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Case Study
Australian Ethical builds its finance platform for growth with NetSuite
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At a Glance
- Superannuation
- Managed funds
- Ethical investment
- ASX listed
Australian Ethical is an ASX-listed fund manager and superannuation provider built around ethical investing. It favours companies it expects to prosper in a lower-carbon and fairer future, in sectors such as renewable energy, healthcare and education, and restricts investment in fossil fuels, gambling and tobacco.
Ethical investment and superannuation
Sydney, Australia
ASX-listed company (ASX: AEF)
NetSuite ERP, implemented by DWR
Key Results
Hours
Saved at every month-end close
Was: manual work at every close
Automated
Payables, fixed assets, prepayments and expense claims
Was: manual, error-prone processing
Full audit trail
Every step logged, from system access to general ledger postings
Was: manual administration and checks
The Challenge
Growth that needed a stronger platform
- Rapid growth
- Payables and expense claims handled by hand
- Repetitive journal entries every month
- Systems review: FIT 4 GROWTH
Australian Ethical was growing quickly, and its leadership saw that business systems would decide how far that growth could go. Much of the finance work still ran by hand. Payables, fixed assets, prepayments and employee expense claims moved through manual steps, and the same journal entries were keyed in every month.
The company launched an internal project, FIT 4 GROWTH, to review what its systems could do and find a technology framework that would support faster growth. It wanted cloud-based, mobile-native tools that would last in a fast-moving technology environment. To see how NetSuite could deliver that, Australian Ethical invited DWR into its RFP process.
The scale behind the project
$6 billion
At the time of the project, Australian Ethical's 80+ staff managed more than $6 billion for more than 70,000 investors and superannuation members.
The Solution
One platform built for the next stage
During the RFP, DWR showed how NetSuite could consolidate Australian Ethical's financial and operational data. Once selected, DWR implemented and configured NetSuite as the company's cloud finance platform, with group consolidation and live, role-based dashboards that put report snapshots, KPIs, alerts and reminders in front of each user.
NetSuite ERP implementation
With the platform in place, attention turned to the manual work in finance. DWR set up automated process flows for payables, fixed assets, prepayments, employee expense claims and approvals, and used memorised transactions for recurring journals. Employees gained secure self-service for their own HR details. Role-based access separated duties, and NetSuite's open API gave the company a way to bring data from other systems into one source of truth.
| COMPONENT | WHAT DWR DELIVERED |
|---|---|
| Automated process flows | Payables, fixed assets, prepayments, expense claims and approvals |
| Group consolidation | Consolidated reporting across the group |
| Role-based dashboards | Live KPIs, report snapshots, alerts and reminders |
| Controls | Role-based access, separation of duties and audit logs |
| Open API | A path to connect external systems to NetSuite |
The Impact
Less time on the close, more room to grow
Hours came off every month-end close once automation and group consolidation took over the routine work. Memorised transactions removed repetitive journal entries, and tighter payables controls with exception reports cut down manual, error-prone administration.
Longer term, Australian Ethical gained a platform built to grow with it. NetSuite's open API meant the company could add purpose-built tools over time and keep building a single source of truth for its critical business data.
| FUNCTION | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Month-end close | Hours of manual work | → Hours saved at every close |
| Recurring journals | Keyed in by hand | → Memorised and automated |
| Payables and expenses | Manual, error-prone | → Automated flows and exception reports |
In Their Words
With our NetSuite ERP solution delivered by DWR, we've gained a tighter control environment with role-based access for separation of duties, automated process flows for accounts payables, fixed assets, prepayments, and approvals, and audit logs of everything from system access to general ledger entries, approvals, and postings.
Head of Finance, Australian Ethical
DWR came highly recommended, and we are very happy we made the decision to partner with them. They really are the subject matter experts when it comes to NetSuite implementation, configuration, and performance.
Head of Finance, Australian Ethical
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What could NetSuite do for your business?
What could NetSuite do for your business? Sydney and Melbourne teams who understand Australian compliance and mid-market operations. This consultation covers the NetSuite OneWorld implementation, the same day result above. TaskDrive, the AI layer, is a separate product evaluated at taskdrive.ai.
No obligation. Straight answers.
Results described are specific to this customer and depend on their starting systems, data quality, implementation scope, and ongoing use of the platform. Individual results vary by organisation. TaskDrive is an independent product and company, separate from DWR.
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