NetSuite reporting for CFOs
NetSuite keeps the books. finstory tells their story.
finstory turns your NetSuite close into reports the board can read and a story it remembers. Actual against budget, every line open to the detail, and the reason behind each variance, drafted with you in Claude.
- Connects to NetSuite directly
- Live within days
- Built to SOC 2 standards
| $K | Actual | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| 12,705 | +605 | |
| Vancouver Superstore | 3,940 | +305 |
| Seattle Downtown Flagship | 760 | +75 |
| Ellensburg | 668 | +41 |
| Yakima Valley | 642 | +37 |
| Richland Community Store | 704 | +35 |
| Olympia North Market | 240 | +35 |
| Tacoma Waterfront | 289 | +22 |
| Gresham Eastside | 678 | +17 |
| Anchorage Midtown | 260 | +16 |
| Beaverton Suburban | 312 | +13 |
| Kennewick Micro-Store | 26 | +1 |
| Mercer Island Boutique | 119 | −6 |
| Bend Flagship | 3,218 | −37 |
| Rest of the group | 851 | +51 |
| Online marketplaces | 2,610 | +171 |
| Corporate sales | 881 | +114 |
| In-store sales | 3,328 | +88 |
| Online direct web shop | 3,873 | +39 |
| Rest of the group | 2,013 | +194 |
| Cost of sales | (8,511) | −237 |
| 4,194 | +368 | |
| Vancouver Superstore | 1,863 | +165 |
| Seattle Downtown Flagship | 544 | +97 |
| Olympia North Market | 171 | +33 |
| Yakima Valley | 296 | +23 |
| Ellensburg | 278 | +23 |
| Anchorage Midtown | 186 | +21 |
| Tacoma Waterfront | 130 | +11 |
| Gresham Eastside | 272 | +7 |
| Richland Community Store | 287 | +5 |
| Beaverton Suburban | 128 | +2 |
| Kennewick Micro-Store | 13 | 0 |
| Mercer Island Boutique | −13 | −5 |
| Bend Flagship | 895 | −59 |
| Rest of the group | −857 | +45 |
| Online marketplaces | 849 | +95 |
| Corporate sales | 366 | +62 |
| In-store sales | 1,011 | +13 |
| Online direct web shop | 1,032 | −23 |
| Rest of the group | 936 | +221 |
| Gross margin | 33.0% | +1.4 pts |
| (2,870) | −14 | |
| Occupancy | (1,014) | +20 |
| IT & Software | (118) | +7 |
| Marketing & Advertising | (292) | +5 |
| Other operating expense | (32) | +1 |
| Professional Services | (127) | −6 |
| Personnel | (1,287) | −41 |
| EBITDA | 1,324 | +354 |
| EBITDA margin | 10.4% | +2.4 pts |
Where NetSuite reporting gets hard
NetSuite records every transaction. Your board reads a story.
NetSuite is a superb system of record. Reporting to a board is a different job, and it is where many finance teams lose their week.
“I can't find the data I need.”
NetSuite is built around records and transactions, exactly as an ERP should be. Your board thinks in P&L lines, KPIs and business units.
With finstoryYour P&L lines, KPIs and structures, set up with you at onboarding. Anyone in finance can ask for a new cut.
“Which tool do I even use?”
Saved searches, workbooks, the Financial Report Builder: each is great at its own job. The powerful ones speak joins and SQL formulas, so new reports land on a specialist's desk.
With finstoryAsk for the report in plain English. finstory builds it on governed data and keeps it current with every sync.
“The board wants the why.”
Workbooks and dashboards show what happened. The board wants to know why, in one story, with the commentary right next to the numbers.
With finstoryTables, charts and commentary on one page. Claude drafts the story; you add what only you know.
“Now show me that by channel.”
NetSuite drills down from a number to the transactions behind it, which is perfect for the audit trail. A board conversation jumps from region to channel to store, and wants the answer in the room.
With finstoryOpen any line one level at a time, by store, entity or channel, just like the report above.
“Actuals are only half the story.”
NetSuite's budgets hold an amount per account and period. The forecast, the scenarios and the latest version often live elsewhere, in a planning tool or a spreadsheet.
With finstoryActuals, budgets and forecasts in one governed model, from NetSuite or from a spreadsheet.
“The board doesn't have a login.”
Every NetSuite login is a licence, and board members don't live in your ERP. So the numbers travel by email, and every attachment is a copy that ages.
With finstorySend the board a secure link that shows who read which page, or export to PowerPoint.
The board story
Numbers and narrative, on one page.
Your NetSuite close as a board narrative: every page pairs the headline with the figures behind it and the reason they moved. Drafted in Claude, checked by you.
Sales and Margin Rate Split the $354K Beat.
Higher sales added $191K: $605K more revenue at the budgeted 31.6% margin. The richer 33.0% margin added $176K, and opex ran $14K over plan.
Net result: the beat came from gross profit, not from cost cuts.
EBITDA
$1.32M +$354K vs budget
Annotations
Higher sales
$605K of extra revenue at the budgeted 31.6% margin. Vancouver Superstore alone was $305K over budget.
Margin rate
33.0% against 31.6% budgeted. Marketplaces (+$95K gross profit) and corporate sales (+$62K) led; the direct web shop was $23K short.
Opex on plan
Operating expenses landed $14K (0.5%) over budget, so the beat came from gross profit.
Top locations · revenue
Revenue by month
| Jan | $10.29M |
|---|---|
| Feb | $9.00M |
| Mar | $11.49M |
| Apr | $12.21M |
| May | $12.70M |
How it works
From NetSuite records to the board story.
finstory connects to NetSuite, organises the numbers the way finance thinks and keeps actuals, budget and forecast together. Every figure traces back to the ledger.
In NetSuite
For your board
- Records and transactionsP&L lines and KPIs your board knows
- Subsidiaries, departments, classes and locationsYour structures, opened level by level
- Saved searches and report layoutsGoverned reports that refresh with every sync
- Budgets in NetSuite or in spreadsheetsActual, budget and forecast side by side
- The story, with commentary next to the numbers
- A secure link, or PowerPoint
- Answers in Claude, in a minute
Month-end
Same close. A different week.
The close still takes the days it takes. What changes is everything after it.
Today
- Run the saved searches and reports
- Export to Excel and rebuild the pivots
- Paste the numbers into the board deck
- Chase the reason behind each variance
- Write the commentary at midnight
- Email the deck, then the corrected deck
With finstory
- NetSuite syncs overnight, or on demand within minutes
- finstory checks the load and flags what looks odd
- Ask Claude: “How did the month go?”
- Review the drafted story and add what only you know
- Share a secure link, or export to PowerPoint
Questions about NetSuite reporting
Does finstory replace NetSuite's reports?
No. Keep using saved searches and NetSuite's financial reports for day-to-day work. finstory takes your NetSuite data and turns it into the monthly management and board story.
Can AI write the board narrative from our NetSuite numbers?
Yes. finstory drafts the narrative page by page from governed reports on your NetSuite data: the headline, the commentary and the reason behind each variance. The AI quotes the figures, never calculates them, and asks you when the ledger can't explain a move. See how it compares with other board reporting AI tools.
How does finstory connect to NetSuite?
Directly. Actuals sync on a schedule, overnight for example, or on demand within minutes. Budgets and forecasts come from NetSuite or from a spreadsheet. We set up the connection with you on the onboarding call.
Do board members need a NetSuite login?
No. They read the story through a secure link you send them, or in PowerPoint.
How long until our first story?
Most teams are live within two to three business days of the onboarding call. The call takes 60 to 90 minutes: we connect NetSuite, set up your first reports and walk your team through the first story.
Can the AI make up numbers?
No. Every figure comes from a governed report on your data, with an audit trail back to the source. The AI sets up the reports and quotes them; it never calculates a number itself. When the data can't explain a move, it asks you.
Do we need Claude?
No. Reports, stories and publishing work in finstory on their own. Claude adds the intelligence and automation, on your own Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise). finstory works inside Claude through the finstory connector; other AI assistants that support custom connectors can connect too.
Does finstory do planning or consolidation?
No. Keep building your budget and forecasts, and running your consolidation, where you do today. finstory turns your close, budget and forecast into the board story.
Is our financial data safe?
Built to SOC 2 standards. finstory is hosted on Google Cloud and encrypted in transit and at rest, and your data is never used for marketing or demos. The details are on our security page.
Early bird
Start with your next close.
One plan with everything included, at an early-bird price that stays locked for as long as you subscribe. Or book 30 minutes and walk through your own NetSuite setup first.
30 minutes with a founder
finstory
Billed monthly. Cancel any time.
Billed annually at $9,600. Save $2,400 a year.
Secure checkout by Stripe. Your price stays locked for as long as you subscribe.
Everything included
- NetSuite connected directly, and Excel uploads for everything else
- Up to 25 users, 2.5M records and 5 data models
- Actuals, budgets and forecasts in one governed model
- Board stories with headlines, commentary and notes pinned to the figures
- Reports and dashboards: P&L, variance, bridges and KPIs
- finstory in Claude: questions, reports and board stories, plus data loading for admins and power users
- Secure publishing with reader insights, and PowerPoint export
- Personal onboarding and a direct line to our team