What is Netsuite ERP and how does it work?

NetSuite ERP is a comprehensive cloud-based business management platform that unifies accounting, inventory, order management, human resources, and other essential business operations into a single system. Built from the ground up for the cloud and backed by Oracle's enterprise expertise, NetSuite provides real-time visibility and control across all aspects of your business operations through a unified dashboard. The platform serves businesses of all sizes, from fast-growing startups to global enterprises, offering industry-specific solutions for manufacturing, retail, professional services, and wholesale distribution. While many traditional ERP systems require complex integrations to connect different business functions, NetSuite's native integration capabilities allow companies to manage everything from financial planning and customer relationships to supply chain operations seamlessly in one place, scaling smoothly as organizations grow.

NetSuite ERP operates as a centralized cloud-based system where all business data flows through a single, unified database that updates in real-time across every department. When a sales representative creates a new order, for example, the system automatically updates inventory levels, triggers purchasing alerts if stock falls below set thresholds, adjusts financial forecasts, and updates customer records — all without additional manual intervention. This interconnected approach means that whether team members are processing orders, managing inventory, or analyzing financial reports, they're all working with the same up-to-the-minute information, ensuring consistency and accuracy across operations.

The platform streamlines daily operations through automated workflows that adapt to your specific business processes and role-based permissions. For instance, when your purchasing department creates a purchase order, NetSuite can automatically route it through your customized approval workflow, notify relevant team members, update projected cash flow forecasts, and schedule payment based on vendor terms. Role-based dashboards ensure each user sees exactly what they need — financial teams access detailed accounting data and reports, while warehouse staff view inventory and fulfillment information, all while maintaining appropriate security controls and audit trails.

Behind the scenes, NetSuite's cloud architecture makes all this functionality accessible through any web browser, eliminating the need for complex local installations or manual updates. The system continuously collects data from every transaction and interaction, enabling real-time reporting and analytics that help businesses make informed decisions. For example, executives can access customizable dashboards showing key performance indicators across all departments, while managers can drill down into specific metrics relevant to their areas of responsibility. This cloud-based approach also simplifies integration with other business tools, allowing companies to connect their e-commerce platforms, point-of-sale systems, or specialized industry applications while maintaining NetSuite as their central source of truth.

NetSuite ERP delivers a comprehensive suite of features designed to help businesses streamline operations, improve decision-making, and accelerate growth. From core financial management to advanced analytics, these integrated capabilities work together to provide a complete view of your business operations while automating key processes across departments.

Financial management and accounting

NetSuite's financial management system transforms how businesses handle their accounting processes by automating complex financial operations and providing real-time visibility into company performance. The platform handles everything from basic accounting tasks to complex financial consolidations, supporting multiple currencies, tax regulations, and reporting standards while maintaining compliance across global operations. This ability to automate accounting processes reduces manual data entry and reconciliation time while improving accuracy and control.

Inventory and supply chain management

Transform your supply chain operations with NetSuite's advanced inventory management capabilities that provide real-time visibility and control across multiple locations and warehouses. NetSuite intelligently manages inventory levels, automates reordering based on customizable rules, and tracks items from procurement to fulfillment. These capabilities help businesses reduce carrying costs, prevent stockouts, and optimize their entire supply chain for improved efficiency.

Order management and fulfillment

Streamline your entire order-to-cash process with NetSuite's unified order management system that connects sales, fulfillment, and financial operations. The platform automatically routes orders to the optimal fulfillment location, coordinates multiple fulfillment methods, and provides real-time visibility into order status across all channels. This integrated approach to purchase order management reduces processing time, minimizes errors, and improves customer satisfaction through faster, more accurate deliveries.

Revenue management

Take control of your revenue streams with NetSuite's sophisticated revenue management capabilities that automate complex revenue recognition processes and ensure compliance with accounting standards. The system handles multi-element arrangements, subscription billing, and complex pricing models while providing clear visibility into current and projected revenue. This automation reduces closing times and ensures accurate financial reporting across all revenue streams.

Reporting and analytics

Make better business decisions with NetSuite's powerful reporting and analytics tools that provide real-time insights into every aspect of your operations. The platform includes hundreds of pre-built reports and customizable dashboards that deliver actionable insights to each role in your organization. These analytics capabilities help businesses identify trends, spot opportunities, and address issues before they impact operations.

Customization and workflow automation

Adapt NetSuite to your unique business needs through extensive customization options and business process automation capabilities that don't require programming expertise. The platform's point-and-click tools allow businesses to modify forms, create custom fields, design automated workflows, and build personalized dashboards. You can even build automated invoice processing to reduce manual data entry and expedite payments. This flexibility ensures the system grows and evolves with your business while maintaining the benefits of a standardized cloud platform.

NetSuite ERP serves a diverse range of businesses, from fast-growing startups generating $1 million in annual revenue to global enterprises with billions in sales. The typical NetSuite customer has outgrown entry-level accounting software and needs a more robust solution to manage increasing operational complexity, but they still want to avoid the high costs and lengthy implementation times of traditional on-premise ERP systems. These organizations often have up to 1,000 employees, operate in multiple locations or countries, and require sophisticated financial management capabilities to handle their growing business needs.

Manufacturing companies, wholesale distributors, software companies, and professional services firms particularly benefit from NetSuite's capabilities. For example, manufacturers use NetSuite to manage complex supply chains, track production costs, and coordinate multi-site operations, while software companies leverage the platform to handle subscription billing, revenue recognition, and project accounting. Professional services organizations with 50-100 employees often implement NetSuite to manage project profitability, resource utilization, and complex billing arrangements across multiple client engagements. Retail businesses with both physical and online presence use NetSuite to unify their operations, manage inventory across channels, and maintain consistent customer experiences.

Companies typically turn to NetSuite when they face challenges that indicate they've outgrown their current systems. Common triggers include the need to consolidate multiple software systems, difficulty managing operations across multiple entities or countries, and the desire to automate manual processes that are slowing growth. For instance, businesses processing thousands of monthly transactions, managing complex supply chains, or dealing with multi-currency operations find NetSuite's procurement automation workflows and global capabilities essential. The platform proves particularly valuable for companies expanding internationally, as it handles multiple currencies, languages, and tax regulations while maintaining consolidated financial reporting and compliance.

The ideal NetSuite customer is often a business experiencing rapid growth or digital transformation that needs a scalable platform to support their evolution. These organizations frequently struggle with challenges like maintaining accurate financial consolidations across subsidiaries, managing complex revenue recognition scenarios, or needing better visibility into operations across locations or departments. NetSuite's cloud-based architecture and comprehensive functionality make it particularly suitable for businesses that want to standardize their operations globally while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to local market requirements and industry-specific needs.

A NetSuite implementation typically follows a streamlined process designed to get businesses up and running quickly while ensuring proper system configuration and user adoption. Through its innovative SuiteSuccess methodology, launched in 2017, NetSuite has revolutionized the traditional ERP implementation approach by providing industry-specific configurations that significantly reduce deployment time. This methodology leverages over two decades of industry best practices and pre-built solutions for 12 different verticals, including manufacturing, retail, software, nonprofit, and wholesale distribution, allowing many companies to go live in 100 days or less.

The implementation process begins with thorough planning and preparation, where your organization works with NetSuite or a certified implementation partner to define project scope, timelines, and resource requirements. During this phase, key decisions are made about data migration strategies, system configurations, and customization needs based on your industry-specific requirements. The platform comes pre-configured with industry-leading KPIs, reports, dashboards, and reminders, which can then be further tailored to match your exact business processes. This preparation phase typically involves assembling a core project team, establishing clear objectives, and creating a detailed project timeline.

Data migration and system configuration represent critical phases of the implementation process, where existing business data is carefully transferred to NetSuite and the system is configured to match your operational needs. The SuiteSuccess approach streamlines this process by providing pre-built configurations that can be refined rather than built from scratch. During this phase, your implementation team will work on migrating master data (such as customer records, vendor information, and product catalogs), historical transactions, and setting up crucial workflows and automation rules. Parallel to these technical activities, comprehensive user training programs are developed and executed to ensure your team is ready to utilize the new system effectively.

The final phases of implementation focus on testing, go-live preparation, and post-implementation support. Thorough testing across all configured modules helps identify and resolve any issues before the system goes live, while carefully planned cutover strategies ensure a smooth transition from legacy systems. Unlike traditional on-premise ERP implementations that require extensive hardware setup and configuration, NetSuite's cloud-based nature eliminates these technical hurdles, allowing organizations to focus on business process optimization and user adoption. After go-live, ongoing support and optimization continue as your organization fully embraces the new system and begins to leverage its capabilities for improved business operations.

Avenue One, an innovative prop-tech scale-up providing single-family rental services to institutional investors, faced a common challenge as it grew to nearly 200 employees across the US and Canada. Their existing corporate card system couldn't effectively integrate with their NetSuite ERP, forcing their finance team to spend countless hours on manual processes. "We had to download the card detail, review every purchase, manually tag our NetSuite GL accounts, and import that file to NetSuite every month," explains Katherine Spillane, Avenue One's Assistant Controller. This manual workflow was particularly challenging given their international operations and foreign exchange requirements.

To solve these challenges, Avenue One implemented Brex's corporate card solution, seamlessly integrating it with their NetSuite ERP in minutes. The integration enabled them to map their GL account tree directly into Brex, creating an automated flow of data between systems. "Thanks to the deep integration, there's no risk of having something in NetSuite that's not in Brex, or vice versa," says Katherine. "We're not just automating — we're driving company-wide accuracy." This direct connection ensures perfect synchronization between their expense management and ERP systems.

The impact on Avenue One's operations has been transformative, particularly in terms of time savings and efficiency gains. The finance team now saves 10-15 hours on monthly expense reconciliation, with transactions automatically mapping to NetSuite and rarely requiring manual intervention from controllers. This automation has freed the finance team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine data entry. The system also provides enhanced visibility and control over purchases across departments, teams, and borders, with the ability to handle multiple currencies seamlessly.

The benefits extend beyond the finance team to improve the entire company's expense management workflow. Avenue One implemented a structured budget system through Brex, allowing managers to create nested budgets for team-specific expenses. For example, field employees now have pre-approved budgets for fuel and light car maintenance expenses, eliminating approximately 10 hours of unnecessary review time per month. Employees benefit from the user-friendly Brex app, which enables them to manage receipts, check spend limits, and handle reimbursements independently from anywhere in the world.

The combination of Brex and NetSuite has fundamentally changed how Avenue One manages its financial operations. "Employees and managers rarely need the finance team's help, because they have an easy self-service solution at their fingertips," Katherine notes. “We're effectively pre-authorizing expenses before they happen and enforcing those policies through the card itself. NetSuite has always been indispensable, but it's even better with Brex.” The Brex-NetSuite integration has created a more efficient, accurate, and scalable financial infrastructure that supports Avenue One's continued growth while reducing administrative burden across the organization.

Medicinal Genomics, a pioneer in leveraging genomics for medicinal plant testing since 2011, faced significant challenges with its expense management process. Employees were using personal credit cards for business expenses, creating a burden for the finance team who had to manage manual reviews, expense reimbursements, and reconciliations. "It took an exorbitant amount of time to document receipts in multiple systems, verify transactions line-by-line, and import all the data into NetSuite," explains Arlene Barbieri, corporate financial controller at Medicinal Genomics. These manual processes were preventing the finance team from focusing on strategic initiatives that could impact the company's growth.

The company turned to Brex for a solution, implementing an integrated system of corporate cards and spend management software that seamlessly connects with their NetSuite ERP. The implementation process was remarkably efficient, with Arlene noting, "We set up our direct NetSuite integration in minutes. Brex's dedicated implementation support had the whole organization up and running with corporate cards in less than a week." The intuitive nature of Brex's mobile app and dashboard meant minimal training was required for employees to manage their expenses, track spending, and access expense policies.

The impact on Medicinal Genomics' financial operations was immediate and substantial. The finance team implemented pre-approved spending limits based on roles and locations, with built-in controls that apply across both Brex’s corporate credit card program and reimbursements. Customized approval workflows enabled managers to review expenses by exception, saving 10 hours of unnecessary approvals per week. The Brex mobile app further enhanced efficiency and compliance, with visualized expense policies making it easier for employees to spend responsibly. "The increased efficiencies of Brex help us close the month faster, allowing us to scale faster," Arlene shares.

The combination of Brex and NetSuite has transformed financial operations throughout the organization. The finance team spends significantly less time on card and finance management, while employees benefit from 24/7 in-app support that reduces the need for finance team intervention. "We've streamlined our management processes across the board. Our executive, sales, procurement, and finance teams have nothing but praise for Brex," says Arlene. This newfound efficiency has positioned Medicinal Genomics to advance its industry leadership and accelerate growth, with real-time reconciliation and automated workflows freeing up valuable time for strategic initiatives.

Integrating Brex with NetSuite creates a powerful expense management automation solution that improves expense tracking, streamlines reconciliation, and frees your finance team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual data entry. Companies like Avenue One and Medicinal Genomics have demonstrated that this integration can save finance teams dozens of hours on monthly reconciliations while ensuring tight synchronization between expense management and ERP systems. The seamless connection between these platforms eliminates double entry, reduces errors, and provides real-time visibility into company spending across all departments and locations.

The integration's implementation process is remarkably efficient, typically taking just minutes to set up and less than a week to fully deploy across an organization. As seen with Medicinal Genomics, the intuitive interface requires minimal training for employees, while providing robust controls for finance teams to set pre-approved spending limits and custom approval workflows. The system's automated expense policy enforcement and real-time synchronization ensure compliance while eliminating the need for manual reviews. These capabilities have helped companies like Avenue One save their managers 10 hours of unnecessary review time per month, while maintaining strict control over departmental budgets and expenses.

Global organizations particularly benefit from Brex's integration with NetSuite, as the system seamlessly handles multiple currencies and international transactions. The mobile app provides employees worldwide with easy access to expense management tools, spending limits, and reimbursement capabilities while maintaining centralized control and visibility for finance teams. Avenue One's experience shows how the integration can effectively serve non-US employees with budgets and expenses shown in both local currency and USD, making it ideal for companies with international operations.

Transform your financial operations today by integrating Brex with NetSuite and join companies that are achieving significant time savings and improved accuracy in their expense management. The combination of NetSuite's robust ERP capabilities with Brex's modern financial tools creates a scalable infrastructure that supports growth while reducing administrative burden.

As Medicinal Genomics' controller notes, “The increased efficiencies of Brex help us close the month faster, allowing us to scale faster.” Jessica Ray, controller at medical-device startup Pramand, adds: “Brex’s NetSuite integration has been seamless and saves us a ton of time. And from a compliance perspective, Brex is like having a second set of eyes on expenses at the end of the month.”

Sign up for Brex today and experience how a robust NetSuite integration can automate reconciliation, offer real-time data synchronization, and streamline expense management to drive your business forward.