Saved searches are one of the most valuable yet underutilized features in NetSuite. These customizable searches allow you to slice and dice your business data to uncover key insights and make better decisions.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore what saved searches are, why they matter for business performance, how to create effective saved searches in NetSuite, andtips to take your searching skills to the next level.
Whether you’re a business owner, CFO, operational leader or analyst, read on to unlock the power of saved searches for your organization.
What Are Saved Searches in NetSuite?
Saved searches are reusable search templates that allow you to filter and analyze information in your NetSuite account. Instead of manually running the same search over and over, you save the search criteria so you can quickly access that dynamic dataset on demand.
Saved searches are extremely flexible. You can search across transactions, customers, items, financial data and more. You can save simple or complex searches and customize columns, filters, sorting rules and other parameters.
This functionality unlocks invaluable business insights you may be missing otherwise. Instead of static reports, saved searches allow you to interact with live data.
Unlike Excel exports which reflect a snapshot in time, saved searches run against real-time data in your system. Refresh the search to see the latest results based on your defined parameters.
The Powerful Benefits of Saved Searches
Leveraging saved searches can transform how you make decisions and run your organization. Key benefits include:
- Custom analytics on demand – Ask and answer business questions on the fly instead of relying on canned reports alone. Modify and access searches whenever you need them.
- Flexible filtering options – Filter on any criteria to analyze root causes and trends. Examine data any way you need with multiple filter rules.
- Different views of live data – Change columns, summarizations, sorting rules and more to reveal insights from different angles.
- Operational efficiency – Quickly monitor KPIs and exceptions without exporting data to Excel. Accelerate period closes, invoice approvals and other critical tasks.
- Deeper data discovery – Uncover trends and outliers to raise performance. Spot problems sooner before they become major issues.
- Enhanced decision making – Get an enterprise-wide, real-time view based on your most important criteria to drive leadership decisions with confidence.
These benefits all stem from the flexibility of saved searches compared to standard reporting. As your business changes over time, your search criteria can adapt along with it.
Best Practices for Effective Saved Searches
Unfortunately, most organizations are not fully capitalizing on saved searches in their ERP platform. Developing meaningful searches that enhance operational performance takes some strategy and skill.
Here are best practices to set your searches – and your business – up for success:
- Align searches to business priorities – Focus first on the critical business questions you need to answer to meet objectives. Let search requirements drive design.
- Involve key stakeholders – Determine essential questions from across roles to enhance adoption. Get stakeholder input to ensure searches solve multiple needs simultaneously.
- Utilize search sharing – Develop reusable, standardized searches vetted by stakeholders. Share broadly instead of having fragmented one-off analyses diluting insights.
- Train end users on application – Set policies around search practices and provide hands-on training. Ensure adoption and accountability to utilize searches that provide business value after go-live.
- Continuously optimize – Monitor search usage over time. Revisit designs based on changing needs and platforms upgrades to maintain relevance.
Saved searches lose their power when not actively maintained as integral business tools. Approach them strategically from the start and keep standards high over time for best value.
How to Create Effective Saved Searches in NetSuite?
Ready to harness searches for performance gains right away?
Here is an overview of how to create saved searches directly in your NetSuite system with a few pro tips sprinkled in:
- Click the Search tab to open the saved search portlet.
- Click the New button in the portlet (or New Saved Search from the top nav Search menu).
- Select the record type in the popup to focus your search (e.g. Transactions, Customers, Items etc.). Choose “All Types” for the broadest access.
- Enter your desired filter criteria parameters. Utilize all relevant filter rules, not just basic criteria. Click “New” to add additional filters as needed.
Pro tip: Start broad if unsure of what you’re looking for. You can always add more criteria later to narrow down.
- Modify the Results columns to show the most meaningful attributes for analysis. Remove unnecessary columns. Reorder columns logically.
Pro tip: Lead with key performance drivers and metrics that align to business goals to maintain focus on what matters most.
- Set sorting rules to showcase prioritized findings (e.g. by revenue, probability close date, etc).
- Give your search a clear name so others can understand the purpose at a glance.
Pro tip: Use naming conventions that group related searches together for better navigation (e.g. Customer Management – Churn Analysis by Geo).
- Select a role-appropriate audience value so colleagues can access the search. Avoid making searches private unless required.
- Provide a thorough description for future user context including columns selected and intended data analysis use cases.
- Decide whether to add the search to users’ saved search dashboards so it’s readily accessible upon login.
Don’t be intimidated by the platform flexibility. Start simple and evolve search sophistication over time. The goal is creating repeatable, reusable access to the right business data – you can build on from there.
Advanced Tips for Power Users
Become a search expert with these advanced pro tips:
- Use formulas and functions to create value-added metrics for analysis. Customize columns using expressions combining multiple attributes.
- Leverage cross-line formulas to show aggregated, cumulative results across an entire group of found rows versus individual rows.
- Create search-driven custom dashboards showcasing key metric snapshots with drilldown potential to the underlying details.
- Schedule email delivery of saved search results exported to CSV so data is automatically sent on a cadence.
- Build saved searches dependent on other saved searches to refine results in powerful ways not otherwise possible.
Don’t be afraid to stretch beyond basic search techniques. Mastering advanced functionality takes searches to the next level.
Added Value with SuiteRep NetSuite Services
As your trusted NetSuite partner, SuiteRep guides companies like yours in leveraging this powerful ERP platform to unlock operational insights and results. Our NetSuite consultants can support you with:
- Identifying valuable questions saved searches should answer based on your goals
- Performing health checks of existing search utilization
- Designing and building targeted searches aligned to role-based decision making
- Providing training on creating, sharing and maintaining searches
- Developing custom reminders, workflows and KPI scorecards derived from searches to drive broad adoption
- Keeping searches optimized over time to meet changing needs post go-live
Rely on SuiteRep as your NetSuite saved search specialist. We make sure you get the business insights you expect from your investment by keeping custom analytics aligned to strategic priorities over time.
Let us help assess whether your current search utilization is only scratching the surface of potential. Contact our NetSuite services team to get started elevating operational visibility and control through saved search best practices tailored to your environment.
