NetSuite Customization Deep Dive: Rentals & Subscription Management

NetSuite is a highly flexible and configurable platform; however, when it comes to aligning the functionality of the system to the specific needs of a micro-industry, such as Industrial Equipment Distribution and Maintenance, NetSuite out of the box falls short.

There are numerous challenges equipment distribution, and service companies face. These include:

• Managing a large number of SKUs and keeping track of inventory locations
• Scheduling and managing service contracts
• Supporting a wide variety of customer types across multiple industries
• Managing equipment rentals and leasing accounting administration
• Automating billing and invoicing based on different customer contract terms

To solve these challenges, the CEBA Solutions NetSuite Customization and Development team used the NetSuite Development Platform to create scripts, routines, applets as well as dashboards and reports to give our customer a solution that enabled them to move away from disparate software solutions for managing rentals, servicing management and subscriptions.

NetSuite customization can take many forms, from simple record type and field customization to complete process automation using NetSuite SuiteFlow. Furthermore, NetSuite native applications can be developed to provide even more in-depth functionality that seamlessly blends into NetSuite's existing functionality and modules.

In this article, we will take a deep dive into our NetSuite customization for equipment rentals and subscription management, one of the most challenging areas for equipment distributors.

‍

The Client

The client, a large equipment dealer on the West Coast, implemented NetSuite for many of their subsidiaries. The reason they initially implemented NetSuite was to progressively move away from running multiple integrated software solutions across their businesses, subsidiaries and relative departments and divisions.

The vision was for NetSuite to become their single source of truth for all accounting, financial, operational and service management needs. After implementing NetSuite, the management team realized that there were some core functionality gaps that would prevent this from becoming a reality unless NetSuite was properly customized for their business's specific needs.

The Solution

CEBA Solutions' development team worked with the client to understand their business process and challenges. After a careful analysis, it was determined that the NetSuite development platform could be used to create customizations to solve all of their business challenges around managing rentals, subscriptions and service contracts.

The first step was to develop NetSuite saved searches that would give visibility into the availability of all equipment inventory across all locations, both on-site and in storage, including equipment that was expected to be returned at a point in time in the future.

The second step was to develop NetSuite scripts that would automatically create service contracts when an equipment sale was made and attach the service contract to the customer record.

This was accomplished by creating a NetSuite User Event script that would trigger when a sales order was created or edited. The script would check to see if the sales order included any items that required a service contract. If so, the script would then create a new service contract and attach it to the customer record.

The third step was to develop NetSuite routines that would automatically generate invoices for customers based on their contract terms.

This was accomplished by creating a NetSuite scheduled script that would run daily and check for any customers that had an activated service contract. The script would then generate an invoice for each customer based on their contract terms, billing schedules, frequency and planned renewal rates.

The Result

The NetSuite customization and development work completed by CEBA Solutions has resulted in a solution that has enabled our client to move away from disparate software solutions for managing rentals and servicing customers and subscriptions.

We have created a bespoke rentals and subscription management application, native to NetSuite, that extends the functionality of the platform to meet the needs of complex Equipment distribution and rental companies.

The NetSuite saved searches, user event scripts, SuiteScripts and scheduled scripts have been carefully designed, developed and tested to ensure that they can handle the high volume of data and transactions that our client's businesses process on a daily basis.

The end result is a NetSuite solution that provides real-time visibility into equipment availability, creates and attaches service contracts to customer records, and automatically generates invoices for customers based on their contract terms - all without any human intervention.

This has resulted in a NetSuite solution that is scalable, reliable and easy to use for our client's businesses, saving them time and money.

CEBA Solutions are NetSuite Customization Experts

CEBA Solutions is a NetSuite Solution Provider with years of experience in NetSuite development, customization and integration. Our team of NetSuite developers, consultants and support staff are experts in NetSuite's SuiteScript 2.0 platform and have a deep understanding of how to use NetSuite's suite of tools to build bespoke solutions that meet the specific needs of our client's businesses.

If you are looking for a NetSuite partner to help you with NetSuite customization, development or integration, then please contact us today. We would be happy to discuss your specific requirements and show you how we can help you to get the most out of your investment into the world's #1 Cloud ERP, NetSuite.

‍