Oracle NetSuite continues deploying large upgrades to critical modules and supporting international growth through further localization capabilities. Out of the hundreds of new features and enhancements, we selected the top four to highlight that will impact our customers the most value!
If you are already a NetSuite customer, since the NetSuite upgrades are on a rolling basis, starting in July 2021 through October 2021, you may or may not have been upgraded yet. Log in to your dashboard and check out the new release portal to learn more about your upgrade date, see sneak peeks, and more regarding the new NetSuite release. As always if you need help simply reach out to Big Bang’s team.
2021.2 Release Highlights
1. Supply Allocation Enhancements
Optimize Allocation for Gross Profit and Revenue
NetSuite Supply Allocation now allows you to optimize allocation using gross profit and revenue as arguments. To understand how impactful this can be, let’s take a very real example. AMD and NVIDIA are unable to make enough graphics cards to meet the demand right now because there is a worldwide silicon shortage. Because of that, they need to make a choice when building a card: will I make a low-end card that requires less silicon and is sold at a lower price, or will I make a high-end card that requires more silicon, but is sold at a much higher price. Well, now NetSuite is able to give them the answer using their revenue and profit targets.
Allocated Order Number Link
This enhancement allows the user to easily navigate between demand and supply sources to better fine-tune the allocation plan. Previously, the navigation aspect of supply allocation could be cumbersome at times.
2. Banking Enhancements
Automated Cash Application
Following the release and subsequent expansions of the Bank Feeds SuiteApp, NetSuite now enables users to automatically create Customer Payment records upon bank file import for unmatched positive amount bank lines. If you process a large amount of customer payments daily, this feature is for you!
At Big Bang, this was a very common pain point for NetSuite users. We can’t count the number of times we have performed a similar customization for our customers!
Enhancements to Matching and Reconciliation
Going hand-in-hand with the Automated Cash Application feature, NetSuite 2021.2 release further enhances the Bank Reconciliation user experience by enabling users to bulk match all transactions, instead of having to click one box after another. This one will be a huge time saver for the accounting department!
3. Subscription Billing
Subscription companies often need to invoice for varying amounts between service periods. Previously, the NetSuite SuiteBilling module created negative charges to offset previously invoiced amounts, which blurred the waters of the AR process. Quite frankly, the resulting invoices were not presentable to clients. In fact, at Big Bang we’ve had a dedicated team who spent their summer adjusting Advanced PDF/HTML templates to make them look good for customers. Now, NetSuite will simply generate the proper charge amount, which will flow seamlessly to the invoicing process. SuiteBilling users rejoice: recurring invoices will be clear and usable from the get-go.
4. SuiteTalk Web Service Integration
REST Query Service Is Generally Available
The REST Query is finally out of beta! At Big Bang, while we loved the ease of use provided by the REST API, we could never wholeheartedly recommend an integration using that API for our customers. We always had to mention, “It looks good, BUT, it’s risky” Now, the “BUT” is gone! The REST API is robust, supported, and fully tested for all of our integration needs. Talk about peace of mind!
Other Notable Features
Please note the following features have been excluded for brevity. For the full detailed release notes: Oracle NetSuite 2021.2 Release Notes_2021.2
- New Rate Provider for Currency Exchange Rate Integration
- SuiteApprovals Enhancements
- New Sandbox Refresh Options
- Enhancements to NetSuite OAuth 2.0 Support
- Expense Report Policies Available with Custom Approvals
- Calendar Event Creation
- Certificate of Analysis in Quality Management
- Electronic Bank Payments Enhancements
- Subscription Billing Bulk Change Orders
- Purchase to Project Now Available
- 2021.2 Connect Browser
- Workbook API Is Now Generally Available
- Changes to nlapiEncrypt, CurrentRecord.getValue, and Record.getValue for Custom Password Fields
- Enhanced Feature Dependencies Updates
- Cross-Subsidiary Requisitions
- Projects SuiteApps
- Order Management SuiteApps
How to Update to NetSuite 2021.2
The 2021.2 update adds promising new features that continue to improve in critical areas for NetSuite users. With so many new features, you may be questioning where to start, what you can do to prepare for NetSuite 2021.2, how you should test the latest release and more to ensure that your organization and system are ready for the upgrade.
If you need any help testing and validating your current processes, including customizations, scripts, workflows, and integrations for NetSuite 2020.2 or any future releases, please get in touch with a Big Bang NetSuite consultant.
