Last Modified: January 14th, 2025
4 min read
NetSuite 2024 Release 2 introduces features for optimizing business performance, enhancing visibility into workforce costs, improving bill capture accuracy, and streamlining subscription management, all aimed at supporting finance teams in revenue growth and cost efficiency.
Increased functionality in subscription management
NetSuite 2024.2 brings impressive enhancements to subscription management through its SuiteBilling functionality. The introduction of prepay options is a game-changer for companies using a consumption-based pricing model, allowing them to charge customers in advance for services while keeping track of the remaining balance on subsequent invoices. This feature not only simplifies financial management but also ensures that customers have a clear understanding of their prepayment status.
The integration of NetSuite’s configure, price, and quote (CPQ) solution with SuiteBilling is also a fantastic upgrade. It streamlines the process of including subscription items in configurations, making it easier for businesses to offer customizable solutions. Overall, this release enhances functionality, cohesion, and efficiency, significantly improving the user experience. It’s a valuable update for any organization looking to optimize its subscription management capabilities.
More visibility into talent costs
NetSuite SuitePeople has introduced several impressive features that significantly enhance workforce management. The ability to track and manage workforce-related costs in real-time is a game-changer for companies, improving compliance and boosting employee productivity.
The integration of SimplyInsured as a benefits partner is particularly noteworthy. It streamlines the process for both new hires and existing employees to enroll in health benefits right from the SuitePeople employee center. This convenience, coupled with automatic payroll deductions and general ledger postings, minimizes the manual effort required to manage health insurance costs.
NetSuite 2024.2 features enhancements to the NetSuite SuitePeople Workforce Management mobile app. The updated time clock now includes a break completion reminder and new fields for capturing location, job, project, and task data. This added detail allows finance teams to make informed resource allocation decisions.
These updates not only simplify benefits administration for employers but also provide valuable insights into healthcare expenses.
New close task management capabilities
The latest release of NetSuite introduces an impressive interactive task management feature in the Account Reconciliation module that significantly enhances the financial closing process. This tool provides accounting teams with a centralized platform to create, assign, manage, and track tasks, streamlining the entire workflow.
One of the standout benefits is the ability to close books more quickly while ensuring that tasks are completed in the correct order. This feature dramatically reduces the time spent dealing with exceptions and helps maintain efficiency. The automatic calendar updates from the previous year’s reporting are a game-changer, eliminating tedious manual adjustments.
The intuitive interface for managing the close checklist and monitoring reconciliation progress empowers accountants to dedicate more time to critical business tasks.
Enhancements to invoice processing and payments
NetSuite 2024.2 introduces impressive enhancements that significantly streamline the vendor payment process. The automation for companies with multiple US subsidiaries is a game changer, allowing for efficient vendor payments and direct processing of prepayments into vendor accounts. The ability to set a default expense account for automatically capturing banking fees adds an extra layer of convenience.
The updates to NetSuite Bill Capture are also noteworthy. The increased control and accuracy in capturing vendor invoices mean fewer errors and faster processing. The functionality to upload bills up to 30 pages and manage failed uploads keeps everything organized and efficient.
The AI-powered features on the review bill page stand out, offering improved matching technology and enhanced logic for subsidiary, vendor, and location accuracy. The ability to filter and organize by custom segments provides better control and visibility.
These enhancements make NetSuite 2024.2 a robust tool for managing vendor payments and invoices, making it a must-have for companies looking to optimize their financial processes.
Expands visibility into cash flow processes
NetSuite’s latest release, featuring the new Analytics Warehouse, significantly enhances data visualization capabilities for businesses. The introduction of dataset collections tailored to specific business processes, such as order-to-cash and procure-to-pay, allows analysts to build comprehensive visualizations that highlight inefficiencies and potential issues in cash flow management.
The order-to-cash subject area effectively combines key datasets related to customer payment activities and order fulfillment, providing valuable insights into cash inflows. Similarly, the procure-to-pay area aggregates data on vendor transactions, helping businesses identify opportunities for improved cash outflow management.
The new user-configurable subject area, account analysis, is a game changer. It grants companies the flexibility to customize financial reporting without needing additional data augmentation, simplifying the process of compiling crucial accounting information.
Additional features to maximize efficiency
The 2024.2 release introduces impressive enhancements that significantly improve functionality.
The simplified revenue distribution for accounts receivable transactions is a game-changer, allowing easy revenue allocation across subsidiaries and departments in real-time or via templates. This feature streamlines accounting processes and enhances financial accuracy.
NetSuite SuiteTax has also seen substantial improvements. The ability to record taxes between subsidiaries and manage tax payments to authorities makes tax compliance much smoother for accountants.
The addition of installment schedules for cash forecasting is another standout enhancement. By incorporating defined schedules on invoices and vendor bills, companies can achieve more precise forecasting of receivables and payables, ultimately supporting better financial planning.
The updates to the tiered volume rebates feature are noteworthy, as they enable more accurate accruals based on forecasted tiers, ensuring businesses can manage rebates effectively across purchase and sales transactions.
Lastly, the improvements in NetSuite Compliance 360 greatly enhance audit documentation capabilities. The new forms, file attachment options, and customizable activity portlets provide a more comprehensive approach to audit management.
The updates in NetSuite 2024.2 bring a breadth of enhancements that significantly bolster business operations across finance, accounting, and human resource management. With enhancements like the interactive task management tool for financial close, improved vendor payment automation, and enriched data visualization capabilities, companies can optimize their operational workflows with increased efficiency and accuracy. The introduction of features such as advanced invoice processing and expanded cash flow visibility means that businesses are better equipped to handle the demands of modern financial management.
Overall, NetSuite 2024.2 positions itself as a vital asset for organizations aiming to streamline their processes and achieve more insightful financial oversight.
Serge is a Managing Partner and the head of sales and business development.
Published on: November 18, 2024