NetSuite - Great ERP for mid-size/private companies

NetSuite is great overall. We have reliable numbers and the ability to create a search or report to facilitate data analysis. We have been able to automate a lot of processes (expenses, amortization, sales tax) and the interface is generally user-friendly.

Pros

NetSuite is scalable. I've used NetSuite at a company that was doing $200M+ in revenue and a company that is at $60M in revenue. I also really enjoy that NetSuite can be almost completely customized to your industry and business. NetSuite provides for a lot of automation of processes that Quickbooks cannot handle. It is also a better source of record-keeping as everything is somewhat seamlessly connected.

The batch upload of journal entries/transactions and upload in general is extremely useful and saves so much time.

My previous company used the Fixed Asset Module which was great for record keeping and for systematically recording amortization on a monthly basis. This was also extremely useful to ensure that our policy was uploaded as the amortization rule set, reducing errors in the amount of amortization per asset. The ability to report on the total assets and have their history in one spot proved useful for our audit.

Currently, we are implementing rules for 606 and the multi-book and ARM add-ons have proven very useful for our reporting purposes. I really enjoy NetSuite's use of rules for transactions as they can vary from company to company and item sku to item sku.

I love the saved search function too! So much flexibility for creating reports helps us create reports for month-end reconciliation purposes.

Cons

SuiteAnswers has a terrible algorithm for their search bar. The system is also not as intuitive as others since the actual home screen itself is customized by role. We have also run into the need for an consultant/more technical administrator to provide working scripts for some of our reporting. People with NetSuite should not expect the system to do everything perfectly, sadly the call center is far less helpful than the US-based consultants at NetSuite. However, you can always escalate to your sales rep.

Our solution is hosted and at times runs slower than I would prefer. I wonder if there is a way to increase the speed at which we can click through multiple cells or post a large amount of journal entries.

After you climb a steep learning curve, NetSuite is incredibly powerful.

We were able to have a single source of truth for our customer, vendor lists, for inventory, and for financials. Once our system was implemented, gaps analyzed and filled, and users trained, NetSuite has been an effective platform for our business.

Pros

NetSuite is an extremely powerful and inclusive package of applications that are extremely well-integrated.

For SMBs who've outgrown Quickbooks or other "smaller" accounting packages, it's a major improvement.

For manufacturing concerns looking to gain more traction and control over their processes, it is far beyond what lower-priced ERP systems provide. Again, it us a major improvement.

NetSuite is extremely extensible through external interfaces, 3rd party add-ons, internal scripting and through customizations.

Implemented correctly, it is relatively fast, and with its browser-based interface, there are no client issues and never any need for IT to upgrade a client version on every workstation because a new feature-set has been implemented.

It's CRM is adequate, useful, and given NetSuite's signature internal integration, it is easy to implement an effective lead-to-cash system.

The ecosystem also has multiple vendors who sell integration services, for example, there are a number of SalesForce to Netsuite integration partners who can (relatively) quickly connect the two systems. On the backside, the same is true of many popular shipping, warehouse management and other packages. Or, you can roll your own JSON connectivity.

Cons

NetSuite is not easily deployed, and requires expertise to get things mostly right the first time. They address this in their ecosystem by encouraging customers to work with NetSuite partners -- VAR firms that have undergone certifications -- to deploy the system.

There is a steep learning curve, even for system analysts familiar with other ERP, CRM and web commerce platforms.

There is a saying in the NetSuite community that is very true: "you can do anything with NetSuite, but it is going to cost you." Those costs may be development hours for internal developers, fees paid to partners, license costs for addons and integrations, etc. etc. Count on it with any major NS effort.

NetSuite is usually quite reliable, but it can and will "get slow" from time to time, and there are infrequent outages that can last a few minutes to an hour or more. These never come at a good time (is there ever a good time?) and getting information regarding status of repairs can be frustrating.

Free advice: vett your NetSuite partner carefully, and make sure that they can and will provide effective ongoing support. Some firms are better than others at this, and it is a good question to ask references before you hire anyone.

Plan on your implementation taking longer than you expect. This is true with most ERP implementations, NetSuite included.

Support from the company itself can be an exercise in frustration, but persistence and insistence can really help.

a NetSuite view from the perspective of a user and partner

Pros

multi anything:

- multi tennancy
- multi currency
- multi language

absolute flexibilty / release secure customisation

ALL in ONE product for ALL industries *** real/public CLOUD

- Accounting
- financials
- controlling
- reporting
- KPIs
Billing
- recurring billing
Payments
- SEPA
- bank reconciliation
- credit card statement import
- ERP
- LEAD to CASH process
- PROCUREMENT to PAY process
- inventory
Project management
eCommerce

ALL RELEASE SECURE
- 2 x major release changes per year
- since ~20 years
- for 15000 "logos" = 40000+ clients

HUNDREDS of PARTNERS worldwide

Customer does not need a special expertise to use NetSuite. An internal NetSuite admin can be trained - she/he needs to have some ERP-economical background through - sure.


interface / API / development plattform "in the cloud"

Whatever is not fully included so far can be "attached" e.g.

global HR
- no ERP with accounting on earth has an HR product fully integrated that can cover the same amount of counties as expected from the accounting side of view. Too many regulations.

same with PAYROLE

and BI
- the BI requirements are too diversified that 1 product can cover all. Eithger the internal NetSuite tools will do the job or you attach whatever suits best

and eCommerce
- NetSuite has kind of a "simple" webshop and a SUPER DUPER webshop named SCA = SuiteCommerce Advance that can do everything you need.

Rule of thumb with pricing: probably a 5th to a 10th of the price of DEMANDWARE or HYBRIS but INCLUDING webdesign AND fully integrated REAL TIME solution

Cons

Maybe performance - does not apply in all countries and is very dependant on the amount of individual scripting/programming in the individual system. This can be monitored and maintenanced but still needs to be done.

Not as "chique" as "best of bread" solutions

The overall ERP problem: make users in their various roles aware of all the options they have ... in most case an internal problem which of course refelcts to supporting professional providersevice

Full Featured Cloud Based Solution

Our company performed a lengthy evaluation of ERP solutions to move to in order to enhance our capabilities and support our expanding business. NetSuite offered the most robust cloud solution at the lowest price (best value solution). We are an import/export wholesale distributor with the need for multi-company, multi-currency capabilities. We have five separate legal entities with three primary operating entities and use public warehousing (more than 15 locations), so being able to report on an individual and consolidated basis was essential. Despite these needs, we are a small company in terms of employees (less than 25). NetSuite's OneWorld product was key to meeting our needs and as a cloud based solution we can maintain with limited staff. As the Controller I am the main administrator of our NetSuite solution, with no IT staff. NetSuite has delivered on their promise, providing a robust solution that provides a full-featured dashboard to monitor key performance indicators, easy secure access from anywhere, mobile capabilities, robust reporting capabilities and very customizable to meet business needs.

Pros

Easy to use.
Can be set-up and running in a short time-frame (90 to 120 days).
Good, proven implementation method that essentially is done with remote support via web-ex sessions.
Full featured dashboard with short-cuts
Email alerts to keep you informed of key data changes or approvals needed
Web storefront
Very easy to customize or configure to meet your business needs
Robust reporting
Easy navigation with short-cuts and global (Google) type search capabilities for finding transactions, communications, customer, vendor or employee records.
Always updated to latest version (version updates twice year)
Can fully support with no IT staff, making use of NetSuite support as needed, however, most questions and issues can be resolved by using NetSuite's SuiteAnswers self-service solution area and extensive online help that is part of the ERP system.
Great online training tools

Cons

Support is responsive, but depending on level of support purchased can take awhile to get answers and issues resolved. We have Silver Support which is limited to submitting cases on-line and waiting for NetSuite support to respond by email or call. NetSuite does assign an Account Manager who can be contacted by phone anytime to help expedite support issues as needed.
Complex system that is very configurable to meet your needs, but this creates a lot of noise as there are many things you may not need or use, making the software somewhat confusing and cumbersome to use at times.
Must have good internet connection and bandwidth to ensure good performance. Uptime is high (99.8%), but when not working all you can do is monitor and wait for NetSuite to fix issues. Longest downtime we've had is 45 minutes.

NetSuite - Robust and customizable, but everything is an add-on.

NetSuite is a robust ERP system that I would generally recommend for medium to larger businesses. If you can get past the implementation phase, it is generally very easy to maintain. If you need a lot of customization for your business processes, be prepared to manage and test the customization extensively, as there are lots of nuances that can be missed during the testing phases that can prove very difficult later to fix when additional workflows or scripts are in place.

Pros

It's a reliable, secure, and easily accessible cloud service. The platform is robust, and has highly customization forms and reporting, as well as a a lot of integration potential.

Cons

The software is very expensive, and a lot of times, you will need to do heavy customization to have it fit your needs. You will need at least one full time staff on hand to manage the software as an administrator, and the training is very expensive as well. Most advanced features are an add-on, and are not cheap either. While robust, this software isn't ideal for smaller businesses because of its price tag.

Once you get the software up and running, it is very easy to maintain. However, implementation can be difficult, and success varies with the amount of customization you may need. NetSuite professional services, who offers customization build outs, generally leaves a lot to be desired. Most of their professional services providers were off-shore, and at times difficult to communicate with.

Not for the feint of heart but very powerful

If you are looking for a system you can log into and in a few days be fluent and feel comfortable, NetSuite isn't for you. It is an extremely powerful and flexible system. That power and flexibility brings a high level of complexity. I'm a consultant that recently helped a company move from Peachtree to NetSuite including all their accounting processes and their website. It was a complex process that took a strong attention to detail and much forethought. It isn't something you'll do in a month. Now 1.5 years later, that company is thrilled with their choice. Sales are way up because of the improved website. Customer service ratings have skyrocketed because the CSRs now have a complete picture of the customer and all their interactions including website, phone, and email. The business owner has a much more detailed image of the business and is able to make decisions faster that have a positive impact on the business. Before NetSuite there was much more guesswork. Now decisions are based on actual data. All this doesn't come cheaply or easily. NetSuite can be tuned to your business in nearly infinite ways. I still fine tune their experience on a daily basis a year later. Customizing emails, pdfs, transaction screens and more. All this pays off with more efficiency in all aspects of the business. If you are looking for fast and simple, you will be very disappointed. If you are looking for something that has the power to do many, many things and you're willing to put in the time and money it takes to get a great return on your investment, you'll be happy.

Pros

Power and flexibility.

Cons

Complex.

Industry leading ERP software

Pros

Having worked with a number of different ERP systems over the years I find NetSuite by far the easiest to use not only in terms of usability but also from an Admin and configuration point of view. The interface is bright and easy to use and the ability to customise dashboards is a real advantage. From an admin and business use point of view I also find it excellent. The standard functionality is comprehensive, but it can also be customised to allow you to fit your business processes into the software without having to bespoke it too heavily.

It is also generally fast in terms of response times and there are many advantages to it being cloud based as opposed to being on premise. NetSuite support is also generally good and the fact that the software is automatically updated twice a year in order to release new improvements is also a huge positive.

Cons

Generally I don't have too may cons regarding NetSuite. Sometimes the support can take a while to reply, but that may be more due to timezone differences. Also NetSuite can occasionally roll out bundle updates which change functionality without too much notification. The same is also true of system maintenance, which can sometimes be during business hours, but again this is more due to time zones.

NetSuite is the best accounting/program out there!!

Makes invoicing fast & very easy. Lots of options & easy to customize this software to make it work for your company & what you are invoicing.

Pros

NetSuite can do so many things. It is the easiest program I have ever used for invoicing. It has a lot of different options to choose from that you can utilize. You can tell it to tax a customer/parent company or you can tell it that the company is tax exempt. So everytime you do an invoice for that company it will automatically add or not add the tax. There is even a "file" section that you can upload forms like tax exempt forms, or customer contracts. And it is so easy to bring up a company & see all of the invoices that we have ever made for them in a list. It has made our invoicing streamlined & very straight forward. This software has so many options it's crazy. If anyone in our accounting department can think of something that would be helpful to us on the invoice that is not already there, the president of our company can go into the "back ground" of the software & add & delete fields from our invoicing templates. Love this program!!!

Cons

It can be confusing to figure out how to set up your "Dashboard" for your own specification & usage. Other than that there isn't anything that we don't like about NetSuite!!

The sky is clear in the cloud

We have been using NetSuite for roughly a year. There were a lot of growing pains. People did not like change. However it is getting better. We are constantly learning new things about the system.

Pros

It is more user friendly. We were previously on PeopleSoft Financials for approximately 20 years. It was highly customized and there were a lot of system limitations as far as reports and queries. More of our users are able to run system reports for themselves such as the AR Aging Report.

NetSuite offers more flexibility.

It communicates better with other systems that we use.

I like being able to access NetSuite from any computer since it is in the cloud. With our previous software, we had to access the system through a VPN if we were outside of the office.

I like the global search box

Cons

There are still limitations on some of the saved searches as far as how it pulls in information. For instance, for an AP Report, it can pull in invoice numbers with the vendor, date, amount. If I want it to pull in the check number, this will cause additional lines on the report.

I don't like the journal upload process works. If there are multiple errors in a journal that is being uploaded, only the first error is identified. You have to go through multiple attempts in order to find all the lines with errors. This is time consuming.

Upgraded from old ERP system to Netsuite. Took 6 months to cut over to Netsuite and go live.

Went from software that was designed in 90s to a always up to date top of the line software. Netsuite was the best choice for for we needed to do. it had the ERP side as well as the CRM aspect. In time, if we grew, we could add on the warehouse management module.

Pros

The software has a very modern layout, if you have been on a website like facebook, and can use their top tab navigation,