options.
Customer support
NetSuite offers support via multiple channels such as phone, live chat, and email ticket but availability is determined by your support plan. Everyone is entitled to 24/7 critical support but only premium support members are entitled to non-critical support at all hours.
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24/7 Help & Support
This is available to all customers with critical issues. -
Phone Support
It’s available to all customers depending on the severity of the issue. -
Live Online Chat
Live chat us available for customers. -
Email
Email support is also available to all customers. -
Video Tutorials
There are a number of getting started video tutorials available online. -
FAQ
A detailed FAQ is available for current and prospective customers. -
Community Forum
A community forum is available for customers to share tips, tricks, and ask questions.
Final Word
NetSuite is a complete system to handle your accounting project management, and resource planning needs. It combines multiple features which can be mixed and matched based on your unique needs such as supply chain management, payroll, purchase order management, customer support, and even marketing automation. This makes it attractive to many small and medium businesses.
All of these powerful features, though useful under one roof, have often caused confusion with customers which rate the platform as difficult to use. An entire ecosystem of consultants has sprung up to make the transition to NetSuite easier for brands. With that being said, there’s no denying what it offers if you’re able to implement it properly. It’s a strong solution to streamline and consolidate your financial needs.
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what are some disadvantages of netsuite accounting software to be aware of?
Hi Megan,
You can take a look at the con section:
https://top-accountingsoftware.com/reviews/netsuite/