5 Reasons to Deploy a Grants Management Solution for NetSuite
Managing grants and subawards can be complex, time-consuming, and risky.
- Multiple stakeholders in multiple locations
- Multiple departments
- Lots of administrative tasks
- Lots of project requirements
- Ever-increasing regulations
The challenge is even greater for NetSuite ERP users that rely on manual approaches to managing grants and subawards. Many organizations use spreadsheets to manage grants. Some organizations try to manage grants and subawards by modifying systems that were designed for other purposes.
Manual and semi-automated approaches to grants and subawards management create five big issues
- Operational bottlenecks. For many NetSuite users, managing grants means pasting together data from multiple systems, sorting through disparate spreadsheets, and tracking information provided by different stakeholders. In some organizations, staff members maintain their own systems for managing grants. Managing several grant initiatives under a single umbrella only make matters worse. Ineffective approaches to managing grants and subawards can grind operations productivity to a halt, wasting resources and pulling staff away from activities that fulfill the organization’s mission. Inefficient organizations also are less likely to win grants.
- Lots of errors. Manual and semi-automated approaches to managing grants significantly increases the chances of costly errors. Financial records may go missing. Funds may be placed in the wrong accounts. Bid procedures may not be followed. These types of errors waste staff time on re-work and throw the door open wide to compliance headaches.
- Burdensome compliance issues. Burdensome compliance issues. Manual and semi-automated grants management processes make it hard to comply with mandates and grant requirements, or to enforce donor terms and conditions. Non-compliance can jeopardize grant funds and result in fines or penalties.
- Poor communication and collaboration. Poor communication and collaboration. Managing grants can involve multiple people from multiple departments and across multiple locations. It is hard for stakeholders to collaborate on grants, access a “single source of truth,” or ensure compliance when their organization relies on manual and semi-automated approaches to managing grants.
- Weak reporting. Funding agencies want to know that organizations are adhering to major grant conditions. But outdated approaches to managing grants provide inadequate visibility in grant expenses and revenue, making it difficult to accurately update funding agencies on how money is being spent or to measure the social impact of the organization’s efforts. Managing information on multiple (simultaneous) grants can be especially burdensome. It is not uncommon for staff to become frustrated by the amount of time spent on reporting.
Left unchecked, these types of issues can waste time and resources, jeopardize grant funds, create compliance headaches, and negatively impact an organization’s reputation with funding agencies.
That is why more organizations are deploying grants management solutions for NetSuite.
- Streamlined operations. Grants management solutions for NetSuite make it easy to manage the grant and subaward process from beginning to end. The technology tracks grant revenue and expenses automatically. It also performs indirect cost calculations, automates chargebacks to donors, and effortlessly matches dollar-for-dollar grants with other grants. Grants management solutions for NetSuite also can generate outbound subaward grants.
- Better accuracy. Grants management solutions for NetSuite ensure that all grant information is accurate. For instance, the technology records all grant life cycle changes.
- Reduced compliance burden. Grants management solutions for NetSuite enforce compliance in grant expenses based on donor terms and conditions.
- Streamlined communication and collaboration. Information stored in a grants management solution is centralized and able to be shared or exported, as necessary.
- Enhanced visibility. Grants management solutions for NetSuite help organizations demonstrate that they are faithful steward of funds by putting information about an organization’s grants-funded projects at the user’s fingertips. The technology integrates with NetSuite to provide real-time visibility into grant expenses, revenue, and other details.
If your organization is looking for ways to eliminate operational bottlenecks, increase accuracy, streamline compliance with grants requirements, facilitate communication and collaboration among stakeholders and improve reporting, a grants management solutions for NetSuite is the answer.
Click here to learn more about how a grants management solutions for NetSuite works.
