What We Know So Far About NetSuite's New Features

Oct 5, 2022 by Kelsey Banerjee

Earlier in the year, we saw several sound updates from NetSuite’s first 2022 release, including new localizations, support for online donations, employee gender field enhancements, and more.

What can you expect for this second big release?

Thus far, the main focus seems to be on automation, data visualizations, and improving supply chain processes.

What Is the Focus of the New NetSuite Release?

NetSuite’s Release 2 for 2022 combines several new features to boost efficiency and streamline your workflow.

Many of the reasons for these features lie in resolving or limiting supply-chain shortage issues and incorporating automation. They also stem from NetSuite’s Summer Survey, which helps the company to pinpoint specific user challenges.

Top Feature Highlights

There are a handful of features that NetSuite believes will pack the biggest punch.

  1. Smart Count - As a mobile app feature, Smart Count eliminates or reduces the need for manual inventory counts. Instead, you and your team can manage inventory through pre-defined lists and automatic triggers. This frees up time and resources that would otherwise be spent on manual tasks.
  2. Item360 - The new Item260 dashboard provides end-to-end visibility on each item, including location, stock levels, KPIs, and more.
  3. Trade and Promotions Now, manufacturers can effortlessly create, manage, apply, and reconcile rebates and trade promotions from a centralized location.
  4. CRM Add-On - Now you can better integrate your sales team with specific role designations, permissions, and dashboards.
  5. CRM Workbook - This sales forecasting feature is a part of the CRM Add-On and includes 10 SuiteAnalytics template reports to get you started.

Module-Specific Features

Outside of the main five additions, many additional features will help companies automate and visualize their workflows:

Analytics

Concise, relevant, and transparent analytics are the backbone of sound decision-making, and NetSuite’s analytics updates are meant to simplify it. Specifically, Analytics Warehouses users should now be able to:

  • Combine transactional data with other forms of data
  • Create easy-to-read visualizations with templates

With just a few clicks, analytics can use NetSuite's net Custom Attribute Mapping Editor tool to integrate custom data sources and link them to a specific module.

There will also be new templates and data visualizations, such as:

  • Revenue Commitment
  • Revenue Commitment
  • Reversal Revenue Arrangement
  • Opportunity and Commission
  • Inventory Cost Revaluation
  • Bin Transfer
  • Bin Put Away Worksheet
  • Gross Margin
  • Spend and Financials

NetSuite has also extended its vertical functionality to service-based companies with a new project management module.

Financial

A core feature enhancement for finance teams will be the improved capability to create and validate budgets. Users can now create budgets for specific accounts, segments, and time period combinations and then validate purchase orders and bills against this information. This makes it easy to review and manage budgets every month. For example, teams can now better monitor quarterly and yearly expense goals.

NetSuite has also updated its Shopify connection with the new Shopify Payout Report Sync feature. Essential information will now be synced with NetSuite, including cash sales that reflect the net payment and fees.

Mobile App Updates

So many employees prefer to input information on the go, and so the mobile app has received some attention in this update. In particular, the NetSuite team has made it easier for accounts payable and expense reporting teams to streamline their efforts.

The finance team and employees can now:

  • Attach copies of receipts to expenses
  • Track billable time
  • Organize your NetSuite calendar

But that’s not all. You can also review key business information and edit and attach files to records. In addition, you can log business calls and assign them to specific customers.

Supply Chain Automation

Finally, another significant upgrade is increased supply chain visibility and management.

In addition to the Item360 feature, interactive graphs have been added to the Planners Workbench for easier analysis.

The NetSuite Warehouse Management System (WMS) will also see some much-needed updates. Some of these exciting new  features include:

  • Pick-and-pack automation for service items, as well as inventory items
  • More options for quality control automation
  • Re-release backorder lines into active picking waves once stock falls below a certain point
  • Enter the total quantity of products or materials picked and return unused items with just a click

Automate Your Payments Collection

We love working with NetSuite because, like this major ERP, our team at Paystand is always working to improve processes for customers. Our SuiteApp allows finance teams to streamline their invoicing and payment collection processes from within NetSuite.

Often called the Venmo of B2B transactions, your business can leverage:

  • Initiative and branded client payment portals
  • Multiple payment options, including bank transfers and ACH
  • Convenience fee and zero-fee options
  • Collection and follow-up workflow automation
  • Verified and notarized receipts
  • Enhanced payment analytics
  • Smart lockbox solutions

To learn more about how you can streamline your AR processes on NetSuite, book a customized demo with us today.