“Organizations with broken systems typically suffer from broken business processes and vice versa.”
Phil Simon
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are known as the right hand of every CFO, and the trusted helper of financial teams. ERPs allow businesses to scale faster, tie in departments and provide a single source of truth of performance metrics.
- Time To Read: 6 min
- Who Should Read: CFO, Controller, Accounting Manager.
- Drink Pairing: Grande Cappuccino
- For Pricing Help: Swing by the Contact Us page.
Here’s what we will review:
- ERP background & history
- NetSuite as business management software
- Flexibility in modules & pricing
- Why modern financial teams love it
1. ERP Background
Enterprise Resource Planning refers to business management software that optimizes a company’s backend operations. ERP doesn’t refer to a specific brand. It unifies departments, in turn, saving time, money and increase operational productivity. ERPs help companies with common business processes such as accounting, finance, CRM, human resources, project management, e-commerce, and manufacturing. Enterprise resource planning systems combine multiple applications into one system, allowing for visibility on departments, tasks, and products on an individual and collective level.
ERP systems can be On-Premise (installed on local machines) or SaaS/online (cloud software). The platform’s goal was to eliminate giant ledger books accountants used to track financial transactions, to reduce human error. Nowadays large companies use it as an essential part of the operational improvement strategy.
Quick History
The main premise of this tool is to enable small and large businesses to do more with less. Access to key data allows teams to understand the current situation and design accurate strategies for improvement.
Even though Enterprise Resource Planning history starts in 1960. In 2005 the system popularity raised due to mid-market businesses, which cite fast growth & scalability as key enablers. It is, however, important to highlight that not every company is in need of an ERP.
Typically, firms with revenue under 25 million can go without the support of ERP since manual workarounds might do the trick. When your transaction volume, the number of subs, teams, and vendors increase, it’s time to think about cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning.
The need for accounting software for large businesses
So, you now know that business software such as NetSuite is an all-encompassing solution, what does that really mean?
There are several business management tools available such as Quickbooks (accounting software for small companies) or SalesForce (CRM) which is dedicated to specific department needs. However, this doesn’t mean that their functions can supplant ERP.
ERP’s such as NetSuite offers users the flexibility to integrate with existing critical business software. This means that your main platform, being the ERP is the all-connecting hub for business processes and real-time data. CRM, Tax, Month End, and Shipping apps can all be integrated into this hub, creating a connected ecosystem.
2. What is Oracle NetSuite?
Oracle NetSuite is the leading cloud-based ERP system, a perfect fit for mid-market companies. In the old-school days, the software was deployed via large and expensive hardware (on-premise devices). This hardware needed to be set up inside the company to operate and needed consistent maintenance. NetSuite arrived in 1998 and disrupted the business management industry forever.
NetSuite showed up as the first SaaS (software as a service), offering a fully customizable enterprise resource planning solution. NetSuite is designed for the cloud, to enable teams to have real-time data, work fast, and keep data secure.
NetSuite is consistently updating & improving. Fun Fact: in 2016 the company was bought by Oracle, to create the biggest software service provider in the world. This also allowed the software team to tap into Oracle’s existing experience & customer base in tech.
Flexibility in modules and pricing
NetSuite comes standard with ample best practices fit for businesses. It is also flexible in setup, users have the freedom to personalize features to fit their company DNA. This allows clients to have access to powerful enterprise software suitable for wide budget ranges.
Since every company requires different solutions, the price will depend on the structure selected for the implementation. One of NetSuite’s best attributes is scalability, which means you can always add more functions to your system as needed. Curious about what scalable means? Check out the popular NetSuite Pricing guide and find out which solution works best for you.
Core NetSuite Modules:
NetSuite modules are the system’s biggest asset, allowing teams to automate tasks, manage people, and organize data at every level.
Financial Management
- Fixed Assets
- Advanced Revenue Management
- Advanced Financials
- SuiteBilling
- Planning and Budgeting
- Multi-Book Accounting
Inventory & Manufacturing
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Warehouse & Assemblies
- Advanced Inventory
- Work orders & assemblies
- Advanced Procurement
- Demand planning
Service Resource Planning
E-commerce & Retail Management
Human Capital Management
3. Why financial teams love it…
Our team works with many financial groups on NetSuite ERP implementations, here are the top NetSuite benefits they take advantage of.
- It’s scalable, which means that you can improve system capability as your business grows, you pay for the features you use.
- Accelerated growth, allows you to expand to multiple locations and add new sales channels whenever is needed.
- It provides true visibility, thanks to real-time reporting, it’s possible to determine which business lines, products, and departments need improvement.
- Automate workflows, the platform allows users to set up custom workflows to automate manual tasks under proper company criteria.
- Improves visibility, offers you total control over enterprise operations. It also allows segmented transactions to be audited in detail, making it easier to determine problem areas and issues (ideal for managing auditors).
Today, finance teams are using ERPs as their trusted business partners, allowing them to discover opportunities and improve operational performance.
If you’re just starting your research on which ERP system to choose
Keep in mind the following takeaways, Trajectory has been implementing for 14 + years 😉
- Firms with revenue above 25 million and an active user base of over 10 people should strongly assess the platform.
- On average, implementing an enterprise resource system is a 4 to 5-month project. It will require about 40% to 50% of your core team’s time to be successful.
- An ERP is typically an 8-year investment, before comparing platforms think about your team’s needs and which processes require optimization. Once you are done with research, reach out to a certified expert to guide you through a demo of features.
- Data integrity and migration are to be taken seriously, from day one of the projects.
- Learn about the module features & NetSuite cost factors. This is critical, as you don’t want to get stuck with a system that needs workarounds to work.
