Oracle NetSuite Release 2022.2: our top picks as the update roll out concludes

The nights are drawing in, the air is cooler and the leaves are crisp underfoot. Not only do these things spell the firm presence of Autumn, but also the end of the roll-out phase of Oracle NetSuite’s 2022.2 update. Some of you may have been enjoying some of the new features and functionality the update has offered up wither in the sandbox or now live.

NetSuite has taken heed of feedback from its summer survey of customers which highlighted challenges facing many industries: inflation, labour shortages and difficulty acquiring materials – addressing them with features that help in the mission to find savings and identify new efficiencies through the provision of better visibility.

So, whether you’re in manufacturing, wholesale distribution, professional services or the tech space, there are some golden nuggets that will help boost productivity, profitability and customer satisfaction.

Our NetSuite Consultant Daniel has outlined some of his top picks from this latest NetSuite update offering.

Effective management of rebates and trades promotions help firms stay on top in competitive times

There’s no doubt that in these challenging and competitive times for operators in the retail, wholesale distribution and manufacturing arenas, finding ways to drive sales and market share is crucial. Rebates and trades promotions are an important element in this mission, and a tactic employed by many players across multiple industries.

But the processes around rebates and trades promotions are very complex, and trying to execute these when relying on spreadsheets, or multiple systems, is fraught with error risk – not to mention extremely time-consuming. There are elements including sales, price amendments – to cater for varying rebate amounts – and accounts to manage. When combining these tasks with reconciling rebates, it can be a literal headache for operatives.

Enter NetSuite’s new Rebate and Trade Promotions SuiteApp, which centralises the management and execution of this function, fully automating the processes to deliver infinite efficiencies. The feature allows for the creation of rebate and trade promotion agreements with defined contract terms that can be tailored to each customer. The solution takes care of rebate amount calculations by either combining stackable agreement calculations or selecting the best deal for each order, where non-stackable agreements are the case.

With automation of the settlement and reconciliation process for claims and disbursements, the support offered in the way of multiple calculation methods means users can choose from a selection of cost-basis options such as percentage based, flat amount or fixed costs, for true flexibility.

Accounting is also made easier with the accrual accounting capability, so when an order is invoiced, rebate amounts are accrued automatically. Financial visibility is also greatly enhanced with the reporting and analysis within this feature – so it’s easy to see why this made it into our top picks!

Marketing automation just got easier for Salesforce users

While we’re on the theme of driving sales and market share, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a key element of this, and to that end, NetSuite has introduced a CRM add-on that enhances automation with Salesforce – that is, the automation of marketing and management of customer service functions. With new roles and dashboards tailored to sales managers, sales representatives and marketing and customer service operatives, these users can focus on the tasks that meet their individual goals and priorities, with easier access to their most-used capabilities. Workbooks functionality is included with this add-on and has 10 pre-built SuiteAnalytics reports configured to meet the varying KPIs of each type of operative.

Warehouse efficiencies receive a boost with Smart Count

As consumer buying behaviour is an ever-evolving element, the quest for efficiencies in warehouse management is ongoing. A key part of this is inventory counting, which is a challenging process for many organisations. Achieving accuracy efficiently while minimising impact on customers is vital – so as not to disappoint or inconvenience.

NetSuite’s Smart Count feature for mobile devices aims to provide accurate inventory counts without impacting sales and store operations. There’s no need to freeze transactions while cycle counting takes place, as the automation capability does this in real-time. This means availability is up-to-date and inventory can be optimised. Any activity occurring during the count is automatically picked up by the counters. Administrators can choose what happens if the quantity changes during the count process thanks to the administrator control function, and the advanced visibility feature enables users to provide lists of items that need to be counted using predefined criteria, business rules, and key drivers – completely automating the count process with set parameters chosen by the organisation.

Running low or over stocking inventory spells inefficiency and potential costs for businesses, so the automated recounts feature automatically triggers a count to check accuracy of a given bin, if inventory levels fall below the re-order point. This helps to address the issue of unnecessary replenishment as well as under-stocking.

With centralised information and mobile access, organisations have full visibility of items due to be counted, as well as the location, and can do this from a mobile device. This means completion of counts can be done on-the-go from anywhere in the warehouse.

New availability and enhancements of SuiteApps

In the 2022.1 update, Cash 360 dashboard was introduced, offering a real-time view of cash, as well as forecasting capabilities. Also introduced was the Project 360 dashboard to help project managers view all project info in one single workspace for optimum visibility. In this update, these are now available installation via the SuiteApp Marketplace.

So, whether it’s access to real-time cash projections, bank balance, payables and receivables, or accessing KPIs for individual projects, monitoring and allocating resources or analysing project profitability, these two SuiteApps have you covered. Both of them are incredibly useful tools for customers across a variety of business sectors.

I hope this has been a useful overview of some of the features of the latest NetSuite update, but as always, if you would like further information and advice on which of these latest features might help your business, get in touch and myself or one of our other experts will be able to assist.