Considering Producing NetSuite Financial Statements using Third Party Tools?

By Marty Zigman , on January 24, 2013

This article is relevant if you are a company using NetSuite evaluating different technologies to produce financial reporting.

What is needed to get the General Ledger out of NetSuite?

Some people like NetSuite financial reports (income statements, balance sheets, etc.). Other people want more capability and they are willing to acquire third party tools to generate financial statements. The challenge is how to produce financial statement for the least investment. Here are the fundamental steps needed to create financial statements outside of NetSuite:

Step 1: Get the general ledger out of NetSuite.

Step 2: Store the data in a structured way.

Step 3: Use a financial reporting tool to read the structured data.

Let’s focus on step 1, getting the posted financial data out of NetSuite.

Ways to Extract General Ledger Data from Web Services or ODBC

To solve for the first step, getting the general ledger data out of NetSuite, there is the ODBC driver. NetSuite offers an add-on module that allows you to consume their ERP database in a read-only fashion via ODBC drivers. These ODBC drivers leverage technology offered by DataDirect. Our experience with the ODBC driver is that it is reasonable easy to work with.

However, we have had a couple of situations where the ODBC drivers have had bugs. See our previous article: Warning: SQL Server Linked Server to NetSuite Issues. We also have had pass-through query (a way to call the NetSuite Oracle back end native) issues when we needed to perform on-the-fly data conversion. NetSuite will eventually fix these bugs.

An alternative to ODBC is to get the data out of NetSuite using the Web Services tier. NetSuite calls this technology: SuiteTalk. It’s attractive because every NetSuite account gets SuiteTalk Web Services as part of its base subscription cost. Hence, no add-on (or cost) needed. The Web Service feature was not designed for reporting, but was designed for integration. Yet, we have worked with partners that have built powerful tools to extract data out of NetSuite for a number of business purposes.

We explored the feasibility of getting the general ledger out of NetSuite using these web service tools. Unfortunately, at this point of time, it’s not quite there. We have discovered four transaction types that are not exposed via Web Services which means we can’t reliably produce a Trial Balance, the basic building blocks to financial reports:

Transfer
Currency Revaluations
Deposit
Inventory Transfers

We have a workaround to these limitations. But it requires custom software work — which at the end of the day, drives up the investment cost toward the ultimate solution. Let’s not forget that this is only Step 1: getting the general data out of NetSuite.

There is another more provocative way to get data out of NetSuite leveraging SuiteLet and REST technologies. But let’s just say it hits NetSuite SuiteScript governance constraints which means no easy option.

In another article, we will discuss other options to achieve the goal. At this time, be forewarned. I recommend working toward a solution with an experienced partner. If you are interested in solving for your particular NetSuite financial reporting concern, let’s talk.

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Marty Zigman

Holding all three official certifications, Marty is regarded as the top NetSuite expert and leads a team of senior professionals at Prolecto Resources, Inc. He is a former Deloitte & Touche CPA and has held CTO roles. For over 30 years, Marty has produced leadership in ERP, CRM and eCommerce business systems. Contact Marty to set up a conversation.

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3 thoughts on “Considering Producing NetSuite Financial Statements using Third Party Tools?”

Considering Producing NetSuite Financial Statements using Third Party Tools?

What is needed to get the General Ledger out of NetSuite?

Ways to Extract General Ledger Data from Web Services or ODBC

See Related Articles

Marty Zigman

About Marty Zigman

3 thoughts on “Considering Producing NetSuite Financial Statements using Third Party Tools?”

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