SuiteAnalytics Workbook Tips: Unlocking Insights with Custom Reports

NetSuite’s SuiteAnalytics Workbook is a powerful tool for creating custom reports and dashboards that provide valuable insights into your business data. With SuiteAnalytics, you can dive deep into your NetSuite information, visualize trends, and make data-driven decisions to optimize operations and drive growth. In this guide, we’ll share expert tips and best practices for getting the most out of SuiteAnalytics Workbook and unlocking actionable insights through custom reporting.

Understanding SuiteAnalytics Workbook Basics

Before we jump into advanced tips, let’s cover some SuiteAnalytics Workbook fundamentals. The Workbook is essentially a user-friendly interface for building custom reports in NetSuite. It allows you to pull data from various NetSuite records, apply filters, define criteria, perform calculations, and visualize your information in tables, charts, and graphs. 

Some key features of SuiteAnalytics Workbook include:

– Drag-and-drop interface for creating reports

– Support for standard and custom NetSuite records

– Ability to create saved searches and apply them as report filters

– Aggregation and calculation of data with formulas

– Range of chart types for visualizing data

– Dashboards for displaying multiple reports in one view

– Scheduling and emailing of reports

With these robust capabilities, SuiteAnalytics empowers NetSuite users to create a nearly limitless variety of reports tailored to their unique business needs. Whether you need to analyze sales trends, monitor inventory levels, track project profitability, or gain financial insights, SuiteAnalytics provides the flexibility and functionality required.

Identifying Your Reporting Goals

One of the keys to success with SuiteAnalytics Workbook is having clear reporting objectives in mind. Before diving into building a custom report, take some time to identify exactly what questions you’re trying to answer and what information will help you make better business decisions.

Some questions to consider:

– What are our key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics?

– What data points do we need to track those KPIs?

– Are there any specific trends, patterns, or anomalies we want to investigate?  

– Who will be consuming this report and what is the best way to present the information to them?

– What decisions or actions should this report drive?

With well-defined reporting goals, you’ll be able to design more focused, impactful reports in SuiteAnalytics. You can hone in on the most relevant NetSuite data, apply the right filters and criteria, and select the ideal visualizations to convey insights. Taking an objective-first approach helps ensure your reports are not just informative, but actionable tools for better decision making.

Leveraging Standard and Custom Records

One of the first steps in building a SuiteAnalytics report is selecting which NetSuite records to pull data from. SuiteAnalytics provides access to all standard records like transactions, entities, and items, as well as any custom records you’ve set up. Understanding how to leverage the full spectrum of available records is key to creating comprehensive reports.

Tips for working with records in SuiteAnalytics:

Use joins to combine related records: Many reports require data from multiple related records. For example, a sales report may need to pull information from invoices, customers, and items. SuiteAnalytics allows you to join records together so you can report on their combined attributes. Understand the relationships between records to join them effectively.

Take advantage of custom fields: Custom fields let you capture additional data points unique to your business. Be sure to consider what custom fields you’ve set up on records that could provide valuable insights. Including custom fields in your reports can help you dig deeper and gain a competitive edge.

Explore custom records for unique insights: NetSuite allows you to create entirely custom record types to track data specific to your industry or business model. Including custom records in SuiteAnalytics reports can unlock insights you won’t find in standard records alone. Think about what custom records may help you answer key questions.

By fully leveraging the wealth of data available in standard and custom records, you can build SuiteAnalytics reports that provide a comprehensive, multi-dimensional view of your business. Continuously look for opportunities to expand and refine your dataset to drive more sophisticated and revealing analysis.

Getting Specific with Filters and Criteria

Filters and criteria are what allow you to pare down your NetSuite data to just the information needed for your reporting goals. SuiteAnalytics provides a intuitive interface for defining and layering filters to refine your dataset. Mastering filters is essential for creating focused reports that distill insights.

Tips for effective filtering in SuiteAnalytics:

Use saved searches for complex filtering: If you find yourself frequently using the same set of complex filters, consider creating a saved search. You can create robust filtered lists of records with multiple criteria and join conditions. Saved searches can then be selected as filters in your reports. This is a major time saver and helps keep filters consistent across reports.

Get granular for deeper insights: Don’t hesitate to get granular with your filtering to really hone in on specific subsets of data. You can layer and combine multiple filters to zero in on very particular records. More granular reports often provide the most actionable insights. Just be sure your filtered criteria still produce statistically relevant datasets.

Explore using formulas in filters: In addition to standard field comparisons, you can use formulas and calculated expressions in SuiteAnalytics filters. This opens up more advanced filtering possibilities, like comparing the values of two different fields or matching patterns in text fields. Formulas provide a ton of flexibility for defining exactly the records you want to see.

By getting specific with purposeful filters and criteria, your SuiteAnalytics reports will be more focused and impactful. You’ll be able to cut through the noise in your NetSuite data and surface the most crucial, decision-driving information. Build the habit of filtering with intention to supercharge your reporting.

Harnessing the Power of Formulas 

Formulas are one of the most powerful tools in SuiteAnalytics for analyzing and manipulating your data. With the Workbook’s formula engine, you can create calculations, apply logical conditions, manipulate text, and much more. Formulas let you go beyond just presenting raw data to generating useful insights.

Tips for using formulas effectively:

Lean on aggregate formulas for high-level KPIs: Aggregate formulas perform calculations across all rows in your report to give you high-level totals, averages, counts, and other metrics. Common examples include summing total sales amounts, calculating average days overdue for invoices, or counting total new customers. Aggregates are perfect for tracking key performance indicators in executive-level reporting.

Use CASE formulas for conditional analysis: The CASE function lets you define conditional logic to group, segment, or flag records based on criteria you specify. For example, you could use CASE to group customers into buckets like “High Value”, “Mid Value”, and “Low Value” based on their total lifetime spend. CASE formulas help you add a layer of analytical depth to your reports.

Do math on the fly with formulas: Remember you can write formulas that perform mathematical calculations on the fly using your report data. For example, you could subtract cost from revenue to calculate profit margin for each row. Or divide total sales by marketing spend to calculate marketing ROI. With formulas, you can quickly arrive at insights not available in your raw data.

By taking full advantage of SuiteAnalytics formulas, you can uncover game-changing insights that help drive profitability and growth. Challenge yourself to move beyond basic data presentation to leveraging formulas for proactive business intelligence. This is where SuiteAnalytics can deliver transformational value.

Making an Impact with Data Visualization

The way you present your data in SuiteAnalytics is just as important as the data itself. Impactful data visualization helps you tell the story behind the numbers and convey insights at a glance. SuiteAnalytics Workbook offers a variety of engaging charts, graphs, and other visual elements to bring your data to life.

Tips for compelling data viz in SuiteAnalytics:

Choose the right visualization for your data: Different chart types are suited for presenting different types of information. For example, line graphs are great for showing trends over time, while pie charts work well for visualizing parts of a whole. Bar charts are effective for comparing values, while scatter plots can uncover correlation between variables. Select your visualizations purposefully to clearly communicate key takeaways.

Leverage visual cues to highlight insights: Take advantage of SuiteAnalytics’ customization options to visually highlight the insights you want to call out. Customize colors to make important data points pop, adjust chart axis ranges to accentuate changes, add reference lines to show targets or averages. Think about how you can guide your audience’s eyes to what’s most important.

Avoid clutter and optimize for clarity: A common mistake in data visualization is trying to cram too much into one chart, resulting in a cluttered visual that’s difficult to interpret. Pare down your visualizations to focus on the most essential information. Avoid unnecessary chart junk, labels, and gridlines. Keep your charts clean and easily scannable so insights can shine through.

Remember, the goal with data visualization is not to just show the data, but to illuminate the story within the data. Approach charts as visual narratives that should convey key messages intuitively. Thoughtful, polished, intentional visualizations will take your SuiteAnalytics reports from informative to truly insightful.

Designing User-Friendly Dashboards

Dashboards are where everything comes together in SuiteAnalytics. A well-designed dashboard combines multiple reports into one cohesive, scannable, actionable view. Dashboards are the perfect vehicles for delivering high-impact business intelligence to executives and other key stakeholders.

Tips for creating effective SuiteAnalytics dashboards:

Focus on key metrics and performance drivers: Dashboards should provide an at-a-glance view of the KPIs and metrics that matter most to your audience. Ruthlessly prioritize displaying the information that directly supports decision making and performance management. Avoid throwing in “vanity metrics” that don’t drive action. Every element on the dashboard should serve a clear purpose.

Organize information logically and intuitively: Arrange reports on the dashboard in a logical hierarchy and flow that’s easy for users to navigate and understand. Group related metrics together and guide the eye in a natural path from top-level to more detailed data. Use clear, concise labels to minimize cognitive overhead. A thoughtfully organized dashboard allows users to quickly find the information they need.

Make dashboards interactive and explorable: Take advantage of SuiteAnalytics’ drill-down and filtering capabilities to make dashboards interactive experiences. Let users click into charts to view underlying data. Provide date range and other quick filters so users can explore different subsets and time periods. Building in interactivity promotes deeper engagement with the data and empowers users to find their own insights.

Continuously gather feedback and iterate: The most effective dashboards are not one-and-done creations, but iterative tools that evolve based on user feedback. Proactively solicit input from your dashboard audience on what’s working, what’s not, and what other information they need to see. Regularly review usage data to identify areas for enhancement. Treat your dashboards as living, breathing, continually improving decision-support resources.

Dashboards are the culmination of all your work in SuiteAnalytics and your most powerful asset for driving alignment and action with data. Invest time in thoughtfully designing dashboards that engage and inform your key stakeholders. A great dashboard is often the difference between data that just sits in NetSuite and data that gets used to move the business forward every day.

Establishing Efficient Workflows and Governance 

As you build out more SuiteAnalytics reports and dashboards, it’s important to put the right workflows and governance in place. You want to establish processes that allow you to efficiently create and share reports while maintaining data integrity, security, and consistency. 

Tips for effective SuiteAnalytics governance:

Implement naming conventions and folders: Develop standardized naming conventions for elements like filters, formulas, and reports. Use clear, descriptive names that indicate what the component does. Organize reports into folders by functional area, such as “Sales Reports” or “Financial Reports.” Consistent naming and organization makes it easier for users to find and utilize the right reports.

Assign roles and permissions purposefully: Use NetSuite’s role-based permissions to ensure the right users have access to the right data through SuiteAnalytics. Restrict access to sensitive data like financials or HR records. Give report creation privileges only to a small group of power users. Establish view-only roles for the majority of users who only need to consume, not build, reports. Intentional role management protects data integrity.

Create central definitions for KPIs: Avoid inconsistency and confusion by centrally defining how KPIs and metrics get calculated. Document the formulas and criteria that make up key figures like customer lifetime value, profit margin, and marketing ROI. Reference these central definitions in your reports to keep numbers uniform across the organization. Standardized KPIs are critical for cross-functional alignment.

Schedule and automate report refreshes: Many SuiteAnalytics reports don’t require real-time data refresh. Schedule key reports to update on an appropriate cadence, such as daily or weekly. This reduces the performance hit of users manually refreshing reports and keeps everyone on the same page. Automate report distribution through scheduled email sends so the right info reaches the right people at the right time.

Proper governance ensures your SuiteAnalytics implementation scales effectively and delivers consistent, reliable insights to the business. A little process goes a long way in transforming sporadic reporting into a well-oiled insights machine. Prioritize establishing standards early to set yourself up for success as reporting complexity grows.

Continuing Education and Optimization

The world of data and analytics never stands still. As NetSuite rolls out new features and your business evolves, there will always be opportunities to optimize and enhance your SuiteAnalytics reporting. Adopting a mindset of continuous learning and improvement is key to maximizing the long-term value of your investment.

Tips for continued SuiteAnalytics success:

Stay current with NetSuite releases: Monitor NetSuite’s release notes for upcoming enhancements to SuiteAnalytics and the NetSuite platform as a whole. Take advantage of new features and functionality that could upgrade your reporting, such as new chart types or formula functions. Attend webinars or review documentation to understand how to leverage new capabilities for your specific use cases.

Join the NetSuite community: Participate in NetSuite user groups, online communities, and events to learn from and share knowledge with other SuiteAnalytics practitioners. The NetSuite community is an invaluable resource for discovering creative solutions, getting questions answered, and staying on top of best practices. Build relationships with other users to continually expand your SuiteAnalytics skill set.

Review and revise reports regularly: Make it a habit to regularly audit your SuiteAnalytics reports and dashboards. Review usage data to retire underutilized reports. Gather user feedback to identify areas for improvement or additional insights needed. Keep a pulse on changing business priorities to ensure your reporting stays aligned. A regular review cycle keeps your SuiteAnalytics implementation lean and high-impact.

Invest in upskilling power users: Provide opportunities for your core group of SuiteAnalytics report creators to deepen their expertise through continued training. Send them to NetSuite certification courses, bring in consultants for workshops, or carve out time for independent study. The more your power users know, the more value they can drive through innovative reporting solutions. Build SuiteAnalytics prowess into professional development plans.

NetSuite and SuiteAnalytics are always evolving and there’s always room to uplevel your reporting. Carve out dedicated time and resources to focus on continual education and optimization. The most successful SuiteAnalytics implementations are those that keep pushing the platform to new heights and possibilities. Never stop uncovering new ways data and insights can move the needle for your business.

Conclusion

SuiteAnalytics Workbook is a incredibly powerful tool for unlocking actionable insights from your NetSuite data. By leveraging the tips and best practices we’ve covered—from defining focused goals to exploring custom records, harnessing formulas, presenting data visually, designing effective dashboards, and establishing strong governance—you can take your SuiteAnalytics reporting to the next level.

Remember, impactful reporting is both an art and a science. It requires a blend of technical NetSuite skills, business acumen, creative problem solving, and polished communication. The best SuiteAnalytics practitioners sit at the intersection of data and meaning. They know how to make the numbers speak and drive decisions.

But even the best practitioners never stop learning and evolving. As we’ve discussed, the key to long-term SuiteAnalytics success is continuous education and optimization. Keep expanding your skill set, stay on top of new features, and always be looking for opportunities to drive more value through your reporting.

Most importantly, never lose sight of the “why” behind your SuiteAnalytics reports. Reporting for reporting’s sake doesn’t move the needle. Every KPI, every chart, every dashboard should be tied to answering critical business questions and driving meaningful action. When your SuiteAnalytics implementation is laser-focused on surfacing insights that matter to the bottom line, that’s when the real magic happens.

So dive in, get creative, and start exploiting the wealth of insights lying in wait within your NetSuite data. The world of what’s possible with SuiteAnalytics is always expanding. You have the power to leverage this game-changing tool to fundamentally transform how your business makes decisions—all from right inside NetSuite.