Table of Contents
Introduction:
Data migration is one of the most critical—yet often underestimated—components of a successful NetSuite implementation. While NetSuite offers robust capabilities for managing financials, operations, and customer data, its value hinges on the accuracy, structure, and usability of the data migrated into it. Without the right strategy, this process can quickly become a bottleneck for enterprises transitioning from legacy ERP systems.
This blog highlights practical lessons from common challenges encountered during NetSuite data migrations—providing business leaders, IT managers, and system administrators with actionable guidance to mitigate risks, avoid delays, and drive successful outcomes.
General Considerations
Migrating data from other ERP systems to NetSuite can be easy or hard.
Consistent and well-formatted data makes it easy. However, it is much more likely that the data is inconsistent and not in a good format, and that’s where the challenges begin.
Determine which data will be transferred from your current system to NetSuite. Everyone must bring over customers, vendors, employees, and items bought and sold.
Determine the values needed for each item, such as a customer’s or vendor’s name and address. You’d also like their terms and any categorization you might give them.
An Item would need the name, type, and how it is to be accounted for in terms of income or expense.
It is quite common to have duplicate items, customers, or vendors in an existing system. While not a terrible problem, it can cause problems with a new system. Also, customers, vendors, and items frequently get updated information associated with them. It is consistent that sometimes, not all customers, vendors, or items have been updated with the latest information.
The point is that it is a best practice to clean the data you want to move from your current ERP system to NetSuite so that the data coming over is accurate. Accurate data makes for good business decisions.
Customer and Vendor Data
We see two areas in working with customer and vendor data that are consistent concerns. The first is inconsistent address data. Frequently, we will see addresses with characters that are unparsable. What we mean by that is some of the addresses contain characters that can’t be read by NetSuite or have letters in other languages that NetSuite can’t read. If possible, always have addresses that do not have characters normally found in English.
Another problem we encounter is that some addresses are entered as the full address with City, State/Province and Postal Code all in one field. NetSuite needs these fields to be separated, and it can’t automatically guess which value goes where.
A third problem with addresses is the State/Province. NetSuite works with the two character values for States/Provinces. For example, Massachusetts is abbreviated as MA, not Mass. Similarly, Quebec is abbreviated as QC, not Queb. Formatting your data consistently within the NetSuite fields will save trouble.
NetSuite identifies duplicate customers and vendors and lets you merge them.
Also, be cognizant of zip codes. In the eastern US, many zip codes start with “0.” Excel will remove the leading zero and import a zip code as a 4-digit number. So, ensure the Excel field is a Text field when importing zip codes.
Bonus Reading: NetSuite Implementation Pricing Guide and Cost of Ownership
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NetSuite has some unique features that are not frequently used. One is a Display Name. Most ERP systems only allow for an item name. NetSuite allows you to have a relevant name that your customers can see and an item name that you can see. Taking advantage of the display name allows you to be more descriptive in item names that your customer can see.
One of the common problems we see is with the UPC code. When the UPC code is exported from a legacy ERP into Excel, codes with leading zeros are dropped. Check the UPCs in your legacy system to confirm that leading zeros are included.
Many items imported to NetSuite only include availability for a single subsidiary. In the majority of cases, items are available to all subsidiaries. To get around this, make sure the import file has a column called, “Include Children” and the value is “Yes.” That allows all items to be available to all subsidiaries.
NetSuite allows you to store a customer part number as a cross-reference to the NetSuite part number. A common pitfall we see is not identifying the correct customer with the correct customer part number. The customer part number matches the customer’s part number, allowing them to place orders using their own number. If the customer’s part number is not correctly aligned with the NetSuite part number, it can cause misshipments.
Employee Data
NetSuite requires you to assign an employee a single subsidiary when bringing in employee data. This can cause problems because it’s common for an employee to serve more than one subsidiary. The way around this is through the role. Assign employees a role allowing them to view and edit transactions within multiple subsidiaries. That way, an employee can belong to one subsidiary but view and edit data in others.
NetSuite has different ways of storing and displaying employee names. You can display first name, last name, or last name then first name. Make sure you decide how to view your employees’ names so your staff can find them easily.
Bonus Reading: Optimizing Operations with NetSuite Consulting
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Request a DemoConclusion
Data migration is not simply a technical task—it’s a foundational step that impacts everything from day-to-day operations to long-term decision-making. Inconsistent formatting, duplicate records, and misaligned mappings are more than migration issues; they are potential sources of operational friction post-go-live.
Organizations can streamline the transition by proactively cleaning their data, standardizing formats, and leveraging NetSuite’s built-in capabilities to position themselves for success. The key takeaway? Invest in data readiness now to avoid costly inefficiencies later. AlphaBOLD ensures your NetSuite deployment delivers on its full potential. Talk to our expert today!
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