RSMUS.comIn 2015, NetSuite introduced the concept of custom segments, which allowed users to post transactions to more than just the three standard segments that NetSuite offers of department, class, location. While this was a great achievement for the ERP, there was one big limitation that NetSuite did not offer at the time, which many users refer to as “slicing and dicing” the data.
The ability to slice and dice data in NetSuite typically refers to being able to view reports, particularly financial reports such as the income statement and balance sheet, with all the values of a reporting segment (subsidiary, location, department, class) being displayed across columns of the report.
This view of the data allows management users to do quick comparisons across different revenue and cost centers across the organization and make proper business decisions. Without this capability, users are forced to do multiple report runs, exports, and compilations external of NetSuite in Excel. While NetSuite always offered this capability with subsidiaries and three standard classifications: department, class, and location, the 2016.2 release now offers this capability with custom segments.
If users need to be able to slice/dice data by more than the three standard classifications, they can add as many custom segments as they need, and still have the ability to view reports in this column view. Wholesale/distribution companies can add a custom segment for distribution channel and now track their profit and loss by distribution channel while quickly comparing all the distribution channels in a single view. Non-for-profit organizations can add a custom segment for programs that they run and track financial data amongst programs. This is also a major plus for non-one world organizations that may not have separate legal entities but do business globally, and would like to track financial data for different global regions. This new feature available in the 2016.2 release of NetSuite provides additional reporting benefits for virtually any organization in any industry.
RSM has helped thousands of ERP customers successfully optimize and fine tune their business application systems. For more information about this topic or others related to NetSuite, please contact us at erp@rsmus.com or by phone at 855.437.7202 .
By: Bharat Chandu – Virginia NetSuite Solution Provider
