Transforming educational institutions to serve the digital age isn’t always easy, but NetSuite Cloud ERP supported by an experienced implementation partner can help schools bring all of their functions onto a single, cloud-based platform that can be accessed from anywhere.
The educational sector is in a great place to be able to benefit from cloud enterprise resource planning solutions (ERPs) that help streamline multifaceted operations, get all users working from a single source of truth, and remove the silos that exist between the many different departments that keep a school, college or university running.
With the global pandemic sending most students and teachers home in 2020, the need for cloud-based enterprise software escalated quickly both on the educational and the business front. Those institutions that had cloud platforms in place pre-pandemic were able to shift over to remote learning and administration faster than those that rely on legacy, on-premises systems and Excel spreadsheets.
6 Ways NetSuite Steps in to Help
With digital educational technology or “edtech” becoming an increasingly important part of any classroom, schools need easy access to data, course materials, financial data and other important information. By providing a single, integrated business management solution, NetSuite helps educational institutions coordinate, analyze and share data; understand financial performance; enhance personnel management; and run a more streamlined, efficient operation.
Here are six more reasons NetSuite is the best ERP for today’s educational institutions:
1. Break down dysfunctional data silos
NetSuite helps schools unite their otherwise fragmented data and eases the burden of maintaining multiple systems.
2. Get more out of existing resources
NetSuite helps schools unite their otherwise fragmented data and eases the burden of maintaining multiple systems.
3. Get access to integrated budgeting and forecasting
Equip your institution with the planning, budgeting and forecasting tools that it needs to ensure ongoing financial stability and manage future growth.
4. Manage fundraising efforts
NetSuite helps schools manage the entire revenue lifecycle—from pledge to payment—and get the support they need for long-term success. With the ERP in place, schools can:
- Accept and process donations online, automate recurring donation schedules and standardize the donation processes.
- Capture pledges and immediately route to the appropriate development resource for standard or personalized follow-up.
- Streamline and automate the grants prospecting processes.
- Automate membership billing, establish flexible billing and payment schedules and manage all transactions and routings with a single solution.
5. Leverage Online Commerce
Whether your school sells publications, items or fundraising premiums, SuiteCommerce gets you up and running quickly and integrates with your school’s end-to-end operations:
- Easily create a full-featured, customizable online store that seamlessly integrates with accounting, marketing, order and inventory management.
- Accept payments from multiple revenue sources, including donor contributions, membership dues, program fees and fundraising events.
- Accept fixed or variable donations online and allow the donor to choose the amount they want to donate.
- Easily manage orders from multiple channels, such as online and phone, all in one place.
- Track and manage end-to-end physical inventory and distribution including shipping, receiving and returns. Track orders door-to-door directly in NetSuite.
6. Improve Financial Planning
Model and evaluate unlimited “what if” scenarios between actuals and projections and update forecasts as needed; establish rolling 12-month forecasts and analyze variance between actuals versus project results; create and consolidate driver-based plans with customized data entry sheets and reusable formulas and allocation methods.
