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Sikich SuiteExpress for Life Sciences

Elizabeth Keefe

Jun 13 2024

3 min read

In 2023 and early 2024, the Life Sciences market was much different than in the prior two years. Companies were not receiving the funding they had in the past and IPOs were down. Even with the uncertainty of the market, companies were still coming to us expressing frustration with QuickBooks or their legacy systems, however they lacked the funding to migrate to NetSuite. It was a common struggle in the industry, so Sikich devised a creative solution. We call it Sikich SuiteExpress for Life Sciences.

Unlike our SuiteSuccess for Life Sciences model, Sikich SuiteExpress for Life Sciences targets a very specific organization—early-stage Life Sciences companies who operate with just GL & AP and have no procurement needs or procurement integration. The most common solution set would be operating on QuickBooks alone or with either Prendio and/or Bill.com.

Sikich SuiteExpress is an expedited NetSuite implementation at a fraction of the typical cost companies see when deciding to switch ERPs. This is a much quicker way to implement NetSuite. Using our expertise in the industry, we created the following pre-built functionality that allows our team to get clients up and running within 8 weeks of the design process.

Reports:

Vendor Reporting
Vendor Bills/Journal Entries to Approve
Rejected Vendor Bills/Journal Entries

Workflows:

Vendor Approval Workflow
Journal Entry Approval Workflow
Vendor Bill Approval Workflow

Roles:

CFO
Controller
Accounting Manager
AP
Employee Center

With the combination of the prebuilt functionality and companies being very early stage, we can cut the typical implementation time in half while also avoiding costly data migrations that you see with a more mature organization. A typical Sikich SuiteExpress Implementation Timeline is below:

Week 1 – Design
Week 2 – Client Populates Data
Week 3 – Configuration
Week 4 – Training
Week 5 – Testing
Week 6 – Client Populates Data
Week 7 – Go Live
Week 8 – Transition to Support

Choosing Sikich SuiteExpress allows companies to get a jump start on automating and streamlining business processes along with preparing for equity events, such as an IPO. When preparing to go public, having the proper controls in place is one of the biggest hurdles. While SOX controls aren’t always the biggest emphasis for an early-stage company, getting on NetSuite early allows for the controls to be put in place properly, eliminating the stress down the line.

Once Sikich SuiteExpress has been implemented, the users are acclimated, and time and budget allow, adding on functionality such as procurement, Fixed Assets, and Electronic Bank Payments becomes much easier. Sikich SuiteExpress sets the foundation for organizations to grow quickly on NetSuite and allows internal/external auditors to get acclimated to their NetSuite environments much sooner than planned.

Please reach out to us at any time if you have any questions.

This publication contains general information only and Sikich is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should you use it as a basis for any decision, action or omission that may affect you or your business. Before making any decision, taking any action or omitting an action that may affect you or your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. In addition, this publication may contain certain content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) language model. You acknowledge that Sikich shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by you or any person who relies on this publication.

About the Author

Elizabeth Keefe

Elizabeth has nine years of experience at Sikich, where she worked in both client management and project leadership roles in the BioTech space. Elizabeth recently transitioned to an Account Executive, specializing in selling NetSuite solutions within the BioTech industry.