SuiteWorld 2024 highlights: NetSuite EPM and the stellar rise of AI in finance

At SuiteWorld 2024 in Las Vegas, a significant portion of the event highlighted AI innovations, particularly their application within the NetSuite Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) suite.

It’s little wonder. Since the NetSuite EPM announcements at last year’s SuiteWorld, interest amongst our ANZ customers has been growing fast. We’ve already designed and deployed several EPM solutions, with many more in development.

In this blog, we share a little more about the NetSuite EPM suite - what it is, what it does, and how embedded AI promises to make it even more valuable.

For those unfamiliar, here’s an EPM recap

NetSuite EPM is a comprehensive suite designed to elevate financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and performance reporting. It provides a clear pathway for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to seamlessly retain NetSuite as they scale to enterprise levels, ensuring their financial management processes grow alongside their business needs.

In Australia and New Zealand, customers can leverage these modules within EPM:

• NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW) for advanced data analysis and integration.
• NetSuite Planning and Budgeting (NSPB) for efficient financial planning and forecasting.
• NetSuite Account Reconciliation (NSAR) for automating data matching and validation, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in financial reporting.

While each component of NetSuite EPM is crucial for transitioning from planning to profit, the core functionality is its seamless integration with your back office. So, rather than managing separate planning cycles for finance, supply chain, sales, and HR, NetSuite EPM connects data across your organisation, enabling you to:

• Build forecasts and scenarios that update automatically with changes in your bottom line.
• Identify correlations and trends using built-in machine learning.
• Accelerate closing cycles through automation.
• View comprehensive reports and real-time dashboards for a holistic perspective.

NetSuite also reports that, over time, internal usage of NSAW grows as more staff recognise its value and integrate it into their operations.

EPM enhancements announced at SuiteWorld

At SuiteWorld, NetSuite unveiled several exciting AI enhancements for its EPM suite, designed to empower finance teams with advanced reporting and insights:

• Generative AI for Narrative Reporting: This feature promises to boost productivity by generating AI-powered narratives, explanations, and visuals from financial and transactional data, uncovering new insights swiftly.
• AI-Powered Narratives in NetSuite Planning and Budgeting: These narratives will accelerate reporting and enable finance teams to seize business growth opportunities by highlighting patterns, trends, and anomalies with detailed AI-generated commentary.
• Predictive Forecast Explanations: NetSuite Planning and Budgeting will offer clearer insights into AI-generated forecasts, breaking down key factors in an easily understandable format, thereby enhancing confidence and enabling quicker actions.
• New Oracle Analytics AI Assistant: This tool lets customers ask questions on data patterns and trends, providing answers and relevant data visualisations using generative AI.

NetSuite Analytics Warehouse now infused with more AI

NetSuite Analytics Warehouse is set to receive new AI-powered updates. The solution already leverages AI-driven automation to centralise data from NetSuite and other systems, providing real-time, actionable insights.

The latest updates introduce advanced AI tools and models for more efficient data analysis and improved predictive insights. For instance, NetSuite showcased how these new capabilities can effectively identify and address issues such as customer churn, helping businesses optimise their strategies.

Use case: identifying a problem with churn and proactively fixing it

1. Detecting trends
   1. You are on the dashboard and notice that customers appear to be trending down.
   2. Use the AI-powered Oracle Analytics Assistant (releasing soon) by asking in plain language, “show trends for overall sales and existing customers.”
   3. The assistant confirms your suspicions that sales are trending downward.
2. Pinpointing at-risk customers
   1. Now use the churn prediction model to identify customers at risk of leaving.
   2. Simply select a few parameters and run the model to see which customers are most vulnerable to churn.
3. Reps access deeper insights and take action to minimise churn
   1. Reps use the Customer 360 platform to gather comprehensive customer insights on customers at risk of leaving, such as customer behaviour, preferences, and interactions.
4. NetSuite CPQ product recommendations
   1. Reps can utilise the CPQ tool to generate tailored product recommendations to enhance cross-selling and upselling efforts by presenting targeted offers based on customer insights.

The evolution of AI in finance and NetSuite EPM

The convergence of cloud ERP, AI, and finance is certainly transforming business operations, especially finance. NetSuite’s focus on embedding AI into core functions and daily processes was a highlight, demonstrating a commitment to making AI a practical tool rather than just a shiny, on-trend add-on.

Overall, the infusion of Gen AI into NetSuite’s EPM suite is all about helping finance teams find reports and insights more efficiently, automate routine tasks, and enhance decision-making. In other words, save time! AI’s integration into NetSuite EPM underscores a significant shift towards making AI an integral and useful component of daily finance operations, setting the stage for more intelligent and streamlined financial management.

Some frequently asked questions

When will the new AI features be available in the ANZ region?

While we don’t have specific release dates for when all the new AI enhancements will be available in the ANZ region, many of the capabilities showcased during the keynotes are already live in the US. We had the opportunity to explore these features with the NetSuite team on the expo floor. We’re eager to test and share the AI-led features that will bring the most value to our ANZ customers. Stay tuned for updates as we continue to experiment and evaluate these new capabilities.

Who is NetSuite EPM best for?

NetSuite EPM is suited to a number of organisations:

• Mid-sized to large enterprises that need robust financial management tools to handle complex budgeting, forecasting, and reporting requirements across multiple departments and subsidiaries.
• Finance teams looking to streamline their financial planning processes, improve accuracy in forecasting, and enhance overall financial visibility and performance.
• Organisations experiencing fast growth or significant change that require scalable EPM solutions to adapt quickly and efficiently.
• Companies seeking a solution that integrates with their existing NetSuite ERP system and wider tech stack, connecting financial data across various functions such as finance, supply chain, sales, and HR.
• Organisations focused on leveraging advanced analytics and AI to gain deeper insights, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.
• Companies that must adhere to stringent financial reporting standards and require comprehensive compliance and audit capabilities.

Will I be paying extra for these new AI features?

No, NetSuite follows a policy of not charging additional fees for embedded AI functionalities within the existing product line, provided you already hold a license. This means any new AI enhancements will be integrated into your current processes without incurring extra costs. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into business processes, charging separately for these features will certainly become obsolete. However, note that new AI applications or add-ons may come with separate pricing.

Can existing NetSuite EPM customers access the new AI features?

Yes, when they are released in the ANZ region, existing NetSuite customers can access the new AI features as part of their current subscription, provided they have the relevant modules and licenses.