NetSuite is a great platform for company growth, and many organizations make the decision to leverage NetSuite as they accelerate their growth through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). If you are planning to incorporate a new company into your NetSuite environment, below are suggestions of things to consider early in the process to help your project start off smoothly.
Map General Ledger accounts and financial segments
General Ledger (GL) accounts, departments, classes, and any other financial segmentation you use should be reviewed and mapped as early as possible. This helps not only in data migration and system setup, but also in identifying business processes you may not be aware of. By reviewing these items, you may uncover details that were not previously known.
For example, when reviewing a software and technology company, most of the business will be made up of recurring software subscriptions, but in looking at the revenue accounts, some project services revenue is identified. Now you know you need a plan for how different projects will work in NetSuite; this could be either within your existing setup or maybe through new features added on.
Identify duplicate vendors and customers
Reduce the frustration of messy vendor and customer records by comparing these lists for duplicates. Doing this ahead of time will avoid unnecessary confusion when entering invoices—if this step is missed, the confusion will be exponentially greater with new vendor and customer records from the new organization being added into your NetSuite environment.
Often when there are duplicates, the vendor is the same, but listed with different addresses or contacts. Highlighting these and adding them to existing records will keep your system clean and useful.
Map out your subsidiary structure
There are a lot of details to consider when imagining your future subsidiary structure after the merger or acquisition is complete. Some of the questions to consider include:
- How do you need to report financials?
- What legal structure is in place?
- How will operations be impacted?
While these questions seem straightforward, the answers between two different organizations looking to merge together could be extremely different and result in necessary complex workarounds. This step is often one of the more complex and critical pieces necessary when embarking on this journey.
Create a seamless strategy for mergers and acquisitions with Charted
Some organizations require NetSuite optimization in order to align NetSuite environments while maintaining business continuity during mergers and acquisitions; for more information on Charted NetSuite Optimization, click here.
The talented consultants at Charted are here to help guide you through your strategy for any and all mergers and acquisitions to make sure you set up the most effective structure for your company’s needs. To get first-hand insights into best practices related to your business’s specific needs, reach out to us here.
To see the real-life impacts of an integrated approach to AP Automation in NetSuite, read about how Petauri gained financial clarity and control over multiple subsidiaries and their first global acquisition with Charted here.
