Benefits of Fishbowl's Integration with NetSuite

How It Works

Sales Orders, Invoicing & Payment Handling

Sales Orders & Revenue Recognition:
Fishbowl manages the entire sales process—picking, packing, and shipping. Revenue is recognized in NetSuite upon fulfillment, not when the order is placed. When a shipment is completed in Fishbowl, the integration creates the customer invoice in NetSuite with proper GL entries to Accounts Receivable, Sales Revenue, Inventory Asset, and Cost of Goods Sold.

Prepayment Handling:
When customers pay before goods ship (common for custom orders or manufacturing jobs), Fishbowl posts the payment immediately to NetSuite as a prepayment in a holding account. As invoices are generated upon shipment, the integration automatically applies available prepayments to those invoices using a waterfall allocation method (oldest invoice first). Any remaining balance stays as an unapplied credit for your AR team to manage.

Payment Processing:
When Fishbowl records customer payments, they sync to NetSuite with the correct payment type (Cash, EFTPOS, Visa, etc.) and are properly applied to invoices. The integration tracks which payments belong to which sales orders, even across multiple invoices.

Purchase Orders, Vendor Bills & Inventory Receiving

Purchase Order Processing:
Fishbowl creates and manages purchase orders for your procurement operations. When goods are received and reconciled, the integration transfers the necessary data to NetSuite to create vendor bills with accurate GL entries to Inventory Asset accounts and Accounts Payable.

RBNI - Received But Not Invoiced:
NetSuite requires proper accrual accounting for goods received before vendor invoices arrive. When you receive inventory in Fishbowl before the supplier bill arrives, the integration posts to a holding liability account (Goods Received Not Invoiced). When the actual vendor invoice is processed, the integration reverses the accrual and posts the final bill at the invoiced amount.

Landed Costs:
The integration handles freight and shipping costs that need to be capitalized into inventory value. Landed costs can be posted either to the supplier who invoiced them or accrued to third parties, ensuring your true inventory costs are accurately reflected in NetSuite.

Multiple Item Types Supported:

• Inventory Parts: Full COGS and inventory asset tracking
• Service Items: Expensed to appropriate accounts (e.g., contractor services)
• Non-Inventory Items: Office supplies and consumables expensed as purchased
• Capital Equipment: Posted to fixed asset accounts
• Internal Use Items: Items consumed by your warehouse (e.g., packing tape) tracked separately

Inventory Adjustments & Cost Management

Inventory Adjustments:
All inventory adjustments made in Fishbowl automatically sync to NetSuite with proper accounting treatment:

Returns & Credit Processing:

• Customer Returns: Restores inventory, reverses COGS
• Vendor Returns: Reduces payables, decreases inventory asset
• Drop Ship Returns: Handled as expense adjustments (no inventory impact)

Manufacturing Adjustments:
When work orders are completed in Fishbowl, the integration posts the finished goods to NetSuite's general ledger, tracking the transformation of raw materials into finished products along with any associated labor or overhead costs.

How Line Items Work: Visibility Without Complexity

What Your Customers See:
When you send an invoice or statement from NetSuite, your customers see complete line-item detail exactly as it appears in Fishbowl:

• Fishbowl SKU
• Product description
• Quantity
• Price (ex-tax)
• Line total

How It Works Behind the Scenes:
Rather than syncing thousands of individual products as unique items in NetSuite (which creates massive maintenance overhead), Fishbowl uses reusable generic SKUs in NetSuite's backend. For example:

• All inventory items map to one generic "Inventory Item" in NetSuite
• All service items map to one generic "Service Item" in NetSuite
• All non-inventory items map to one generic "Non-Inventory Item" in NetSuite

Each of these generic items is pre-configured with the correct GL accounts (Income, COGS, Inventory Asset, etc.) and tax settings. When transactions post to NetSuite, each line still displays your Fishbowl SKU and description—but behind the scenes it uses the appropriate generic item for accounting purposes.

Why This Approach:

• Full line-item visibility for customer-facing documents
• Easy reconciliation with Fishbowl records
• Simple GL management (one set of accounts per item type)
• No item-level maintenance required in NetSuite
• Faster implementation and lower ongoing administration

Tax Handling

The integration uses a single tax handling method to ensure accuracy and avoid rounding issues:

Tax Calculation:
Fishbowl calculates tax and sends the tax amount to NetSuite. NetSuite records the tax as specified. This approach ensures that tax amounts match exactly between systems without any rounding discrepancies.

NetSuite Versions & Compatibility

Compatible NetSuite Editions:
Fishbowl's integration works with standard NetSuite implementations and is fully compatible with NetSuite's multi-entity, multi-location, and multi-currency capabilities.

J Curve NetSuite:
For customers using J Curve Solutions NetSuite (a pre-configured NetSuite offering), the integration is fully supported and works seamlessly with J Curve's setup.

How To Use

Setting Up the Integration

Prerequisites:

1. Active Fishbowl Manufacturing or Fishbowl Inventory subscription
2. Active NetSuite subscription with API access enabled
3. NetSuite Sandbox environment (strongly recommended)
4. Administrator credentials for both systems

Implementation Process:

Step 1: Data Mapping in Sandbox Environment

Your implementation specialist will work with you to:

1. Connect to NetSuite Sandbox:
   Establish secure API connection to your NetSuite sandbox instance.
2. Map Your Chart of Accounts:
   Configure mappings between Fishbowl and NetSuite for:
   • Accounts Receivable
   • Accounts Payable
   • Inventory Asset account(s)
   • Cost of Goods Sold
   • Sales Revenue
   • Prepayment/Undeposited Funds account
   • Adjustment accounts (shrinkage, offset, etc.)
3. Configure Generic Item Mappings:
   Set up reusable generic items in NetSuite sandbox:
   • Generic Inventory Item (for all inventory parts)
   • Generic Service Item (for all service items)
   • Generic Non-Inventory Item (for all non-inventory items)
4. Map Custom Fields:
   Every NetSuite implementation includes custom fields unique to your business. Your specialist will map your specific requirements such as:
   • Department codes
   • Class assignments
   • Location tracking
   • Custom reporting fields
   • Any other NetSuite customizations
5. Configure Tax Treatment:
   Determine whether Fishbowl will push calculated tax amounts or NetSuite will calculate tax based on its engine.

Step 2: Test in Sandbox Environment

Comprehensive testing ensures everything works correctly before going live:

1. Transaction Testing:
   Process test transactions of each type:
   • Sales orders → Invoices
   • Purchase orders → Vendor bills
   • Customer payments with prepayment allocation
   • Inventory adjustments
   • Returns (customer and vendor)
   • Landed costs
2. Validation Checks:
   • Line items display correctly on NetSuite documents
   • GL entries post to correct accounts
   • Tax calculation matches expectations
   • Prepayments allocate properly using waterfall method
   • Inventory values reconcile
   • Custom fields populate as expected
3. Report Testing:
   Verify that existing NetSuite reports continue to work correctly with integrated data.
4. Refinement:
   Make any necessary adjustments to mappings or configurations based on test results.

Step 3: Coordinate Production Go-Live

Once sandbox testing is complete, we coordinate your production deployment:

1. Production Configuration:
   Your specialist will replicate the tested configuration from sandbox to your production NetSuite environment.
2. Set Sync Schedule:
   Determine how frequently data should export from Fishbowl to NetSuite. Most customers export every 15 minutes to 1 hour during business hours.
3. Go-Live Monitoring:
   We will monitor the first days of production transactions to ensure everything flows correctly.
4. Handoff:
   Once the integration is running smoothly, your specialist will provide training and documentation for ongoing management.

Implementation Timeline:
Typical implementations take 2-4 weeks depending on the complexity of your NetSuite customizations and testing requirements. Businesses with extensive custom fields or multi-entity setups may require additional time.

Ongoing Support:
Unlike some integrations that require periodic re-authentication, once configured, the Fishbowl-NetSuite integration maintains its connection securely with minimal maintenance required. After successful deployment, ongoing support is provided by Fishbowl's support team.

Why Businesses Choose NetSuite Over QuickBooks

Multi-Entity & Multi-Location:
NetSuite natively handles multiple legal entities, locations, and subsidiaries with proper inter-company eliminations—critical for growing businesses with multiple branches or divisions.

International Operations:
Multi-currency support, international tax compliance, and global financial consolidation capabilities make NetSuite the choice for businesses operating across borders.

Advanced Financial Reporting:
Real-time financial dashboards, customizable reports, and role-based access controls provide CFOs with the visibility they need.

Scalability:
NetSuite scales with your business. Unlike QuickBooks, which has user limits and transaction volume constraints, NetSuite can handle enterprise-level transaction volumes.

When to Make the Switch:
Many Fishbowl customers start on QuickBooks but eventually outgrow it. Common triggers for switching to NetSuite include:

• Opening additional warehouses or sales locations
• Expanding internationally
• Needing better cash flow visibility and AR management
• Requiring separate financial reporting by division or entity
• Growing beyond QuickBooks' user or transaction limits

Fishbowl supports both QuickBooks and NetSuite, so you can switch when the time is right for your business.

Fishbowl Integrates with NetSuite - FAQs