How to make your NetSuite budgeting and forecasting agile

Agility is everything in manufacturing, distribution and retail businesses. Finance teams are under constant pressure to deliver accurate forecasts, accelerate the planning cycle and to have actuals at hand so everyone knows how they’re tracking. For businesses running NetSuite ERP, this means their budgeting and forecasting tools must be up to the task.

Unfortunately, the native NetSuite Planning and Budgeting (NSPB) module often falls short. It's a basic tool with limited functionality, steep upgrade costs and a heavy reliance on static spreadsheets. For businesses looking to optimize financial planning and drive performance, it's not adequate.

Enter Phocas Budgets and Forecasts which is a certified NetSuite SuiteApp. Phocas is a flexible, customizable and user-friendly solution designed to streamline budgeting processes and make NetSuite customers more agile. By integrating Phocas with NetSuite ERP, finance teams can shift from having the budget live for a few days to being on top of financial performance the whole month.

Industry-matched forecasting that keeps budgets live longer

Many NetSuite customers start their financial planning in spreadsheets or in the NetSuite Planning and Budgeting module, only to find themselves stuck in rigid workflows that don’t run on real-time data. With Phocas Budgets and Forecasts, companies gain access to industry-matched templates that support dynamic scenario modeling, ongoing reforecasting and financial modeling tailored to their unique needs.

Instead of treating budgets as static monthly documents, finance teams can keep them live throughout the year. This continuous planning approach ensures businesses stay responsive to internal and external changes whether it’s an increase in pricing or a sudden shift in demand.

Phocas enables agile businesses to manage different outcomes quickly through scenario planning and instantly compare actuals against forecasts using dashboards and variance analysis tools. With up-to-date financial data synchronized from NetSuite ERP, everyone can make informed decisions without waiting for the next reporting cycle.

Why NetSuite's planning and budgeting module holds teams back

While NetSuite offers a Planning and Budgeting module as a SuiteApp (NSPB), it lacks the flexibility and accessibility mid-market, multi-entity businesses demand. Finance teams often find themselves paying a premium for limited capabilities, and the learning curve for NSPB can be steep, requiring extensive training and customization.

Key drawbacks of NetSuite's budgeting and forecasting module include its basic templates that fail to meet industry-specific needs. Most finance team continue to have high dependency on Microsoft Office tools like Excel for modeling and reporting and there is a lack of real-time synchronization with operational data. NSPB has limited visualizations and dashboards and complex setups for multi-entity consolidation. These limitations hinder the ability of finance teams to perform efficient and accurate financial planning and performance management.

As a result, many mid-market and multi-entity businesses find the NetSuite module to be insufficient for their predictive planning and forecasting requirements. The reliance on static spreadsheets and the absence of real-time data integration mean collaboration with vice presidents is hard or slow going. Companies seeking a more scalable solution with connected planning and forecast accuracy often look beyond NetSuite's default functionality to find tools that can deliver the depth and speed they need for comprehensive financial and operational management.

For companies that want advanced planning and forecast accuracy, the default NetSuite budgeting functionality often feels more like a stopgap than a solution. When FP&A teams need to plan across headcount, capital expenditures, and workforce planning, the NetSuite module doesn’t have the functionality.

Automating the planning cycle for greater accuracy and collaboration

Manual processes and spreadsheet-based models are notorious for slowing down the planning cycle. Version control issues, formula errors and disconnected data sources often lead to delays and inaccuracies. Phocas eliminates these inefficiencies by automating core workflows, from data imports to approval steps.

Phocas offers NetSuite customers a significant upgrade from manual, spreadsheet-based planning system. By eliminating repetitive tasks, the finance team can save time and reduce errors associated with version control and formula mishaps. The integration of data from multiple business units ensures a cohesive and comprehensive view of financial and operational performance.

With automatic synchronization of linked general ledger data, finance teams can trust that their information is always up-to-date as well as set-up alerts as a check. The use of dynamic databases for ‘what if’ planning and to add extra levels of detail across price and quantity of products, making the budgets more accurate and detailed. Additionally, Phocas allows customization of planning workflows to meet the specific needs of each team, ensuring that the solution is as flexible as it is powerful.

This automation shortens cycle times and improves forecast accuracy, which means team have access to performance numbers daily and can direct efforts in the right places to reach budget or address issues.

Empowering finance teams with intuitive software

Modern finance teams don’t just producing financial statements they’re playing a vital role in data management, strategy and operations. To do that, they need tools that support granular analysis, real-time collaboration and accurate budgeting and forecasting.

Phocas Budgets and Forecasts offers real-time integration with NetSuite ERP and the ability to create a customizable budget for every entity or division in your business that is updated automatically with actuals. Just like in the financial statements, you can drill-down to transactional detail. The advanced scenario modeling is proving especially useful for customers managing volatile markets and increasing prices.

Finance leaders can also conduct detailed variance analysis, track cash flow, monitor profitability and build management reports that make performance trends easy to understand. Because the platform is intuitive and built with everyday users in mind, all stakeholders can explore data and contribute meaningfully to the planning process.

Planning isn’t just for finance anymore. Sales, operations, and executive teams all play a role in shaping the business strategy, and they need access to planning tools that make sense for them.

Phocas supports collaborative workflows where stakeholders across departments can input assumptions, adjust forecasts, and analyze KPIs—without needing deep knowledge of NetSuite or accounting principles. Role-based access ensures that the right people see the right data, and built-in controls protect sensitive information.

By simplifying access to performance data, finance teams can foster greater accountability and build confidence in the planning process across the organization.

The need for stronger budgeting is prevalent when there is market uncertainty so your ability to plan and reforecast quickly is what sets you apart.

Relying on static tools like spreadsheets or the limited functionality of NetSuite’s built-in budgeting module puts your business at risk. Phocas Budgets and Forecasts gives you the data to adapt, the visibility to see what's coming and the tools to make change.