Clean and efficient code is something that you, as a proficient software engineer, always strive for when writing your programs. But what about the contracts that regulate your creations? When it comes to contract management, NetSuite – the effective ERP system you use – has a lot to propose; nonetheless, the opportunity is considerably more vast than simple contract filing. NetSuite’s secret weapon? Automated NetSuite contract renewals module.
The tech world, where renewals occur seamlessly in the background, ensuring revenue is not disrupted and customers remain content – this is the kind of efficiency that appeals to a software engineer. This blog post will explain all you need to know about NetSuite contract renewals management, how it works, how you can create contracts easily, and how renewals can work automatically so that you can focus on the critical work of building the future of ERP.
What is NetSuite Contract Management?
NetSuite Contract Management is a native module provided with NetSuite CRM that is quickly available upon smooth integration. It eliminates the need for manual contract creation and contract and vendor records issuance. This module easily automates the NetSuite contract renewal process, allowing customers to track renewable assets and manage recurring revenue in real-time.
This cloud-based contract management software can help you accelerate the entire contract renewal process, including the approval and return procedures. Simply put, it allows you to manage and automate the contract management process successfully.
To maximize your revenue, track renewable and expired assets using user-friendly, real-time dashboards. This would allow you to provide a consistent experience to stakeholders, including your customers, while also identifying opportunities for upselling and cross-selling to improve income.
Common Contract Management Issues
Lack of Visibility
Just think of the time wasted doing the research and not finding a single copy of an important contract clause. Coordinate-based contracts that are saved in different filing cabinets and emails cause great frustration because they are hard to locate. Practical knowledge is highly important: you require decision-makers to have swift access to such data so that essential deadlines will not be missed.
Manual Processes
Creating manual contracts, their subsequent reviews, and approvals take a lot of time and can contain mistakes. I bet you’ve ever had to run around chasing signatures and approvals, virtually playing the repetitive tag of emails. Abolishing these tasks relieves you to concentrate on engineering work in which you have a unique specialty.
Compliance Risks
An absence of a really crucial provision in a compliance agreement may have damaging results. Potholes in contract management hinder organizations from guaranteeing compliance with legal and other regulatory necessities in any contractual arrangements. This policy protects your company against any legal vices and possible fines in the future.
Limited Collaboration
Contract management involves the entire process of sending and responding to contracts, including legal, sales, and engineering departments. Essentially, a consistent problem is having multiple systems and dissimilar data, which becomes a problem for integration. Project management significantly impacts the generating, negotiating, and drafting of contracts and agreements.
Difficulty in Contract Analysis
Identifying important information among contracts can be a very tiresome process. Just try wandering through a piece of work to look for some terms or obligations written in legalese. Sophisticated features used in a contract management system can drastically transform how you analyze contracts, look for patterns, and make business decisions.
Benefits & Features of NetSuite Contract Renewals Module
Automated Renewal
NetSuite provides a robust automated renewal procedure that benefits software companies that sell perpetual and term licenses. This functionality simplifies recurring billing for on-premise and on-demand software licenses.
Setting up a predetermined window 90 or 120 days before expiration allows the NetSuite Contract Renewal Module to automatically produce renewal transactions. This ensures timely renewals, minimizes revenue loss, and streamlines operations, saving time and money.
Managing Multiple Contracts
Dealing with many transactions with a consumer during the year can be difficult at renewal. Transactions can include one-time training or consultancy purchases, as well as annual contract renewals for products, licenses, and support.
Oracle NetSuite contract renewals module makes it easier to co-terminate numerous transactions into a single contract with a single renewal date. This method benefits both vendors and customers. However, when co-termination is not appropriate for all goods, NetSuite’s multi-contract support adds flexibility, ensuring maximum revenue during renewal.
Uplift & Discount Management
Uplifts and discounts are crucial components of the NetSuite Contract Renewal Module. Software firms can update pricing based on predetermined price books, general hikes, or tailored modifications for specific clients or groups.
Similarly, discounts may be offered to specific clients. NetSuite provides the ability to deploy and configure uplifts and discounts for any number of clients. Effective pricing management minimizes errors, revenue loss, and customer discontent.
Revenue Recognition
Recognizing revenue from contract renewals can be difficult, especially when the transactions need distinct revenue recognition dates. This can create additional processes and complications during renewal.
NetSuite contract renewals module simplifies contract renewal and billing operations by managing multiple revenue recognition dates without requiring additional spreadsheets or complexity.
Reporting & Visibility
Visibility in renewals is required to maximize recurring revenue streams. Using spreadsheets and manual processes can make managing contract expirations, renewal status, priority renewals, at-risk customers, and upsell prospects difficult.
NetSuite’s real-time dashboards provide software firms with insight and reporting capabilities to manage contract renewals successfully. Staff may monitor crucial contracts, renewal pipelines, and upsell prospects using KPIs and visual dashboards. The interactive drill-down and reporting tools allow for detailed study of customer and contract types, helping discover areas for improvement and lowering revenue leakage and client churn.
Streamlined Business Process
One of the many issues with renewals is keeping track of a customer’s multiple transactions over a year. Instead of managing many contracts for the same customer, contract management enables you to integrate various sales orders with renewable items that co-terminate and renew year after year into a single agreement. This streamlined strategy ensures that efficiency is evident throughout the renewal process.
NetSuite Contract Renewals Modules
SuiteBilling
Oracle NetSuite SuiteBilling offers customizable pricing structures such as volume, tiered, and flat pricing. It supports custom pricing and discounts for customers, making invoicing more flexible. The module accommodates change orders, subscriptions, and renewals, enabling your team to meet customer expectations. Real-time activity tracking allows for data-driven decision-making.
Fixed Assets Management
NetSuite Fixed Asset manages the whole asset lifespan, including creation, depreciation, revaluation, and retirement. It automates asset management operations, decreasing the need for manual labor and spreadsheets. The module oversees maintenance plans, asset insurance, acquisitions, depreciation, leases, and sales.
CRM
NetSuite CRM combines sales, marketing, and customer management. It offers robust analytics capabilities to track customer data and discover areas for improvement. The highly configurable platform is appropriate for a variety of businesses.
Creating and Managing Contracts using NetSuite’s Contract Renewal Module
Your sales order marks the first step in the contract renewal procedure. By using contract-specific fields on your sales order, you may keep track of information such as start and end dates and term lengths. It handles non-recurring items such as tangible goods, time-billed charges, and one-time services with simplicity. A contract is often formed once the sales order has been authorized.
After the sales order is accepted, a renewal contract will be issued. Renewals will continue indefinitely from this point forward unless your customer decides to discontinue utilizing the services because they are no longer required.
NetSuite can handle requests to upsell your customer with new services during the contract term, exchange one service for another, or remove a service entirely from the existing contract. To create a sales order or return authorization, follow your standard approach with a few minor modifications to how you design them.
NetSuite will create a renewal transaction for your renewable products before the contract ends. Contract renewals are more flexible because you can specify how far in advance the renewal transaction is created. NetSuite contract renewals also allow you to choose which transaction to complete to satisfy your firm’s needs.
Contracts are imported or scanned and saved in a database throughout the procedure. Users configure the system, including user roles, workflows, authorization rules, and regulations. The software then categorizes and saves various types of contracts, compares recurring invoices to contracts or identifiable tracking identifiers such as utility account numbers, and searches to find which invoices are associated with each contract.
If the supplier does not deliver regular invoices, NetSuite automatically generates an invoice for them using the contract provisions. Users may be notified if a planned recurring invoice is not received.
Wrapping Up
With NetSuite’s Contract Renewal Module, you can continuously provide an outstanding client experience, increase retention, and scale your organization.
If you want to maximize the chances of success of your company’s NetSuite implementation, consider bringing us on board to support your in-house team. Be confident because we have the expertise and experience for NetSuite integration with many clients.
You can contact us and check out our resources at Folio3.
FAQs
Q1. How can I automate NetSuite contract renewals?
NetSuite offers automated renewal functionality to streamline the process. You can configure the system to generate renewal transactions automatically within a set timeframe (e.g., 90 days) before a contract expires. This ensures timely renewals and reduces the risk of missed opportunities.
Q2. Can I customize NetSuite contract renewals for specific situations?
Yes, NetSuite allows customization for contract renewals. You can override the default settings for individual contracts, specifying a different number of days before automatic renewal is triggered. Additionally, you can choose which transaction type (e.g., sales order) is created during the renewal process.
Q3. How can I handle price adjustments during NetSuite contract renewals?
NetSuite offers flexibility when it comes to pricing during renewals. You can configure pre-defined price increases based on a price book or implement adjustments for specific customers or groups. Alternatively, you can offer discounts to select customers during the renewal process. This level of control allows you to tailor pricing strategies for different scenarios.
