Streamlining Asset management is a multifaceted undertaking rife with challenges. From purchasing and tracking assets across locations to disposals, maintenance and depreciation, myriad complex processes intertwine. Mistakes spell disaster, leading to impaired decision making due to poor visibility. Ultimately profits suffer.
Yet many companies still rely on spreadsheets, legacy systems and manual processes to manage fixed assets. These disjointed systems simply cannot effectively handle asset management at an enterprise level. Critical capabilities are lacking, including:
– Centralized tracking of thousands of asset types and individual assets
– Seamless asset transfer workflows across divisions and subsidiaries
– Automated asset depreciation calculations
– Granular asset lifecycle tracking from acquisition to retirement
– Real-time fixed asset accounting and reporting
– Complete asset maintenance and repair histories
– Asset revaluation and adjustment workflows
– Asset investment forecasting and budgeting
– Audit trails documenting asset ownership and transactions
– Role-based dashboards for stakeholders company-wide
This article explores how NetSuite Fixed Asset Management solves these challenges with an integrated cloud solution. We’ll take a deeper look at key features to seamlessly manage the entire asset lifecycle. Also, we’ll outline the advantages of SuiteDynamics as the top implementation partner to deploy this complex solution.
Why Legacy Systems Impair Effective Asset Management?
Before diving into NetSuite’s capabilities, let’s explore why aging on-premise solutions fail when managing thousands of enterprise assets.
Fragmented Systems Compromise Visibility
Many companies attempt asset management via an alphabet soup of systems lacking cohesion:
– Asset accounting in the GL
– An old fixed asset register or module
– Spreadsheets for some assets
– Plant maintenance system
– Varied divisional solutions
As assets get purchased, transferred, disposed and adjusted, manual processes attempt to synchronize everything. But with no “single version of the truth,” asset visibility suffers. There is no reliable dashboard summarizing the status, value and depreciation of all assets enterprise-wide.
Getting a comprehensive financial picture is also impossible without painstaking consolidation across systems. And good luck with asset audits and finding complete maintenance histories.
Functional Gaps Impair Efficiency
Legacy solutions also have major functional gaps when it comes to enterprise-class asset management:
Limited Automation
Manually entering and tracking assets using spreadsheets or disjointed systems is inefficient. So are manual processes for asset transfers, disposals, revaluations and depreciation calculations. Mistakes inevitably occur, creating errors in the fixed asset register and financial reporting.
Inadequate Tracking
Tracking thousands of asset types, individual assets and sub-assemblies across divisions and subsidiaries exceeds most legacy systems’ capabilities. Lacking complete lifecycle histories and subcomponents linked to parent assets causes problems.
Compliance Struggles
During NRC and PCAOB audits, companies scramble to account for assets. But auditors demanding compliance documentation struggle with fragmented systems. Delivering complete maintenance and repair histories for assets also becomes difficult.
Imprecise Depreciation
Following the latest IFRS, GAAP or tax guidelines to calculate depreciation is tough without automation. Different types of assets each have specialized depreciation rules. Mistakes lead to incorrect GL impact accounting and financial statements.
No Revaluation or Forecasting
Updating asset valuations en masse following market changes is rarely possible in legacy systems. Neither is effective what-if analysis to model asset investments and depreciation expenses over upcoming budget periods.
Weak Reporting
Cobbling together asset reports across systems makes real-time reporting on asset financials impossible. KPIs on utilization rates, maintenance metrics and depreciation lack precision.
By falling short in these areas, legacy systems fail to support enterprise-level asset management. Lacking complete lifecycle histories, accurate depreciation and real-time reporting causes recurring issues. Next let’s explore how NetSuite fills these gaps.
NetSuite Fixed Asset Management Capabilities Deep Dive
NetSuite Fixed Asset Management enables enterprises to conquer asset management challenges with an integrated cloud solution. By centralizing asset processes into a single platform, NetSuite delivers complete lifecycle tracking, automated accounting calculations, rich real-time reporting and full audit trails. The result is accurate financials, optimized utilization and continuous compliance.
Here are some key capabilities:
Comprehensive Asset Tracking
NetSuite provides a master asset register as single version of the truth across the enterprise. Granular attributes define individual assets and subcomponents, including:
– Serial numbers / VIN
– Manufacture dates
– Product details like model, specifications and images
– Warranty data
– Asset status – e.g. deployed, retired, disposed
– Complete transaction histories
– Custom fields for unique information
Unlimited sites, subsidiaries and accounting books are supported to meet global business needs.
Complete Lifecycle Tracking
Documenting an asset’s full history is critical for everything from ownership to utilization analysis to audits. NetSuite delivers with 360-degree tracking including:
– Initial purchase details like vendors, costs and asset category
– Seamless transfer to locations or business units
– Full depreciation calculations following custom rules
– Adjustments like impairment or revaluations
– Maintenance events details including costs
– Retirements and disposal workflows
– Custom lifecycle stages to match business processes
This complete record supports ownership compliance while optimizing asset usage.
Automated Accounting Calculations
Enterprise-grade fixed asset management requires properly handling millions in depreciation across thousands of assets following accepted accounting guidelines and tax codes. NetSuite takes care of this immense complexity.
Sophisticated engines automatically calculate and post depreciation based on custom asset types and rules including:
– Defining asset classes, categories and books
– Straight line or customized depreciation methods
– IFRS and GAAP compliant calculations
– Tax law conformity including AMT and ACE schedules
– Mid-quarter convention handling
– Asset revaluation and impairment capabilities
– Out-of-the-box multi-GAAP and multi-book handling
These flexible controls and automation eliminate errors while reducing month-end close times.
Real-time Reporting and Analytics
With a single system managing all assets, NetSuite Reporting and Analytics deliver unparalleled visibility including:
– Consolidated financial snapshot across accounting books
– Current book value and depreciation status reports
– Maintenance costs analysis
– Custom reports on asset types, business units and more
– Dashboards with graphs, trends and KPIs
– Depreciation expense forecasting
– Data exports to Excel for adhoc analysis
Stakeholders gain on-demand insights to optimize decisions on buying, selling, revaluing and maintaining assets.
End-to-End Audit Trails
Documenting asset ownership and transaction histories is crucial for proving compliance to auditors. NetSuite enables transparency with:
– Complete fixed asset registers including subcomponents
– Every asset transaction documented including transfers, maintenance, retirements and more
– Custom audit reports detailing asset histories
This prevents the scramble required with fragmented systems during audits. Compliance becomes painless.
Advanced Revaluation and Planning
NetSuite strengthens long term asset planning including:
– Bulk asset revaluations following index or market changes
– Book value roll forwards for different valuation methodologies
– Custom forecasting of acquisitions, maintenance and depreciation
– Budgeting upcoming expenses across accounting books
– Modeling project expenses for asset investment decisions
With precision planning, you can pursue growth initiatives confidently.
Integrated Maintenance and Repair
Understanding asset repair and maintenance history is essential to control costs and optimize lifecycles. NetSuite enables this through:
– Linking parts and labor items to assets
– Automated preventative maintenance scheduling
– Complete repair documentation including costs
– Analysis reports on maintenance expenses
– Defining asset repair lifecycle stages
This holistic view balances keeping assets functioning efficiently against replacement decisions.
Unified Solution
While the capabilities described enable industry-leading fixed asset management, NetSuite also eliminates integration hassles. With built-in connections across modules including Financials, Inventory, Purchasing, Projects and CRM, data flows seamlessly.
This unified platform approach is the foundation for accelerated implementations and lower TCO compared to disjointed solutions.
SuiteDynamics – The Top NetSuite Implementation Partner
When undertaking a major project like deploying NetSuite Fixed Assets, choosing the right implementation partner is crucial. SuiteDynamics offers an unmatched track record successfully managing 1,000+ enterprise NetSuite rollouts globally.
The company exclusively focuses on NetSuite as one of the world’s first Solution Providers. With over 100 NetSuite consultants and developers, SuiteDynamics offers industry’s top talent laser focused on customer success.
Here are ten reasons why SuiteDynamics should be your NetSuite implementation partner of choice:
Accelerated Speed to Value
SuiteDynamics’ structured SuiteAccelerated implementation methodology shortens NetSuite deployment timelines by 30 to 50% across industries. With pre-built configurations and 300+ automated test scripts per project, customers are operational faster saving time and budget.
Vertical Industry Expertise
Pre-configured industry solutions speed implementations while embedding leading practices. Specialized offerings are available for Software, Manufacturing, Distribution, Professional Services and more with thousands of hours spent tailoring NetSuite to vertical needs.
Global Delivery Capabilities
With resources across North America, EMEA and APAC alongside 24/7 managed services, the sun never sets on SuiteDynamics’ support infrastructure. Consistent methodologies ensure high-quality implementations across all geographies.
Proven Fixed Assets Expertise
Fixed assets projects present immense challenges from managing complex organizational change to accounting integration. SuiteDynamics consultants bring deep NetSuite Fixed Assets expertise having completed dozens of successful enterprise deployments globally.
