As life sciences companies grow from early-stage research to commercialization, vendor onboarding becomes increasingly complex. Manual processes that seem manageable during startup can quickly create delays, compliance risks, and finance bottlenecks as operations scale.
Vendor onboarding for life sciences is a perfect example. Getting the onboarding process right from the beginning can save organizations significant time and trouble down the road.
Life sciences organizations tend to invest heavily in accelerating research, scaling manufacturing, and preparing for commercialization. But while their attention is focused on scientific and operational milestones, their onboarding systems may be stuck in the past—still dependent on outmoded tools and processes like email chains, spreadsheets, and manual ERP data entry.
Many companies are willing to accept the small delays that come with time-consuming manual processes early in their development.
But growth changes the equation.
As organizations add contract research organizations (CROs), contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs), laboratories, logistics providers, consultants, and specialized suppliers, the time spent onboarding vendors increases dramatically. Processes that once took minutes begin consuming hours, while small data errors create larger downstream problems throughout the organization.
Investing in a modern vendor onboarding process early helps life sciences companies build a financial foundation that can support long-term growth.
How manual vendor onboarding creates bigger problems over time
Onboarding new vendors generally starts with collecting detailed information and entering it into the system, including:
- Tax documentation
- Banking information
- Compliance documents
- Payment preferences
When this information is collected manually, finance teams spend valuable time emailing vendors, reviewing forms, entering data into the ERP, and correcting errors.
Even organizations that use vendor portals often experience friction. Vendors may abandon the process, submit incomplete information, or require multiple rounds of follow-up before onboarding is complete.
Those small delays rarely stay contained.
An incorrect bank account can delay payments. Missing tax forms can prevent vendor approval. Incomplete records can hold invoices, slow approvals, delay month-end close, and increase audit risk.
What begins as a vendor setup issue quickly becomes a finance operations issue with implications for financial reporting and audit readiness.
Life sciences vendor onboarding is more than an AP task
Accurate vendor records support purchasing, compliance, treasury, procurement, accounting, and financial reporting. As life sciences organizations grow, finance leaders need confidence that vendor data is accurate, complete, and consistently managed across the business.
This becomes even more important as companies prepare for commercialization or expand into multiple entities and regions where banking requirements, tax regulations, and compliance obligations become increasingly complex.
It’s a little like the old proverb: for want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost — and so on down the line until the rider and the message get lost as well.
When it comes to vendor onboarding, incomplete or incorrect data can be the missing nail that throws orderly processes into chaos, and ultimately slows down the company’s progress.
A scalable onboarding process helps maintain strong internal controls while reducing manual effort and improving data quality across the organization.
Growth changes the equation
Organizations at different stages of the life cycle tend to have different pain points, as the friction caused by manual processes manifests in different ways.
- Emerging biotech companies tend to find that their biggest pain point is time, because they’re working with smaller and leaner finance teams, for whom time is the biggest constraint. Any extra time they must spend chasing down payment details and correcting errors winds up being stolen from more important tasks.
- Commercial-stage organizations, on the other hand, begin to struggle with volume as their major pain point. Taking on more vendors means more invoices to process, with more approvals needed.
- Global and multi-entity companies face scalability pain points, as their growth leads them to work with multiple subsidiaries in countries that have different banking requirements and varying compliance obligations.
What modern vendor onboarding looks like
The good news is that all these problems can be addressed by improving the onboarding process. The earlier you do it, the more it pays off over the long run. A thoughtfully designed, modern approach to onboarding vendors can help take the pain out of the process at each level of growth.
Here’s what a better onboarding system looks like in practice:
- Makes it easier for vendors to submit information
- Validates information before it reaches ERP records
- Keeps ERP as the system of record
- Reduces manual re-entry
- Supports configurable workflows for different business needs
A great example of what this looks like in practice is Sikich’s NetSuite implementation for life sciences organizations.
Sikich can help your organization put in place a vendor management process that takes place seamlessly within NetSuite. It’s designed to maximize vendor responsiveness by making it as easy as possible for vendors to submit their information in a way that’s controlled, validated, and flows directly into NetSuite.
It’s important that this solution is fully customizable too, for different types of businesses in different industries. Customers can request fields be added to the vendor submission form that are specific to their needs and requirements, tailored to different subsidiaries and geographic regions.
The benefits of a fully automated vendor onboarding process with Charted Advanced Vendor Onboarding
It can be hard to imagine what a fully automated vendor onboarding process looks like, or how much time can be saved by implementing one.
Charted Advanced Vendor Onboarding solves the entire manual process of vendor onboarding by creating an automated vendor intake process to deliver vendor information directly into your NetSuite instance. With one single click, new vendors receive an email to complete a secure form, which can be customized to deliver the exact vendor information needed, and with data validation in place, errors are caught before they enter NetSuite.
Eliminating vendor setup delays ensures your vendors can be paid as soon as their information is delivered, without third-party portals. Improve your vendor data while simultaneously keep your data entirely in NetSuite where it belongs.
The efficiency gains from a solution like Charted Vendor Onboarding can be significant when it comes to tax season; 1099 eligibility status, W-9s, and tax IDs can be collected when vendors are initially onboarded, saving untold hours during tax season.
Better adoption starts with simplicity
One of the most powerful benefits of removing friction from onboarding is that it boosts adoption. After all, the best onboarding process is the one that vendors are actually willing to complete.
Taking the hassle out of the system by smoothing out the wrinkles makes it more appealing and rewarding for both vendors and internal team members. The result is a win-win, where you improve participation while maintaining both security and control.
A healthy start leads to healthier growth
Life sciences companies can grow and scale more successfully by thinking ahead. To accomplish that, every operational process needs to become more repeatable, more secure, and easier to manage.
Vendor onboarding is one of the earliest and most overlooked opportunities to strengthen financial processes before inefficiencies start affecting the broader business. The result is a streamlined operation with less wind resistance, so you can travel further and faster toward your goals.
Sikich can help you tap into the full capabilities of your enterprise systems and software. Get in touch with us to find out more.
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