NetSuite-HubSpot integration: 4 methods compared

When NetSuite and HubSpot work in isolation, business teams face data silos, outdated information, and disconnected workflows. Sales teams may quote inaccurate prices because they don’t know marketing is running a temporary discount promotion. Marketing teams may struggle to connect campaigns to the revenue they generate. Meanwhile, finance teams can end up presenting reports that miss critical updates, such as a sales surge driven by a campaign launched earlier that day.

A NetSuite-HubSpot integration breaks down these data silos and provides near real-time and scheduled syncing across platforms.

Learn how to streamline your lead-to-cash lifecycle by connecting these systems effectively. Compare integration methods to find the right approach for your business needs, and discover how to enable bi-directional syncing between HubSpot CRM and your back-office systems.

What does a NetSuite-HubSpot integration mean for unified data?

NetSuite manages back-office business operations like financials, inventory, billing, and multi-subsidiary accounting. Meanwhile, HubSpot handles front-office activity like CRM and automation.

When sales teams use HubSpot and NetSuite separately, it may create data silos. Through HubSpot integration with NetSuite, all teams can work from a single source of truth with everything from sales and financials to customer data.

What data can NetSuite and HubSpot unify?

Reliable data movement (e.g., through HubSpot to NetSuite integration) reduces manual work for sales teams. A 2022 survey from Fivetran found that 85% of ERP professionals blamed stale data for poor business decisions and outcomes.

One of the first steps in connecting the two systems is to identify which data you plan to sync across the platforms. Here are some of the objects you might choose to share between the systems:

• Contacts and customers: Sync contacts for shared visibility across teams into customer engagement and marketing promotion history.
• Companies and accounts: Map HubSpot companies to corresponding NetSuite customer records to create a centralized data system for business operations.
• Deals and sales orders: Automate the creation of NetSuite sales orders directly from HubSpot deals to streamline fulfillment.
• Invoices and payments: Sync invoices, and use custom integrations to send detailed payment history and credit balances to HubSpot.
• Products and inventory: Sync product and inventory data where supported by your integration method to avoid quoting prices for unavailable items.
• NetSuite subsidiary information: Share subsidiary information between the two programs, so that sales records are automatically associated with the correct subsidiary. 
• Quotes and estimates: Use an iPaaS or custom integrations to push NetSuite quotes to HubSpot so that account managers can view active pricing and expiration dates without leaving the HubSpot CRM.

Key benefits of unified data

When you establish a bi-directional NetSuite ERP integration with your HubSpot CRM, you gain the following:

• Better cash flow: Automate the creation of NetSuite sales orders from HubSpot deals to speed up fulfillment and cash flow.
• Data integrity: Sync contacts and company records across systems, merging related records to avoid duplications.
• Marketing attribution: Track which inbound campaigns drive the bottom line by linking promotions to actual revenue in the ERP, which also helps marketing verify ROI with hard financial data.
• Forecasting precision: Gain near-real-time visibility into current business operations and performance to make decisions based on accurate data.

For IT leaders, these tools provide the additional benefit of reducing maintenance.

4 methods for integrating NetSuite and HubSpot

To choose an integration method, consider your business needs and the specific use cases you have in mind. Each approach comes with different tradeoffs in terms of setup complexity, cost, flexibility, and maintenance.

Native HubSpot NetSuite integration

HubSpot supports NetSuite integrations through marketplace apps and third-party connectors that use APIs and middleware to sync data between the platforms. These solutions can be relatively quick to set up, but pricing and availability vary depending on the integration provider and your HubSpot subscription level.

Like any integration, issues can occur due to API limitations, configuration challenges, or incorrect data mappings. Before implementation, define which records you need to sync and how data should flow between systems.

Here’s a general overview of the setup process:

1. In HubSpot, open the marketplace, search for a NetSuite integration app, and begin the installation process.
2. In NetSuite, enable the required features under Setup → Company → Enable Features, including relevant SuiteCloud and web services capabilities.
3. Install and configure the required NetSuite bundle or connector components.
4. Assign the appropriate NetSuite roles and permissions for users or integration accounts.
5. Configure authentication settings, such as token-based authentication, and collect the required NetSuite account credentials.
6. Enter the required credentials in HubSpot to connect the two platforms.

Always refer to the current documentation for your specific integration provider, as setup steps and menu names may change over time.

iPaaS connectors 

You can use iPaaS tools like Celigo, Workato, and Boomi for a NetSuite CRM integration that automates complex workflows across external systems, including Shopify. They provide a visual interface to link customer touchpoints and update records at near real-time speeds. The main benefits include support for bi-directional sync for custom objects and flexible automation for inbound leads. However, this has substantial subscription costs, and teams need technical expertise and a steep learning curve to master the platform.

Here are some general steps for how to use Workato, for example, according to the brand:

1. Set up a Workato account.
2. Create an integration recipe by navigating to the recipes section in the left-hand menu.
3. Use the “Create a new connection” option to connect your HubSpot account.
4. Edit the actions your recipe performs by adding the NetSuite app and following the on-screen steps to link it with HubSpot.

ELT/data pipeline tools (like Fivetran)

ELT tools automate data import into a warehouse, which helps you eliminate data silos. This setup centralizes HubSpot CRM and NetSuite ERP data for cross-functional analytics and reduces data development pipeline time. Managed schema drift and reliable data for dashboards are two of the main benefits. 

However, while Fivetran offers a free plan and open source versions exist, most ELT setups require a warehouse subscription. Additionally, though Fivetran includes reverse ETL, most systems are optimized for one-way ingestion. 

Here’s how to implement this system:

1. Add your ERP via the NetSuite connector.
2. Enable automated sync.
3. Transform data using dbt.
4. Reverse ETL to push financial insights back to prospects in the CRM.

Custom API integration

Custom API may make sense for your department if you have complex business needs, niche use cases (e.g., subsidiary-level routing rules or handling custom records), and a technically advanced team. This method uses NetSuite APIs to build a connection that specifically meets your needs. 

Top benefits include greater flexibility and control through custom API development and full control over multi-subsidiary fulfillment. But, it requires significant technical expertise and more maintenance for reliability and compliance. Additionally, it may take multiple weeks to build.

Exact actions vary for custom solutions, but here are some steps you may find in a typical NetSuite HubSpot integration tutorial:

1. Map every HubSpot object to a NetSuite equivalent.
2. Build the connection against the REST API (not SOAP).
3. Perform UAT to ensure engagement history flows accurately.
4. Deploy with active monitoring for fulfillment errors.

Best practices for a successful NetSuite and HubSpot integration

Keep the following in mind to avoid issues when integrating NetSuite and HubSpot:

• Plan ahead: Decide whether your ERP or HubSpot CRM should own specific records before building to avoid endless overwrites.
• Use a dedicated integration user: Instead of using a personal log-in for integrations, create a new account and assign a specific role in NetSuite to keep all automation changes auditable.
• Establish deduplication rules: Use unique identifiers to prevent duplicate records before activating a bi-directional sync.
• Test before launch: Validate field mappings before release to catch break points and prevent system failures that could disrupt operations.
• Document sync logic and governance rules: Consult documentation to understand how data flows and resolve discrepancies.

Achieve truly unified data with Fivetran for NetSuite and HubSpot

HubSpot integration projects often start with simple bi-directional syncs but hit a ceiling as use cases change and operations scale. Point-to-point data integration tools sync data between HubSpot and NetSuite, but aren’t equipped for advanced reporting. While syncing records between the two programs keeps data updated, RevOps and finance teams often need additional capabilities for reporting.

Fivetran helps by automating reliable data replication from both HubSpot and NetSuite SuiteAnalytics into a warehouse, while enabling enriched data to flow back via Reverse ETL. This level of integration provides full visibility for collaborating teams. For example, sales reps can see the payments tracked by the finance team without leaving the HubSpot CRM.

Among other ETL solutions on the market, Fivetran includes standout features. These include the combined offering of fully managed connectors, pre-built dbt models, automated API and schema change handling, and optimization for AI data integration.

Explore Fivetran’s connectors for HubSpot and NetSuite SuiteAnalytics to start unifying your data.

FAQ

How can an iPaaS connector move NetSuite estimates into HubSpot?

An iPaaS interface uses APIs to link systems. It maps NetSuite estimate records to corresponding HubSpot CRM objects.

Which APIs do developers commonly use for a custom NetSuite HubSpot integration?

Custom ERP integration builds typically use NetSuite SuiteTalk REST Web Services.

‍

[CTA_MODULE]