Document Management in NetSuite - How it works, Use Cases and Tips for Getting the Most Out of It

NetSuite has become ubiquitous as a platform to run businesses for good reason: it does everything a modern company needs, in a single location that enables every function to be linked. Out of the box, you can run foundational systems like accountancy, HR and data management from a single platform, and have each of them talking to each other rather than being siloed in different applications. 

The downside, as is so often the case with the tool that does everything, is that it doesn’t do everything as well as a tool that was created with a specific focus. The solution is the other great strength of NetSuite: a galaxy of SuiteApps plugins that supplant the basic features and enable businesses to customise the platform to suit their industry and their customers.

The standard document management tools in NetSuite are useful but not particularly advanced. Their foundation is File Cabinet, which functions broadly the same way as the files on your computer: here’s how the document management features work, and how you can use them in your business.

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How Document Management Works in NetSuite

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At its core, NetSuite's document management revolves around the File Cabinet. This acts as a centralised repository where users can upload and organise various types of files, similar to a traditional folder structure on a desktop. Key features include:

Centralised storage: All business documents, from client invoices to internal budgets and employee records, can be stored in one secure, cloud-based location. The only real limitation is storage space. By default, NetSuite offers a very limited storage capacity and a 5MB limit on any file uploads. Most businesses will rapidly outstrip that, and have to pay to upgrade it. Integrated tools like Workiro add unlimited document storage for NetSuite, and a series of additional workflows built on that.

Associating documents with records: Documents can be directly attached to relevant records in NetSuite projects, such as customer records, supplier bills, sales orders, or journal entries. This provides a single source of truth, making it easy to access all related information for a particular transaction, customer or other entity.

Version control: NetSuite has built-in version control which - when correctly set up - will recognise updated versions of the same file, append a version number and keep a record of the previous version. This ensures that users are always working with the most up-to-date document, and keeps an audit trail of any changes - although the interface for doing so is quite cumbersome. A tool like Workiro improves Netsuite’s version control by showing at a glance exactly who updated each file and when. 

Search functionality: Users can efficiently search for documents using keywords and metadata (like document type, date, or any associated records).

Controlling file access: Granular permission controls allow administrators to define who can view, edit, or delete specific documents or folders, ensuring data security and compliance with internal policies. This can be expanded by Workiro to include real-time collaboration, including secure access for external users - ideal for businesses that pass documents back and forth with clients. 

Audit Trails: As part of the version control tracking, NetSuite maintains a complete audit trail of all document-related activities, tracking who accessed or modified a document and when. This is crucial for regulatory compliance and internal accountability.

Email Management: NetSuite allows for the capture and storage of emails directly within the system, meaning that relevant messages are associated with specific records like customer cases or project files. This is another feature that’s fairly limited as standard, though, and many businesses opt to expand it. Workiro’s email management for NetSuite enables automatic tagging and filing of email from directly within Outlook, ensuring data is automatically ingested and filed. 

Automated document workflows: Supporting all of the above features is the ability of NetSuite to set up automatic workflows that process documents as they arrive in the system. This includes tagging, tracking and filing - such as recognising an invoice and sending it to the correct person for approval, or moving a file to the archive based on its date - although this is another feature that’s fairly limited in vanilla NetSuite and done best by SuiteApp extensions like Workiro.

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Use Cases for Document Management in NetSuite

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Just having a central digital archive is a plus if your business has been relying on more old-fashioned methods, but NetSuite’s document management tools have some other reliably useful applications too:

1. Onboarding and managing clients
   
   

For all businesses, taking on a new client requires the collection of various documents, even if it’s just their address and bank details. For some, like accountancy firms, there’s a lot more: as engagement letters, previous financial statements, tax IDs, and anti-money laundering (AML) documentation.

NetSuite makes it easy to store and maintain this centrally. All onboarding documents (scanned copies, PDFs, etc.) can be uploaded directly to the "Files" tab of the client record, so they’re accessible by all team members. The premium option is to add a SuiteApp extension like Workiro, which creates a smart, secure portal that enables the client to update and maintain the documents themselves - maintaining their own records and reducing admin on all sides.

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2. Managing expenses and Accounts Payable

Using NetSuite has long meant that receipts can be attached directly to invoices without having to reconcile data from different platforms, and AI features have made it even easier: NetSuite Bill Capture can automatically scan receipts for the relevant data and apply it to the relevant bill in the system. Using a SuiteApp like Workiro can add an extra layer of workflow automation, too - if an invoice over a certain amount requires approval from a specific manager, it can automatically be routed to that manager for approval. 

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3. Audit and compliance documentation

Some of the most tedious work in an audit (a title for which there’s stiff competition) is finding the supporting documentation for everything. Accountants need swift access to the relevant receipts, invoices, contracts and other financial transaction records in order to demonstrate compliance with GAAP and IFRS accounting standards and other regulatory requirements.

Using NetSuite means that every transaction in the system (like a vendor bill, sales invoice, or journal entry) can have the corresponding documents (scanned invoice, purchase order, proof of delivery) directly attached to it, which does most of the hard work for you. Auditors can easily drill down from a financial statement line item straight to the underlying transaction and its supporting documents.

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Best Practices for Document Management in NetSuite

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NetSuite is a powerful tool for handling your documents and data, but it can’t do everything itself (yet) and you can’t dump an existing collection of documents in it and have it convert them into the sparkling file system of your dreams (yet). There are some basic best practices to follow in order to get the best out of the platform:

• Establish a clear folder structure: Spend some time planning your workflow and create a logical, consistent folder hierarchy that supports it
  
  
• Control User Permissions: Regularly review and adjust user permissions to ensure only authorized individuals have access to sensitive documents.
  
  
• Implement naming conventions: Use consistent and descriptive naming conventions for files, to make it easy to organise and find them (although you should also consider automatic tagging for when things are missed)
  
  
• Create and use Custom Fields: Use the custom fields in NetSuite to add relevant metadata to documents, so you aren’t relying on the filename alone to find them later
  
  
• Define your retention policies: Establish policies for how long different types of documents should be retained, both to meet compliance requirements and to avoid clutter (are you really ever going to look at that deck once the project completes?)
  
  
• Carry out regular audits: Conduct periodic audits of your File Cabinet to ensure documents are correctly labelled and categorised, and unnecessary files are removed
  
  
• Expand the basic features: For advanced document management needs, such as unlimited storage, real-time collaboration, and secure contract signing, look into SuiteApp expansions like Workiro - they add features that go a lot further than the standard offering, and can dramatically improve your business efficiency.

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To learn more about the difference that Workiro can make to your business’s data and document management, set up a 15-minute demo from one of our specialists.