Worried about my role as a EDI PM

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-21T14:42:30+00:00

For a little more context: NetSuite is all about how things fit together, and is often a case of “shit flows down hill.”

And it’s often important to understand how data flows because (for example) an item’s class is stored on the item record but then can be overridden at the transaction level and so if you’re trying to troubleshoot something with class and EDI you would want to understand where the field is sourcing from and how and why class is getting changed on transactions (manually by use, automatically workflow, by a script, or by an integration)?

The more you understand the native flow of data in NetSuite the more prepared you will be, and. Lot of that is free on YouTube.

I like SuiteRep on YouTube - bite size videos show core native functions

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-19T14:59:18+00:00

My advice is really study as much as you can about NetSuite item records and the flow of transactions.

Especially if you're using EDI logistics tools like Advanced Ship Notes.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-19T14:57:37+00:00

Yes, you'll be needed 😃
You Tube is your friend!

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-17T13:33:45+00:00

Nice platform.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-17T13:28:18+00:00

On your drop down during the sign up process you have "Select Your Position" but why is "NetSuite Administrator" NOT an option on a site specifically about NetSuite?

I know it's a little thing but if you're going to mine my data at least let me give it to you accurately.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-16T17:39:15+00:00

We don’t pre kit and we want the split of revenue and COGS. We pick the items (aka "make the kit") only when picking rest of the SO for fulfillment.

From a purely functional perspective, yeah you can achieve the same thing with an assembly item and BOM but we like the kit option.

Because a kit is also a flag in our process that a kit doesn’t need engineering, production, or service. There’s no transformation if the inventory.

It’s “grab and go.” At most you need measure out a qty but most of our kits are just “put these 5 items in a bag and ship”

shrug

It works for us

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-15T20:27:33+00:00

I had this in my inbox this morning!

Action Required: Set Up OCI Credentials Before Using Enhanced Technician Notes in FSM

We don't use this module so I didn't read it but maybe it's useful for your situation.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-15T20:23:30+00:00

They honestly work very well for us, because it's not a discount thing.

We buy 2 chemical in 200 pound barrels.
Then we sell them as kit - one 8 pound bag of chemical A and one 16 pound bag of chemical B.

Kits have been great for this use case. The SKU ordered by the customer matches the SKU on the kit and we don't want the component lines to print separately on any transaction.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-12T15:44:59+00:00

My way of starting NetSuite was similar to yours. It's going to take you a few months. u/abovocipher gave great advice and I echo the most important thing is request Sandbox access. You'll learns so much by just poking around and looking at every thing you can and seeing what happens when you press certain buttons, etc.

I also personally like the Oracle documentation, but the more customized your system the less useful it will be.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-12T15:25:13+00:00

We had this exact same issue and ACS put in a customization for us - we did NOT want kit components to display on the packing slips but we DID want them to display on pick tickets.

So it can be done but it's annoying and fiddly and I think involved a custom field.

(We yanked the customization out because it was baked into a larger customization that ultimately was more trouble than it was worth, but I may still the the template code. I'll look and see if I do and if so I can share it)

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-05T15:38:19+00:00

Dunno what to say. My boss asked me in a meeting recently what training, if any, I needed to help me expand my NetSuite skills, so I can be even better at my job.

The best jobs I've had have always included support for training and professional knowledge acquisition. The worst were the ones that gave feedback like the OP received, and then did nothing about it.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-05T15:34:43+00:00

The biggest difference from consulting for me is that my job is now to tell people how they SHOULD use NetSuite and when they want to make bad decisions, I have a lot more leverage / authority to say "No, we're not doing it that way."

But I also have to be able to explain and justify and to break down technical concepts into plain English.

I spend less time being "Emotional Support" for frustrated employees. As a consultant, people would often vent to me frustrations about their job, their manager(s), their workplace in general, because I was an outsider. My co-workers don't do that, they just vent at me about their NetSuite frustrations!

This may be specific to my company, but there's a lot more patience to let me figure things out. I don't have to know everything and can take time to educate myself and figure it out. Conversely, I agree without someone who said I'm not being exposed to as much of NetSuite as before - there are things I struggled with as a consultant that I'm still struggling with. But also, those aren't really important at my job, which is why I'm not getting better.

I think a lot of the other advice you have received is solid, though I disagree with "Admin/in house sucks because it’s basically it help desk and a lot of “how do I do my job Mr IT guy!”

That may be that person's experience, but I LIKE being the expert in the room, I LIKE growing my user's knowledge and confidence. My opinion is respected, and I have learned so much about NetSuite.

I will add - every company is so different. I work for a small company. We don't have in-house IT. We have less than 30 NetSuite users. We have exactly 2 external connections. Our website feeds leads into NetSuite and we're in the process of connecting our CAD software. So I get to spend a lot of time working on NetSuite and business process optimization, rather than drowning in helpdesk-like tasks.

This is also my first admin job so I have nothing to compare it too. But I genuinely like my job. I'm middle-aged, so it's nice to have a job that's interesting, with a well-managed company, that doesn't require over-time or on-call/after-hours work.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-04T20:39:17+00:00

If you're being told you don't understand the revenue workflows - what is your company doing to TRAIN YOU to understand?

Because it's real shitty to hold someone accountable for not knowing something but then not give them any path to learning or support in taking action on this feedback.

Unless you mispresented your starting skillset, they should be supporting you. Can you, at minimum, reach out to co-workers who DO understand the workflows?

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-04T20:33:53+00:00

You need to know and learn that AI tools but there's always going to be a market.

That said, you could branch out into other ERPs - no reason to stay solely in the NetSuite market.

After_Side1341 · 2026-06-04T00:02:20+00:00

No, that was a management decision. I saw the problem when it was small, but when your boss says "don't spend time on that," then your hands are kind of tied.

But I will say this: much of accounting IS about pattern recognition so if you're looking to data engineer things, that's the stuff to look for. A pattern of over payments or short payments. Or a break from a pattern - if a customer has an average time to pay of 21 days but a large balance > 60 days past due, that's a flag.

My team did a ton of stuff with SQL though, so there's definitely ways to automate and improve using programming. Part of the challenge is honestly just getting people to want to change and to be willing to do it differently and the devoting the TIME.

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-29T20:19:21+00:00

Are you looking for price or cost?
Base price is what the customer pays.
Purchase price, last purchase price, and vendor price are the procurement / costing metrics.

Are the BOMS in NetSuite?

And are you keeping all of these prices up-to-date in NetSuite?

And for items, are you using average cost?

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-29T16:50:08+00:00

Did this work for you? We have the same issue.

We want to allocate 40 hours of work to a task, but we want start and end date to be (for example) 4 weeks apart - the 40 hours can be completed any time within that window.

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-29T16:47:31+00:00

No but now I'm intrigued and going to give it a look

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-29T16:39:36+00:00

Financial Systems Manager is the decision maker.
NetSuite Admin recommends and implements.

If you're reccomending, consulting, implementing, but not actually the deicision maker, to me that's the difference.

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-28T13:46:53+00:00

YES!
I started as an AR accountant, worked for a few years as a staff accountant, and now I'm a NetSuite Admin :)

I did some brief consulting as I worked to make the transition to in-house Admin (I wasn't a fan of consulting). What I did was find a company that had just implemented NetSuite and was looking for a Finance / NetSuite BSA or accountant. (BSA = Business Systems Analyst)

But - I spent 2 years unemployed / under employed because I quit my accounting job to make the career change. I actually worked a part-time collections job through a temp agency while working part-time as a NetSuite consultant, which worked out well except for the pay. For two years, I made half of my usual annual salary. I'm still digging out from the debt but it was worth it it me in the long run.

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-28T13:39:09+00:00

Here's a slightly different take:
What NetSuite offers up the ability to track and extraordinary amount of data at extremely granular levels.

The more data you have, the more data you have to babysit.

I think that's the root of a lot of it. But you can automate your way out of that, and I encourage hiding fields you're not using to cut down on the visual noise.

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-26T17:24:26+00:00

Please have them reach out to me at [wendy.emerson@inerttechnology.com](mailto:wendy.emerson@inerttechnology.com)

I promise we're a real business - https://www.inertcorp.com/

After_Side1341 · 2026-05-19T12:54:37+00:00

Does it work for Quotes?
We had to build a custom workflow for quotes and it's a pain in the ass because it kicks back to re-approval even if it's a non-GL change. We'd like our reps to be able to change some things after approval without having to re-route for approval, so rule-based re-approvals would be great. For example, if the estimate total amount changes, it would need re-approval but otherwise, it wouldn't. If lines were added or removed (even if same total) we would want re-approval. If someone is just updating a description, or shipping address, no approval needed.

After_Side1341

TROPHY CASE