NetSuite Contract Management (Features, Benefits)

It would be best to find good contract management software for your business but have no idea where to start.

There are many different contract management software options, and deciding which is the best for you can be challenging.

NetSuite Contract Management is one of the options for businesses of all sizes. It is software that helps you keep track of your contracts, manage them effectively, and automate some of the contract management processes.

What is NetSuite Contract Management?

It is cloud-based contact management software built on NetSuite CRM and comes as a native module. It allows organizations to manage their contracts from creation and renewal to approvals and annulments.

The NetSuite contract management also alerts and reminders when certain contract milestones need to be met. 

Why might it be the best choice for your business?

• It enables you to create and track contracts with suppliers, customers, employees, and partners.
• It allows for a streamlined process when managing contracts from start to finish. 
• Enhances document management efficiency by automating the approval and return process.
• It is much easier to track and manage expiring contracts with Contract Management as it gives you total visibility into the renewal process.

How do you create a contract in NetSuite?

To create a contract in NetSuite contract management software, follow these steps:

1. Go to Transactions > Sales > Enter Sales Order.
2. In the Custom Form field, select Sales Order – Contract Renewals.
3. In the End User field, select a customer.
4. If necessary, on the Channel subtab, define who this end-user is relative to the customer in the Bill To Customer field.
5. In the Contract Term field, enter the number of months this contract runs. You can enter decimal numbers if you need to represent a term in days.
6. In the Start Date field, enter the start date for this contract. The end date is calculated automatically based on the contract term and start date values.
7. Click Save.

Features of NetSuite Contract Management

It has the following features :

Contract Renewal Automation

This module allows you to automate the contract renewal process by sending out reminders to renew contracts before they expire.

• An automatic renewal transaction may be generated, based on a predefined time frame, such as 90 days or 120 days before expiration.
• NetSuite will create a renewal transaction for your renewable items before the contract expires. A renewal contract will combine similar contract items from the expiring contract.
• A renewal contract will be created perpetually until your customer cancels services.

Multi-Contract Management

Renewals are a common occurrence with customers and can involve multiple transactions.

NetSuite helps customers and vendors streamline the contract renewal process by allowing multiple transactions to be combined into a single contract.

Uplift and Discount Management

• It controls when and how discounts and uplifts are applied during the contract period.
• It offers features that enable customization of uplifts and discounts for customers while minimizing the risk of errors.
• It reduces the risk of revenue loss and customer dissatisfaction, but this can be risky if done with spreadsheets.

Upsell and Returns

• It can handle customer contract changes, like adding or removing services.
• Upsell items that have been added to existing contracts are automatically renewed.
• It gives you the ability to offer different types of discounts for upsells.
• Return items that have been canceled through a Return Merchandise Authorization. 
• It can offer different types of discounts for customers who return items.
• It is integrated with the sales order and opportunity modules.

Multi-Channel Support

• Track and manage multi-tiered sales interactions
• Better engage with distributors, resellers, and end-users

Revenue Recognition

• Software companies must navigate complex rules to recognize revenue from contract renewals.
• NetSuite allows you to manage different sets of dates for revenue recognition, enabling contract renewals and billing to flow automatically.

Real-time Visibility into your Install Base

NetSuite’s real-time dashboards provide software companies with the visibility they need to take control of contract renewal management.

• Gain real-time visibility into the sales pipeline
• Generate reports on deals in progress

How does NetSuite Contract Management Work?

Contract records are initially set to pending when they are created. Therefore, contract items are not generated until a contract reaches this state.

• Pending contracts become active when contract items are generated for them.
• A renewal contract is a contract that is automatically generated when a renewal transaction occurs.
• You can reject the transaction if the renewal contract has not yet generated contract items.
• The status of a contract record that has been rejected for renewal changes back to renewal generated when you generate a new renewal transaction.
• When a renewal contract is generated, the status of the preceding contract changes during the renewal process.
• If an active, pending, or rejected renewal contract is canceled, the status automatically changes to cancel.
• When you run the script to close contracts, it changes the status of expired contracts from active to closed.

Working with NetSuite Contract Management Suite

Viewing a contract

View the contract. Whether it’s related to an existing sales transaction or customer record, navigate the Contract List page for easy access.

You can find all the contracts there – check the list of sales orders, customer records, and contract list page.

Editing contract

Dive into managing contracts quickly and easily by accessing a contract record associated with either the sales transaction or customer record.

Then, click “Edit” to make any desired changes. Also, take advantage of the Contract List page for an overview of all your agreements.

Updating the contract

Easily give contract records a facelift with mass update functionality – fast and simple updates to specific fields in moments. You can update the contract by updating the contract level days before the renewal setting and applying a contract uplift.

Renewing contract

“Renew Now” allows you to generate renewal transactions for specific agreements quickly and conveniently. 

Your contract must meet certain criteria to become qualified. The following criteria are available at the “Renew now” click button.

• The contract is not inactive
• It has at least one item that is not perpetual
• It has at least one item that is not excluded from the renewal
• It has a minimum of one item with an end date that matches the contract end date.

Rejecting renewal transaction

You can only accept the transaction if the renewal contract has generated contract items. Ensure a smooth renewal process with the “Reject Renewal” button.

If the previous contract’s status is set to ‘Renewal Generated’ and no contract items have been created for its counterpart, you can easily reject it from necessary estimates or sales orders in Pending Approval.

Cancellation

With just a click of the “Cancel Contract” button, you can change the contracts with pending, active, or renewal rejected statuses instantly to Canceled.

Make sure your records are up-to-date and accurate in no time. You cannot edit the canceled item.

Benefits of NetSuite Vendor Contract Management

There are many benefits, including the following:

• Improve overall revenue growth and sales performance by identifying cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.
• NetSuite’s contract management module offers a complete and centralized view of your customer’s relationship with your company.
• The contract management software is integrated with the sales order and opportunity modules, providing real-time visibility into the sales pipeline.
• It allows multiple managing contracts at any time.
• Offers features that enable customization of uplifts and discounts for customers while minimizing the risk of errors.
• Better engage with distributors, resellers, and end-users.
• KPI generation within NetSuite is much easier and provides a graphical analysis of business trends.

Conclusion

NetSuite contract management is a tool that can help improve overall revenue growth and sales performance.

The system is effortless and provides a complete and centralized view of your customer’s relationship with your company. It also allows you to offer discounts to customers who return items.

References

• ds contract renewals pdf
• NetSuite Applications Suite – Contract Workflow