The new NetSuite SuiteBanking solution announced this week gives companies greater control of cash flow and deeper insights into the cash requirements of their business. By delivering greater automation for accounts payable and accounts receivable processes, SuiteBanking makes paying bills and sending invoices easier and helps companies get paid faster. In addition, integration with banking partners like HSBC, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, means companies now have access to payment card services and a global digital wallet from within NetSuite, giving them greater control over how they make and receive payments.
Automation like this can increase the efficiency of routine accounting processes and replace manual processes that are all-too-common in accounting departments. Accounting personnel often spend several hours a day on repetitive data entry, which is both inefficient and increases the risk of errors. The amount of time spent entering information, identifying errors and making corrections means accounting data is often out of date. As a result, business leaders rarely have a current and accurate picture of their cash requirements or know how much cash they have available.
Manual accounting processes also increase costs. For example, according to the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), the worst performing companies spend nearly 75% more than their peers to process vendor invoices, while the top performers spend nearly a third of what their peers do. The difference between the leaders and the laggards, says the APQC, is largely due to automation.
The combination of inefficient processes and inaccurate information is one reason so many organizations struggle with cash flow. Companies are constantly under pressure: from competitors to lower their prices; from shareholders to increase profits; and from suppliers to pay their bills on times. Maintaining sufficient cash flow to fund ongoing operations and invest in growth is difficult for companies that lack real-time financial visibility.
Caption: See bank transactions and daily cash inflows and outflows by account.
Automation, Insights and Financial Flexibility
With SuiteBanking, companies are able to improve the following cash flow processes:
- Accounts Payable. Features include automated invoice scanning and general ledger code assignment, three-way invoice matching and automated outbound payments. Customers can select from multiple payment options for each vendor and choose either the fastest or the least expensive option.
- Accounts Receivable. NetSuite’s payment link feature helps reduce days-sales-outstanding by making it easier for a company’s customers to pay their bills online. Payment link supports multiple payment methods, including ACH transfer, credit/debit card and leading payment providers. SuiteBanking also automates invoice creation and scheduling as well as customer communications (e.g. payment reminders, dunning letters).
- Bank Reconciliation. Businesses can eliminate time-consuming manual tasks and reduce errors by automatically comparing and reconciling journal entries with bank transactions. This increases the productivity of accounting staff and improves the accuracy of financial data.
- Spend Management. Automated approval workflows, budget validation and budget versus actual tracking help companies control expenses by ensuring compliance with corporate policies, alerting managers of potential overspending.
- Expense Management. Employee expense reports are managed from the web or mobile app making them more timely and more accurate, and making submissions and approvals easy. SuiteBanking also offers a virtual credit card service that can be used to pay vendors and corporate credit card charges as well as to cover employee expenses. The company’s customers receive cash back rewards when making payments with the virtual credit card.
- International Payments. A global digital wallet enables businesses to make and receive payments in more than 60 countries from a single account, eliminating the need to work with country-specific payment providers or set up multiple foreign bank accounts.
- Access to Working Capital. SuiteBanking provides access to accounts receivable financing from within NetSuite, helping companies improve cash flow by easily converting unpaid receivables into cash.
With SuiteBanking, NetSuite is the first cloud ERP system to integrate fintech into a unified suite, giving companies increased visibility and control so they can maintain healthy cash flow as they grow. Growing organizations cannot afford to have teams of people entering data, dealing with banks, monitoring transactions from multiple systems, and manually processing vendor payments. The time saved from automating these processes could be spent on strategic projects that help drive further growth for the organization. By providing a single, unified solution, NetSuite eliminates the need to collect and normalize data from other departments and systems, saving accounting teams dozens of hours every month and reducing overtime during the close process.
The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, timing, and pricing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’s products may change and remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation.