Growth-minded companies and entrepreneurs may view the prospects of international expansion with boundless optimism, but the reality, like most business ventures, is much more challenging. There are language and cultural barriers, complications with currency exchanges, compliance issues, and many other circumstances that cause most of these international expansions to fail.
NetSuite OneWorld was developed as a fully-integrated business management solution to soften the edges for companies with global ambitions and make life easier for companies with established international footprints.
OneWorld is a cloud-based ERP and business management system designed for companies with multinational and multi-subsidiary operations. It assists companies with adjusting to currency, taxation, and legal compliance conflicts at local, regional, and headquarters levels.
This blog will examine how companies can leverage NetSuite OneWorld to overcome three common challenges when expanding into new international markets.
Language and Cultural Differences
The old adage, “communication is the lifeblood of business,” is especially poignant on the international stage. Language and proper translations are critical for relationship building with new partners, understanding customs and demand cycles, scouting and researching infrastructure, etc.
Realizing the importance of communication, NetSuite OneWorld supports 27 different languages, including Chinese, French, German, and Japanese. Companies can leverage these language capabilities when negotiating with potential partners, and they can be used to streamline the training or onboarding process for localized workforces.
NetSuite continues to update its translations and add new languages to support its customers’ aspirations for global growth.
Visibility goes hand-in-hand with communication in our technology-focused world and is instrumental for companies operating at an international level. Different markets can require monitoring of different KPIs in order to reach company-wide goals, so OneWorld provides customizable role-based dashboards with real-time insight for better operational intelligence.
Senior leadership and stakeholders have visibility into business performance and can drill down into key metrics within global operations. Better data that is easily accessible and actionable fuels trust and better overall performance.
Additionally, its cloud-based design enables access to OneWorld from anywhere around the globe with an internet connection. This universal availability helps companies develop standard business processes and deploy them across subsidiaries and divisions instantaneously. Better data that is easily accessible and actionable can fuel better overall performance.
Currency Fluctuations and Taxation
Because currencies are traded 24/7, it can be challenging to account for exchange rates and that in turn affects taxes owed. Companies with hundreds or thousands of daily transactions in-store and online need to ensure these processes are accurate and reliable. For companies with a global presence, the stakes can be incredibly high.
NetSuite OneWorld’s multi-currency management features 190+ currencies and exchange rates. Its tax engine supports more than 100 countries for tax calculation and reporting. OneWorld has preconfigured tax codes for over 50 countries, along with a configurable indirect tax engine that enables coverage for about 90 percent of Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The combination of these features helps companies grow with confidence on the international stage.
Compliance, Regulatory Issues and GDPR
Compliance, regulations, and GDPR are the speed bumps for most international companies as each country and region within the said country can have different requirements. NetSuite OneWorld was designed to address these challenges, so all parties can stay above board and on the same page.
OneWorld was constructed to help meet critical and time-consuming regulatory financial compliance requirements such as IFRS, SOX, and GAAP. Companies can easily adjust for language, currency, taxation, and legal differences at multiple levels.
The platform accelerates financial processes with multi-currency consolidation (mentioned in the previous section) and real-time roll-up across accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, billing, inventory, and more from local, regional, and headquarters levels.
Regarding GDPR, NetSuite acts as a Data Processor on behalf of its customers, and it has developed functionality to specifically assist with the EU Data Subject Rights under GDPR.
Senior leadership and international partners monitoring these aspects of their business can do so using the same customizable role-based dashboards that were mentioned in a previous section on language and cultural differences. These role-based dashboards can be used to monitor and adjust to compliance and regulatory issues in real-time, and they eliminate the need for custom reports, which can be time-consuming to generate.
With all of these features working in concert, OneWorld customers possess the actionable intelligence, real-time visibility, and capabilities needed to ensure consistent and compliant management at every level of their business.
Should I invest in NetSuite OneWorld?
Think of NetSuite OneWorld like water, it can conform to any container in which it is poured. It will fill a coffee cup, teaspoon, 50-gallon drum, etc. OneWorld can be customized to fit any company operating in any industry, it is global availability, and it is deployed in more than 200 countries (and growing). The platform is also fully integrated with NetSuite’s full business management suite that includes ERP, CRM, ecommerce, and much more. OneWorld can scale up or pair down, as your business requires.
Let’s talk about your international ambitions for your company.