NetSuite is a cloud-based ERP (enterprise resource planning) platform, owned by Oracle, that bundles accounting, inventory, order management, CRM, and e-commerce into one system. It’s aimed at mid-sized and growing businesses that have outgrown tools like QuickBooks but aren’t quite at the scale of a full-blown enterprise solution.
There is no question that NetSuite works well for many industries, but is it a good fit for interior design firms? Maybe, but here are the experiences two of our clients have had with NetSuite:
DesignSmart Client #1 – A West Coast residential design firm had been using QuickBooks to do their accounting, but they did their accounting in a non-standard way. Because of how they did their accounting, they told us they were going to move from our system to NetSuite, but it would take about a year to implement the new system, and they would continue using our system in the interim.
About fifteen months later, they reached out to tell us that they had changed their minds. After having spent over $100,000 in NetSuite license fees and implementation consultant fees (plus an undisclosed amount in legal fees to get out of their contract), they concluded that they would never get NetSuite to meet their needs, and they decided to stay with DesignSmart and QuickBooks.
DesignSmart Client #2 – A New York-based lighting firm had been using NetSuite for a couple of years when they came across DesignSmart. They had never liked NetSuite’s limitations and high costs, and are very pleased with the value of DesignSmart with QuickBooks Online. They will be implementing our inventory system later this year.
So, is there a better option for interior firms that have outgrown QuickBooks? We believe Sage Intacct is a good option and as of November, 2026 DesignSmart will be fully integrated with Intacct. For more information, please read this blog post.
