Top Ten New Features in the NetSuite 2018.1 Release

It is that time of year again, upgrade season. NetSuite 2018.1 is right around the corner. For those who do not have the time to wade through the 104 pages of release notes, we have compiled the most exciting new features that we are looking forward to.

RSM’s Top Ten New Features for NetSuite 2018.1:

1. Sandbox is moving to the System.NetSuite URL. No longer will you need to go to a separate login to access the sandbox. After your next refresh, your sandbox roles will appear in your roles list in production. Don’t forget to update any sandbox integrations accordingly! We recommend that in sandbox account you change the color theme. That way it will be easier to distinguish when you are in production or sandbox. You can do this in your preferences.
2. Zero Downtime for Sandbox Refreshes. Before NetSuite 2018.1, a sandbox account was taken offline when an administrator during the refresh process. After 2018.1 users can still access the sandbox account while the refresh is being prepared.
3. Customers can be shared across Subsidiaries. Prior to NetSuite 2018.1 you could only assign a customer to a single subsidiary. The Multi-Subsidiary Customer feature permits you to share a customer with multiple subsidiaries.
4. New Account Reconciliation Portlet. Account Reconciliation Summary portlet is now available on your dashboard. This portlet displays the bank and credit card transactions that need to be reconciled and provides key information to assist with this process. This new display will make reconciliation for these accounts faster and easier.
5. Approval Portlet for Managers in the Employee Center. The new Approvals portlet appears on the Employee Center home page for approvers and managers. From this portlet, approvers and managers can approve or reject time-off requests, purchase requests, requisitions, and expense reports. Approvers and managers can respond to requests directly from the portlet or click links in the portlet to view more details about requests.
6. Cross Subsidiary Fulfillment. The new Intercompany Cross-Subsidiary Fulfillment feature in NetSuite OneWorld enables you to fulfill a single sales order from locations across multiple subsidiaries. Orders are no longer limited to being fulfilled from locations within the originating subsidiary.
7. Dashboard Tiles SuiteApp is now Generally Available. The Dashboard Tiles SuiteApp displays your business critical KPIs in a bold and visual layout with images and blinking alerts. The blinking images are enabled when the threshold that you set for conditional alerts are met. You can also change the layout of your dashboard tiles based on your preferences. Bundle ID: 185219
8. Navigation Portlet is now Generally Available. The Navigation Portlet SuiteApp enables you to simplify your navigation to commonly used menus in NetSuite. You can create navigation categories to sort the shortcut groups and links that are relevant to a role in your account. Bundle ID: 186103
9. Workflows Actions on Items. You will now be able to execute actions on transaction lines in workflows. Two actions types will be made available in NetSuite 2018.2: Set Field Value and Create Record. The Set Field Value action lets you set the value for Item’s sublist fields. The Create Record action lets you create a new record, depending on the value of an Items sublist line.
10. Supply Chain Control Tower. The Supply Chain Control Tower feature enables you to analyze and simulate inventory supply and demand across your supply chain. This helps identify when supply is not in line with demand or planned levels. A thorough understanding of your inventory levels, supply, and demand helps you efficiently analyze and plan purchases and future inventory production.

Hopefully, your company can benefit from some of these new features in NetSuite 2018.1. To see a full list of the new features, go to SuiteAnswers and type in the Article ID: “31712”.

If you have a customized processes in NetSuite it is important that you test these processes in your release preview account. If you are an Administrator, a Release Preview role should now appear in your list of roles.

If you have questions about the upgrade or would like assistance planning and preparing for the new functionality don’t hesitate to reach out to the RSM NetSuite team at erp@rsmus.com or by phone at 855.437.7202.

By: Rob Ericson

RSM Staff