Supporting Your Complex Business Processes with NetSuite SuiteFlow
Customers frequently choose NetSuite to better streamline business processes and reduce the redundant, manual procedures that have plagued them in the past. NetSuite’s SuiteFlow is a workflow management tool that is perfect for automating and adapting processes to meet business needs and end-user requirements.
Often times, SuiteFlow is a tool that is severely underutilized. Whether it be due to a lack of knowledge surrounding this feature or the common misconception that customization and automation in NetSuite requires a developer, we’ve found that many of our clients aren’t leveraging the power of this feature to its maximum potential.
Benefits of Using SuiteFlow
NetSuite offers several basic out of the box SuiteFlow processes for transaction approval (i.e., Journals, Purchase Orders, Sales Orders). It is fundamental that administrators and key process owners know how to customize these standard workflows and how to create new ones for requirements extending beyond approval workflows.
Below are 4 key benefits to using SuiteFlow.
Point-and-Click Interface
End users with no coding or developing background can utilize SuiteFlow to easily craft custom workflows that meet their requirements. The graphical workflow manager offers a straightforward platform for building and maintaining these flows.
Ad Hoc
The workflow builder allows you to adjust the design at any time to respond to changing business needs. Conditions can be set on workflow:
- Initiation
- Actions
- Transitions
These controls determine for whom or when these workflow initiations, actions and transitions execute. You can call out a basic field/value comparison or build out an expression to define multiple conditions.
Automate Business Processes
With SuiteFlow, you can automate common daily tasks such as transaction approvals. Out of the box approval workflows follow a basic supervisory hierarchy approval, but these processes as well as new ones can be adjusted to accommodate more complex routings based on:
- Dollar thresholds
- User’s role
- Field values
Increase Responsiveness
You can use the ”send email” action to send an email when a specific action executes. When you create a ”send email” action, you specify the:
- Sender and recipient
- Content of the email
- Any additional information to attach to the email
You can also use the ”active workflows” subtab on a specific record to get more information about the workflow instances that are currently running.
Common Uses of SuiteFlow
The following are some examples of standard Customer SuiteFlow Use Cases:
- Requirement: Route customer invoices to a specific approver based on a custom header field on the invoice and the total dollar amount of the invoice.
- Requirement: Default a value on the customer invoice header from the customer record.
- Requirement: Default classification values (i.e., department, class) on a Sales Order upon creation.
- Requirement: Make a field on the purchase order mandatory when another field is populated.
- Requirement: Route vendors created under a certain vendor category for approval.
Prophet One Can Help
Getting the most out of NetSuite requires a sophisticated understanding of the platform. Prophet One can provide the guidance you need to leverage all of the benefits available to you. Our exclusive Client First Integration Approach™ is focused on helping you create a stronger overall organization. We’ll provide you with the customized recommendations necessary to ensure you’re using the right technology for the unique needs of your business.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation.