Many NetSuite users are unaware of the benefits of SuiteBilling, which is understandable as it’s a relatively new product in the UK – but if your business utilises some form of subscription billing, then you might find it invaluable.
With its origins in the 17th century, subscription billing has been around a while – but as the business landscape has evolved, particularly in this digital age, we have seen its use flourish.
Finance leaders are always looking for creative ways to increase revenue streams for their products, services, maintenance and support offerings, which often leads to a complex fusion of billing based on usage and subscriptions.
Rather than selling a one-off product, with subscriptions customers are billed at regular intervals (monthly or annually are the most common). This type of billing is very common for software companies – NetSuite and Salesforce operate in this way, as does Netflix. You can even buy shaving products on a subscription basis now!
When a company is small with very few customers, this can be managed with spreadsheets, but with hundreds or thousands of customers and potentially millions of transactions it is vital to have a software solution that can manage this for you. Without it, you risk mis-billing your customers, which will not only increase customer dissatisfaction (and therefore churn) or worse still – you might not bill them at all.
Moves to subscription billing add complexity around revenue recognition for companies who are not used to operating within that space – where knowing where and when to recognise revenue is vital. Revenue recognition rules also evolve, so it is equally important to be cognizant with any changes to avoid losing revenue and falling foul of tax laws.
The surge in subscription billing now means that more and more companies now need a solution that can handle such complex billing arrangements.
NetSuite SuiteBilling provides businesses with one of the most comprehensive billing systems on the market. It can create flexible contracts for customers and sits seamlessly within NetSuite’s core financial accounting solution, giving you real-time visibility into all business operations – synchronising all your orders, billing and revenue recognition into one system.
SuiteBilling gives you the ability to bill using flexible pricing plans:
SuiteBilling gives you the flexibility to invoice subscriptions as once only, in advance or in arrears. Customer subscriptions can also be configured to include items such as license counts, setup fees and consumption in one step using multiple rating models.
SuiteBilling allows multiple billing accounts for a single customer and sub-customer. For example, you might have a customer that has many franchises who needs the license fee charged to the parent company and the service fees need to be billed to sub customers.
SuiteBilling allows you to schedule and automate changes to subscriptions meaning you don’t need to manually monitor and track customer subscription changes. Any alterations to prices and/or quantities can be made immediately or scheduled for a later time using a change order.
SuiteBilling utilises NetSuite’s Advanced Revenue Management so there’s no requirement for additional software to accomplish this tricky area of accounting as it is compliant with revenue recognition rules.
SuiteBilling provides greater transparency and an improved billing experience for the customer by providing a thorough breakdown of their invoice so they know exactly what they are paying for.
Real-time visibility into billing and financial activity.
“With SuiteBilling, we’re giving our customers a next-generation solution to win in the marketplace today and future-proof their business for change tomorrow.”
SuiteBilling releases its first SuiteAnalytics Workbook, focusing on monthly recurring revenue. This feature includes the record, dataset template, and workbook template.
Use the standard workbook template for analytics on recurring revenue, churn, upsell, downsell, and renewal revenue for all your subscriptions. Customize views with additional filters and data by modifying the workbook template and dataset template. Choose to visualize the data as a table, chart, or pivot. The workbook lets you compare revenue trends and details through the following customizable views:
SuiteBilling might be exactly what your business needs to increase visibility and increase automation to subscription billing in your company.
If you would like to know more about SuiteBilling, or any other area of NetSuite, get in touch.
Once you’ve made the decision to move on from spreadsheet accounting or to upgrade your legacy ERP system, how do you choose the right ERP software?
When you manage your whole business through an ERP system, you’re able to get a bird’s-eye view of your business, and better understand company-wide impacts of decisions, plans and unforeseen changes. This coordinated view is a real boon for companies looking to grow and to increase efficiency.
It’s essential to quantify the value and expected returns from implementing a new ERP system like NetSuite. After all, any new IT system is a substantial business expense, requiring a compelling business case to gain buy-in from stakeholders.
As businesses strive for efficiency, they are increasingly turning away from on-premises technology and moving to the cloud. As testament to this shifting trend, statistics indicate that cloud ERP is forecast to grow at more than 17% between 2022 and 2028.
ERP systems help companies automate and streamline operations, but how can they tackle the problems posed by inventory management?
When you manage your whole business through an ERP system, you’re able to get a bird’s-eye view of your business, and better understand company-wide impacts of decisions, plans and unforeseen changes. This coordinated view is a real boon for companies looking to grow and to increase efficiency.
