What's Remaining Before Going Live?

We're created an example Go-Live task list for you to use as a template to create your own, using an example Go-Live date of 07/01/17.  All of the steps described below reference activities that have been covered in prior sessions, so we haven't duplicated those details here. 

Task List to Go Live:

  Important:  You will need to update the days listed below to the actual dates pertinent to your own go live date.

A.  Complete the following steps in your legacy (old) system.

On the last day of the closing period, reconcile bank accounts

•     On the last day of the closing period, update prepaid expenses. Keep note of each amount by vendor, type of expense, amount and number of months prepaid.

•        On last day of the closing period, finalize Accounts Payable balance

•        On last day of the closing period, finalize Accounts Receivable balance (including Grants) by Customer

•        On last day of the closing period, finalize the balance on Credit Cards and reconcile

  •      NOTE: There may be a mid-month cutoff that you’ll need to address. See below.

•        On last day of the closing period, update Investment activity through the last day of the closing period and current.

•     From the first day of the new period to current, check that all Expenses in QuickBooks are recorded to the correct expense account and fiscal year. Print and export the Check Detail report before making any changes, in order to have a good trail supporting changes.

B.  Pull the needed information from your legacy system

The following is a list of items you should have on hand to enter beginning balances in NetSuite:

1.      Bank statements dated the last day of the closing period
2.      Bank reconciliations from QB for the last day of the closing period statements
3.      List of Accounts Payable by Vendor
4.      List of Accounts and Grants Receivable by Customer or Donor
5.      Credit card statements for the prior and current month
6.      Schedule of prepaid expenses

C.  Complete the following steps in NetSuite to finish the transition

•        Finalize NetSuite Chart of Accounts

  • Ensure names, numbers, account types and account/sub-account relationships are final.

       Important:  Account names and numbers can be changed later but types cannot, and account/sub-account relationships may require special processes to change.

•        Finalize the list of Segments (Restrictions, Functions, etc.) to be used in NetSuite
  • Note:  Historical data is not typically coded to Restrictions, Functional Expenses, Revenue Type, etc.  You may choose to do so but the process requires multiple journal entries and will not be covered in this document. Year-end P&L can be replaced by quarterly or monthly after Go-Live.
•     Delete test transactions in NetSuite

D.  Entering Balances

Ensure that Vendors and Customer/Donors who have open balances are in the system.

Establishing Balance Sheet Balances

When completed, the balance totals in your Asset, Liability and Equity accounts in NetSuite should be identical to the totals in your legacy system. Your Balance Sheet account names, numbers and the total number of accounts may have changed with your NetSuite Chart of Accounts, however, when completed, the balances must be the same.

Balance Sheet balances are established using a combination of some or all of the following record types in NetSuite:

• Bills – used to enter payables that are open at the beginning of the period. If there is a bill to pay in the legacy system on 7/1/17, it needs to be available to pay in NetSuite.
• Invoices – used to enter receivables that are due at the beginning of the period.
• Checks – used to record checks that have not cleared the bank as of the beginning of the period
• Cash Sales – used to record checks that have been received but not deposited as of the opening period
• Deposits – used to record deposits that have not cleared the bank as of the opening period. Note that Cash Sales must be entered first in order to show on the Deposits screen
• Journal Entries – used to enter all other balances

Ensure  the “Expand Account Lists” preference is enabled. Go to:

Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences and ensure the second box is checked.

Create an Income Item to use on your Cash Sale and Invoice transactions. Go to:

Lists > Accounting > Items > Other Charge for Sale

In the Item Name/Number field enter “Open Balance”

On the Accounting tab, select the Unrestricted Net Assets Account

Ensure the Payment Method “Check” is coded to Undeposited Funds. Go to:

Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists

Select Payment Method from the Filter Type dropdown.

Click Edit on the Check type

Select the Undeposited Funds radio button

Save

Walk through the process of creating one of each of the following transactions:

Bill for a payable

Transactions > Payables > Enter Bills

•        Choose a Vendor from the Vendor dropdown
•        Enter the bill date in the Date field
•    The Due Date field will automatically populate if the Terms field on the Vendor record is set
•        On the Expenses and Items tab and the Expenses subtab, choose the Unrestricted Net Assets account.
•        Enter the amount
•        Enter a description
•        Choose the appropriate setting from each dropdown for each of your Segments (Restrictions, Funds, Grants, etc.)
•        Click Save
  
  

Invoice for a receivable

Transactions > Sales > Create Invoices

•        Enter the Customer or Customer: Grant in the Customer field
•        Enter the transaction date          
•    The Posting Period will auto-fill with the period based on the transaction date.
•        Choose the Terms
•    These will auto-fill from the Customer record if they are selected on the Financial tab
•        On the Items tab, choose the Opening Balances item you created earlier. Enter the Amount and values from any or all Segments
•        Save
  
  

Check for uncleared checks

Transactions > Bank > Write Checks

•        Choose the Checking Account
•        Choose the Payee
•        The Amount field will populate based on the values entered below
•        Enter the Date
•    The posting period will auto-fill
•        Printing:
•      If you intend to print the check, choose the To be Printed box
•    If you are entering a check in NetSuite to record a physical check written from a checkbook, do not check the To Be Printed box and enter the number of the physical check written
•        Enter a check memo
•        From the Account dropdown in the Expenses & Items tab, choose your Unrestricted Net Assets Account
•        Enter the amount and a memo or description for the specific expense
•        Click the blue Add button and continue adding expenses until finished
•        Click Save
  
  

Cash Sale for Undeposited and the associated deposit (these are uncommon)

Transactions > Sales > Enter Cash Sales

•        Enter the Customer or Customer: Grant in the Customer field
•        Enter the transaction date          
•    The Posting Period will auto-fill with the period based on the transaction date.
•        Choose the Terms
•    These will auto-fill from the Customer record if they are selected on the Financial tab
•        On the Items tab, choose the Opening Balances item you created earlier.
• Enter the Amount
•        Save
  
  

Journal Entry – this only needs to include one or two asset and liability accounts, plus the Unrestricted Funds account. Ultimately this journal entry and be 40, 50 or even more lines and can take an hour or longer to do. The income statement can often take several hours.

• Transactions > Financial > Make Journal Entries
• In the Date field, enter the last day of the closing period
• Enter each Asset account and their respective totals in the Debit column
• Enter each Liability account and their respective totals in each Credit column
• In the final row, enter the Unrestricted Net Assets account and tab through the Debit and Credit columns to auto-populate the balance
• Save
  
  

Entering Transactions

The following describes the process of adding open and uncleared transactions.

Uncleared Checks

Reference Document Required: Bank statements; legacy bank rec if available (will indicate uncleared checks)

Enter all outstanding checks on the final date of closing period as follows:

Transactions > Bank > Write Check

Use the actual check dates, Vendor names and amounts. Post to Unrestricted Net Assets, not expense.

Uncleared Deposits

Enter all deposits in transit on the final date of closing period as follows:

Use actual deposit dates, customer/donor names and amounts, but post them to an Equity account (such as Unrestricted Net Assets, not an income account).

Accounts Payable

Reference Document Required: List of payables by vendor and bill

Enter a Bill for each vendor on the final date of closing period . Choose Unrestricted Net Assets from the Account column on the Expenses tab. Ensure the correct Payables account is selected if more than one is available.

Transactions > Payables > Enter Bill

Transactions > Payables > Enter Vendor Credit

Code to the appropriate Payables account and Unrestricted Net Assets on the Expenses tab

Accounts Receivable

Reference Document Required: List of receivables by customer/donor and invoice

Enter an Invoice for each Customer/Donor on the day that ends the previous period. Use the Open Balances item created above. Ensure the correct Receivables account is selected on the Accounting tab if more than one is available (note that a customer may need to be chosen before an account will show in the Account dropdown).

Transactions > Sales > Create Invoices

Transactions > Customers > Issue Credit Memos

Code to the appropriate Receivables account and Open Balance on the Item tab

Credit Card Payable

Reference Document Required: Credit card statements from June and July (prior and current month)

Enter each individual charge in NetSuite, starting on the day after the June cutoff date. Charges should go to Unrestricted Net Assets, not expense.

Transactions > Bank > Use Credit Card

The Balance Sheet Journal Entry

Reference Document Required: closing period Bank Statements; legacy system Balance Sheet (the Trial Balance may also be useful… double-check your report date!!); closing period and opening period credit card statements

Bank Balances

On your Journal Entry, Credit the balances from your bank statements on the final date of closing period  and Debit Unrestricted Net Assets.

Credit Card Payable

•        To get this balance accurate, enter a Journal Entry to Debit Unrestricted Net Assets and Credit this Liability account on 6/30/17, then do a reversing Journal Entry on 7/1/17 to Debit this Liability and credit the expense(s).  These amounts will be transactions on your statement from the last statement dated in June through 6/30/17
•        Enter the June statement (the credit card’s June cutoff date, not the payment due date) balance in NetSuite via Journal Entry with a credit to the Liability and debit to Equity
•        Enter each individual charge in NetSuite, starting on the day after the June cutoff date. Charges should go to an Equity account, not Expense
  •    Transactions > Bank > Use Credit Card

All Other Balance Sheet Accounts

•        Using the Balance Sheet on the final date of closing period, create a Journal Entry to Debit Assets, Credit Liabilities and the net amount of these to Unrestricted Net Assets.
  

  If Assets or Liability balances in an account are negative, do not enter negative numbers. For negative Asset values, enter the positive number in the Credit field. For negative Liability values, enter the positive number in the Debit field.

•        Changes from the audit or tax prep procedures can be recorded in NetSuite once the audit is final. It is essential that the Balance Sheet in NetSuite on the final date of closing period agree to the audit when the audit is final. Request an Adjusted Trial Balance from the auditors as well as support for accounts if needed. They can provide their work papers.

Historical Income Statement

Reference Document Required: End-of-period Income Statement for the last fiscal year

•       Run an Income Statement from QuickBooks (or your legacy system) by month or quarter (for the period you’d like to use)
•            For each month or quarter, via Journal Entry in NetSuite, Credit Income accounts, Debit Expense accounts and the amount shown in Net Income on the QuickBooks report will either be a Debit or Credit (depending on if it is in a profit or loss) will go to Unrestricted Net Assets.

If Income or Expense balances in an account are negative, do not enter negative numbers. If Income values are negative, enter the positive number in the Debit field. If Expense values are negative, enter the positive number in the Credit field.

E.  Entering Current Year Transactions

•        Accounts Payable on the final date of closing period : The Bills entered on the final date of closing period must be entered as “Pay Bill” and not as checks when they are paid in July or later.
•        Credit Card Transactions: Enter “credit card charges” into NetSuite for each individual charge starting with the opening date to current. When you enter the checks, post them to the credit card liability and NOT the expense account.
•        Enter all deposits in NetSuite using the actual deposit dates and post them directly to the correct income account. Use a Restriction, Revenue Type, Fund/Program, Location and all Custom Segment/s on each transaction.
•        Accounts Receivable on the final date of closing period : The Invoices entered on the final date of closing period must be entered as Receive Payments, not as a deposit.
•        Prepaid expenses: The amount(s) entered on the final date of closing period  should be amortized at the end of each month. Use a Journal Entry to Debit the expense and Credit prepaid expenses. 
•       Enter Investment activity starting in July.

F.  Give your Users access to NetSuite

In Session 1, we described how to add Employees as Users.