Key Takeaways

• Automated workflows boost efficiency and accuracy: NetSuite’s workflow tools like SuiteFlow help eliminate manual errors, reduce redundancy, and increase team productivity through automation and real-time notifications.
• Clear SOPs ensure compliance and consistency: Standard operating procedures complement workflows by outlining the “why” behind each process, aligning your accounting tasks with regulatory standards and company goals.
• Avoid common workflow pitfalls: Prevent inefficiencies by simplifying overly complex processes, clearly defining user roles, and standardizing data entry and approval procedures.
• Optimize through ongoing review: Regularly audit workflows, gather stakeholder feedback, and update both workflows and SOPs to reflect evolving business needs and regulatory changes.
• Technology + training = transformation: Successful implementation depends on customizing NetSuite tools, providing staff training, and maintaining version-controlled SOP documentation for scalable, compliant financial management.

Streamlining accounting in NetSuite means reducing unnecessary steps to improve speed, accuracy, and consistency. By streamlining workflows and standardized procedures in accounting, you can save time and increase accuracy, reduce errors and oversights, improve your accountability, and ensure consistency. 

Thankfully, NetSuite offers several tools and features to facilitate this optimization. As an ERP (enterprise resource planning) tool, the software also effortlessly links with other areas, like inventory, CRM, and payroll. This can revolutionize your financial management.

What Are NetSuite Workflows?

 Accounting workflows in NetSuite define the repeatable steps needed to complete financial tasks efficiently and accurately. Your workflows should be planned and repeatable, to ensure stability and reduce errors.  

Accounting workflow management refers to how you organize, set up, perform, and track these processes. An essential aspect of this is optimizing and streamlining your workflows through automation. That way, you eliminate potential issues, and improve the flow of tasks and information.

Automating your NetSuite accounting workflows can help you eliminate redundancies, offering a number of benefits. 

Key benefits of workflow automation

A well-defined NetSuite workflow improves accuracy, efficiency, collaboration, and regulatory compliance. 

• Better accuracy and fewer errors: Refined workflows can help you eliminate errors. Even better, when a problem does arise, a workflow management system can notify you, allowing you to immediately address issues, and prevent them from happening again. 
• Increased efficiency: Standardizing your workflows can help your team reduce inaccurate calculations, and the need to constantly double-check their work. 
• Improved transparency: Effective NetSuite accounting workflows allow you to record all transactions correctly, and in the right place. As a result, you have greater control over data accessibility.
• Enhanced collaboration and communication: A reliable accounting workflow eliminates the need for constant follow-ups and avoids bottlenecks. Moreover, using a workflow management system can connect multiple departments across your company for improved task allocation and communication.
• Increased productivity: By using automated workflows, your team can save a lot of time that would otherwise be used to send updates and track project progress. 
• Improved strategizing: A well-defined workflow can give you access to real-time performance insights. This can help you make more informed financial decisions, and better allocate resources. 
• Regulatory compliance: Effectively managing your accounting workflows helps your business keep accurate records of all financial records, ensuring that all accounting regulations are followed correctly. 

Despite the numerous benefits of well-defined workflows, there are several common stumbling blocks.

Top Workflow Issues in NetSuite

Creating effective workflows in NetSuite can be difficult due to complexity, unclear roles, and inconsistent data practices. Meticulous planning and testing can help you avoid the three most common issues.  

Steps to Optimize NetSuite Workflows

To optimize workflows in NetSuite, you need to audit current processes, gather feedback, and automate tasks using built-in tools. This refers to outlining how your accounting processes should be managed from start to finish. By monitoring, analyzing, and testing each step in your workflow process, you’ll uncover potential issues and be able to improve your accounting processes. 

Effective workflow management involves the following:

• Auditing your existing workflows: By examining your existing workflows, you can easily identify trends, bottlenecks and redundancies. This is particularly important if your company improves or alters an existing workflow. 
• Engaging the relevant stakeholders: By gathering feedback from users, you can understand and remedy potential pain points.
• Utilizing NetSuite’s workflow tools: NetSuite has several tools available to effortlessly streamline and manage accounting workflows. For example, Workflow Manager lets you create, view, and edit the state, action, and transition of various workflow elements. SuiteFlow also allows you to create and execute NetSuite workflows through task automation.
• Customizing and automating processes: This allows your accounting software to automate time-consuming or tedious operations, especially time-consuming and tedious tasks that are prone to mistakes. Through automation, your team will be able to work faster and more accurately, for maximum efficiency. NetSuite workflows you can easily automate include data entry and categorization, procurement and sales, reconciliation, and month-end reporting. 
• Regular reviews and updates: Reviewing your workflows ensures that they align with your goals and processes. It also ensures that your workflows remain relevant and efficient as your business needs evolve.

With optimized NetSuite accounting workflows, your team will have no problem conforming to your business’ standard operating procedures.

Why SOPs Matter in Accounting

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) provide structured, documented guidelines to ensure consistent and compliant accounting operations. They refer to a documented and clearly defined set of instructions to be followed for specific processes, policies and standards in your business. 

For example, an SOP for your accounting team could cover the following responsibilities: 

• Record-keeping and documentation.
• Reporting and financial analysis.
• Budgeting and forecasting.
• Cash flow management.
• Payroll processing.
• Tax filings.

Your accounting department is the main avenue through which your business’ performance can be measured. That’s why SOPs ensure day-to-day transactional governance and regulatory compliance.

How SOPs support workflows

SOPs support workflows by explaining their purpose, context, and compliance requirements beyond just task steps. SOPs are not limited to a specific task. In fact, they include additional information like the applicable accounting regulations or standards, as well as any necessary forms or templates needed for these practices. 

The differences between workflows and SOPs are the level of detail contained in each, as well as the purpose. The former dictates how a task should be performed, and the latter dictates why it should be done that way. Having efficient NetSuite accounting workflows in place ensures that your finance department can meet the company’s overall goals, by giving context for your workflows. 

How to Build Effective Accounting SOPs

To create effective SOPs, document each accounting process clearly, ensure accessibility, and regularly update them as processes evolve. As such, it’s best to first get feedback from the team about their exact processes, to make sure you cover every aspect of your business’s financial management. 

• Step-by-Step Instructions: Clearly outline each step of the accounting process in a concise and easy-to-follow format.
• Supporting Materials: Include checklists, forms, and templates where helpful to promote consistency and reduce errors.
• Accessibility: Store SOPs in a centralized, user-friendly location to ensure all team members can access them as needed.
• Version Control: Implement strict version control so users always follow the most current version of the SOP.
• Regular Updates: Periodically review and revise SOPs to reflect changes in business processes, tools, or regulations.
• Staff Communication and Training: Communicate any SOP updates clearly to your team. Provide training that includes new procedures, relevant accounting standards, and best practices.

Tech tools that support SOPs

Workflow automation technology helps your team follow SOPs by reducing errors, duplications, and compliance risks. This, in turn, means that using such a system can help your finance team abide by your SOP.  After all, without an effective system in place, the chances of errors, missed work, duplications, and noncompliance are much higher.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I automate my accounting processes in NetSuite?
You can use NetSuite’s SuiteFlow and Workflow Manager tools to automate tasks like data entry, approvals, month-end reporting, and reconciliation. This reduces manual work, increases accuracy, and improves efficiency.

Q: What’s the difference between a NetSuite workflow and a standard operating procedure (SOP)?
A workflow outlines how a task is performed step-by-step, while an SOP explains why it’s done that way and provides broader context, including policies, compliance standards, and supporting documentation.

Q: What are the most common mistakes when setting up NetSuite workflows?
Three common pitfalls are: making workflows too complex, unclear role assignments, and inconsistent data entry or approval processes. Keeping workflows simple and well-documented helps avoid these issues.

To learn how best to make use of NetSuite for your accounting workflows, schedule a Discovery Call with one of our NetSuite CPAs.

Schedule a Discovery Call

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