Rapid growth and a desire to drive efficiency and data-driven decision making led global research organisation, Accelagen, to select NetSuite as their ideal Enterprise Resource Planning solution. 

Accelagen engaged RSM’s specialist NetSuite team to plan and manage the deployment which has since enabled greater oversight, faster reporting, improved resource utilisation, and much more

Disparate tools were no longer serving Accelagen’s growing needs     
Accelagen is a leading contract research organisation that supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to bring their treatments to market.      
Headquartered in Melbourne with a presence across Australia, Accelagen has experienced rapid growth since its inception in 2010. Its global client base depends on Accelagen’s expertise in regulatory affairs and clinical research services, with all clients treated as partners in a collaborative approach to achieve their objectives. 

For years, Accelagen had relied on an assortment of software and applications to manage operations. The siloed nature of these tools was hindering Accelagen’s leadership team from operating as efficiently as they aspired to be, and made it impossible to achieve a single source of truth from which to make informed decisions. Multi-entity consolidation, resource planning, and timely reporting were also affected. 

Kylie Lord, CFO at Accelagen, says “We began looking for a system that would better support the size and complexity of the business. Ideally, we wanted a solution that would provide better analysis and more in-depth processes and workflows.      
“We also liked that consolidation would allow us to retire many of the different tools we had been using, and that we could leverage automation to boost efficiency and productivity.”

A complete business solution and successful deployment

After deciding to implement Oracle NetSuite, a world leading Enterprise Resource Planning solution, Accelagen’s leadership team sought proposals from multiple vendors for implementation.

“We were drawn to RSM’s experience – both in NetSuite and holistically in business and accounting. We had confidence in their ability to provide technical, business and finance expertise in one.  

“We also liked that they had an extensive pool of resources we could draw on as needed to support our transformation journey.”

RSM’s specialist NetSuite team worked closely with Kylie and her team as they set out to deploy NetSuite’s:

• SuiteSuccess (Services Edition) including Projects, 
• Resources and Job CostingOneWorld for multinational organisations
• Advanced financials
• Payroll and employee self service

Collectively, these provide Accelagen with a complete business solution – as well as the option to add NetSuite CRM at a later stage if they wish.  

Brynt Moggach, NetSuite Sales Director from RSM, says “Out-of-the-box, NetSuite provided the exact features Accelagen required; managing jobs as projects, control over project lifecycle, budget vs. spend analysis, multi-entity consolidation, and ease of reporting. It was a natural fit for the Accelagen business.”

Kylie says the planning and implementation processes were smoother than expected, particularly due to RSM’s proactive and considered approach. 

“RSM was excellent in setting clear expectations and maintaining communication. They didn’t sell impossible deadlines, but worked logically and comprehensively to ensure we achieved the deadlines we were aiming for.”

Faster reporting, enhanced resource utilisation, and so much more

With NetSuite now fully deployed across all of Accelagen’s divisions, teams can benefit from its vast range of features such as project creation, tracking, resourcing and invoicing.    
The consolidation of this data into a single system also means Accelagen’s leadership team has a single pane of glass through which to gain a 360 degree view of everything happening across the business.     
Additional benefits include:

• precise tracking of actual time vs budget per resource
• improved resource allocation and forecasting availability
• automated resource utilisation calculations to improve efficiency
• simplified project invoicing with minimal chance of human error    
   

“It has been a great success,” says Kylie. “NetSuite is a tool that empowers you to learn your own business better. RSM has helped us navigate through this process and ensured the platform works in a way that best suits our company and goals. 

“Excitingly, we also now have a single source of truth which collates different perspectives and allows us to collaborate more effectively. In the near future, we look forward to leveraging automation a lot more so we can further improve efficiency across the board.”

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with the team at Accelagen, who rapidly adopted NetSuite and worked closely with the deployment team to realise the many benefits of the solution. RSM is proud to be working with Accelagen, and we look forward to many years of mutual benefit between our companies.”   
Brynt Moggach, NetSuite Sales Director at RSM Australia   

For more information about NetSuite at RSM, please reach out here.