2023.2 NetSuite Update Highlights: How the Latest Changes Can Boost Your Business

Improved business insights, auto reconciliation, in-application training —the  2023.2 update features can help your company thrive. You just need to learn how to use them.

How a NetSuite Update Works

Before we list our favorite 2023.2 features, let’s talk about the NetSuite update process. As we said, mass system upgrades happen twice per year. They typically occur overnight, and your account will go offline for about one or two hours as the system updates.

But once the upgrade completes, new features will appear in your account without—drumroll—disrupting your customizations or integrations! All system modifications will carry forward into the latest version.

Each NetSuite update also occurs in phases over the course of three scheduled dates.

• Phase 1: 10% of customers upgrade
• Phase 2: 30% of customers upgrade
• Phase 3: Remaining customers upgrade

You can request a phase change if the date NetSuite originally assigned for your update doesn’t work for your business.

Finally, as a user, you can request a release preview account. Like a NetSuite Sandbox, this environment is a copy of your production account, containing all your data, customizations, workflows, configurations, and bundles. However, it also includes the new NetSuite 2023.2 software. It’s a perfect place to test the new functionalities and ensure they work with your customizations and configurations. So, you can identify any glitches before the NetSuite update goes live.

Noteworthy Changes in NetSuite 2023.2

The NetSuite update contains features that re-imagine workflows for every type of user, including accountants, warehouse managers, and administrators. From SuiteApps tweaks to module modifications, NetSuite 2023.2 offers system-wide enhancements designed to make work easier, faster, and more accurate.

We'll highlight a few of our favorites first.

1. NetSuite Account Reconciliation

One feature, in particular, should excite any and all businesses because it closes books faster AND increases their accuracy. NetSuite Account Reconciliation is a new paid, licensed add-on module that automates the entire reconciliation process for your general ledger, including inter-company transactions, credit card and bank transactions, accounts receivable and payable, and accruals and fixed asset accounts.

This automation has a multitude of benefits, including the following.

• Greatly reduces the manual steps necessary in the reconciliation process and centralizes them in a single workspace.
• Uses an intelligent auto-match system to simplify the matching process for zero-balance and low-risk transactions.
• Allows accounting teams the freedom to focus on more pressing issues.
• Makes reconciling large account volumes more efficient and accurate.
• Helps strengthen your internal controls and compliance.
• Facilitates flux analysis to explain material changes in balances and accounts over a specific period.

The system also stores each reconciliation in a secure document repository in case you need it for audits.

2. NetSuite Guided Learning

We expect NetSuite Guided Learning to become a constant presence for every user, from marketing reps to executives. This free widget will appear on your dashboard after you receive the NetSuite 2023.2 upgrade.

The feature provides users with in-application training for specific tasks and key features. So, you don’t have to search for instructional videos if you want to try something new, like reconfiguring a report or modifying a dashboard. Instead, Guided Learning places directions right in the system, and they display and change, depending on your task.   

In fact, NetSuite Guided Learning has over 50 interactive learning guides to assist key roles from finance to project management to sales. It even has advice for more advanced users looking for ways to maximize the system.

3. NetSuite Analytics Warehouse

You may or may not have purchased the NetSuite Analytics Warehouse paid licensed add-on module. But its consolidated data and user-friendly interface can empower your businesses to succeed—no matter your industry. That’s especially true now that the NetSuite update has made the module even more powerful.  

NetSuite’s thinkers have juiced up the warehouse to give it more out-of-the-box metrics and features so you can leverage data more quickly. After your account updates, expect the following improvements if you’re using NetSuite Analytics Warehouse.

• A collection of 57 new pre-built metrics covering various analytics from sales to finance to project management.
• A new budget category featuring metrics that help plan budgets using consolidated data.
• The capability to run scenario analysis and build financial statements for internal use.
• A more user-friendly interface with new dashboard layouts and key metrics.
• A new connector for private equity firms and organizations running separate subsidies, meaning the system can stream data from multiple NetSuite instances into the Analytics Warehouse for consolidated reporting and benchmarking.
• More data refreshes, allowing for faster reporting with more current figures.
• More streamlined process for assigning user access rights.
• The ability to bundle custom objects when porting between instances.

All of these enhancements equip your business for more thorough performance analysis and sharper decision-making.  So, talk to a SuiteDynamics consultant if you don't have the NetSuite Analytics Warehouse but want to know more about how it can grow your business. Schedule a free consultation today.

NetSuite 2023.2 Enhancements for Modules

The NetSuite update has tricked-out several modules, many of which you can license in addition to a standard system. So, read through the update list and see if any add-ons and their shiny new features pique your interest. If so, the SuiteDynamics experts can help incorporate them into your system.

1. NetSuite AP Automation

We imagine all office workers adore the word “batch.” It indicates a lighter workload.

So, NetSuite-using accounts payable clerks can rejoice! NetSuite AP Automation’s new Payment Approval Routing feature allows users to submit, review, and approve payments in batches. This paid licensed add-on module makes the payment approval process more efficient, saving time and money. Its NetSuite update also helps ensure only authorized transactions get paid. It allows you to exert greater control over spending and time cash outflows.

2. NetSuite Bill Capture

Due to the NetSuite 2023.2 release, you can now purchase NetSuite Bill Capture as a stand-alone paid add-on module without licensing the entire AP automation solution. The new version of this module also features enhanced machine-learning capabilities that categorize expenses and suggest subsidiaries based on your data and bill histories. Plus, you can now scan and upload multiple vendor bills at once.

3. Quality Management

The NetSuite update has adjusted the Quality Management module so supervisors can assign operators to inspections at inspection creation. The system then alerts operators of their tasks via email.

4. NetSuite Connector

Thanks to NetSuite 2023.2, Shopify payments will now reconcile automatically with your ERP. The NetSuite Connector, a paid, licensed add-on module, also allows businesses to buy shipping services from Amazon directly, and then the system syncs fulfillment back to NetSuite. The Shipping Label Sync also uses any preferential rates available, reducing costs.

5. NetSuite Warehouse Management System

A NetSuite update for the NetSuite WMS paid licensed add-on module helps you do more on the shop floor with less effort. NetSuite 2023.2 allows supervisors to assign tasks in bulk to specific pickers. Adherents of the wave picking methodology can now create custom wave picking criteria templates so they don’t have to enter criteria manually.  

Additionally, pickers no longer need to worry if they grab the wrong item. This update allows for “reverse picking,” so an employee can place a product in a bin of their choice instead of tracking down that item’s original location.

Finally, operators don’t need to scan each item of an inbound shipment individually. Now, they can perform tally scans continuously across item types to receive all items in that shipment. So, essentially, these module updates are designed to save a ton of time.

The focus of all 2023.2 module upgrades is to streamline processes so businesses can produce more products and services and make more customers happy. Contact SuiteDynamics for a free consultation and discuss any modules you may want to add to your current NetSuite system.

NetSuite 2023.2 Enhancements for SuiteApps and Mobile Apps

Several of the following apps are free and easy to integrate into your NetSuite ERP. So, discover how NetSuite 2023.2 has improved them, and use as many as you like to boost your business.

1. SuiteTax

Complex shipping jobs have just gotten easier. SuiteTax, a free SuiteApp, now uses line-level shipping details to calculate shipping and handling taxes when a single transaction includes multiple addresses. Due to the NetSuite update, orders you may have once split into separate invoices to calculate various shipping taxes can now be included on the same order.

2. NetSuite Rebate and Trade Promotions

Customers love a good rebate—and companies love a more straightforward rebate process. The NetSuite update has changed the Rebate and Trade Promotions SuiteApp, so users can now create and set tiered rebates. These rebate values adjust depending on the highest quantity or currency tier a customer achieves during a promotion. You can also calculate the rebate based on a flat, per-unit amount or a percentage based on a currency value. This feature reduces the human error found in manual calculation.

3. Vendor Invoice Distribution

This free SuiteApp allows a team to split direct costs from a single vendor bill across departments, subsidiaries, or other company segments. You can base the distribution on flat amounts or percentages.

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4. Cash 360 Dashboard

Now, you can see all your subsidiary cash flow data in one place and create near-term forecasts more quickly. The NetSuite update includes a Cash 360 Dashboard SuiteApp enhancement that offers consolidated cross-subsidiary and single subsidiary views of your cash position. It also allows you to drill down into accounts receivable, accounts payable, and cash balance data to quickly spot trends and monitor company performance.

5. SaaS Metrics Dashboard

Thanks to the NetSuite 2023.2 release, the SaaS (or software-as-a-service) Metrics Dashboard SuiteApp now offers a single, user-friendly view of crucial metrics. The feature gives SuiteBilling customers and companies with subscription-based billing new insights into their performances. You can track…

• Annual Recurring Revenue
• Monthly Recurring Revenue
• Churn Rate

The SuiteApp also provides a 12-month rolling forecast that uses your customer base to project revenue.

6. Work Order Traveler

The upcoming NetSuite update has expanded access to the Work Order Traveler SuiteApp beyond the Advanced Manufacturing module. Now, everyone using WIPS and Routing can use the app to create reports for manufactured items that contain work order instructions, images, and diagrams. These reports ensure products get made correctly every time.

7. Manufacturing Mobile App

Anyone using a NetSuite manufacturing module can access the Manufacturing Mobile App. And now, the NetSuite Update has improved the software, allowing operators to record scrap quantities alongside production and consumption quantities. Therefore, this feature offers a more holistic view of actual production costs.

8. Supply Chain Management Mobile App

The NetSuite 2023.2 update has made the Supply Chain Management Mobile App significantly more user-friendly. You can now switch roles between the Warehouse Management System, Manufacturing Mobile, Smart Count, Quality Management Module, and Ship Central within the app. You no longer need to log in and out, so your workflow proceeds without interruption.  

The app also automatically saves sorted data tables and columns, so it remains laid out precisely how you like it.

9. NetSuite Ship Central

Businesses can now fulfill orders more efficiently using the NetSuite Ship Central SuiteApp. The NetSuite update has changed the software so users can enjoy the following.

• Shop for the lowest shipping rates within the app.
• Generate shipping and return labels for international shipments.
• Use the app to ship orders packed outside the app with the ERP or WMS workflow.
• Make weight cost calculations based on averages and carton tare weights.

10. NetSuite Smart Count

Smart Count SuiteApp users will get a lot more out of barcodes in the NetSuite update. The app allows users to perform inventory counts during business hours without pausing normal company operations. NetSuite 2023.2 has improved the SuiteApp so users can scan GS1 GTIN advanced barcodes. The enhancement captures information like units of measure and serial and lot number data to maintain more detailed records without manual entry.

The update also offers more flexibility. It allows you to establish Smart Count configurations that respond to scenarios like low inventory or high transaction rates. Plus, you can adjust for counting and accounting variances any way you like.   

11. NetSuite Mobile App

NetSuite 2023.2 has boosted the NetSuite Mobile App so you can easily review customer interactions. The app’s activity log combines multiple record types into a single list. In fact, it can load up to 100 interactions and CRM records within any four-week period.

All of these new SuiteApp and mobile app features are designed to give your company an extra boost in business operations so you can stay ahead of the competition. Schedule a free consultation with SuiteDynamics consultants to discover how these capabilities and other NetSuite tools can help you succeed in your industry.

What's Your Next Step?

The NetSuite 2023.2 release will flood user systems with exciting new features that improve the software’s efficiency and user-friendly qualities. The NetSuite update can make your business better, faster, and more profitable—if you can maximize these improvements.

So, don’t take the update for granted. Remember to request your release preview account and test the new features so you can use the system to its freshly boosted potential.

The NetSuite consultants at SuiteDynamics are always on call if you need guidance about making 2023.2 changes work for your business. Schedule your free consultation today.



Disclaimer from NetSuite: The preceding is intended to outline Oracle NetSuite's 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.