In a live, 30-minute webinar, Caravel’s EPM Consulting Manager, Sadman Rahman, will discuss NetSuite’s NSPB for budgeting and forecasting.
He will reveal capabilities that propel businesses to make more informed decisions with:
Many organizations are fraught with inaccurate data that is siloed from business operations when conducting planning and budgeting cycles, resulting in arduous manual work that is time-consuming and loaded with errors. Not to mention, relaying this vital information to leadership and key stakeholders can be laborious and flawed.
NetSuite Planning and Budgeting, or NSPB, is a powerful tool used by organizations to budget and forecast utilizing financial data from NetSuite. This robust solution propels finance teams to spend less time on manual tasks, saving them time and energy.
It is collaborative, scalable, automated, and accurate. NSPB provides predictive analytics, sophisticated modeling capabilities, “what-if” scenarios, rolling forecasts, reporting and approval workflows, transparency into performance, and real-time decision-making capability.
The power behind NSPB is due to the integration of machine learning to automate processes, enhance accuracy in forecasting and budgeting, and offer deep insights into financial data, which enables users to make more informed decisions.
With predictive forecasting, machine learning algorithms analyze historical data and identify patterns and trends that financial analysts can miss. This aids in generating more accurate forecasts for future periods based on past performance. These same algorithms can automatically detect anomalies in financial data, which is helpful for pinpointing unusual spending patterns, unexpected variances, or mistakes in budgeting.
NSPB can leverage machine learning to optimize budget allocations based on various constraints and objectives. This might involve recommending adjustments to spending levels across different departments or projects to achieve desired financial outcomes.
Machine learning can help in generating and analyzing multiple scenarios based on different assumptions and inputs, which allows finance professionals to evaluate the potential impact of various business decisions or market changes on their budgets and plans.
Because NSPB integrates financial planning across the entire organization, data is consolidated from various departments and functions which offers a wholistic view of performance and forecasts. Real-time financial data enables teams to make informed decisions based on the latest information, rather than outdated facts and figures.
With “what-if” scenarios, NSPB allows businesses to create several scenarios based on multiple assumptions and variables, which helps in comprehending potential outcomes of different strategies and decisions. This facilitates better risk management and contingency planning.
The collaborative approach that NSPB takes facilitates different teams to work together and ensures alignment with overall business objectives, assuring that everyone is working for a common purpose. Tools for monitoring performance against budgets and forecasts helps to identify deviations early on, and fosters corrective action to be taken sooner, helping to stay on track with financial goals.
Integrating NSPB into your NetSuite instance will greatly help financial teams to cut time on the budgeting cycle. It not only reduces human error in detecting anomalies, it also frees time from analyzing data and allows financial professionals to actually do the work and make decisions. Its out-of-the-box functionality allows teams to leverage these tools to get accurate forecasts without significant upfront costs.
Because all financial data, forecasts, and budgets are stored on a centralized platform, it eliminates the need for spreadsheets and disparate systems across departments. This ensures more accuracy and consistency in financial planning.
Manual work such as data entry, consolidation, and reporting are automated, which reduces time spent on these tasks and allows FP&A teams to focus more on analysis and strategy. Its customized reporting capabilities allows users to generate reports and dashboards that are tailored to specific needs, giving way to a more transparent view into performance and better decision-making. Financial plans and budgets also adhere to regulatory requirements by offering audit trails, version control, and security.
NSPB enhances FP&A by providing a unified, collaborative, and automated solution that seamlessly integrates with NetSuite ERP and empowers organizations to make more intelligent decisions based on accurate data, more precise forecasting, and ultimately improves overall performance and strategic outcomes.
For expert guidance on NSPB and NetSuite and how it can drive your organization to be more efficient and effective, contact us below.
A West Coast-based healthcare research company that was running on QuickBooks soon began to see that the software was not scalable to meet its continuous growth and business processes needs.
Before implementing NetSuite, the company’s many initial systems included Bill.com, Point Purchases, Tally, Asset Tiger, Gusto, First Republic, and Brex.
The first indication that the company needed a new ERP system was that leadership couldn’t obtain timely and accurate reporting to the level, detail, and customization they required for decision-making. Additionally, they wanted to track data by department, as well as by project, and their current system of QuickBooks did have the flexibility they needed. Finally, they had issues uploading journal entries, as their current system didn’t provide the necessary power to do so.
The organization also needed more control of its business processes in case of audits. They required a system that made it more efficient for auditors to validate; they needed more data accuracy and reliability – something they did not currently get out of QuickBooks, which is not built for larger companies. They needed details for the audit trail such as who touched it, and on which day, which the more robust NetSuite can accomplish.
Another challenge the teams were experiencing was the manual process in accounting and financial operations to close the books, which was simply taking up too much time and resources. Additionally, they required seamless integration between other systems they were utilizing, which QuickBooks did not allow for. The company also required enhanced security features for its accounting processes. They also wanted to do batched reconciliation that only a robust ERP such as NetSuite could accomplish, which would make a huge difference for their accounting department.
The business needed a more comprehensive ERP system that matched their growth. The team at Caravel created a comprehensive timeline for the deployment of NetSuite to be fully functional for the team.
Within a span of 3 months, and along with Caravel’s smart framework and methodologies, they deployed NetSuite in a single phase, with core functionality going live in month 3 and integrated to various 3rd party systems in the first phase. NetSuite modules include Record to Report and AP Invoice to Pay. Their AP platform very easily integrates with NetSuite, and because they had so much historical information, they had many reconciliation issues with QuickBooks prior to implementing NetSuite. With NetSuite, it became seamless. With the integration of their purchasing software, NetSuite also allowed an uninterrupted flow of information. The company also implemented Adaptive Planning as its planning and budgeting tool with the support of Caravel.
Adaptive models such as Personnel Planning, Driver-based Expense calculations, and custom reports were set up to help with detailed budgeting and monitoring for the Finance and Leadership team. This FP&A software is integrated into NetSuite and scheduled to update the Actuals data daily. “The Caravel team has very strong knowledge of how NetSuite operates, as well as the complex world and jargon of accounting and this made it much simpler to meet our needs. The team has a highly professional demeanor and always remains calm in the face of stress and deadlines. They are so easily accessible and always find a solution or alternatives to solutions to make sure the project succeeds,” said their VP of Finance.
To read about the significant results this healthcare company experienced post go-live, please download the full case study below.
Join Caravel and Gachina, a commercial landscaping company, on August 15th at 1PM EST for a 15-minute webinar where they will discuss their search for a new ERP. They will reveal why they selected NetSuite, and talk about their collaborative experience with Caravel.
A predominantly services company, Jaxon Engineering is a leader in Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) hardening and survivability. Jaxon designs, builds, tests, and maintains EMP-hardened structures for government and commercial clients worldwide.
Jaxon implemented NetSuite with Caravel three years ago, and has seen tremendous success with their data, reporting, and overall financial management. Their modules include Financials, Record to Report, Procure to Pay, Design to Build, Project to Cash, NSPB, have several integrations, and are now integrating OpenAir.
As one of several challenges, Jaxon Engineering faced the issue of having a segregated tech stack, with the majority of the company unaware of an ERP system and the impact it could have on the organization. For accounting, QuickBooks was very limiting, and before that, they were using spreadsheets.
Another challenge Jaxon faced was that people relied on their Director of Finance, Calvin Lyons, for information and data, since he was the central user of all the disparate software they were using.
With their then-current software, QuickBooks, it was very difficult for multiple people to access the data, which was becoming unreliable because people would go in and make changes to historical information, rendering it inaccurate.
Reporting was another significant challenge in that the data was never truly current, hence making any reporting inaccurate as well. Jaxon had very little control over their data and urgently needed to do something about it.
They began exploring a Material Resource Planning system after they were awarded a manufacturing contract, which ultimately led them to NetSuite. They soon realized that it was simply not going to satisfy their needs, and that they would need a robust ERP that would replace most of the software they were currently using. Alongside NetSuite, they use Briq, a project-based analytics platform.
They were debating between Sage Intacct and NetSuite, when it came down to the choices of ERPs. Because Calvin had spent time in a previous position as a software consultant and building government compliance systems, he knew there was only a handful of realistic, scalable platforms that would work for Jaxon. As they came closer to making a final decision, they realized that Sage was mostly a reporting platform that doesn’t focus on project management, timekeeping, or expenses – those needed to be integrated. Since they wanted to minimize systems, this was not the route they were going to take. “We thought we could do as much as possible within the NetSuite environment without bolting many other systems on,” expressed Calvin.
To continue reading about the incredible results Jaxon experienced with their NetSuite implementation, download the full case study with results below.
United Road is premier automotive transport expert, shipping more than 4 million vehicles annually for 10,000+ customers throughout North America. Established in 1997, the company offers unparalleled service to significant automakers, manufacturers, remarketers, financial institutions, leasing companies, and many more.
Prior to implementing NetSuite, United Road’s initial systems included the ERP Sage MAS500, SiSense, Paycom, Renovo Financial Reporting, Power BI, and more. Their implementation timeline was eleven months, with integration into various systems.
Before implementing NetSuite, United Road had been using an old accounting system that had been continuously patchworked in order to function for them. It had become unsupported and had many legacy custom scripts that only a few United Road employees had knowledge of. They were in great need of a system that could grow along with them.
Many of United Road’s departments were working in silos before the implementation, plus they had a number of applications (including a leasing app, a fixed assets application, and more) that worked independently of their primary accounting system.
Another issue was that the accounting team, who was working on fixed assets, wasn’t “talking” to the AP team. Departments were siloed.
The company was also looking for something supportable and wanted to streamline workflows and processes, and NetSuite was able to provide this with its out-of-the-box elements, such as using AP vendor payment with bank integration as well as some of the more custom elements such as 1) Using Boomi as a gateway for automation for their Transportation Management System (TMS), Fleet Maintenance (TMT), and Origami Risk Management system, and 2) Caravel’s IP solution that allows a user to approve transactions via email.
United Road had looked at many options in the ERP space, and NetSuite was a great fit that was able to grow along with them and consider their complexities. They wanted to partner with a progressive technology company that could integrate seamlessly with other systems. They were looking for something that could scale alongside their company growth.
To continue reading about the incredible results United Road experienced with their NetSuite implementation, download the full case study with results below.
Listen in on the discussion as Caravel’s Rob Cupka reviewed how to automate non-controlling interest journals in your NetSuite environment.
He discussed:
If you’re an avid Salesforce user, you probably heard that the software giant will be removing Process Builder and Workflow Rules at the end of 2025. What are the implications, and what does this mean for you? While change is inevitable as software innovates, we are here to help you advance alongside it.
Salesforce recommends migrating automation to the new Flow Builder. Although Workflow Rules and Processes will continue to work, they won’t be offering support or bug fixes for them. The newly created Flow Builder will allow for more complex logic compared to its predecessor and will allow its users to create multistep processes with conditional branching, loops, and screen elements for user interaction. It will also offer increased flexibility with data manipulation, allowing you to perform more difficult data transformations, create records, and more—with a single flow. Compared to Workflow Rules and Process Builder, the new Flow Builder will offer more robust debugging and testing capabilities that users can troubleshoot more easily. Flow Builder will also integrate with APIs and external systems more seamlessly, for even more sophisticated automation scenarios.
The migration to Flow Builder will take some time, so we suggest you start as soon as possible to allow time for testing. Salesforce has a Migrate to Flow tool and, along with that, Caravel will be offering support to its Salesforce customers.
Users currently heavily rely on these automation tools for lead routing, task assignments, and email notifications; the new alternative will work just as well, but it will require an adjustment period.
Caravel will help you with understanding and familiarizing yourself and other users with Flow Builder. We will start by helping you assess your current workflows and processes and determining which ones will need to be migrated. We can also help you recreate the logic, criteria, and actions of each workflow and process.
Once these steps have been taken, we will work with you to test out your new workflows in various scenarios and cases, validate the new functionality, and identify any potential issues. We can also help train current users on the new Flow Builder to ensure they understand the differences between new and existing processes.
Contact us below if you’re new to Caravel and want some help migrating to Flow Builder. If you’re a current customer, please reach out to your customer support manager.
This 30-minute webinar session provides an overview and demo of Caravel’s custom IP Solution for Shared Vendor Bills.
The Shared Vendor Bill solution works to share cost responsibility on bills across multiple subsidiaries with a customizable “CP | Shared Vendor Bill” form.
Fred Rica, BPM Partner and Cybersecurity thought leader and evangelist, discussed the emerging topics and trends in the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity.
During this 30 minute webinar Fred covered:
Building your human firewalls
Do you pay the ransomware?
What is AI security?
and more!
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