Salesforce or NetSuite: Which Platform is Best for Contract Management?

Contract Management is available in both Salesforce and NetSuite. When customers work with both solutions, it is important to understand the overlap of Contract and Contract Items that will activate, renew, upsell, and down-sell contracts. There is no silver bullet solution because the result will largely depend on the client’s specific scenario, however, we can save you some time wrestling between both!

Contract management in NetSuite  

NOTE: Contract Renewals Modules is an add-on module to NetSuite and it needs to be purchased in conjunction with a NetSuite license.

What it does best:

• Management of renewals, upsells, and downsells or attritions
• Renewals can come as an Opportunity, Quote (Estimate), or Sales Order in NetSuite
• Possibility of managing contracts for End users, Resellers, and Distributors
• KPI generation within NetSuite

Considerations:

• If your contracts are not auto-renewed or you need Salesforce CRM data (Opportunities, Quotes) to confirm renewals, then another integration flow is required and can be configured by a professional (Like Plative’s integration team!)
• Contract Renewals in NetSuite are highly scripted. So before implementing, we need to make sure they correspond to your needs. There are no ‘quick fixes’ here, so we must measure twice and cut once.

Contract management in Salesforce 

NOTE: Salesforce Contracts is an out-of-the-box object, which is also used in the Salesforce CPQ architecture.

What it does best:

• Management of renewals, upsells, and downsells direct from opportunity records
• Renewals triggered directly from Opportunities and Quotes in Salesforce
• Flexibility to add any configuration that is not out-of-the-box
• KPI generation within Salesforce
• No need to integrate with CPQ Platform as Salesforce CPQ is built right in Salesforce

Considerations:

• Since the Chart of Accounts will always live in NetSuite, it’s important to make sure that the right financial information will be generated and updated through a custom integration between Salesforce and NetSuite, accommodating your needs.

When reviewing your current architecture and overall process, it is important to decide if NetSuite or Salesforce will be the system of record for Contracts.

The source data will define the integration flows and your business processes, which will help define more than your Contracts, but the following processes, including Invoicing, Change Orders, Revenue Recognition (ASC 606), Payments, and GL Entries.

If you have more questions about contract management and which platform would work best for your organization, get in touch with us today!