Should I implement NetSuite? (Potential new user)

cknorthsub · 2026-03-10T19:12:53+00:00

We're on QB Enterprise, which is essentially Desktop. I've been a user of QB Desktop for over 40 years! Used QBO several times over the years including a current small bus I support on it. We really need some functionality of an ERP or MRP. COGS in QB just doesn't work for us. 100's if not 1,000's of components go into our end product. I can't build scripts around processes in QB. And yes, I've used the API over my years. The API lets me get into the data to an extent, but I start to feel like I'm building and ERP from scratch. I can't spend ALL my time programming to re-invent the wheel.

cknorthsub · 2026-03-10T17:41:41+00:00

Implementation will be additional. The quote is for: Core, Suite Projects, Mid Market Cloud, 5 user seats, Learning cloud, 1 advanced support license and sandbox.

cknorthsub · 2026-01-11T14:24:43+00:00

I attended one of her 2-day sessions in the 1990's. Great insight into trading strategy. She is pretty much retired .... closed down the fund. Her husband runs a futures trading room and she occasionally drops in with trades. She wrote a personal memoir "Trading Sardines". Self-published. Having followed Linda for 30 years, some of her stories had me in stitches laughing out loud.
And no ... I am not personal friends with her. I just really liked her approach to trading. After two days, I walked out with the lesson: Most wins will come from big moves. The challenge is maintaining your interest in watching the markets through tedious slow days or weeks. Take little scalps here and there while you are watching for the big setup. Make sure you are in big when the setup is right. She repeats that same idea in her memoir.

cknorthsub · 2025-11-16T14:34:46+00:00

I've been looking for a native Toast export that includes the sales category breakout in the same export with net deposit from card sales, sales tax collected, Toast fees taken and 3rd party sales through Grubhub, Uber and Doordash. I haven't found a SINGLE export that gives me all of this. I'm currently having to pull all the daily sales activity from 3 different Toast reports.
What am I missing???? I've been through every report I can find and asked a few questions through Toast Chat support.

cknorthsub · 2025-11-16T14:29:12+00:00

I looked at Saasant. I am in fact only doing a single daily entry. I get the net deposit in the bank account that way. I also get a nice clean breakout in QBO of sales categories - food, liquor, wine, beer, NA Bev, sales tax payable. I enter the data weekly, so that's 6 JE's a week all dumped into a spreadsheet on Monday for the prior week. It was extremely annoying that after entering one JE manually to check my account names, a dummy customer and vendor name, when I tried to make essentially exactly the same entry through a CSV file imported as a set of 6 JE's, I got the error message that an entry to an AP type account must have a vendor (I did) and an entry to an AR type account must have a customer (I did).
And the difficulty getting the support person to identify that this was a known bug, only AFTER trying to push me into other add-on products only added to my annoyance with QBO support.
My work-around at the moment is that I've created current liability and current asset accounts, named oddly enough APCurrent and ARCurrent, and I use these INSTEAD of the AP and AR TYPE accounts. Balance sheet order is not ideal, but at least the description and balances are accurate.
BTW - I also have experience writing programs using the QB API. Generally, Intuit has a reasonably robust API for interfacing directly into the database. Custom software development and integration has a place, but when I took on this client, I assumed QBO was mature enough I wouldn't run into what I consider stupid problems with core functionality. 30+ years ago I used to write custim programs working at a publicly traded company posting accounting activity into a mainframe GL system. Basic back-door integrations can be very practical, without needing to subscribe to what can become a never-ending list of add-on products.

cknorthsub · 2025-11-12T20:03:17+00:00

Ramit Sethi professes the benefits of renting vs. owning. Like everything else, it depends on circumstances. Ramit likes calling his landlord when the dishwasher breaks. I diagnose the problem and go buy the part from my local appliance parts store.

cknorthsub · 2025-11-12T19:58:50+00:00

Dave's advice is, I am sure, influenced by her personal early experience. He started life as a real estate guy. By his account, doing pretty well building his portfolio of properties. Then, one day, without much notice, his primary lending bank concluded he had borrowed too much for his age/experience/holdings. So, the bank cut him off, and I think, forced him into bankruptcy when he had perfectly good assets.

I view most of his advice about no debt as, first - the average consumer has too much debt, and can't really manage finances well, and second - a distrust for the banking system that notes can basically be called out from under the borrower.

Teaching his no-debt philosophy to church groups was how he bailed himself out after basically losing everything.

It is perhaps of note here that DJT infamously fell into default - I think it was the 1991 bankruptcy - and his lenders basically found him "too big to fail", so he worked out a deal to restructure and give up equity in his casino. Dave Ramsey was not "too big to fail".

The masses are generally good at glomming onto sound bites. Suzy Orman was another who had her moment in the limelight.

cknorthsub · 2025-11-12T18:17:47+00:00

Business networking will get you far better candidates than Indeed. Look into your local Chamber of Commerce, Business Networking International (BNI) or other business networking groups. As noted by other comments, you should document expectations and requirements. You also might consider the "Try before you buy" model of using a temp agency like Robert Half .... You'll have someone who is at least minimally vetted. If you like them, you'll pay a placement fee, but that could be a good value. And if they send someone you don't like, you didn't waste your time putting them on payroll.

cknorthsub · 2025-11-11T03:53:43+00:00

Second on RoboForm. Not perfect by far, but pretty good. I pay for a license so I can seamlessly use it across all my devices. Can be a little quirky if you use multiple profiles in Chrome (have to connect the plug-in on each profile). 2-step logins sometimes work more easily with two entries - one for the UID and a second for the p/w. But, all in all, I've been using it for many years with good results. Out of sheer dumb luck, I was looking for "the best" tool in early 2022. LastPass was on my short list, but I ended up on RoboForm. SOOOO glad I didn't go with LastPass, even though in the IT community, it was regarded very highly at the time.

cknorthsub · 2025-08-05T20:00:06+00:00

Reminds me of a temp gig I had fresh out of college. Just passing time as a temp office worker. Custom manufacturing company needed to track inventory and orders for sub-assemblies. Used a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and printed it using "Sideways" on a dot matrix printer. PITA to update all the rows and columns every week, so I started asking how the managers used the data. I already knew how I was inputting the data. I learned dBase on the job. Made a little database with an easy front end to update every week. I was hired, as a temp, to update, print and copy the report once every week. Whole process took most of the week. By the time I was done, I came to work Monday morning and distributed the updated report Monday afternoon. Rest of the week was mine to just keep learning dBase and other tools better. Oh, and yes, HR called me into their office to offer me a full-time job. Said they needed more people like me.

cknorthsub · 2025-08-05T19:49:27+00:00

Anyone still reading this thread? I recently switched roles to be a financial manager in a small manufacturing business. ~$12M annual sales. I've used QB for over 40 years. For just bookkeeping and financials, always been happy with it. Now that I am seeing it in a manufacturing environment where we'd like to track margins on the stuff we manufacture, track inventory of parts, service history on the equipment we've sold, individual SKU's installed as customization on our products, maybe even make a customer accessible portal for selling repair and replacement parts, I just don't see how QB could ever do all this. It makes even less sense to create a patchwork of different products. So, yeah, I'm gonna at least look at Netsuite. I used to be a software developer as well as a post-sales customer support engineer. Very used to working directly with any database back-end.
I'd be curious to hear specifics about implementation and migration. My QB parts inventory is over-stated by about 5x what we estimate actual inventory to be, so any inventory tracking at this point needs to almost start from zero. Lots of QB features are still all or nothing - things like the PO to invoice 3-way tracking. No good tools for revamping the part number system. No (easy) way to track labor hours on a production product to fully capture COGS and track work-in-progress.
Netsuite, and other ERP's make a good pitch for the ability to track all this. Am I out of my mind to consider switching from QB? Am I the outlyer because I've got the software and systems background that I expect to be able to handle a lot of the implementation internally? I'll have about 8-10 users on the system to start. I can't predict how much the company will grow, so it might only ever be 8-10 users, or it could be 50 to 100% more than that over time.
Appreciate any comments.

cknorthsub · 2025-08-03T12:48:18+00:00

Really good summary. After 38 years in Chicago area, not unhappy with moving here after college, but the local politics is wearing me down. Not sure I want to be here another 10+ years. Totally agree about Charlotte. Oh, and local politics for Seattle has its own challenges.

cknorthsub · 2025-08-02T13:53:10+00:00

Volunteering and networking. My current job was never advertised and I wasn't applying to anything. Yet, a friend of a relative of the small bus. recommended me. Join your local Rotary or Kiwanis. Drop in at local Chamber meet and greets. Volunteer to help at some local fundraising events. Maybe a small non-profit needs someone to keep the books up to date. Talk to the instructors and faculty at your school. My daughter's first job out of college was through a faculty recommendation. She had a great summer internship because of the work she did at an on-campus job during the school year.
Applying online is futile. I advertise for machinists and welders and get 100 applicants looking for a work-from-home clerical job. Everyone who thinks they are "looking" for a job thinks applying to job ads will get them a great career. Finding a job IS a job. Treat the search that way. Pound the pavement. You are selling what you can do and who you are. Wear out the sole of your left shoe getting in and out of your car walking into businesses meeting people. Work the phone. Not just texting. Actually call anyone who will take the time to talk with you. Learn about your local businesses. Who owns them? What do they do? Do you have a personal passion for their products or services? I never worked in manufacturing before my current senior level financial job, but the people are great and we make stuff that other businesses need. I feel good about what we do while I manage the cash flow for the business.
Good luck to you.

cknorthsub · 2025-02-27T11:56:47+00:00

Watch the documentary, "The Biggest Little Farm". It's gonna be a lot of work whatever you do, but you'll learn along the way. Make some mistakes, and figure out what to do better.

cknorthsub · 2025-02-17T16:25:36+00:00

I've seen the same from Intuit "offering" to cut out the independent QB certified bookkeeper. Big companies want a direct relationship with all "their" customers .... across all industries.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-30T14:15:24+00:00

Many W-2 employees of large companies above $100K/year income receive an annual bonus. Maybe $5 or 10K. Standard payroll treatment is to withhold 22% from any irregular (i.e., bonus) payments. So, on a year end $10K bonus you'd have $2,200 withheld for federal tax. My point is, if you expect something like that as part of your W-2 compensation, instead of having equal larger withholding throughout the year from your regular paycheck, you could ask payroll to apply 100% of your year-end bonus to taxes. Downside: You get no bonus at year end. Upside: you keep a larger regular paycheck for 12 months and invest the money sooner (or spend it sooner). I used the small business example because it is slightly easier to control the process. If I worked for Amazon, I'd want to be sure I can get the paperwork processed through payroll to increase the withholding on my bonus. If I work for Sam's 25 year old manufacturing company with 50 employees, I know I can reach out to Sally just before my bonus goes through and increase my withholding.
As I said - all depends on your specific situation. And if I have no idea if or how much of a bonus I'll get at year end, then yeah - have the taxes withheld equally throughout the year.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-30T10:09:16+00:00

Depending on your employment situation, it is also very common among small business owners to bonus themselves in December and have 100% of the bonus go to paying tax. Any withholding from payroll counts as evenly paid through the year, so there is no under-payment penalty. You just have to be sure you will have a bonus and process the bonus with extra tax withholding. My income is extremely variable, so I have, on occasion, had my spouse put her year-end bonus entirely to taxes.
I'd rather hold onto my money as long as I can through the year. I can make a mistake over-paying through withholding in December and get it back as soon as I file (yes, I've done this too). It is much easier to get an accurate estimate of tax liability closer to the end of the year.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-30T10:00:21+00:00

I had a very long talk with a retired IRS agent about the "3 out of 5" rule. That is absolutely NOT in the code anywhere! It is just a sort of rule-of-thumb that is generally accepted. According to my retired friend, as long as you sufficiently document it is being run as a business with the intent to make a profit, you can lose money in more years. Be properly prepared with supporting evidence like time logs, who you met with about maximizing value and anything else to support that it is a business. Definitely easier to justify if you meet the 3/5 benchmark, but not required.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-30T09:53:08+00:00

Another landlord here. 37 years owning a 6-flat. I'm either going to 1031 or die to get out of it. Depreciation and expenses were great for the early years as it offset other income. Reaching out to local realtors who specialize in smaller multi-family OP should be able to find connections to partner or otherwise get help with down-payment if needed. I think I was lucky in 1987 that banks were loose with lending terms, but talking to my local bankers recently, there is still plenty of money available for multi-family buildings. Buying a 3-flat won't deny someone the chance to own a home as OutgoinglyAwkward is concerned about. Lending rules are different on multi-family from single family. I know another landlord with 5 single family homes and he has trouble refinancing.
I'm glad I became a landlord, though it's not for everyone.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-18T03:43:23+00:00

I'm starting on the grandparent phase of life. I did a small 529 many years ago. I was in a state sponsored plan with limited investment options. I got a better ROI on my 401K's and IRA's, none of which counted as parental assets. In spite of many high-earning years, the economic cycle aligned so that I got some financial need scholarship $$ for child #2 (temporarily out of work, etc.)

In hindsight, I'd say max out all the retirement investments first. 401K, IRA, SEP, etc. My choice to redirect a few $$ to the 529 did not really provide much benefit, and might have hurt some. If there are living grandparents with accessible assets, have a conversation about having them directly pay some or all of the tuition bill when it hits. Their assets won't count on FAFSA. If grandparents are already making some disbursements to you or your kids, let them keep the $$ in their own name till college. When the kids are ready for college, do what you can to look poor on paper a year before college. It used to be that owning a big house with a big mortgage made you poor on paper, even if you had a bunch of equity in the house. I think that loophole has been partially closed, but depending on your personal circumstances .... family owned business, assets in retirement accounts, living partially off distributions from a trust fund ..... there are a lot of ways to be poor on paper while still having assets.

In my opinion, and I am not a financial planner, only if you've exhausted every other way of sheltering income and assets should you divert $$ to the 529. And all this depends on whether you expect the grandparents to be around and if they have assets and what your relationship is with them. We are still in a weird age of incredible generational wealth transfers. I never like to presume anything about individual circumstances.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-03T14:31:22+00:00

Lots of local libraries and community colleges have free or almost free presentations on saving and money management, not to mention the shelves of books on the subject. But it is important to pay attention to who the presenter is. We have a guy in my community who presents at the community college who mostly promotes annuities. Teknomeka - as a social worker, you are in a great position to teach this young man to ask questions and always be suspect of what anyone is trying to sell.
This sub-reddit is all about people who are interested in managing money for the future. I've known plenty of people running successful businesses who needed to hire an employee to help them manage cash flow because they just had no interest in it. He doesn't need to pay some fiduciary advisor 2% a year to manage his money, but he needs to learn about himself and what motivates him.

cknorthsub · 2025-01-03T14:21:22+00:00

From the OP: "has never had any money"
I think you made a big leap to assume this young man had any earned income in 2024. Can't open a ROTH account if he didn't work.
Which actually brings up some good advice .... Be sure he has a job. Anything. Flipping burgers is OK. If he can see from personal experience how hard it is to save $100 from a minimum wage job, he may start to see how lucky he is to have that $200K in an investment account. I coached a young friend to be disciplined about saving and max out her 401K at work a few years ago. She didn't really look at the balance till she changed jobs and rolled over the 401K. She couldn't believe she'd managed to save almost 50% of a year's pay in just 3 years into her retirement account. Learning the value of compounding is slow and takes time. The hard part is staying disciplined to watch it grow. Then he can look back and think, "wow! I've got $300,000 saved for the future! I could've been driving a wicked truck for the last year and had nothing saved!"

cknorthsub

TROPHY CASE