Global Financial Reporting
Gone are the days of tedious double entry at month-end, as each international office was now an established subsidiary within NetSuite, automatically consolidating their individual figures at the parent level for a holistic view of the organization’s overall health and progress. Moreover, NetSuite’s currency exchange functionality meant transactions were able to be made in local currencies – from Haiti to Uganda – and reported at the current foreign exchange rate on reports for optimal financial insights.
Inventory Management
NetSuite’s inventory management feature provides total visibility into an organization’s supply chain, allowing Water Mission to effectively track thousands of components and clean water installations across office and storage locations. The ability to input relevant inventory data by physical location to build a holistic view of their current supply levels, costs, and demand enabled Water Mission’s management team to run operationally lean while providing in-country resources with the necessary equipment to complete project assemblies and respond agilely to disaster situations.
“Being able to know, in real-time, the status of our inventory across other country programs enables us to equip our staff with the resources they need to get the work done,” Melchers said.
Project Management
Previously, Water Mission struggled to manage and track budget to actuals throughout the life of a project in QuickBooks. With NetSuite’s project management solution, however, their team is able to monitor expenses against a project in real-time to effectively measure progress and operational health, ensuring their global efforts remain within budget and on time.
When asked of NetSuite’s project management capabilities, Melchers explains it’s been a real benefit to their organization by providing valuable insights they previously operated without.
Manufacturing
Because each Water Mission project is customized to the unique community it will serve, the complexity of manufacturing safe water solutions requires end-to-end visibility, making NetSuite’s single platform solution an ideal fit for their organization. From the initial work order to scheduling and fulfillment, every step of their production process is now optimized in real-time to ensure timely and cost-effective project installation. Assigning production to an open project in NetSuite synchronizes the scope and budget requirements, providing accurate reporting on product costing, from materials to machine and labor overhead. And because providing safe and clean water solutions around the world doesn’t stop after the initial build, coding of each assembly allows for consistent and effective component maintenance tracking.
Scalable Value
Expanding their work also means expanding their technology solution’s functionality, and with NetSuite and Eide Bailly, Water Mission has established a valuable foundation for future success and growth. “We realize there are more capabilities in NetSuite than we are currently utilizing today,” said Melchers. “That’s something we’re still in the process of developing, and as we grow, we’ll utilize those resources and the additional functionality better. We’re excited about this system and its ability to grow alongside the ministry.”