We spent four days talking to some of the most forward-thinking finance professionals in Las Vegas for SuiteWorld 2022. Oracle NetSuite sure knows how to put on a party, with the event having some of the best production value of any conference I’ve been to.
I resisted every urge to collect the swag on offer, which was surprisingly good. We took around five hundred Scorches with us and came away with none. It's safe to say that Scorch will make future Conference appearances with us.
Scorch, our Gatekeeper Mascot
1. Finance Professionals lack Contract and Vendor Visibility
The Finance Professionals we spoke with were struggling to get visibility of:
- The Vendors their Business is using
- Vendor W-8 & W-9 tax form collection
- The Contracts linked to those Vendors
- Important data points in the Contracts, such as payment terms and contract value
- Contract Spend against forecasted spend
It turns out; Finance isn't sitting on the sidelines. They're leading the charge in some companies to address the lack of visibility around their contracts and vendors.
They understand that if you have a weak vendor base, then the next macroeconomic attack could threaten your business.
Not to mention that a failure to manage contract obligations could cost you 9% of your annual turnover a year.
The CFO and the Finance team can sometimes be distant from vendor and contract management. What we saw at SuiteWorld was the opposite. Conversations with the finance community demonstrated how they can go from manual ways of working to a more holistic set-up, using SuiteApp Integrations to get the most out of NetSuite.
2. Gatekeeper's SuiteApp was the ideal solution for Finance Teams
I was surprised when we changed one of our display screens to the Gatekeeper SuiteApp. Scores of people walked by, stopped, and asked, "What's that?". Some would say, "this is what we've been looking for". Pete, one of our Account Executives, even got a hug from two guys who had been looking for this solution for so long that they were genuinely ecstatic to have found it.
Pete, one of our Account Executives.
Gatekeeper's SuiteApp is Built for NetSuite™ (BFN) Certified, and in summary, our entire Gatekeeper Platform sits within NetSuite. This level of connectivity means that Finance Teams can use the Gatekeeper Platform in full or use the data that now sits within NetSuite.
When we move data across to NetSuite, it's available to NetSuite users from the Vendor Records in NetSuite. The Finance Teams that use NetSuite will feel comfortable in this space.
That's why we ensure all the data we capture in Gatekeeper is visible in NetSuite. The Finance Team can link POs to the appropriate contracts. This visibility of the contracts and vendors gives Finance greater control over their vendor spending and data.
Seeing the Gatekeeper SuiteApp in the flesh and being able to use it was an "aha moment" throughout the SuiteWorld event.
3. The Oracle NetSuite Community is one of the best
The collective Oracle NetSuite Community is one of the best I've been around. Everyone I spoke to, whether in the elevator, the coffee queue, or the Gatekeeper stand, was delightful. There was a good vibe around the conference, full of people who wanted to learn, share stories, and make connections.
Watch our insights from SuiteWorld.
Book a discovery call today to learn more about how Gatekeeper integrates with NetSuite to help businesses restore visibility, take back control and safeguard compliance.