Introduction

As a NetSuite user, you should be familiar with the concept of a dashboard. Many users are now comfortable customizing their “Home” dashboard and that is a good thing. That said, I wonder how many are creating custom dashboards for each NetSuite Tab and how effective these dashboards really are.

Even if your end users have effective dashboards configured, are they consistent across users and roles? Are they preconfigured for new users or is there setup required?

In this blog post we are going to drill down into dashboard capabilities in NetSuite and why you should be making the time to use them. One of NetSuite’s biggest strengths is its ability to be customized to meet its customers’ needs and yet customers will still leverage default NetSuite dashboards every single day.

As a new user to NetSuite, it can be challenging to navigate at first (as with most new technology), but imagine a system Administrator has taken the time to configure the UI so that only relevant data, reports and menu paths are shown. Reduced onboarding time with less training needed. It’s a win win.

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What are NetSuite dashboards?

Dashboards are a way to convey information to end users in a concise and meaningful way. They also support ease of navigation throughout the application.

NetSuite dashboards are made up of a series of “portlets” that display data and allow for system navigation in many different ways. NetSuite offers a multitude of portlet types such as analytics, report snapshots and KPI Meters to present data in a concise manner, as well as quick adds, reminders and shortcuts that allow for nimble system navigation.

These dashboards can be customized for each NetSuite “Tab” i.e. each user can have multiple NetSuite dashboards. Not just one dashboard on their Home Tab. Users with the required role permission have the ability to publish dashboards to other user roles that use the same “Center” type. This is an important distinction - NetSuite Administrators can only publish a dashboard (from the Administrator role) to roles that use the Classic Center type.

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How to implement effective dashboards

Keep it simple. NetSuite allows you to create custom dashboards for most tabs, so don’t try and cram everything into a single Home page dashboard. With so much information at our fingertips it is important we provide our end users with the focus needed to perform their roles effectively and efficiently in the system. Try to keep each dashboard to a maximum of 5 or 6 portlets, if possible and make use of the different dashboard layout configurations to avoid the need for scrolling up and down. Look at how successful Apple has been with their simple designs and intuitive interface. Always strive for simplicity.

Another consideration is system performance. If your dashboard has many portlets that need to refresh from large data sets, this will take some time for the page to load/refresh. Not ideal when you need access to real time data.

Maintain focus. Dashboards should be focused on the needs for a given user role. Ideally, each user role will have a customized set of dashboards that are published - not everyone in the company should be using the same set of dashboards.

To publish a dashboard, or set of dashboards, there are a few things to consider.

1. If a NetSuite Administrator is responsible for creating dashboards for other user roles, they should plan to first assign the roles to themselves and create the dashboards in those roles.

Salto Tip: This will ensure the dashboards are published to roles with the same Center type. Do not create a dashboard with the Administrator role if planning to publish to a role within the Finance department. Chances are the role in question belongs to the Accounting Center.

2. The roles will require a specific role permission in order to publish a dashboard.

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3. You will need to decide whether to allow your end users to modify the dashboards or not. There are pros and cons to both. If you lock it down you risk slowing down your users as requirements change over time. If you leave it unlocked you risk dashboards becoming disparate over time.

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Assuming the role you are using has the “Publish Dashboards” role permission, you can publish a dashboard from the Home Tab, but click on “Publish Dashboard’ in the Settings portlet.

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Why should you be using them?

As we touched on earlier, NetSuite can be challenging to navigate when using the traditional menu paths, especially for new users. You complete control over your end users’ experience when it comes to navigating NetSuite. Take the time to build custom dashboards for each role to improve ROI and reduce the time lost trying to find the right process to execute/data to report on. This will allow your users to focus their efforts on data analysis and insights.

If your company is tracking OKRs and/or KPIs and the data points are available in your ERP, publish them on user dashboards to promote transparency, awareness and help to drive the right behavior across the organization.

NetSuite has published a number of bundles and SuiteApps to give you a head start on customized dashboards so you don’t have to start from scratch. A few examples to consider:

1. Dashboard Tiles Bundle (ID: 185219) ~40k installs as of December 2023
2. Item 360 Dashboard SuiteApp - Get real time visibility into all information related to the status of an item, in a central location
3. Cash 360 Dashboard SuiteApp - Get a real time view of your cash position, generate fast and accurate cash flow forecasts
4. Project 360 Dashboard SuiteApp - Visualize key metrics and data points with a 360 degree project centric dashboard

Dashboard Tiles are great, as you can create tiles that display important KPIs with images and blinking alerts when certain conditions are met. These conditions are configured to meet your requirements.

Salto Tip: Check out this article that explores 6 NetSuite SuiteApps that will become your favorites

Let’s explore some practical use cases where it makes sense to take the time to customize dashboards for a specific group of end users/roles.

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Example 1 - AP Dashboard

For Accounts Payable users, many of the default system menus and navigation paths create unnecessary noise. To simplify, create a simple Home Tab dashboard with the following portlets:

1. Quick Add Portlet - New Vendor
2. Quick Search Portlet - Search for Vendor
3. Reminder Portlet - Bills to Approve
4. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Vendors not in compliance e.g. outdated W-9 or not approved (is using a custom vendor approval workflow)
5. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Disputed Bills
6. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Unapplied Vendor Credits/Payments
7. Trend Graph Portlet - KPI = A/P Balance

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Example 2 - AR Dashboard

For Accounts Receivable users, many of the default system menus and navigation paths create unnecessary noise. To simplify, create a simple Home Tab dashboard with the following portlets:

1. Quick Add Portlet - New Customer
2. Quick Search Portlet - Search for Customer
3. Reminder Portlet - Invoices Overdue
4. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Invoices to Approve
5. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Customers at credit limit
6. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Disputed Invoices
7. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Unapplied Vendor Credits/Payments
8. Trend Graph Portlet - KPI = Average Days to Pay

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Example 3 - Sales Dashboard

For the sales force, many of the default system menus and navigation paths create unnecessary noise. We want the sales team focused on selling. To simplify, create a simple Home Tab dashboard with the following portlets:

1. Quick Add Portlet - New Contact
2. Quick Search Portlet - Search for Customer
3. Reminder Portlet - Opportunities to Close
4. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Opportunities with stale Last Activity Date
5. Report snapshot Portlet - Total Pipeline by Statuses
6. Report snapshot Portlet - Open Opportunities
7. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Deals won this fiscal year
8. Trend Graph Portlet - KPI = Estimated Commission (if tracking commissions in NetSuite)

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Salto Tip: Before customizing your own sales focused dashboard, download the “Enhanced Sales Center” bundle (ID: 58416). This bundle has almost 50k installs as of December 2023. See if this meets your needs before starting from scratch.

Example 4 - Admin Dashboard

For NetSuite Administrators, there are many data points that are valuable in real time, so you will need to determine which are the most important to you. Keep it simple and consider a Home Tab dashboard with some of the following portlets:

1. My Login Audit Portlet - Security best practice
2. RSS Feeds Portlet - Stay up to date by referencing a key RSS feed URL
3. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Failed login attempts today
4. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Users not logged in > 90 days
5. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Changes to scripts this week
6. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Changes to workflows this week
7. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Changes to features this week
8. Reminder Portlet (custom) - Changes to user roles/permissions this week
9. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Script errors today
10. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Integration errors today
11. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Records deleted today
12. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Emails Undelivered today
13. Custom Search Portlet (custom) - Records requiring Administrator approval

The possibilities are endless.

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Useful references for NetSuite dashboards

• Dashboards Overview
• Dashboard Portlets
• Publishing Dashboards
• Dashboard Tiles

For more information on NetSuite features you should be using, check out Salto’s blog posts that explore some of the things that NetSuite Developers and NetSuite Administrators should be leveraging within the NetSuite ecosystem.

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Final thoughts

When implemented effectively, NetSuite dashboards can completely change the way you and your end users interact with the system. One of the main benefits of implementing a tool like NetSuite is the ability to tailor the system to your specific business needs and yet it is still rare to see customers that have taken the time to implement effective dashboards across their business.

Don’t start from scratch! Leverage existing bundles and SuiteApps where possible. Dashboard Tiles are a great way to introduce more engaging dashboard content, where tiles can flash if certain criteria are met. Similar in some ways to the highlighting functionality for reminders, but more prominent.

It’s not rocket science! You don’t need to be a NetSuite expert to connect with your end users and understand what would be helpful for them to see on a daily basis in NetSuite. More often than not, some simple saved search dashboards, reminders and shortcuts will meet their needs. Start with one group of users to confirm the ROI. If successful, those same users should then advocate for the same process to be rolled out across all users.

If you’re not using NetSuite dashboards effectively today - it’s time to start!