Do you use the NetSuite Projects feature? NetSuite has advanced features surrounding projects, but the Projects feature is the most basic. And for some companies, it may be all that they really need in order to keep track of their projects. Let’s take a look!
Overview of the NetSuite Projects Feature
You can find and turn on the Projects feature under the Projects section of the Company tab in Enable Features. Once this feature is turned on, you will be able to create project records that track information on projects, like key contacts for a project and the time spent on the project. Project records also track financial information, such as the associated costs and revenues for the project and any billing information.
Using the NetSuite Projects Feature
What does using the NetSuite projects feature look like in practice?
Creating New Project Records
The first step in using this feature is to create project records. With only the Projects feature enabled (and no other advanced project features), you will need to create a project record directly from a customer record. On a customer record, access the Create New dropdown list and select Project from the list.
Doing this will open a new project record that is auto-filled with the customer’s name and things like the subsidiary and primary currency that are associated with that customer. On the new record, you can select either the standard NetSuite project form or create a custom form. The type of form that you use while creating the project will determine the kind of information you can track on the project.
On the standard project form, you would use the Primary Information section to set things like the name of the project, the project manager, and the status of the project. The Project Overview and Project Dates sections allow you to get more specific with the details of what will go into the project itself, while the sublists allow you to provide financial information connected to this project, to add contacts to the project, and to keep a record of communication regarding the project.
Connecting Projects to Transactions
Once you have created a new project record, then what do you do? One thing you can do is connect projects to transactions. While creating or editing a transaction, you will see a project field. The projects that are associated with the customer for this transaction will be available in the project field’s dropdown list.
Notice how taking this step links all three records together—the customer record, transaction record, and project record. When related records are connected in NetSuite, you can more easily ensure that the information in each record stays accurate and up-to-date.
Importing Projects Information
Perhaps you keep track of key project information outside of NetSuite, but you still need to have the information tracked in NetSuite as well. You can import that project information using a CSV import. Running a CSV import for projects, however, looks a bit different than a regular CSV import. Rather than accessing the CSV Import Assistant through the Setup tab, you need to navigate to Activities > Scheduling > Project Tasks > Import. Doing this will take you to a modified Import Assistant page.
To learn more about best practices for importing project information into NetSuite, you can check out this Help Center article on the topic.
Conclusion
The NetSuite Projects feature is just the start to using projects in NetSuite. With this feature, you can create basic projects. In future blogs in this series, however, we’ll look at additional project features and how they allow you to create advanced projects in NetSuite. To keep up with this ongoing series about NetSuite features, join the SuiteRep newsletter below!