About the client
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals
PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary diseases. The company's pipeline includes bentracimab (PB2452), a novel reversal agent for the antiplatelet therapy ticagrelor; pemziviptadil (PB1046), a once-weekly VIP receptor agonist for pulmonary arterial hypertension; and PB6440, an oral agent for resistant hypertension. PhaseBio's proprietary elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) technology platform drives its differentiated approach to drug delivery across these programs.
PhaseBio operated as a NASDAQ-listed company managing multiple concurrent clinical programs with a lean finance team responsible for CRO accruals, vendor management, investor reporting, and public company financial controls. The company was headquartered in San Diego, California.
The challenge
QuickBooks, Word documents, and a month-end close that consumed the team
PhaseBio was managing its financial operations on QuickBooks with manual processes at every stage of the procurement and close cycle. Purchase orders were created in Microsoft Word, a document management workflow, not a financial control. The mapping, matching, and management of POs against invoices and contracts had become unmanageable as the number of active CRO and vendor relationships grew. Month-end close was consuming disproportionate finance team time because every step required manual data assembly and reconciliation.
For a NASDAQ-listed company managing concurrent late-stage clinical programs with a co-development partner, investor, and external auditor scrutinizing the financial records, the gap between the system in place and the system required was widening with each new program milestone.
What was breaking down
- Financials managed in QuickBooks with entirely manual processes — no system-enforced approval controls, no automated matching, no audit trail generated at the point of transaction
- Purchase orders created in Microsoft Word — documents, not system records, with no connection to vendor approval status, contract terms, or payment authorization workflow
- PO mapping, matching, and management became overly complex as active vendor relationships multiplied across clinical programs — the manual reconciliation burden scaled with the business in the wrong direction
- Month-end close processes were time-consuming and labor-intensive — every close required manual assembly of data from QuickBooks exports, PO documents, CRO invoices, and bank statements
- Generating accurate reports for investor updates, board meetings, and audit preparation required additional manual effort on top of the close process, with accuracy dependent on the reconciliation quality of the underlying data
What was at stake
- Co-development partnership required reliable, auditable financial reporting on program spend — manual QuickBooks records did not meet that standard
- External audit would test the adequacy of procurement controls — Word-based POs with no approval workflow produce no audit evidence and constitute a control deficiency
- Finance team capacity consumed by close and reconciliation work was unavailable for the investor relations, program reporting, and strategic analysis functions that a NASDAQ-listed company requires
- Manual banking added reconciliation risk at every period close and left cash position visible only at month end rather than in real time
Why Archer Insights
Best practices for clinical-stage biopharma on NetSuite
PhaseBio needed a partner who had configured NetSuite specifically for clinical-stage biopharma companies managing multiple concurrent programs — not a generalist implementation that would require the finance team to adapt a manufacturing or distribution methodology to a clinical-stage operating model.
Archer Insights was selected to implement the NetSuite for Pharma framework — a proven configuration set built around the financial and operational requirements of clinical-stage life sciences companies. The framework addresses the specific challenges that PhaseBio faced: a controlled procure-to-pay cycle that replaces document-based PO management, a vendor management system designed for CRO and clinical vendor relationships, integrated banking, and ongoing support through managed services.
The solution
NetSuite for Pharma — best practices from requisition to close
Archer implemented NetSuite as the PhaseBio financial and operational platform, deploying the NetSuite for Pharma best practices framework across the full procure-to-pay cycle. The implementation replaced QuickBooks, retired Word-based POs, connected JP Morgan banking directly to the ERP, and established a governed vendor management system — all documented comprehensively and supported through an ongoing managed services engagement.
01 NetSuite for Pharma
Best practices framework deployed across financial controls and procure-to-pay
02 Vendor management
Structured onboarding and qualification workflow for all CRO and vendor types
03 Controlled procure-to-pay
System-generated POs replacing Word documents; approval controls at every stage
04 JP Morgan banking
Direct integration within NetSuite for payment execution and automated reconciliation
05 Ongoing support
Managed services engagement with documented processes and training manuals
"A purchase order created in Microsoft Word is a document. A purchase order created in NetSuite is a financial control. The difference between those two things is the difference between an informal procurement process and one that produces audit evidence at the point of commitment."
What Archer built
Five capabilities that retired the manual operating model
01 NetSuite for Pharma best practices framework
Archer deployed the NetSuite for Pharma configuration framework, establishing best practices across the PhaseBio financial operation. The chart of accounts was structured to support program-level cost, with cost categories aligned to how clinical-stage companies categorize and report R&D expenditure to investors and auditors. User roles and permissions were configured to enforce segregation of duties from go-live, preventing the same individual from creating and approving their own transactions.
→ NetSuite Implementation Services
02 Robust vendor management system
A structured vendor management workflow was configured to govern CRO and vendor relationships from initial engagement through payment. Vendor onboarding collected required documentation and routed qualification approval through defined roles. Vendor records carried the complete onboarding and approval history. For clinical vendors with active programs, the procurement workflow was designed to accommodate the milestone-based billing structure typical of CRO agreements, aligning PO issuance to protocol milestones rather than invoice receipt.
→ Approved Supplier List → Vendor Onboarding
03 Controlled procure-to-pay process replacing Word-based POs
The procurement cycle was reconfigured from the ground up. Purchase requisitions in NetSuite replaced the informal request process. System-generated purchase orders replaced Word documents; each PO is a structured financial record with vendor, amount, GL coding, approver assignment, and status tracking built in. Three-way matching of PO, receipt, and invoice was configured for applicable vendor types. Approval routing at each stage produced a system-generated audit trail that covered every commitment from requisition through payment release.
The mapping, matching, and management complexity that had consumed finance team time under the Word-based system was resolved structurally: the system tracks the relationship between PO and invoice, flags discrepancies, and routes resolution through a defined workflow rather than an ad hoc email process.
→ Approvals App → Invoice OCR Capture
04 JP Morgan banking integrated directly within NetSuite
JP Morgan was integrated directly with NetSuite, enabling payment execution from within the ERP without exporting payment instructions to an external system. Bank feeds cleared daily with automated matching of bank transactions to GL entries. Real-time cash position replaced the month-end snapshot that had characterized the prior system. The manual reconciliation process that had required staff time at every period close was eliminated for banking transactions.
05 Comprehensive process documentation, training manuals, and ongoing support
Archer documented all configured processes comprehensively, producing training manuals that covered each workflow in the implemented system. Documentation addressed the procure-to-pay cycle, vendor onboarding, banking operations, period-close procedures, and reporting outputs. The materials were built to support both the initial operational transition and ongoing onboarding of new team members.
Following implementation, PhaseBio engaged Archer Insights on a managed services basis, maintaining ongoing access to Archer consultants for NetSuite support across the implemented environment. The managed services engagement provided PhaseBio's lean finance team with a direct line to implementation expertise without requiring an internal NetSuite administrator.
Modules and integrations deployed
| Module or integration | What it does | Impact at PhaseBio |
|---|---|---|
| NetSuite for Pharma framework | Best practices configuration for clinical-stage biopharma financial operations | QuickBooks replaced; program-level cost tracking and public company controls from go-live |
| Vendor management system | Structured onboarding, qualification approval, and activation controls | CRO and vendor relationships governed from intake through payment; qualification evidence complete |
| Controlled procure-to-pay | System POs replacing Word documents; approval routing and three-way match | Word-based PO process retired; every commitment a governed system record with audit trail |
| JP Morgan banking integration | Payment execution and automated daily bank reconciliation within NetSuite | Manual banking process retired; real-time cash visibility; period-end reconciliation eliminated |
| Process documentation and training | Comprehensive workflow documentation and training manuals for all configured processes | Finance team operational on the new system from day one; materials support ongoing onboarding |
| Managed services | Ongoing access to Archer consultants for NetSuite support and optimization | Implementation expertise available on demand without an internal NetSuite administrator headcount |
Outcomes
What changed after go-live
Operational results
- QuickBooks and Word-based POs replaced — all procurement transactions are governed system records with approval evidence embedded at the point of authorization
- Vendor management formalized — CROs and vendors onboarded through a structured workflow; qualification evidence accessible inside NetSuite
- PO mapping and matching complexity resolved — the system tracks PO-to-invoice relationships and routes discrepancy resolution through a defined process
- Banking automated through JP Morgan integration — payment execution and daily reconciliation run from within NetSuite; manual banking process retired
Finance and reporting results
- Month-end close duration reduced — system-generated outputs replaced manual data assembly from QuickBooks exports, Word POs, and bank statements
- Accurate reports generated directly from NetSuite — investor updates, board packages, and audit preparation supported by system data rather than manually reconciled exports
- Finance team capacity returned to program support and investor relations from close and reconciliation work
- Ongoing support through managed services gives the team access to Archer expertise for configuration questions, optimization, and new requirements without internal administrator overhead
Key outcomes at a glance
| Area | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Financial system | QuickBooks with manual processes; no system controls or approval evidence | NetSuite with best practices framework; governed operations from go-live |
| Purchase orders | Microsoft Word documents; no system connection to approval, matching, or payment | System-generated POs; approval routing, three-way match, and audit trail embedded |
| Vendor management | Informal; no structured qualification or activation workflow | Structured onboarding workflow; qualification evidence in every vendor record |
| Banking | Manual payment execution outside the system; period-end reconciliation | JP Morgan integrated within NetSuite; automated daily reconciliation; real-time cash position |
| Month-end close | Time-consuming and labor-intensive; manual data assembly from multiple disconnected sources | Reduced close duration; system outputs replace manual assembly |
| Reporting accuracy | Dependent on quality of manual reconciliation; generating accurate reports took too long | Reports generated directly from NetSuite; accuracy anchored to system data, not export quality |
The Archer edge
The PO is either a document or a control — not both
The distinction between a purchase order created in Microsoft Word and a purchase order created in NetSuite is not cosmetic. A Word document records an intention. A NetSuite PO is a financial control: it captures the vendor, the amount, the GL coding, the approver, the approval status, and the downstream matching against receipt and invoice, all in a system record that is available to auditors without requiring the finance team to reconstruct it from a file server.
For a NASDAQ-listed clinical-stage company managing multiple concurrent programs, every dollar committed through a PO is part of an accrual that affects reported R&D expense. When POs live in Word documents rather than the financial system, the connection between commitment and accrual depends entirely on manual reconciliation quality. When POs are system records, that connection is structural.
Archer's NetSuite for Pharma framework replaces the document-based procurement process with a governed system process, and then connects that process to banking, vendor management, and reporting in a single integrated environment. That integration is what reduces close time, improves reporting accuracy, and produces the audit evidence that a public company requires.
Replace document-based procurement with a governed NetSuite environment
If your clinical-stage company is managing procurement through Word documents, QuickBooks, and manual reconciliation and needs a financial system built for public company obligations and auditor scrutiny, Archer Insights can show you what a controlled procure-to-pay environment looks like.
About Archer Insights
Archer Insights, LLC is a NetSuite Alliance Partner serving life sciences and healthcare organizations exclusively. The firm is an Inc. 5000 company and a 5-time consecutive NetSuite Alliance Partner Spotlight Award winner (2022 through 2026), recognized for biotech and biopharma specialization. Engagements cover new NetSuite implementations, enhancement services, proprietary software modules, and managed services.