I've claimed that NetSuite's functionality is extensive, and now it's time for me to demonstrate that. You may not have access to all of the features that I refer to in this section. Some are advanced features that are only available for an additional fee. You can verify this by clicking on the Setup button on the toolbar and selecting Setup Manager. A search box will appear, allowing you to search through the entire Setup menu to look for a feature. If you don't find it, you don't have access to it and will need to speak to your NetSuite sales rep:

If you do have access to a feature, you will find it under Setup | Company | Enable Features.

Some features are self-explanatory; they include the following:

• Accounting lets you use NetSuite as your accounting system in conjunction with ACCOUNTING PERIODS...

They say that the only constant is change, so how do you change data when circumstances change?

NetSuite provides you with a number of tools to do so. The import wizard is the most comprehensive tool to update data, and we cover it in depth in a later chapter. Inline editing, on the other hand, is the simplest. Once enabled, this feature turns the lists in NetSuite into quasi-Excel spreadsheets, and it can be used to edit data without having to drill-down to each individual record in the list.

Inline editing is represented by an Edit button at the top of all lists. The list becomes editable as soon as the Edit button is clicked. Data in any column that contains a pencil icon in the column header can be edited simply by clicking into the column on the appropriate row and editing the data. The new data will be saved as soon as the user clicks...

User experience plays a major role in an administrator's workload. The inability to execute functions can easily result in a lot of complaints from users, including requests to automate the functions for them. So, let's focus on tools that will help them, which will, in turn, make the administrator's life easier.

The dashboard is a crucial tool for users to understand what is happening in the business and the tasks that need to be completed. Think of it as an interactive control panel to ensure that you are on track to reach your goals. You didn't need to open the gas tank of your car to see whether you have enough gas to make it to work in the morning. All you need do is check the dashboard, which summarizes important information for you.

People usually speak of the dashboard as the Home dashboard, signified by the home icon...

In this chapter, we demonstrated many of the standard functionalities that are available to solve the challenges faced by your business. We divided this up into three sections, based on the audience experiencing the challenge. You can use the Features that support businesses section to guide your management on strategic business decisions. You can use the Features that support users section to help end users perform their day-to-day tasks easily and efficiently. You can use Features that support administrators to save yourself time and hassle, with more of an impact on the company's use of the ERP.

Many of you will be administering NetSuite's multi-company consolidation module, so we will look at NetSuite OneWorld in the next chapter. We will provide a framework for understanding OneWorld, in order to simplify this complex module.