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Case Study
Bluestone Home Loans moves its UK history home with DWR
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At a Glance
- Non-bank lending
- Home loans
- Mortgage brokers
- NetSuite optimisation
Bluestone Home Loans is an Australian specialist non-bank lender. It writes home loans for borrowers whose circumstances fall outside standard bank criteria, and it works through mortgage brokers.
Specialist home lending
Sydney, Australia
Multi-entity lender
NetSuite review and data migration, delivered by DWR
Key Results
500%
Growth target over 5 years that NetSuite had to support
Was: a system set up in a hurry
3 phases
UK history moved into a local NetSuite instance
Was: records held in the former parent's instance
Full review
Every functional area checked against NetSuite leading practice
Was: finance stepping in to keep things running
The Challenge
A system built in a hurry
- Rushed 2018 go-live
- Finance propping up operations
- Approvals tied to suppliers
- Historical data in a UK instance
In February 2018, Bluestone's UK parent sold its Australian and New Zealand business to Cerberus Capital Management. NetSuite went live around April that year, set up at speed so the newly separated business could keep operating. It worked, but only just. Finance staff stepped into operational areas to keep the system usable, and with few posting controls in place, entries were checked and reconciled again and again.
Bluestone planned to grow the business 500% over the next 5 years, and the system as it stood would not carry that. Its historical transactions also still sat in the former parent's NetSuite instance in the UK, where access could not be relied on. Bluestone needed an honest view of what its NetSuite could become, and a safe home for its history. DWR was asked to deliver both.
DWR's verdict
Barely a pass grade
DWR's review found NetSuite was operational but well short of what Bluestone had paid for. Licensed features such as bank reconciliation, intercompany, fixed assets and budgets were only partly set up or not used at all.
The Solution
A clear view, then a safe home for the data
A short review came first. DWR ran sessions with key users and stakeholders to understand how each process had been set up, and found a single segment carrying every reporting need, Locations used to track project tasks, purchase approvals tied to individual suppliers, and supplier payments run as one large EFT batch that was hard to manage and reconciled by hand. DWR set out a phased plan to bring each area back to NetSuite leading practice, starting with reporting and a full review of integration with BOSS, Bluestone's core banking system.
NetSuite review and data migration
Securing the historical data ran in 3 phases. First, DWR exported all transactional data from the UK instance to CSV files, reconciled by transaction counts, as a safeguard in case access was lost. A new NetSuite instance was then set up under local control. Finally, general ledger balances, transaction details and supporting files were migrated, with each load tested and reconciled in a sandbox before it moved into the live instance.
| COMPONENT | WHAT DWR DELIVERED |
|---|---|
| NetSuite review | Gaps across structure, controls, integration and core features |
| Recommendations | Advanced Approvals, EFT batch payments, posting controls, budgets and project tracking for Capex |
| Rapid data backup | All UK transactional data saved to CSV and reconciled |
| Local NetSuite instance | A new instance to hold the UK history |
| Full migration | General ledger balances, transaction details and supporting files, tested in a sandbox |
The Impact
History secured, a plan to grow on
Bluestone's UK history left the former parent's system for a NetSuite instance under local control, where local users could reach the transaction records they needed.
Just as important, patching stopped being the plan. Bluestone came away with a prioritised path to bring NetSuite back to leading practice, built around the growth it was aiming for.
| FUNCTION | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Historical UK data | Held in the former parent's instance | → Migrated to a local NetSuite instance |
| Data safety | Exposed if UK access was lost | → Backed up to CSV, then fully migrated |
| NetSuite direction | Patched to keep running | → A prioritised plan back to leading practice |
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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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