Manually entering data into your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from bank statements is a time-consuming, error-prone task. It consumes resources that could be allocated to more strategic, valuable activities, and any discrepancies have to then be fixed manually or they’ll impact financial reports. Spreadsheets, statements and notes also provide poor visibility into cash flow which, in turn, impacts decision-making, spending and overall financial health.
“Effectively managing cash is critical to the success of every business. Lack of visibility into daily balances can lead to serious financial difficulty,” says NetSuite.
Automated bank feeds provide businesses with access to up-to-date financial data, eliminate inefficient manual processes and provide greater control of cash resources. Bank feeds, which provide automatic downloads of all transactions from a bank account and into NetSuite, reduce manual reconciliation work to improve overall efficiency. They allow data to flow freely between bank accounts and NetSuite. This not only automates administration, but it also frees up accounting staff to respond faster to business needs. Automated bank feeds also help you create more organized, efficient workflows.
How do Bank Feeds Work?
Bank feeds use industry-leading security protocols and direct connections to banks and payment providers. The login credentials are stored in a secured system in order to ensure the bank feed can access the bank without compromising any data. NetSuite never gets any access to your banking credentials, ensuring maximum protection of those details. The bank feed simply accesses your banking website, retrieves bank statements and then transfers that data to your ERP.
NetSuite users can connect to thousands of financial institutions across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and automatically import bank and credit account balances and transactions history into their ERPs. ScaleNorth has helped many companies integrate their bank feeds with NetSuite. Once in place, these integrations allow companies to:
- Automate bank account management and reconciliation.
- Create and post transactions automatically from imported bank data.
- Access up-to-date data that allows financial managers to make informed decisions about how and when to allocate cash.
- Improve the tracking of payments, credit card charges and bank balances to ensure financial resources are being used for the good of the company.
- Regularly reconcile bank and credit card transactions, which makes balancing the general ledger easier, saving time during the close process.
NetSuite’s Bank Feeds SuiteApp
NetSuite’s Bank Feeds SuiteApp automates bank data transfer from your financial institution accounts into the ERP. The SuiteApp uses the Financial Institution Connectivity Plug-In and an authorized account information service provider to securely access online financial institution data.
It can retrieve bank data daily to ensure that everything in your bank account is reflected in NetSuite and then imports the data into your account to aid with the bank reconciliation process. This process eliminates the manual effort of importing and matching your banking data in NetSuite.
The SuiteApp also:
- Connects NetSuite to multiple financial institutions that operate in various countries (You can also connect to financial institutions that operate globally and are not country-specific.).
- Receives cleared and processed bank transactions daily from your financial institution accounts.
- Automates the import of bank transactions and account balances daily from your financial institution accounts into your NetSuite account.
- Performs manual trigger of real-time bank transactions and imports account balances into NetSuite.
ScaleNorth Helps You Get the Most Out of Your ERP
As a long-time NetSuite Solution Provider and implementation partner, ScaleNorth sells, implements and optimizes the world’s leading cloud-based ERP. ScaleNorth’s technical consultants have extensive experience in configuring bank feed integrations to help our clients streamline operations and reduce overhead.
If you’re in need of bank feed integrations or NetSuite optimization, contact ScaleNorth today.