How is Oracle NetSuite Different From Other ERP’s in Latin America?

Watch the entire webinar here https://tinyurl.com/ya5f3ycj 

(Intro)

Baz: Hey everybody! A fierce Friday to all of you and to everybody joining this webinar. Welcome! This is the official LatamReady webinar today all about NetSuite. This is the webinar where we in LatamReady always talk about Oracle NetSuite and how this great accounting software can get your multi latin business through the roof! Anyways today we are going to talk about thinking globally and acting locally in Latin America, and why its a concept for a lot of companies for different sizes, no matter what size they are, this is something that they should focus on right now. Ok so the topic for today’s webinar is what makes Oracle NetSuite unique, why is it different from other ERPs. We have today our special guests as usual Carlos Z our CEO and Glenn Has our sales manager, from LatamReady. Gentlemen, how is everybody? Fierce Friday!

Carlos: great introduction, that was great!

Glenn: very good I liked it!

Baz: I thought you did. How’s everybody doing?

Carlos: great, fantastic!

Glenn: we’re good its Friday, Friday always a great day at LatamReady, every day is a great day at LatamReady!

Carlos: especially across December

Baz: oh happy holidays everybody!

Glenn: you know, at LatamReady we don’t really celebrate the holidays. December is such a tough month for us, because we have so many deals on the table that it’s a policy here at the company nobody can celebrate.

Carlos: no celebration!

Baz: we celebrate in our hearts, though, in our hearts!

Glenn: we celebrate in spirit here!

Baz: yes! ok so today we are going to be talking about how is NetSuite unique, what makes it a great ERP. Now first of all challenges, there are a few challenges a lot of companies don’t really know about. There are a few that we want to talk about. What are those challenges?

Carlos: exactly. The first one I think is Control. Do you remember that conversation Glenn when a prospect, now is a customer, in Miami? Do you remember that phrase that he used was “I want to avoid making decisions using gut feelings”

Glenn: that’s a good point, because when you ask the question “what makes Oracle NetSuite different than other ERPs” you have to ask the question “why do people get an ERP in the first place” and what Carlos is telling is a good point that he makes. We had a prospect that right now is a customer that told us “the reason I want to buy is I want to have more visibility of what’s going on in my business, I want to make decisions to grow based on what I see and what I have control over, instead of so much saying I think this is a good decision.”

Carlos: why don’t we talk about that customer, can we say the name? IG Networks. They are operating across Latin America, based in Miami and has subsidiaries in four, five countries all across Latin America. They are a technology company. They were looking for…and the target of the project controls, visibility. To understand every single morning, turn on the computer, understand how much do they have in the banks, how much do they have to collect, how much do they have to pay. All across Latin America, and sitting in Florida, in Miami.

Glenn: most of the companies that we get in touch are similar to IG Networks. They are companies that have had a very simple ERP or a very simple accounting software and reach that point where they are growing and they are going into new markets, they are opening up offices in new countries and they start realizing, we’re reaching that point where we need to have a global ERP and we need it to be a solution for all of our requirements. There are so many options right now in the market, you have Oracle SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft…the big ones, but other than that, there are so many (…) ERPs, there are so many options, that you really need to know, ok what is it that’s most valuable to my company, to my organization and what’s the best ERP that can fit and get a solution for my needs.

Baz: I agree

Carlos: Do you remember that customer that we visited in Aventura, last week a prospect. They were telling us a typical configuration for a company that is growing. They are deciding for something in Miami. Usually, they use Quickbooks in Florida, right?

Glenn: often, often

Carlos: they started with Quickbooks, and then Quickbooks is quite small for the size that they have. Once they started to work with different subsidiaries in different countries, they decided to use something local, very cheap. Then they got bigger and they are looking for control. That’s the configuration that we always find.

Glenn: that’s the classic one right? People start looking at how to solve their problems once they run into the problems. And what we often try to do is show those companies, because we have so much experience with such companies that we try to show them beforehand what will be problems that they will run into within six months from now, twelve months from now. To show them that experience from other companies and tell them to look, it’s better to start right now, get that foundation right now, be prepared to make sure that once you expand, once the volume blows up you have that system

Baz: thinking about the future, basically companies… what I’m hearing from the two examples that you guys have given us…I think it’s, these companies aren’t thinking about the future when they first start off looking for an ERP. They don’t think about what they really need

Carlos: yes because that’s part of the business. I’m sure they started in Florida as a local business and then…ok let’s open a subsidiary in Brazil, let’s open a subsidiary in Mexico. In the beginning, they decide for something simpler, easier. And then when they expand they have the correct size they realize they have a problem, a challenge.

Baz: so that was control. What is another challenge that companies are facing?

Carlos: agility

Baz: agility, could you explain that?

Glenn: well in today’s business world it’s so easy to expand, it’s so easy to enter a new market and some of the industries, for example, the media industry it changes so rapidly that there are no business opportunities. Not even talking international, but in the same market…new kinds of products, new kinds of services…the challenge that comes with that is how is your software going to support those new products or services that you sell, those new business flows. So when we talk about agility we are talking about how quickly can your operational system, can your software adapt to the new markets or the new…not even markets, but the new products that you want to launch.

Carlos: from different perspectives. For example, we have Venevision, Grupo Cisneros based in Coral Gables. They started a business, then a second business. They wanted to have the same amount of control that they had with the first business, now with NetSuite. And the third business it’s the same story. More business inside of the same platform. Another customer, for example, Entravision, from California, that is also operating across Latin America and now they are asking for a new module in Mexico, do you remember that?

Glenn: yes exactly and all that because of control really. It’s the decision of a person who realizes the importance of getting streamline processes through the organization, having that control throughout the whole organization. Those people often see the value of that from a higher perspective.

Carlos: I think it’s key when a customer is using NetSuite, because the agility and the amount of effort required if you are using NetSuite in order to go to a new country, to open a new subsidiary to have new functionalities inside of NetSuite. Operate with those functionalities with NetSuite. I think it’s very different from what you see traditionally with let’s say Microsoft or SAP. Am I correct Glenn?

Glenn: Yes often what you’re going to see with NetSuite, for example… obviously most people know, it’s full cloud-based. Cloud-based architecture makes the product more agile. Opening up a subsidiary is a matter of clicks, instead of a matter of weeks of configurations. Adapting the software to your new business needs is a lot easier than it used to be three or five years ago.

Carlos: the example we always use with our customers, is like having cable service. You can add new channels, you can add new services, you can buy additional movies. It’s exactly the same. I would say it’s a good parallel of what our customers are doing with NetSuite; new subsidiaries, new models, new processes.

Baz: it sounds like it’s a great system for all those growing companies that actually need this. It’s versatile and agile, that’s the word that we’re using!

Glenn: the real power of NetSuite really shows when the company starts expanding. Because NetSuite has all sorts of clients, NetSuite has clients that do 5 million a year in gross revenue, it has clients that do more than a few billions a year in gross revenue

Carlos: or many billions

Glenn: the kind of clients that they have really differ, but what they all have in common is that they want to grow, right? They need a platform that allows them to grow along with their company and not limit them and not defy their business decisions

Carlos: I’m in this business for about 20 years and I still remember those days when implementing a new subsidiary used to take six months, five months. Now that’s impossible, it’s something that we don’t even think about. Today we implement a new subsidiary in two weeks maybe.

Glenn: yes also implementing the ERP, in general, goes a lot quicker than it used to be

Carlos: for example with ESA, how much time did it take? It was around ten weeks for having eight countries live

Baz: eight countries in ten weeks! Wow that’s something to note down

Glenn: exactly.

Carlos: That’s a customer is Weston?

Glenn: Weston, Miami

Baz: There’s one more challenge a lot of companies, especially multi latin companies face, what is that?

Glenn: it’s basically the financial side of the ERP, the core financials… that’s what we are really good at, that’s where we really can build value for multi latin companies

Carlos: exactly and talking about that, tax compliance it’s the main challenge that we find. And I think it’s something that is also unique in the NetSuite offering. It makes NetSuite different than the rest of the vendors across the market

Glenn: yes because when you say the title of the webinar “what makes NetSuite different than other ERPs” if there’s one thing that I would have to choose because there are so many things but if I had to choose, it would be tax regulations. It would be multi-country, multi-currency, multi-tax legalization. That’s the aspect of NetSuite where it really builds value for multinational companies

Carlos: When talking about tax compliance we always find a few main requirements. For example, Electronic Invoice. Across Latin America is something that is happening today and is growing also because I think almost all, 100% of the countries in Latin America are now, or using or planning to use electronic invoicing as part of their legal requirements and it’s a must. Now, with NetSuite supporting more than 10 countries, and the list is growing every single month.

Baz: Yes, electronic invoicing meaning reports. What else are we talking about?

Glenn: Electronic invoicing, meaning that every document that is being sent out to a customer in Latin America needs to be digitally approved by the tax authority.

Baz: In a certain format

Glenn: Exactly, in a certain format.

Carlos: The format is XML. That is the technical format. It’s something that has been in Latin America for at least 15 years. It’s something that I would say is becoming the correct way of control that the local government are using for small businesses but also big businesses.

Baz: Yes. Just to note down to our viewers, we did also have a webinar in regards to electronic invoicing. Yes, if you are looking for more information on that don’t forget to look at LatamReady.com or call us at (786) 600-2641 if you want that full webinar about electronic invoicing from LatamReady.

Carlos: A second challenge regarding tax compliance could be withholding taxes.

Glenn: Tax calculation more specifically, in the Latin American region, withholding taxes.

Carlos: Because in Latin America our customers will find something very specific. In the rest of the world, when you talk about taxes you refer to sales taxes. In Latin America, the big challenge is always going to be withholding tax. Withholding taxes, for example, I receive a bill from a supplier and I have to pay to the supplier lets say 70% of the bill and for the rest, 30% I have to go to the National Bank or the government bank and pay to the government believe it or not, and to send a Withholding Tax Certificate to the supplier. Obviously, that is a very simple example.

Glen: The reason why we talk so much about tax compliance is that it’s a very special thing to have those kinds of functionalities and those kinds of features inside of a global ERP like NetSuite, especially for the Latin American region.

Baz: Having your headquarters in the states and having multiple subsidiaries you want everything in just like one single system.

Carlos: And being able to handle this specific business cases for Latin America.

Baz: It makes everything easier.

Carlos: What else?

Baz: E-payments.

Carlos: Yes, e-payments is always a topic because our American customers are used to paying through bank portals, are used to using templates for massive payments and  in the case of Latin America, sure they can do the same

Baz: Requirements are as strong for e-payments?

Carlos: Each local bank is going to require a different form. In America it’s different, they follow a standard one.

Glen: Yea, we have an automated integration in the States. I think e-payments is a big topic in Latin America because of the complexity of the local banks and its difficult to find an ERP like Oracle, NetSuite or SAP that has a solution for that. That can do a massive payment for you in Latin America and this obviously becomes important once you work with companies that have a bigger volume. Once you have a thousand invoices a month and a few hundred payments, it’s not that nice to do those processes manually.

Carlos. Exactly, Just for our viewers to know we are now supporting more than 20 local banks in Latin America including Brazil which I would say is also requiring something additional that is called “boleto” which is a voucher for going to pay in a bank. It’s not a voucher but I mean, it’s kind of.

Baz: So, just to repeat that LatamReady has a solution for 20 different local banks in Latin America, for the 14 countries that we support.

Carlos: And the list is growing.

Baz: It was 12 before and now we have 14.

Glen: It all goes back to what we call localization. How can all of those ERP adapt to the specific requirements of regions like Latin America, which are very dynamic, there are constant changes, there’s new legislation, there are new rules, there are new laws. It’s very important for a multinational company, to find if they want to go to a global ERP, to find a solution that can adapt to those legislations, because if not, what happens? You get a global ERP but people still anyway have to complement with local software to meet local requirements. And in our space, since we work so much with multi latin companies, this is just a big advantage.

Carlos: and talking about that change, we always find a lot of changes in legislatures, and in Latin America, that means every government has a set of books, a set of reports with a specific format that are required monthly or annually to the company. So, for example in the case of Brazil, we will find more than 15 legal legislatures that have to be issued monthly or annually. In the case of Peru, there are 20 or Colombia is having medios magnéticos that are something that is annual but is always changing around November are always changing and there is a new version of this electronic accounting for Colombia.

Glen: So it is very impressive that we can do this from within NetSuite, from within the core ERP and goes back to visibility again because doing this inside of the ERP and being able to transact inside of the ERP, calculate the taxes inside of the ERP, generate the legal legislatures inside of the ERP, provides the corporation with real-time visibility instead of waiting until the end of the month to get some data, to get inside of the core ERP and the whole idea of constant visibility kind of fades away.

Carlos: That brings us to the point of multi-book because visibility is again to be able to see what’s happening with my company with my corporation. Let’s say that I am sitting in my office IN Brickell Avenue in Miami and I want to see what is happening in Lima Peru but in my own currency in my own accounting gaps, in my own language, accounting language, that is multi-book.

Baz: And what I understand is whatever local gap you are working on it is automatically reflected on the other let’s say US gap

Glen: A beautiful thing that NetSuite can do is to avoid a double accounting entry so in countries like Colombia where we have a statutory XXX of account, it’s a very nice feature because it allows us to transact in one single system, and to generate results in two different accounting languages.

Carlos: The first accounting language for having visibility for the corporation in US dollars, following US gap rules and the second account which is automatic in the local gap or local gaps. For example, Colombia is a good example of two local gaps in the same country and being able to produce legal legislatures using local rules in that second book. I would say that is something unique.

Glen: Then we get to a third point, we talked about visibility, we talked about control but also optimization and lowering workload and making things more efficient, easier and lowering labor costs as well.

Baz: I think it’s a great solution this whole double booking feature. Imagine working on the different books yourself or going through different accountants, how time-consuming that is and who knows the information might be incorrect or outdated as well

Glen: That is a good point and when people talk about getting an ERP, what we talk about a lot is how to start focusing on the business and start focusing less on doing all of that work. You would be surprised in some organizations how many people are there to do that work while we can take that completely away and let them start focusing on the business.

Carlos: And also do you remember that conversation we had with a prospect in that restaurant in Aventura, also fines in Latin America. It’s also a challenge in Latin America if you don’t follow the local statutory chart of accounts, the local rules, the local practices you will be exposed to a fine and sure the local accounting team is going to use local software to avoid fines but then the corporation is not going to have control because they are using a different ERP so that is the beauty of NetSuite, to work inside the same ERP, the same platform, for both purposes local gap, legislation for the government and to control visibility, corporation and make money.

Baz: Yes, it just makes things so much easier. Well, I’m just going through this structure we have written down earlier. Wow, we’ve covered a lot of things. Is there anything else? Am I missing anything else that our lovely viewers need to know about this fantastic accounting software? There’s just so much to talk about. We want to give them the right information.

Carlos: I would say that we are realizing that NetSuite more and more we are working for options for our customers. Now we are understanding that NetSuite is currently offering is something that we can give more options to our customers, that is also something that is unique from NetSuite. For example, starting with the CRM and then work with the sales aspect of the business and then jump to the financial aspect of the business. That is something that we are working really hard here at LatamReady.

Glen: One of the things that make NetSuite different from the other ERP’s is that you can gradually build what you need. It is not one single product, it is a suite of functionalities. We are talking core financial, CRM, human resources, supply chain management, manufacturing, and so many different things. It is not a necessity for a company to get everything at once, absolutely it’s possible but what we can do for smaller corporations or smaller companies are getting the most important part in the beginning and then lay a foundation and gradually build with additional modules, additional functionalities. Taking into account what’s most important for them.

Carlos: yes, because we are finding small multi latin corporations that are still looking at that stage of looking for growth and money right? And at that stage, CRM is a great option. Again, they are growing and when they have the correct size now the challenge is financials.

Glen: Yeah. How do I connect my CRM to my account functionalities? And having them both on NetSuite is an amazing thing. You don’t have to worry about making two different software communicate because it’s all one single data model.

Baz: I love that. I love that NetSuite is the kind of software that grows with your company from the bottom to the top.

Carlos: And that’s our story. The first module that we started to use was CRM.

Glen: Yeah, because obviously, we use NetSuite ourselves.

Carlos: Exactly, and then we jumped to invoicing and then financials and that is exactly the path of how we grow.

Baz: It is basically. We are going through the right path.

Glen: One more beautiful thing that I like about it a lot is that NetSuite is the perfect example of what kind of companies can use NetSuite. Over the last 2 years when NetSuite got acquired by Oracle, they really expanded globally and they decided obviously to UAE NetSuite to run their operations, so they are the perfect guinea pig of what they are doing. They started out in the US, expanded all through Brazil, Europe, I think they have a few offices in Asia, Colombia also, all of those offices operate on NetSuite. So they are the perfect example of what is possible for a company that out of nowhere expands and has all of these opportunities.

Carlos: Yeah. I think that is what makes NetSuite unique. Small company, 15 users operating in one country. Then they jump into becoming a multi latin corporation. Or big companies of 10 thousand users operating all across the world and also in Latin America.

Glen: The product never changes because NetSuite has the Mid Market Edition and then there is a change to the One World Version but other than that for a multinational organization it is not like they have to switch from product to product inside the NetSuite family. For other ERP’s like SAP and Microsoft, it is something that you see often. The company grows and they need to migrate to another version of that same software family. A lot of implementation work, a lot of updates, a lot of time a lot of costs. With NetSuite, that is not the case and I don’t think there are many ERP’s that can offer that

Baz: I want to stop it there actually, that was very good because Netsuite offers so many things, companies need to know about this. Anything last messages from Glen, from Carlos?
Well, all I can say is you are going to get the fully recorded webinar very soon. Don’t forget if you have any questions call us at (786) 600 2641. Now, another webinar is coming up. Stay tuned, check out LatamZone. info to find out more or latamready.com where we also post up information about our next webinars. Until next time everybody! Thank you very much. Have a great weekend.

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