Explore NetSuite 2024.1: Transforming ERP with AI and Enhanced Features

The all-new NetSuite Release 2024.1 is here! NetSuite's commitment to innovation is reflected in its most recent release. This comes as businesses are gearing up for a tech-dominated future. Stay ahead in the dynamic world of ERP solutions with NetSuite’s dedication to constant improvement.  

Let’s sneak a peek into NetSuite’s new Release that raises your ERP experience. 

What is NetSuite Release  

NetSuite releases are periodic upgrades and enhancements made to the ERP software. They unveil new features, improvements and security updates. This cloud-based solution releases new versions regularly. This ensures that users receive access to the most recent functionality while also addressing any system flaws or deficiencies.  

NetSuite releases new versions twice a year, typically in February and August. Customers get Release Preview accounts to enable them to test new features. It also ensures that they do not conflict with existing workflows and automation.  

What’s New in NetSuite Release 2024.1  

This release incorporates powerful AI capabilities that promise to boost the suite's functionality. NetSuite addresses critical aspects of business operations. They include improved financial processes, streamlined supply chain management, and e-commerce upgrades.

1. Text Enhance with Generative AI for Business Writing:  

NetSuite’s Text Enhance feature integrates generative AI across the suite. This allows for the generation of tailored, contextual information based on relevant data.  

In this release, Text Enhance primarily benefits customer service, HR, and marketing departments. It creates product descriptions for invoices, websites and point-of-sale systems.  

It assists with writing job descriptions and requisitions, formulating employee goals, and providing suggestions for success measures. Text Enhance also provides suggestions for customer support communications.  

Additionally, it refines existing content by editing grammar & spelling, as well as rephrases it as necessary for improved readability.

2. Automated Vendor Bill Data Capture:

Release 1 enhances NetSuite Bill Capture to meet the majority’s desire for increased productivity. This feature speeds up the capture of vendor invoices by removing manual data entry and automating the invoice capture. The AI-based document detection and OCR automate data entry to reduce errors.   

The Review Bill page in the latest release has new fields such as PO number, memo, posting period, discount date, and custom segments. It provides flexibility, resulting in a more thorough and precise bill creation experience. Added filters for vendor, upload source, and email source on the scanned vendor bills page improve the user experience. This allows easy searchability, particularly for those who handle a large volume of bills.

3. Predictive Analytics for Planning and Budgeting:

NetSuite 2024.1 Release integrates Intelligent Performance Management (IPM) in its Planning and Budgeting modules. IPM uses machine learning-powered predictive algorithms to constantly monitor and analyze plans, forecasts, and variances. The system identifies trends, anomalies, biases, and correlations, allowing finance teams to act faster on insights. Key measures such as forecast variance, bias, and predictions help to analyze forecast reliability and manage large deviations.  

4. Streamlining Financial Close: 

NetSuite EPM offers two methods for speeding up the financial close process. NetSuite Account Reconciliation automates the reconciliation process for many accounts.  

They include payables and receivables, bank and credit card transactions, intercompany transactions, and balance sheet accounts. NetSuite Close Management and Consolidation enables businesses to comply with regulatory guidelines and internal governance standards. It provides a consolidated platform for managing consolidation and financial close procedures while assuring data quality via automated data collection, validation, and consolidation.  

5. Contextualized Reporting with Automation:

To solve financial reporting difficulties, NetSuite EPM introduced Corporate Tax Reporting, which automates tax reporting operations. Narrative Reporting provides context to financial data by combining narrative writing with financial statements in a single report.  

Maximizing Profitability with Additional Features: The 2024.1 release introduces various features, including:

• Increased Transaction Line Distribution support for vendor bills, credits, purchase orders, expense reports, credit card transactions, etc.  

• NetSuite Benchmark 360 tool for analyzing operational and financial indicators and comparing them to industry benchmarks. 

• Compliance 360 Dashboard to monitor real-time changes to customer records, tracking edits, exports, prints, and searches. This increases data breach awareness and internal user activity audits.  

• Updates to NetSuite Electronic Invoicing include direct connections to national, international, and government e-invoicing platforms.  

• NetSuite Analytics Warehouse upgrades include faster more secure access and more financial analysis subject areas for comprehensive reporting and insights. 

6. Favorites Feature to Streamline User Experience:  

The latest addition to the NetSuite Interface is the Favorites functionality within dropdown lists. In the Customer, Add Multiple, and Items fields on sales orders, users can now select up to five favorite items. In the Add Multiple area, users can display only their favorite items by checking the “Show favorites only” box.

7. Revolutionizing Field Service:  

A key aspect is the introduction of NetSuite Field Service Management. The recent acquisition of Next Technik led to its development. This system effectively handles coordination issues between office and field workers. 

It generates work orders linked to cases, sales orders, or projects. It gets dispatched depending on abilities and location. The scheduler enables managers to filter jobs by geography, labor prices, and kind, with color coding for easy tracking.  

Dispatchers may easily adjust schedules, and the mobile app alerts technicians to new work. It offers access to schedules, client information, and directions.  

8. Provisions for Supply Chain Apps:  

NetSuite SCM Mobile apps, including Warehouse Management System (WMS), Ship Central, Manufacturing Mobile, and Quality Management, now have additional configurability. Admins gain control over critical features, such as disabling quantity or unit of measure fields to prevent errors.  

It is now possible to link data tables in SCM Mobile apps to images, work orders, and other information in NetSuite or another system.  

• NetSuite WMS now allows companies using wave picking to ship orders after picking one wave, streamlining fulfillment.   
• Ship Central aids sales reps in finding low-cost shipping options.   
• The Manufacturing Mobile app improves time and labor calculations, identifying shop floor bottlenecks.  
• NetSuite Quality Management enables inspections for items with no inventory quantity, enhancing quality control. 

9. Enhanced Third-Party Connectors:  

NetSuite’s 2024 Release 1 incorporates features aimed at boosting workforce productivity and creating better customer interactions.   

Simphony Connector: The new NetSuite Connector for Simphony Point of Sale (POS) automates processes. This streamlines data management for restaurant and hospitality businesses. It constructs a single cash sale per location in NetSuite for improved reporting.  

Amazon Seller Central Connector: It simplifies order processing and fulfillment for Amazon third-party sellers. This is done by syncing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN), and Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) orders. 

Shopify Connector: The Shopify Connector now has more flexibility, including support for merchants using Shopify to fulfill orders.  

10. Improved Sales and Billing Process:  

NetSuite enhances its capabilities, making it easier to sell and manage subscriptions with the added features to NetSuite CPQ. The new release also streamlines billing processes.  

NetSuite CPQ: Enables sales reps and customers to select SuiteBilling subscriptions while creating configurations, boosting customer spend with customizable products and services.  

Streamlined SuiteBilling: SuiteBilling now facilitates the seamless selling and invoicing of physical products and related subscriptions. It connects inventory and subscription items to ease the order process and billing.  

SuiteCommerce Interface: Provides a unified interface for quotes, reorders, and payments, streamlining customer engagement.  

11. Seamless Payment Processing with NetSuite Pay:  

NetSuite Pay SuiteApp version 1.0.0 enables businesses to enhance their payment processing capabilities. Businesses can effortlessly accept credit card payments via a variety of channels. They include internet, phone, point of sale, and other digital methods, while ensuring PCI-compliant data security. 

With NetSuite Pay, you get a complete record of the whole transaction lifecycle. This includes a 360-degree view of the customer transaction history and detailed audit tracking. This protects payment card data all the while.  

To wrap it up, NetSuite Release 2024.1 brings transformative enhancements, fostering efficiency, flexibility, and superior customer interactions. Field Service Management maximizes productivity, EPM promises deeper insights, and supply chain apps offer adaptability. The commitment to customer experience shines through with improved SuiteCommerce, and connectors. 

Reach out to Jobin & Jismi, an accredited Oracle NetSuite Solution Provider, for more information on NetSuite 2024 Release 1. Contact us now!