As your business grows, you may find the tools that once worked perfectly have begun to create inefficiencies and bottlenecks in your operation. This is often the case if you're using Xero and need to expand internationally, generate advanced reports or integrate your financial and CRM systems. When you find that Xero isn’t supporting your needs, NetSuite offers the flexibility, automation and advanced functionality you need to propel your business forward.
This guide walks you through the process of migrating from Xero to NetSuite. In it, you’ll learn why businesses like yours outgrow Xero, discover NetSuite’s advanced capabilities, and get step-by-step advice for a smooth migration. Whether your goal is to streamline operations, improve reporting or prepare for expansion, this guide will help you make the transition confidently.
Why migrate from Xero to NetSuite?
Xero is an excellent accounting solution for startups and small businesses, but as your operation grows, you may find that its limitations are holding you back. Here’s how you can tell if your business is ready to make the switch:
Manual processes and workarounds
Xero’s reliance on manual workflows can lead to delays and mistakes when your transaction volume grows. If your team spends hours processing invoices or reconciling accounts, it may be time to move beyond Xero.
Limited multi-entity and multi-currency support
When you scale your operations across multiple entities, regions or currencies, Xero’s limitations become evident and can become a major limitation. It lacks features like real-time currency conversion or financial consolidation for subsidiaries, which makes it time-consuming and inefficient to manage your expanding or international business.
Basic reporting and visibility gaps
Xero’s reporting tools are great for small-scale operations but fall short when you need deeper insights. Without up-to-date dashboards or customizable reports, you may find it difficult to monitor performance across locations or departments. If you need detailed profitability tracking by product line or business unit, it’s likely time to give NetSuite a try.
Reliance on third-party tools
Xero often requires third-party apps to handle inventory, CRM or project tracking, which can create fragmented workflows, inefficiencies and errors. If you’re using Xero alongside other platforms, it’s a good time to evaluate NetSuite and its integration capabilities.
Challenges with compliance
If you’re entering new markets, tax regulations and reporting requirements can overwhelm your current systems. Xero wasn’t designed to handle these complexities, but NetSuite has built-in compliance tools that simplify even your toughest regulatory challenges.
What are the benefits of moving from Xero to NetSuite?
Migrating from Xero to NetSuite gives you access to several advanced features that help you manage growth and complexity with ease. Through a combination of native features and advanced integrations, NetSuite can help optimize your operations, streamline your workflows and inform your decisions with high-quality data.
Scalability and flexibility
NetSuite grows alongside your business, supporting thousands of customers and billions of transaction requests per month. And if you’re planning to open a new location or launch an international subsidiary, NetSuite’s real-time currency conversion, multi-language support and global tax management tools make it easier for your business to operate across borders. NetSuite can do even more when you add technologies like optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence (AI), which help your team streamline AP while minimizing errors.
Automation of routine tasks
If your team spends hours manually processing invoices or reconciling transactions, NetSuite’s automation capabilities can save you time while reducing the risk of human error. For example, you can set up a workflow to automatically generate a purchase order (PO) when sales inputs a new order. This improves your billing accuracy and accelerates payments – without requiring extra effort from your team.
Advanced reporting and analytics
NetSuite’s reporting capabilities give you deep visibility into your business’s performance, which helps you make informed decisions quickly. For instance, you can create dashboards to track profitability by product line, monitor cash flow using up-to-date data or forecast seasonal trends based on historical performance.
Unified business operations
NetSuite has advanced integration capabilities that make it possible to connect your ERP, CRM, inventory management and eCommerce systems and data. This eliminates the inefficiencies of fragmented tools and gives you a single source of truth that spans your operations. If your team currently juggles multiple apps that don’t communicate well, NetSuite helps to eliminate these silos, allowing for smoother processes and better decision-making.
Enhanced tax and compliance capabilities
NetSuite provides built-in tools like automated tax calculation, audit-ready reporting and customizable workflows that help you meet tax, financial and audit requirements across regions without increasing the burden on your team. For example, you can use NetSuite’s native tax engine to calculate VAT, GST or sales tax accurately for transactions on a country-by-country basis, eliminating manual calculations and reducing the risk of penalties.
What are the steps to prepare for Xero to NetSuite migration?
If you want a smooth and successful migration from Xero to NetSuite, a little preparation can go a long way. Below are some steps you can take to be sure your systems, data and people are ready.
Step 1: Evaluate your current system
Review your Xero setup to identify bottlenecks, manual processes and reporting gaps. This evaluation will help you define your migration goals, whether it’s consolidating multi-entity operations, improving financial visibility or automating key processes. Be sure to document your goals so you can measure your progress later.
Step 2: Decide on historical data migration
Consider whether you need to migrate historical data into NetSuite. While you may prefer to leave your old data behind or archive it to simplify the transition, you may need to bring some or all of it into NetSuite for compliance or forecasting reasons. Make this decision early to shape your migration plan.
Step 3: Get your data ready
If you are bringing your Xero data into NetSuite, the pre-migration process provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate and organize it. Review your customer, financial and transaction data to remove duplicates, standardize formats and make sure your data is up to date and accurate.
Step 4: Align your team and stakeholders
Gather input from stakeholders across departments, such as finance, sales and operations. Understanding their workflows and goals will help you configure NetSuite to meet their needs. By involving the right people early, you can also gain their buy-in and alignment, which helps reduce post-migration challenges or misunderstandings later.
Step 5: Train your staff
Prepare your staff for the migration by training them on NetSuite’s capabilities and any new workflows before the system goes live. Focus on tailoring sessions to each team’s needs – for example, showing finance how to automate payment reconciliation or teaching operations how to generate real-time reports. Early training boosts your teams’ confidence and reduces disruption during the transition.
Should you migrate your historical data into NetSuite?
When planning your migration, one key decision is whether to bring historical data into NetSuite. While it might seem logical to move everything, that isn’t always necessary – or the best use of your resources. Here are a few things to consider:
When historical data migration may not be necessary
Leaving historical data in Xero can simplify your migration and save time. For example, if most of your historical records aren’t actively used, you can avoid the complexity of migrating years’ worth of transactions into NetSuite. Instead, focus on moving only essential data like open transactions or current balances.
When historical data migration may be beneficial
In some cases, migrating historical data makes sense. If compliance regulations require you to keep all financial records in a single system or if you frequently reference older data for forecasting, consider importing select historical data. For example, trend analysis might require several years of sales data to inform future strategies.
Alternatives to migrating historical data
If you choose not to move your historical data from Xero into NetSuite, there are options to maintain access:
- Keep your legacy system accessible: Retain read-only access to your Xero account for reference.
- Use a third-party archiving tool: Archive past records securely, allowing you to search and retrieve information without crowding your new system.
What are the steps to migrate from Xero to NetSuite?
With preparation complete, it’s time to execute your migration. This phase includes backing up your data, extracting and transforming records, validating accuracy and going live with NetSuite.
Step 1: Back up your data
Before starting the migration, create a full backup of your Xero data. This ensures you have a safety net if anything unexpected occurs during the migration process. Retain this backup for reference, especially if you decide not to migrate historical data into NetSuite. You can store it securely in the cloud or on an external drive to maintain easy access.
Step 2: Extract your data from Xero
If you’re migrating your historical data into NetSuite, it’s time to begin the extract, transform, load (ETL) process. Extraction differs from the backup process since it pulls your records, transactions and customer data from Xero and organizes it into an intermediate format that prepares it for the transformation step. We recommend using a data sync tool or an expert service to guide your ETL process.
Step 3: Transform your Xero data into NetSuite’s schema
To make sure your data is structured properly when it arrives in NetSuite, it must go through the transformation process. This step includes reformatting, cleaning and standardizing your data to match NetSuite’s schema and prevent compatibility issues. Again, we recommend that you leverage a migration tool or expert to simplify this step.
Step 4: Load your Xero data into NetSuite
The final step of the ETL process is to import your data into NetSuite. In this stage, security, consistency and accuracy are crucial. This is where a data sync tool or NetSuite implementation partner can help you avoid errors and delays.
Step 5: Validate and verify your data
After you’ve completed the ETL process, double-check that your data has transferred correctly. Validate key financial records, such as customer accounts and transactions, by comparing them to your original Xero data. This helps you avoid gaps or discrepancies in your data when your migration to NetSuite is complete.
Step 6: Test your NetSuite workflows in a staging environment
To be sure your new NetSuite environment works properly before going live, you can simulate it in a controlled staging environment. Here, you can test processes like invoicing, reconciliations and reporting to confirm that NetSuite is configured to support your needs and that it’s intuitive and efficient for your team to use.
Step 7: Finalize your migration and go live
When you’re ready to make the switch to NetSuite, you can reduce the chance of disruptions by scheduling the changeover during a low-activity period. Immediately after launching NetSuite, be sure to monitor its performance closely and address any issues quickly to keep your operation running smoothly.
Post-migration: Optimizing your NetSuite instance
Once you’ve successfully migrated to NetSuite, you’ll likely need to take some steps to refine your processes, train your team and fully leverage NetSuite’s advanced features. Here’s how you can unlock its full potential:
Monitor and refine your workflows
As your organization grows or priorities shift, small adjustments to your workflows can make a big impact. For example, you might identify an opportunity to streamline your approval chains for purchase orders or fine-tune recurring processes like month-end reporting. Use NetSuite’s reporting and analytics tools to track your workflow performance, identify any process bottlenecks and implement changes that make your team more efficient.
Schedule ongoing training for your team
NetSuite’s features and your business processes are sure to evolve over time, so regular training is essential to keep your team productive. Focus on tailoring your instruction to each department’s unique needs – and don’t forget to create a training program for new hires so they can leverage NetSuite effectively from day one.
Automate additional processes
NetSuite offers opportunities to automate even more of your routine tasks, helping you reduce manual workloads and free up your team for strategic work. Explore areas where automation can make a difference, such as expense approvals, revenue recognition or data entry for recurring billing. For example, you can use NetSuite’s built-in tools to set automated notifications for overdue invoices or monthly expenses.
Do more with advanced tools designed for NetSuite
One of the most significant benefits of migrating from Xero to NetSuite is your ability to leverage advanced software tools that streamline your financial processes and provide deep insights.
ZoneBilling for advanced billing and revenue management
ZoneBilling simplifies how you manage complex billing structures and revenue recognition – directly within NetSuite. After migrating from Xero, you can use this native SuiteApp to automate subscription billing, manage your contracts more efficiently and reduce days sales outstanding (DSO). ZoneBilling also supports advanced revenue management (ARM) for greater control and compliance in your financial operation.
Case study: How ZoneBilling helped Tech Soft 3D streamline AR
Tech Soft 3D transformed its billing and accounts receivable processes by implementing ZoneBilling within NetSuite. By automating workflows and eliminating manual inefficiencies, the company streamlined its recurring revenue processes and simplified how it manages royalties. These changes freed up an entire month’s worth of accounts receivable work while improving the accuracy and efficiency of its AR function.
ZoneReporting for enhanced financial reporting
ZoneReporting expands NetSuite’s reporting capabilities, enabling you to create a wide range of custom reports and dashboards in Power BI based on integrated, up-to-date data. This helps you forecast trends, analyze profitability by business unit and make faster, data-driven decisions.
FAQs
What should you do before migrating from Xero to NetSuite?
Before migrating, assess your current Xero instance to identify bottlenecks, clean and back up your data and align your team on key objectives for using NetSuite. Early training and stakeholder involvement can also minimize post-migration challenges.
How do you handle historical Xero data during a migration?
Decide whether historical data is essential for your operations, compliance or forecasting. If it’s not, you can save time by leaving historical records in your legacy system or using a data archiving solution for easy access.
How long does a Xero to NetSuite migration typically take?
Migration timelines vary depending on your business size, data complexity and implementation approach. A standard migration often takes three to six months, but more complex scenarios may require additional time.
What are the top benefits of migrating from Xero to NetSuite?
NetSuite provides automation, real-time reporting, advanced analytics and scalable solutions for international and multi-entity businesses. It eliminates manual processes, integrates core business functions into a unified platform and offers advanced tools that help your business operate more efficiently and scalability than is possible with Xero.
Do you need an implementation partner for NetSuite migration?
While you may be able to handle a basic migration on your own, working with a NetSuite partner can smooth your transition – particularly if you require custom configurations or deal with complex data.
Conclusion
Migrating from Xero to NetSuite is more than a software upgrade – it’s an investment in your business’s future. By following a structured approach and leveraging NetSuite’s powerful features, you can streamline your operations, improve decision making and position your business for sustainable growth. When you’re ready to make the transition, we’re here to help. Talk to one of our specialists today to learn how we can support you every step of the way.
