Category: Industry News

Breaking the Compliance Gridlock: How Financial Institutions Can Finally Get Ahead: Part 2

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

In Part 1 of this series, we explored how modern financial technology helps you master multiple accounting frameworks, build bulletproof internal controls, and prevent fraud through smart segregation of duties. These foundational elements create a solid compliance infrastructure, but true financial regulatory excellence requires more.

 

Financial institutions today face equally pressing challenges around revenue recognition, subscription management, and payment security—all areas where manual processes simply can’t keep pace with regulatory demands. In this second installment, we’ll examine how the right technology solution addresses these advanced compliance needs, helping you not just meet requirements but transform compliance from an operational burden into a strategic advantage.

Revenue Recognition Revolution: Automating the Complex

ASC 606 and IFRS 15 have transformed revenue recognition, and keeping up manually just isn’t feasible anymore. Banks and credit unions face increasingly complex requirements for recognizing revenue from diverse products and services.

Advanced financial management systems like NetSuite simplify this process with built-in tools that automate revenue scheduling and allocation according to current standards. Key capabilities include:

  • Custom Recognition Rules – Create specific rules for each product or service, then link them easily to individual contract line items
  • Complex Contract Management – Automate performance obligations, milestones, and other revenue triggers, even for multi-element arrangements
  • Consistent Revenue Allocation – Apply sophisticated rules to ensure consistent treatment across all contracts

With the right platform, you can close your books faster, forecast more accurately, and have confidence that your revenue reporting meets all financial regulatory compliance requirements.

As your institution develops more sophisticated revenue streams, you’ll also need advanced solutions to manage the growing complexity of your billing models. The same technology that handles your accounting can extend to providing comprehensive subscription billing management.

 

Subscription Success: Managing the New Revenue Reality

As your bank or credit union expands into subscription and fee-based services, billing complexity grows exponentially. Managing tiered pricing models, performance fees, and various billing schedules creates significant challenges.

Modern billing platforms manage this complexity with support for multiple pricing models—from simple flat rates to sophisticated tiered and volume-based scenarios. You can implement and manage complex tiered pricing structures with automated calculations, while comprehensive tools track performance and management fees to ensure accurate billing.

These systems combine one-time, recurring, and usage-based charges, giving you the flexibility to create fee structures that align with your business strategy while maintaining full compliance.

Of course, any financial management solution would be incomplete without addressing the critical issue of payment security and compliance. Today’s leading platforms provide the comprehensive protection your institution requires.

Digital Fort Knox: Securing Payment Compliance

Security is non-negotiable in financial services. Banks and credit unions must maintain strict PCI DSS compliance, implement AML and KYC protocols, and ensure secure transaction processing—all while keeping systems user-friendly.

The best financial management platforms support your regulatory compliance requirements with robust security features:

  • PCI DSS Protection – Role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication, and comprehensive data encryption ensure payment processing compliance
  • AML and KYC Integration – Seamless configuration options to work with specialized compliance tools for enhanced verification and monitoring
  • End-to-End Transaction Security – Secure checkout processes and detailed audit trails protect financial information throughout its lifecycle

With these security features in place, you can process transactions confidently while maintaining compliance with relevant regulations. But effective compliance isn’t just about implementing controls—it’s about maintaining visibility into your compliance posture at all times. This is where comprehensive monitoring capabilities deliver exceptional value.

 

From Regulatory Burden to Business Advantage

Cloud-based financial systems such as NetSuite deliver powerful monitoring and reporting tools through real-time dashboards that give you an instant overview of your compliance status and alert you to potential issues. You can track activities as they happen, enabling you to address compliance concerns before they become problems. When audit time comes, you can provide auditors with everything they need through intuitive reporting tools, transforming what was once a stressful audit season into a routine process.

Financial regulatory compliance requirements will continue to evolve, but with the right technology platform, you don’t have to play catch-up anymore. You can finally get ahead of compliance challenges with a comprehensive solution that addresses everything from accounting standards to transaction security.

By implementing a leading cloud financial management solution like NetSuite, you’ll reduce compliance risks, streamline processes, strengthen controls, and enhance reporting capabilities with real-time visibility. An integrated platform offers the tools banks and credit unions need to tackle the complex compliance challenges we’ve discussed throughout this series.

Your Path to Compliance Excellence

Throughout this two-part series, we’ve explored how modern financial technology can transform your approach to regulatory compliance. From the foundational elements of multi-book accounting and internal controls to the complex challenges of revenue recognition and payment security, the right solution provides the integrated capabilities your institution needs to thrive in today’s regulatory environment.

Caravel, a multiple NetSuite Partner of the Year award recipient, offers implementation services tailored specifically for financial institutions. Our team understands the unique compliance needs of banks and credit unions and provides services from initial strategy through deployment and ongoing optimization.

Ready to transform your approach to financial regulatory compliance? The right technology platform with proper implementation can help you break free from compliance gridlock and turn what was once a burden into a strategic advantage for your institution.

Breaking the Compliance Gridlock: How Financial Institutions Can Finally Get Ahead: Part 1

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

This is the first installment of our two-part series exploring how modern financial technology solves compliance challenges for financial institutions. Part 1 covers multi-book accounting, internal controls, and fraud prevention, while Part 2 will address revenue recognition, subscription management, payment security, and compliance monitoring.

 

Financial institutions have long struggled with the mounting pressures of regulatory compliance, but there’s good news on the horizon. Today’s advanced technology solutions offer banks and credit unions a path to overcome these traditional pain points. By leveraging cloud-based financial platforms, your institution can transform compliance from a source of constant frustration into a streamlined, efficient process. In this series, we’ll examine how these technologies address specific compliance challenges facing financial institutions today.

Beyond the Books: Mastering Multiple Accounting Standards

In today’s fast-paced global economy, financial leaders face the daunting challenge of navigating multiple accounting frameworks. The complexity of reconciling GAAP, IFRS, and local requirements can drain valuable resources and hinder strategic growth. The ability to streamline and unify your financial processes across jurisdictions is not just a matter of efficiency—it’s a strategic advantage. By eliminating the need for manual reconciliation and ensuring compliance with diverse regulatory standards, your finance team can redirect their focus from tedious accounting tasks to high-impact strategic initiatives.

 

This is where modern financial management solutions like NetSuite come into play. As financial institutions increasingly adopt cloud-based technologies to solve compliance challenges, NetSuite has emerged as a leading platform for addressing multi-book accounting complexities.

 

NetSuite offers key advantages in this area:

  • Unified Management: Seamlessly map different charts of accounts across standards like GAAP and IFRS, ensuring consistent alignment and reporting.
  • Automatic Transaction Flow: Transactions automatically post to the appropriate ledgers based on your predefined rules, significantly reducing the risk of errors and the need for manual intervention.
  • Built-In Local Compliance: Support for local currencies and country-specific mandates ensures that your organization remains compliant with all relevant regulations, no matter where you operate.

Imagine the potential of your finance team when they are freed from the burdens of reconciliation. They can focus on strategic analysis and decision-making that drive your business forward, rather than constantly playing catch-up with compliance requirements.

 

But accounting standards represent only one piece of the compliance puzzle. Equally important is the establishment of robust internal controls required by regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley.

SOX Appeal: Building Bulletproof Internal Controls

Sarbanes-Oxley requirements aren’t going away, and the documentation burden can be overwhelming. For banks and credit unions, establishing and maintaining proper approval workflows, audit trails, and internal controls often becomes a major operational challenge.

 

Advanced financial platforms transform this challenge into a streamlined process through customizable approval workflows that enforce proper review and create an auditable trail of activity and decisions. Always-on audit trails track every change to your system, giving you and your auditors the ability to quickly investigate compliance questions. By automating preventative and detective controls, you’ll strengthen your compliance posture while reducing manual work.

 

One particularly valuable feature in modern compliance technology is the ability to require that journal entries be reviewed and approved by someone other than the creator—a key requirement for SOX compliance that’s difficult to enforce manually.

 

These automated controls not only satisfy regulatory requirements but also provide the foundation for another critical compliance area: fraud prevention through proper segregation of duties.

The Great Divide: Fraud Prevention Through Smart Segregation

Preventing fraud requires establishing proper segregation of duties (SoD), but implementing this without creating operational bottlenecks is challenging. Many financial institutions struggle to define appropriate user permissions and monitor potential conflicts.

 

Today’s financial systems help you implement proper segregation of duties by defining granular permissions based on job functions. Your employees receive access only to what they truly need, making your system both more secure and more user-friendly.

 

Modern technology includes automated controls that prevent unauthorized activities and flag potential conflicts before they become compliance issues. Built-in analysis tools constantly monitor user permissions and activities, helping you spot and resolve SoD conflicts quickly.

 

What about smaller teams where perfect segregation isn’t realistic? The best financial systems offer compensating controls like detailed audit trails and real-time monitoring to mitigate risks while maintaining financial regulatory compliance.

Building a Foundation for Compliance Success

The compliance challenges we’ve explored in this first part—multi-book accounting, SOX compliance, and segregation of duties—represent the foundational elements of a robust financial compliance strategy. By leveraging modern technology solutions like NetSuite, your financial institution can transform these traditionally burdensome processes into streamlined, efficient workflows that enhance both compliance and operational performance.

 

As regulatory requirements continue to evolve, having a solid technological foundation in place will position your institution to adapt quickly and confidently. The time and resources your team previously dedicated to manual compliance tasks can be redirected toward strategic initiatives that drive business growth and enhance customer experience.

 

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll explore how modern financial technology helps you tackle revenue recognition challenges, manage subscription billing, secure payment compliance, and build effective risk monitoring systems. We’ll also discuss how implementing the right technology can transform compliance from a burden into a business advantage.

Q&A with an Expert: Unlocking Success in Professional Services Organizations

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

“The Professional Services market worldwide is set to achieve a staggering revenue of US$77.42bn by 2025,” Statista states.  In today’s fast-paced business environment, professional services companies are facing a unique set of challenges that can significantly impact their operations and growth. From managing resources and tracking skills, to streamlining quoting and proposal development, improving client retention, maintaining billing flexibility, handling project change orders, and ensuring employee satisfaction—the hurdles are many. Fortunately, technology solutions like NetSuite offer comprehensive tools to help navigate these challenges, improving efficiency, profitability, and long-term success.


We sat down with Donavan Lemaster, an experienced NetSuite implementation expert in the field of professional services, to answer some questions on gaining success with NetSuite.


How can professional services companies better handle resource management and skills tracking?


Effective resource management is at the heart of every professional services company. These organizations rely on their talent to deliver high-quality services, which makes efficient allocation and tracking of resources crucial. Without proper insight into which employees possess the right skills, experience, and availability, companies risk overbooking, underutilization, or poor performance outcomes.


NetSuite’s native resource management capabilities enable companies to easily track employee skills, availability, and utilization rates all in a single place. The software provides real-time insights into resource capacity, ensuring that the right people are assigned to the right projects at the right time. This helps optimize workforce productivity, minimize downtime, and ensure that projects are staffed with the right expertise.


Can professional services organizations ensure better quoting and improved proposal development?


For many professional services firms, creating accurate and timely quotes and proposals is a time-consuming, manual process that can lead to delays, errors, or missed opportunities. Often, it requires pulling data from various systems, creating complex spreadsheets, and ensuring alignment between sales teams and service delivery.


NetSuite offers seamless linking between quoting, proposal generation, and project management. With its tools for automating and customizing quotes and proposals, businesses can quickly generate professional, accurate documents that reflect real-time pricing, project scope, and timelines. The ability to track approvals and ensure alignment between sales and service teams leads to faster proposal turnaround times and higher win rates.

 

How can professional services companies greatly improve client retention?


Client retention is the lifeblood of professional services firms! Building long-term relationships requires delivering value consistently, providing exceptional customer service, and responding to client needs effectively. However, without the right tools to track client preferences, satisfaction, and project performance, maintaining these relationships can be challenging.


NetSuite’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system helps track all client interactions, project milestones, and service history in a single place. The software enables firms to gain a 360-degree view of their clients, ensuring they can anticipate needs, resolve issues quickly, and offer personalized services. The CRM capabilities can also track client satisfaction, automate communication, and provide insight into account health, which is crucial for improving retention and loyalty.


Is billing flexibility attainable for professional services companies?


Billing in professional services is often complex, with projects that may involve fixed fees, time-and-materials billing, or milestone-based payments. Managing this variety of billing models—especially when they change over the course of a project—can be a significant administrative burden. Inaccurate billing leads to delayed payments, disputes, and strained client relationships.


NetSuite’s charge-based billing functionality is flexible enough to accommodate different billing models, including fixed-price/milestone, time-and-materials, and hybrid. It automates billing processes and integrates with project management and accounting to ensure accurate, timely invoicing. With NetSuite, companies can easily modify billing terms, add new charges, and create customized invoices, all while maintaining compliance and transparency.


Can professional services companies better manage project change orders and timeline impacts?


Change orders are common in professional services projects, and they can have significant impacts on budgets and timelines. Managing these changes efficiently is crucial for maintaining project profitability and client satisfaction. Without proper tracking and communication, change orders can lead to scope creep, delays, and budget overruns.


NetSuite provides robust project management tools that allow firms to manage and track change orders in real-time. Project managers can easily modify project scope, timelines, and budgets as changes occur, with automatic updates to financials, billing, and scheduling. This visibility ensures that change orders are handled quickly and that both clients and internal teams stay aligned on expectations and timelines.

 

 

 How can professional services organization ensure better employee retention?


Employee retention is a critical challenge in professional services, where talent is the primary asset. High turnover can disrupt service delivery, erode company culture, and increase recruitment and training costs. To retain top talent, organizations need to ensure that employees feel valued, engaged, and equipped for success.


NetSuite’s suite of Human Resources tools helps companies manage employee performance, engagement, and development. The platform offers capabilities for tracking employee skills, certifications, and career progression, enabling HR teams to identify opportunities for growth and training. Additionally, NetSuite’s integrated financial and project management tools allow employees to see how their contributions directly impact the company’s bottom line, fostering a greater sense of ownership and job satisfaction.

 

The Power of NetSuite for Professional Services Firms


Professional services companies face numerous challenges that can affect their ability to deliver exceptional client outcomes, manage resources efficiently, and maintain a competitive edge. NetSuite provides an integrated, cloud-based solution that addresses these challenges head-on, offering tools for resource management, skills tracking, quoting and proposals, client retention, billing flexibility, project change management, and employee retention. By leveraging NetSuite’s capabilities, professional services firms can streamline their operations, improve decision-making, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.


Investing in NetSuite’s comprehensive solution means not only solving current challenges but also positioning your company for future growth and success. Whether you are a small firm or a large enterprise, NetSuite can empower your organization to achieve greater efficiency, profitability, and client satisfaction in an increasingly complex market.


Looking to implement NetSuite in your organization? Let Caravel help! Contact us in the form below, and we will respond immediately.

Tackling the Top Six Challenges in Construction Management

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

From planning and budgeting to managing subcontractors and invoicing requirements, construction companies must juggle multiple tasks and data sources to ensure everything runs on time and on budget.


One of the most effective ways to address these challenges is by leveraging an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system like NetSuite. This robust, cloud-based solution provides construction firms with a centralized platform to manage financials, project timelines, resources, and much more. Let’s dive into the common challenges faced by construction companies and explore how NetSuite can help.

  1. Planning Projects in the Pipeline

Challenge: One of the major hurdles that construction companies face is effectively planning and managing projects in the pipeline. With multiple projects at different stages, it can be difficult to efficiently resource pre-closed-won projects or even monitor task completion on awarded projects. That’s all before getting into managing the delivery of inventory at the right time and place. Construction managers must forecast resource and inventory allocation, manage deadlines, and ensure that potential risks are mitigated.


Solution: NetSuite’s Project Management module provides robust tools for project planning and tracking. It allows construction companies to create detailed project schedules, allocate resources effectively, and maintain visibility into ongoing and upcoming projects. With real-time reporting, decision-makers can evaluate project health and adjust the pipeline as necessary, ensuring that no project falls behind.


netsuite construction projects

  1. Custom Invoicing Requirements

Challenge: In the construction industry, customers often have specific invoicing requirements that call for grouping charges in a unique way, displaying additional project level data, or including change order information. Meeting these requirements can be a complex task if using disparate and manual systems, leading to delays, errors, or customer dissatisfaction.


Solution: NetSuite’s flexible Advanced PDF Builder enables construction companies to customize invoices to meet the exact needs of their clients. Whatever the requirements, NetSuite can generate invoices with pixel perfect accuracy, pulling in data from as many sources as needed to ensure construction customers receive the invoice they want. This helps companies streamline their billing processes, improve accuracy, and ensure they meet the unique demands of each customer.

  1. Budget Impact from Project Change Orders

Challenge: Change orders are inevitable in construction, and they can be a major source of financial risk if not properly managed. A change order can impact the timeline, budget, and scope of a project, making it critical to track and manage these adjustments in real time.


Solution: NetSuite’s Project Management, Financial, and Workflow Builder modules are designed to work together to ensure that any changes made to a project are approved and accounted for immediately. When a change order is approved, it’s reflected in both the project schedule and the financials, so the budget remains up to date. This integration helps construction managers monitor project costs in real time, providing greater control over financial outcomes and reducing the risk of cost overruns.


construction budget management

  1. Managing and Reporting on Work in Progress (WIP)

Challenge: Work in Progress (WIP) reporting is crucial in the construction industry, as companies need real time visibility into a project’s completion percentage based on cost and how much they’ve billed for that comparatively. This requires detailed tracking and the ability to easily pull all relevant data as needed. Without a single source of truth, pulling these reports can prove challenging.


Solution: NetSuite offers a comprehensive solution for WIP tracking, allowing construction companies to monitor project expenses in real time and view a dashboard containing all the backup for the report. The system automatically updates project progress to reflect the true financial status of each project. This allows construction firms to make informed decisions and ensure profitability at every stage of the project.

  1. Data Duplication Across Systems

Challenge: Many construction companies use a variety of systems to handle different aspects of their operations. Whether it’s a project management tool, a payroll system, an accounting solution, or a reporting tool, the lack of integration between these systems often results in data duplication, errors, and inefficiencies.


Solution: NetSuite centralizes all key operations in a single, integrated platform. By consolidating project management, financials, payroll, and CRM into one system, NetSuite eliminates the need for duplicate data entry and minimizes errors. This seamless integration ensures that all departments are working with the same accurate data, thereby reducing inefficiencies and increasing productivity.

  1. Subcontractor Management

Challenge: Subcontractor management is a critical aspect of construction projects. Construction companies need to track subcontractor performance, ensure timely payments, and manage contracts efficiently. Without an integrated system, subcontractor-related tasks can quickly become overwhelming.


Solution: NetSuite’s Supplier and Project Management modules help construction companies manage subcontractors from contract signing to payment. Subcontractor details, including contract terms, deliverables, and payment schedules, are tracked in real time, ensuring that both parties are aligned on project expectations. By automating subcontractor invoicing and payments, NetSuite reduces administrative burdens and enhances compliance.


The construction industry is filled with challenges; but with the right tools, these companies can overcome them. NetSuite offers a comprehensive, cloud-based solution that integrates all aspects of construction project management, from planning and budgeting to invoicing and subcontractor management. By streamlining operations and providing real-time insights, NetSuite helps construction companies stay on top of their projects, reduce inefficiencies, and ultimately improve profitability.


In today’s competitive environment, having a unified platform like NetSuite can be a game-changer for construction companies looking to improve their operations and deliver successful projects on time and within budget. To further increase support for the construction industry, Caravel supplements the system through its Construction SuiteBundle, which is built directly within the NetSuite environment. It extends its functionality by offering cost code management, change order management, revenue recognition, AIA billing, and much more.


Interested in learning more about how Caravel can help your organization implement and boost NetSuite? Contact us in the form below, and we will respond immediately.

Safeguarding FinTech Companies Against Cyber Threats and Enhancing Data Security

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

Recent data breaches at large entities like Bank of America and Microsoft Azure clearly demonstrate the challenges and responses faced by the fintech industry. According to Smartdev, Bank of America customers suffered through a data breach in February 2024, “resulting from a cyberattack on Infosys McCamish Systems, an Infosys subsidiary responsible for data processing. The breach exposed sensitive information including names, social security numbers, and account details.”

It goes without saying that stringent security measures are needed across their networks to combat the vulnerability these institutions are faced with daily. The financial sector has always been a major target for cybercriminals due to the valuable nature of the data they handle. The rise of cyberattacks—from ransomware and data breaches to phishing scams and insider threats—has left many fintech companies sleepless as they scramble to protect sensitive customer information, comply with regulations, and maintain their reputations.

The Global Threat Report published by Crowdstrike revealed that cloud environment intrusions have increased by 75% year over year, highlighting the growing importance of cybersecurity for fintech.

Cyber and Data Security Worries

Valuable Data at Risk
Fintech companies store sensitive financial data, personal details, and transaction histories that can be major money-makers for hackers. Data breaches not only put customer information at risk but can lead to massive financial losses, legal consequences, and tarnished reputations. The need for strong cybersecurity for fintech is crucial to mitigate these risks.

Evolving Cyber Threats
Cybercriminals are becoming more and more sophisticated, using advanced tactics to bypass traditional and some sophisticated security measures. Fintech companies face constant threats from ransomware attacks, phishing schemes, and malware, which put both their operations and their customers at risk.

Compliance Challenges
Fintechs must adhere to strict regulations such as GLBA, FCRA, AML, KYC, and a slew of other industry standards designed to protect customers’ financial data. Non-compliance can result in financial penalties, legal consequences, reputational damage, operational disruption, and a loss of customer trust. Keeping up with these ever-evolving regulations while ensuring top-tier security is no easy feat.

 

Overcoming Data and Cybersecurity Challenges with NetSuite

NetSuite, a leading cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, offers a robust suite of tools that can help fintech companies address these pressing cybersecurity concerns. Here’s how:

Advanced Data Encryption and Security Protocols
NetSuite ensures data protection by implementing high-level encryption and security protocols across its platform. This includes end-to-end encryption for sensitive data and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for secure user access. NetSuite’s secure infrastructure minimizes the risks of unauthorized data access, ensuring compliance with global security standards.

Real-Time Threat Detection and Monitoring
NetSuite’s cloud infrastructure is continuously monitored for potential security vulnerabilities. By leveraging cutting-edge threat detection technologies, it can identify suspicious activity in real-time. This alerts companies to potential cyber threats before they cause any damage. This proactive approach in cybersecurity for fintech helps companies respond faster and prevent breaches.

Seamless Compliance with Industry Regulations
NetSuite is designed to help fintech companies stay compliant with financial regulations. The platform includes built-in tools for generating audit trails, ensuring data privacy, and meeting regulatory requirements such as GDPR and PCI DSS. These tools not only help companies stay compliant but also reduce the risk of penalties associated with non-compliance.

Secure Cloud Infrastructure
NetSuite’s cloud platform ensures that all financial data and business operations are safely stored off-site in highly secure data centers. These data centers are equipped with advanced security measures such as physical access controls, firewalls, and automated backups. This not only protects data from potential attacks but also ensures business continuity in case of an incident, enhancing the overall cybersecurity for fintech companies..

Scalability and Flexibility
As fintech companies grow and expand, their security needs evolve as well. NetSuite’s flexible and scalable architecture allows businesses to quickly adapt and implement new security measures as threats evolve. This ensures that fintech companies can future-proof their security strategies without facing costly and disruptive overhauls.

Collaboration and Role-Based Access Control
NetSuite empowers businesses to establish role-based access controls (RBAC) to ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive information. This granular control enables fintech companies to restrict access to critical data, thereby reducing the risk of insider threats and ensuring that employees only have access to the information they need.

In an era where data security and cyber threats are at the forefront of every fintech company’s mind, having a robust, secure, and compliant platform is no longer optional—it’s essential. NetSuite offers the tools, technology, and expertise to help fintech companies combat these ever-growing cybersecurity challenges.

By leveraging NetSuite’s powerful security infrastructure, real-time monitoring, and compliance features, fintechs can safeguard their operations, mitigate risk, and focus on what matters most: driving innovation and delivering top-notch services to their customers.

Caravel specializes in helping fintech companies remain secure and thrive with NetSuite. To learn more, contact us in the form below.

Leveraging NetSuite for Strategic Growth in Manufacturing and Distribution

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

By centralizing data and automating workflows across functions such as inventory management, manufacturing, and order fulfillment, ERP systems enhance operational efficiency, reduce errors, and improve decision-making. This holistic approach enables companies to respond swiftly to market changes, optimize resource utilization, and maintain better control over costs and supply chain logistics. Ultimately, ERP systems support more agile and data-driven management, driving competitive advantage and fostering growth in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.

 

Transform Manufacturing Companies with NetSuite Solutions

Through the integration of various business processes and the consolidation of data from production, procurement, sales, and finance into a single platform, NetSuite enables manufacturers to automate workflows, reduce manual data entry, and improve overall efficiency. This seamless integration helps synchronize operations, ensuring that all departments work with the most up-to-date information and reduce the potential for errors.

 

Another vital feature for manufacturers, NetSuite provides real-time visibility into inventory levels so organizations can more effectively manage stock. Automated reorder points and demand planning can forecast and help prevent overstocking and stockouts, optimizing inventory turnover—this ensures smooth production and reduces carrying costs, and contributes to a more cost-effective inventory management process.

 

Enhanced supply chain transparency offers manufacturers a comprehensive view from procurement to delivery, facilitating better tracking of suppliers, shipments, and production schedules. Thisallows companies to identify and address potential disruptions proactively. Additionally, businesses can make more informed decisions, negotiate better terms with suppliers, and improve the overall supply chain performance.

 

Cost reduction—another benefit of implementing NetSuite for manufacturing companies—lies both in the automation of routine tasks and providing financial insights to help identify areas where costs can be reduced. The ability to analyze production costs, track expense variances, and optimize resource allocation leads to more efficient operations and better financial management.

 

Compliance and quality control are supported through tracking and reporting features in NetSuite.  The system enables manufacturers to adhere to industry regulations and standards by maintaining detailed records of production processes, quality inspections, and regulatory documentation. Automated alerts and compliance checks help ensure that quality standards are consistently met, while traceability features facilitate quick responses to any quality issues that may arise. This proactive approach to compliance and quality control helps mitigate risks and maintain high standards in manufacturing processes.

 

netsuite manufacturing and distribution

The NetSuite Case for Distribution Companies

NetSuite offers substantial benefits to distributors by optimizing various areas of operations, beginning with order fulfillment. It streamlines the entire order-to-cash process, automating tasks like order entry, inventory allocation, and shipment tracking. This reduces processing times, minimizes errors, and ensures timely and accurate delivery of goods. With real-time visibility into inventory levels and order statuses, distribution companies can efficiently manage their fulfillment operations, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce order cycle times.

 

With advanced demand planning, NetSuite offers robust forecasting and planning tools using historical data, market trends, and season patterns to predict future demand more accurately. This allows distribution companies to proactively adjust inventory levels, preventing excess inventory and stockouts. By aligning inventory with anticipated demand, distribution companies can optimize their supply chain, reduce carrying costs, and ensure that they have the right products available to meet customer needs.

 

NetSuite’s CRM provides distribution companies with a 360-degree view of customer interactions, enabling them to track orders, preferences, and communication history. This fosters stronger relationships and personalized service. These detailed insights also offer a look into customer behavior and feedback so that distribution companies can tailor offerings, address issues promptly, and improve customer satisfaction.

 

With data-driven insights, NetSuite provides distribution companies with the opportunity to make more informed decisions. Advanced analytics and reporting tools generate actionable insights from substantial amounts of operational data. This way companies can identify trends, monitor performance metrics, and evaluate key business drivers. This facilitates strategic planning, supports continuous improvement, and enhances overall business performance, giving them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

 

 

netsuite distribution

NetSuite Implementation Considerations for Manufacturers and Distributors

When implementing NetSuite, manufacturing and distribution companies can significantly benefit from customization and integration capabilities. This means that workflows, processes, and reporting can be customized to align with unique business requirements and industry standards. Integration with existing systems, such as CRM tools, supply chain management solutions, and legacy software, ensures a seamless transition and unified data flow across the organization. This level of customization and integration enhances operational efficiency, reduces manual data handling, and ensures that the ERP system supports the company’s specific business processes effectively.

 

The cost and ROI of NetSuite implementation are key considerations for manufacturing and distribution companies. While the initial investment in the ERP system and associated services may seem substantial, the long-term benefits often outweigh the costs. The system’s ability to automate processes, improve accuracy, and enhance visibility translates into significant operational efficiencies and cost savings. Companies can expect reduced administrative overhead, lower inventory carrying costs, and improved financial management. Moreover, the data-driven insights provided by NetSuite enable better decision-making and strategic planning, leading to increased profitability and competitive advantage. Overall, the enhanced operational efficiency and strategic benefits of NetSuite can deliver a strong ROI, making the initial investment a worthwhile consideration for forward-thinking manufacturing and distribution companies.

 

If you’re ready to talk about how NetSuite can empower your manufacturing and/or distribution business, contact us in the form below, and we’ll be happy to quickly demonstrate how.

Webinar on Demand | Does Your ERP Need a Doctor? Discover the Benefits of Caravel’s Health Check

Posted on by Tom Pearce

Join Caravel for insight into why your ERP may not be assembled optimally for your organization.

 

We will present how we complete our ERP health check by:

  • Diving into your business requirements and comparing them to your current system architecture
  • Diagnosing your pain points/gaps and highlighting how they can be resolved
  • Recommending business and ERP improvements
View Here

Case Study | DirectBooks Transforms its Financial Management of Several Entities with NetSuite

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

The Company

DirectBooks is a fintech company and market leading platform for communication in primary markets, specializing in structured deal data, documentation, and information exchange. The DirectBooks platform offers transformative automation and standardization across global investment grade, high yield, and emerging markets fixed income products.

 

The company’s finance team was preparing itself for major changes and growth in the company’s operations that were going to significantly impact existing processes.

The Challenge

DirectBooks was experiencing many changes, including the introduction of new revenue streams, a larger client base with significantly more customer data to manage, as well as the potential for many new subscriptions to manage and track, which included varying subscription periods and pricing models. All of this on top of a multi-entity, multi-currency financial structure.

 

The company’s invoicing process and revenue recognition had room for improvement; its subscription invoices and revenue recognition were both manual processes before making the switch to NetSuite. Additionally, the company’s existing system was not equipped with the tools to carry out accounting processes for multi-subsidiary consolidation, and the company needed to supplement those functions by using other third-party consolidation and reporting tools for eliminations and FX translation. This was the only way for them to see consolidated financials and reports, which did not allow for the flexibility of real-time reporting.

The Solution

After much research and due diligence, DirectBooks decided to make the shift to NetSuite in order to be prepared to scale with the company’s growth and expand the capabilities of their finance tech-stack.

 

The team chose Caravel as its implementation partner due to its structured approach, robust resources, and hands-on process. Caravel’s experience, knowledge, and segmented approach to implementation made them feel at ease. “I felt like the pacing was perfect, and I never had too much on my plate at a given time,” said Ben Karpas, Finance Associate at DirectBooks.

 

Initial sessions with Caravel began with them learning about the DirectBooks business, current finance tech-stack, and processes so they could tailor NetSuite to their needs. They had clear communication throughout the implementation and beyond, and weekly check-ins were very helpful to keep expectations, deliverables, and the overall product on track and on budget.

 

Caravel assisted with customizations such as custom workflows, CSV imports, custom fields and reporting, and custom client-facing PDF invoice formats. Caravel also helped the DirectBooks team make efficient use of time when it came to data migration by providing standardized templates and giving guidance on what was necessary and what was “nice-to-have”, as well as providing experiences from other customers on how to best carry out not only the migration, but the go-forward use and administration.

 

To read about the significant results DirectBooks experienced, please download the full case study below. 

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Webinar on Demand | P.W. Gillibrand Streamlining Industrial Products with NetSuite

Posted on by Tom Pearce

Listen in as Caravel and P.W. Gillibrand, an industrial products company, discuss their search for a new ERP. This webinar will reveal why they selected NetSuite, and about the collaborative implementation with Caravel.

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How Can NetSuite Help Insurance Executives Make More Informed Decisions?

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

Download this compelling infographic to learn more about how a cloud-based ERP such as NetSuite can help propel insurance companies to make better decisions and go to market faster.

 

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