Accounting Suite

What's this app?

Explore

Preset

Realize

Deploy

Change

Run and Operate

System preparation

Configure Your Solution

Configure Your Solution

Configure Your Solution

Configure Your Solution

Configure Your Solution

Migrate Your Data

Test Your Processes

Manage Test Processes

Create Change

View Change History

Learn More

View Solution Scope

Set Local Version

Phase 1: Get Organized

This Phase consists of the following tasks:

1 Review Goals

2 Define the Team

This phase prepares the ground for later phases of the project by establishing the objectives of the project, the scope, and the staffing, and also begins the education process for the key members of the project team. The project Kick Off meeting is a key element in confirming objectives, scope and the composition of the core project team.

Some projects are on a strict timeline, where the business is facing an important date, perhaps the end of a fiscal year, when the system must be operational. This factor may cause the project team to reduce the scope of the project, or perhaps split the project into multiple releases. Understanding the inter-relationship of these factors, and any other over-riding project objectives, is important to document and share across the project team.

Identifying the project team happens in this phase. The methodology identifies a number of "roles" that are required for the project. In this context, roles refer to the skills required to complete a piece of work and may involve one individual or a whole department. In Accounting Suite implementation projects, a single individual may often take responsibility for multiple project roles. For instance, in a small company, a single individual may take responsibility for making business decisions across many business processes.

Who's Involved With This Task?

Executive Sponsor

Business Process Owner

Administrator

Project Manager

Phase 2: Prepare Your Business

Prepare Your Business

This Phase consists of the following tasks:

1 Review Existing Processes

2 Map Processes to NetSuite

3 Review Data Migration Requirements

4 Create Schedule/Plan

In this Phase, the requirements of the business are documented and matched to the capabilities of the Accounting Suite application.

It is not possible to overemphasize the importance of this phase. A vast majority of problematic implementations can be traced back to a lack of depth in the requirements definition phase of the project. This phase answers the "what" question, namely, what are the business needs that will be supported by the Accounting Suite application. Later phases will answer, the question of "how" Accounting Suite will support the business needs.

The Analyze Phase also entails a preliminary exploration of the data migration requirements, identifying the data that will need to be migrated into Accounting Suite. The data sources are cataloged, then the specific Accounting Suite entities and transactions are identified and quantified. These requirements will also be addressed during the Configure Phase as a detailed data migration approach is developed.

Who's Involved With This Task?

Executive Sponsor

Business Process Owner

Administrator

Project Manager

Data Migration Specialist

Phase 3: Move To Accounting Suite

Move To Accounting Suite

This Phase consists of the following tasks:

1 Setup Your System

2 Test System

3 Create Training Schedule/Plan

During this Phase, the Accounting Suite application is configured and customized to meet the needs of the business.

In each area of the product, there are many settings that affect the behavior of a particular business process. These settings are reviewed and either left in their default setting or adjusted.

Who's Involved With This Task?

Business Process Owner

Administrator

Project Manager

Data Migration Specialist

Phase 4: Run Your Business

Run Your Business

This Phase consists of the following tasks:

1 Conduct End-User Training

2 Cutover Business Processes To Accounting Suite

The planning and preparation of the previous three phases all combine in this Phase. The business processes reviewed in the "Prepare Your Business for Accounting Suite" phase are moved to Accounting Suite; the application is moved into production status.

Test plans are executed at the application level and with the end users. After the test results are reviewed, a final date can be determined for cutting over to Accounting Suite.

Timing the training for End users on the relevant portions of the application is critical. If the training is delivered too far in advance of the implementation, end users may forget some key points. If the training is timed properly, however, the transition to the new application is likely to be greatly eased.

Who's Involved With This Task?

Business Process Owner

Administrator

Project Manager

Training Coordinator

End User

Phase 5: Learn From Experience

Run Your Business

This Phase consists of the following tasks:

1 Plan Ongoing Improvement

In this phase, the Accounting Suite application settles into production status as the implementation project is completed.

It is important to review the successes and challenges of the Accounting Suite implementation. Often, the entire Accounting Suite application is not installed in the initial project, so it is important to understand the improvements that can be made in subsequent projects. The follow-on project may be of a reduced scope, but the same principles of the Accounting Suite implementation process still apply. Namely, it is important to understand scope, document the business requirements against the out-of-the-box Accounting Suite business processes, and then move into configuration and customization.

For the Accounting Suite administrator, the project does not truly complete. Unresolved items often exist at the time of cut-over. Additionally, there is always the opportunity to make enhancements or take advantage of new features.

Who's Involved With This Task?

Executive Sponsor

Business Process Owner

Administrator

Project Manager

End User