When it comes to managing a software company, the challenges to stay afloat and grow the business are many. Business leaders strive to be nimble and answer these seemingly simple questions every day:

  • What’s the most effective, efficient way to plan complex projects with multiple contributors, task types and deadlines?
  • How can project managers make sure they are using resources to optimize revenue opportunities?
  • With all those moving parts, what’s the most accurate way to demonstrate revenue recognition?

The answers are not easy to come by, as evidenced by this staggering number from McKinsey’s “Grow fast or die slow”: “Even with a 60% annual growth rate, a software company’s chances of growing into a multibillion-dollar organization are merely 50/50.”

In order to compete on the global market, software companies must have access to tools that pinpoint opportunities for revenue growth, effectively and efficiently plan projects and properly recognize revenue. Without these tools, they’re behind the curve.

NetSuite 2019 Release 2 offers a series of enhancements that increase flexibility, visibility and efficiency for software companies.

Plan Project Budgets With Confidence

Budget planning is an ever-changing beast, with increasing complications due to the number and types of contributors, billing types and deadlines. Project managers constantly question whether they have the correct resources, enough time and the appropriate profit margin for the business.

NetSuite 2019 Release 2 includes major enhancements to Advanced Project Budgets, a single-source project budget management tool. Enhancements include:

  • A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) that displays cost and revenue in customizable time periods for profitability monitoring.
  • Activity Codes associated with Project Tasks for performance visibility.

These updates enable users to more easily understand all the factors that go into project budgets, so they can make informed decisions that improve project outcomes.

Allocate Resources With Greater Flexibility

Knowing which kind of resources (both people and funds) to put toward any given project is absolutely critical to the health of a software business, and it’s the most difficult kind of visibility to achieve. What are the specific project needs at the outset? How do needs change if the project changes? The ability to “tweak as you go” is critical.

NetSuite 2019 Release 2 offers updated Utilization Reporting and Resource Allocation, which includes:

  • Utilization Targets that showcase performance indicators for each employee.
  • Target Utilization that allows users to set a percentage target (with a default of 100%).
  • Custom reports that display “Available Hours,” “Total Hours” and overall usage.
  • A Resource Allocation Grid that enables Resource Managers to filter, manage and reallocate resources with ease.

The benefits for users of these features are opportunities to drive increased revenue, improved levels of customer service and decreased operational costs.

More Flexible and Granular Revenue Recognition

Revenue recognition rules have changed with the introduction of ASC 606, and with that change comes a higher level of complexity for software companies. The process of recognizing revenue from software contracts has become particularly arduous and time-consuming.  

NetSuite 2019 Release 2 introduces Rules-Based Revenue Recognition, which allows customers to define revenue recognition attributes based on their own specific set of rules. And customers can apply different revenue recognition treatments based on an expanded set of criteria. That means more flexibility in setting triggers and custom rules.

Increasing customization for revenue recognition allows users to pre-program attributes more quickly and share company financials with greater confidence. 

NetSuite 2019 Release 2 Provides the Framework for Real-Time Action 

The features available in the latest version of NetSuite will give software companies the flexibility they need to plan constantly-changing projects, maximize revenue gains and confidently share revenue recognition figures. But that’s not all: This is just a taste of what’s available with the NetSuite 2019 Release 2. Be sure to check out the release notes for a full list of benefits that NetSuite's latest release can bring to your organization and the blog highlighting new functionality for all organizations.

Finally, for a hands-on primer, be sure to access your included preview account as soon as it's available. There, you'll be able to see how the new features will work with your own data and get a jumpstart on maximizing the impact of NetSuite 2019 Release 2.