Why NetSuite Planning & Budgeting Should be Looked at First as a Primary Solution for CPG Manufacturers

Financial forecasting and performance planning in the CPG food sector require agility, accuracy, and visibility — especially when managing complex costing structures, fluctuating raw material prices, and tight margins. NetSuite Planning and Budgeting (often shorted to just "NetSutie Planning") delivers an integrated platform that streamlines these processes and brings strategic clarity. Though there are a lot of other 3rd party tools out there (i.e. Jirav, Cube, DataRails) - the Planning & Budgeting feature of NetSuite should probably be your first place to evaluate to see if it meets the core needs of the business can be met. It is built on Oracle’s Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Cloud platform, specifically derived from Oracle Hyperion Planning, which has long been a leading solution for budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning many of us have used and prefer over the years.

Regardless of the platform or advertisements - forecasting and budgeting is never easy and requires a lot of inputs from various groups (which makes using something easy like Excel nearly impossible). Budgeting in CPG at a larger scale (+$10MM-$20MM) often takes multiple rounds (often 3 rounds of increasing detail starting with high-level assumptions) - to align dependent assumptions (i.e. the cost of a product is dependent on the amount of sales and corresponding allocation of fixed costs). NetSuite Planning comes with predefined templates - helpful for deploying quickly and to the appropriate teams.

Key NetSuite Planning and Budget Features That Matter in CPG

Some of the standout capabilities include:

✅ Driver-Based Forecasting

• Build revenue and cost forecasts tied to operational drivers such as units sold, ingredient yields, production capacity, or distribution volumes.
• Supports top-down and bottom-up forecasting models (rounds may progressively increase in detail, or the initial budgeting process might fully be completed by finance with very high level assumptions).

✅ Full P&L Forecasting and Budgeting

• Forecast full profit and loss statements down to gross margin and net income.
• Integrate detailed assumptions on COGS, freight, labor, and overheads — essential for understanding product line profitability.
• Forecasting can be done at SKU, region, channel, or customer levels, depending on your data hierarchy.

✅ Actuals vs. Forecast Reporting

• Seamlessly compare forecasted financials against actuals imported directly from NetSuite ERP.
• Variance analysis tools help isolate deviations and drill down into root causes (e.g., higher ingredient costs or lower order volumes).
• Custom dashboards and exception reporting support real-time performance monitoring.

✅ Integrated Sales Forecasting

• Sales teams can contribute pipeline data directly into Planning for more accurate revenue projections.
• Connects to CRM and sales order data, enabling rolling forecasts that adjust in real time as new information becomes available (*though difficult in CPG vs SaaS where ARR is not as relevant and CPG customers may load up on production initially)

✅ Operational and Supply Chain Forecasting

• Forecast demand by product category or seasonality trends.
• Model procurement plans, production cycles, and inventory needs — ideal for batch manufacturers managing shelf-life constraints.
• Plan for labor, shifts, and machine utilization to align with sales and production forecasts.

✅ Scenario Modeling

• Model different “what-if” scenarios (e.g., commodity price swings, promotional lifts, supply chain delays).
• Evaluate how shifts in sales volume, pricing, or cost inputs impact your margins and cash flow.

✅ Workflow, Approvals, and Collaboration

• Built-in workflow supports decentralized input from finance, operations, and sales teams, ensuring accountability and visibility.
• Version control and audit trails keep your plans organized and compliant.

Built for Strategic Decisions, Not Just Budgets

What sets NetSuite Planning apart is that it doesn't just focus on a static budgeting process — it transforms forecasting into a strategic tool. For a CPG food manufacturer where margins are always tight, demand and drivers fluctuate, and production costs vary, Planning helps answer critical questions like:

• Are we on track to hit margin targets this quarter?
• Which products or channels are underperforming vs. plan?
• How will a 10% rise in packaging costs affect our net profit?
• What sales lift is needed from a Q4 promotion to break even?

Conclusion

NetSuite Planning & Budgeting gives CPG manufacturers a unified, cloud-based environment to plan, forecast, and adapt. Whether you're producing private-label snacks, organic sauces, or refrigerated meals, the system brings financial clarity across departments — from the production floor to the boardroom.

With robust P&L modeling, operational forecasting, and real-time comparisons to actuals, it's not just a planning tool — it can be a competitive advantage. Your company is far more likely to find others with PB/Hyperion experience, than more nice FP&A planning tools. The customization to your industry, the implementation training tools/support resources in place, and the later use for the forecast outputs (such as MRP/sourcing ingredients) is such that implementing this native NetSuite module should be strongly considered first before going to outside options (Tableau, Anaplan, etc.)

Matt Carrington