How to choose a NetSuite consultant in the UK: 10 questions to ask before you sign

If you're looking for a NetSuite consultant in the UK, the hard part isn't finding one. It's telling apart the consultant who will deliver your project from the one who will learn on it. The quickest way to do that is to ask the same ten questions of everyone on your shortlist, and listen to how specific the answers are.

I've seen this from both sides. I was a Senior NetSuite Consultant at RSM US, a NetSuite partner, and I now run SuiteHeroes, an independent NetSuite consultancy in London. I've also been brought in to rescue stalled implementations, and most of them went wrong in ways these questions would have exposed before anyone signed.

10 questions to ask a NetSuite consultant in the UK

1. Who will actually do the work?

This matters more than anything else on the list. The person who runs the sales meeting is not always the person who configures your account. Ask for the names of the people who will lead design, build any scripts and run data migration, and ask to meet them.

Then ask how much of their time you get. A consultant spread across six clients will be slow to answer when your month-end breaks. A good answer names people and gives a realistic commitment, such as days per week during build.

2. Have you done projects like ours?

"Yes, we've done lots of NetSuite implementations" isn't an answer. Ask about projects with the same shape as yours: the same number of entities, the same modules, the same systems to integrate, the same source system you're leaving.

If you're a UK group with overseas subsidiaries, ask about OneWorld, multi-currency and intercompany. If you're moving from Xero or Sage, ask how they handled opening balances and history. If you sell subscriptions, ask about revenue recognition. Then ask for a reference you can call, not just a logo. A short conversation with a finance director who has been through it tells you more than any proposal.

3. Can you verify your NetSuite certifications?

Oracle runs NetSuite certifications, including SuiteFoundation and the ERP Consultant exam. You don't have to take a badge on a website at face value. Oracle's certification portal, CertView, lets a candidate publish their credentials to a third party: you receive a link and a password by email, and they're only valid for a limited time (Oracle CertView FAQ). Oracle says it won't verify a certification for an employer without the candidate starting the request, so ask them to send it.

Treat certification as a floor, not proof. It shows someone has passed an exam. Questions 1 and 2 tell you whether they've delivered.

4. Do you understand our finance processes, or just the system?

NetSuite is an accounting system first. A consultant who knows every setting but not why a controller locks a period, how VAT is reported, or what IFRS 15 asks of revenue recognition will build something that works on screen and fails at month-end.

Ask them to walk you through how they would set up your close, or your approval for supplier bank detail changes. This is where my CIMA qualification earns its keep: on one project I helped take a monthly close from 12 days to 2.5 days, and the work was as much finance process as system configuration.

5. How do you build, test and document customisation?

Scripts and workflows are where long-term cost hides. Ask:

• Do you write new scripts in SuiteScript 2.1?
• Where is the code kept, and do we get a copy?
• What documentation do we receive at the end?
• How do you test before NetSuite's twice-yearly upgrades?

On the last point, Oracle provides a Release Preview account before each release so you can check that your existing business processes still work. A consultant who has never mentioned it is unlikely to plan for it. The same goes for integrations: ask how errors are logged, who is alerted and how failed records are retried. I've written about the choice of tool in native SuiteScript vs iPaaS.

6. How did you arrive at this estimate, and what's excluded?

A credible estimate shows days by workstream (design, configuration, data migration, integrations, testing, training and go-live support), with assumptions and exclusions written down. A single total with no breakdown can't be compared with anything.

Look hardest at the exclusions. A low fixed price with a long list of them is often how a cheap project becomes an expensive one. I cover what drives the number in NetSuite implementation cost in the UK.

7. How do you handle change and open decisions?

Scope will change. That's normal. What you want to know is how: who raises a change request, how it's priced, and who signs it off. Ask also how they keep design decisions from sitting open. In my experience, many troubled projects didn't fail on technology. They ran over because decisions waited weeks for an answer.

8. How will you access our NetSuite account?

Each consultant should have their own named login, with a role that gives them what they need and no more, and two-factor authentication. Shared logins wreck the audit trail and make it impossible to remove one person's access cleanly. Ask also what happens at the end: who removes their access, and how integration credentials are handed over.

9. What happens after go-live?

The first two or three month-ends usually need hands-on help. After that, someone has to fix issues, make small changes and test each release. Ask whether the consultant offers support, how fast they respond, and whether the person answering will know your account. A NetSuite support retainer is one option. Training an internal NetSuite administrator is another. Either way, agree it before go-live, not after the first problem.

10. Are the contract basics in place?

These are dull questions, but they protect you:

• The company. Check the business on Companies House. Know who you're contracting with.
• Insurance. Ask whether they hold professional indemnity insurance, and for what cover.
• Data protection. Your consultant will see customer, supplier and employee data. Expect clear data processing terms in the contract.
• IR35. If you're a medium or large business and you hire an individual who works through their own limited company, the off-payroll working rules make you responsible for deciding their employment status. HMRC's guidance says this has applied to private sector clients since 6 April 2021. Whether the rules apply to your engagement depends on the facts, so check with your accountant or tax adviser.

Red flags to watch for

• They propose a solution before asking about your processes.
• They can't name the people who'll do the work.
• Every requirement gets "yes, NetSuite does that", with no trade-offs.
• They have no references from a project of similar size and shape.
• They want to customise heavily where standard NetSuite would do.
• There's no plan for testing, training or support after go-live.

Partner, independent or both?

You can choose a NetSuite partner, an independent NetSuite consultancy, or a mix, such as a partner for licences and an independent consultant for design and delivery. Each has strengths. A larger firm offers more people and cover. An independent consultant usually means the senior person you met is the one doing the work. Ask all ten questions either way.

If you're planning a new project, my NetSuite implementation services cover requirements and design through to data migration, integrations and go-live. You can see how a multi-entity integration project ran in the Jockey Club case study. If you already have NetSuite and want an independent view of how well it's set up, a NetSuite health check is a sensible place to start.

Shortlisting NetSuite consultants? Book a call and put these ten questions to me. I'll answer them straight, including when I'm not the right fit.