A key part of any ERP implementation is creating a clear and structured ERP business requirements document (BRD). It’s one of the first deliverables you should produce, and it plays a much bigger role than most people expect.
Many teams assume a BRD is just a checklist of features that will make their business run smoothly on a new system. In reality, it’s a strategic roadmap that defines exactly how your ERP will be configured and how your teams will use it day to day.
An ERP business requirements document goes far beyond feature lists. It captures your business goals, maps current and future processes, and documents everything from modules and integrations to reporting and user training. If you’re planning a NetSuite implementation, getting this document right early will save you time, money, and frustration later.
An ERP business requirements document is a detailed record of what your business needs from an ERP system and how those needs should be met. It translates operational reality into clear, documented requirements that an implementation partner can actually build from.
Think of it as the link between your business users and the technical ERP build. Without it, important details get lost, assumptions creep in, and teams end up debating decisions that should have been agreed months earlier.
Unlike an RFP or vendor comparison, a BRD isn’t about choosing software. It’s about defining how your business should run once the ERP is live, regardless of which system you select.
ERP projects fail far more often due to poor planning than poor software. The ERP business requirements document is what prevents that.
When a BRD is done properly, it gives everyone a single source of truth. Stakeholders know what’s in scope, implementation partners know what to configure, and project teams know what success actually looks like.
Skipping this step usually leads to rushed decisions during implementation. That’s when scope creep, rework, and budget overruns start to appear.
A strong ERP BRD helps you:
- Align finance, operations, sales, and leadership before the project starts
- Reduce assumptions about how the ERP “should” work
- Give your implementation partner the detail they need to configure the system correctly
- Avoid discovering missing requirements after go-live
If you want a smooth implementation, this document is not optional.
An ERP business requirements document can be created at more than one point in an ERP journey. That’s where a lot of the confusion comes from.
In most cases, the first version of a BRD is created before software or an implementation partner is chosen. At this stage, the document is used to align internal stakeholders and understand what the business actually needs from an ERP system.
This early BRD focuses on processes, pain points, and high-level requirements. It helps businesses compare ERP options objectively and avoid selecting a system that looks good in a demo but doesn’t fit real-world operations.
Once an ERP solution and partner have been selected, the BRD usually evolves.
Implementation partners will often run a more detailed discovery phase and either refine the original BRD or rebuild parts of it. This version goes deeper into configuration, data migration, integrations, reporting, and user roles, turning business needs into something that can be implemented.
This doesn’t mean the original BRD was wrong. It means it’s doing its job.
The strongest ERP projects treat the BRD as a living document. It starts before software selection to guide the decision, then matures during implementation to guide delivery. That continuity is what keeps the project grounded in real business needs rather than bending processes to fit the system.
Every ERP business requirements document will look slightly different depending on the business. That said, there are core sections that should always be included if you want it to be usable in a real implementation.
Below are the sections we see working best across successful ERP projects, especially NetSuite implementations.
Start with the why. This section explains what the business is trying to achieve with the ERP.
Examples might include reducing month-end close time, improving inventory accuracy, or gaining better visibility across entities. These goals help guide configuration decisions later and stop the project drifting.
This section documents how your business operates today. That includes systems in use, manual workarounds, spreadsheets, and known pain points.
It’s important to be honest here. The goal isn’t to defend existing processes, but to make sure the new system actually fixes real problems.
Here, you describe how the business should operate once the ERP is live. This is where you define improved workflows, automation, and process changes.
For NetSuite projects, this helps determine which functionality can be used out of the box and where configuration or customisation may be required.
This is usually the largest part of the ERP BRD. Requirements should be grouped by function so nothing gets missed.
Typical sections include:
- Finance and accounting
- Order management and billing
- Inventory and supply chain
- Manufacturing or project delivery
- CRM and customer management
Each requirement should describe what the system needs to do, not how it will be built.
ERP systems live or die by reporting. This section outlines the reports, dashboards, and KPIs teams rely on to run the business.
If a report is critical today, it should be documented here. If leadership expects new insights post-implementation, this is where they should be defined.
Most ERP systems don’t operate in isolation. This section lists all third-party systems that need to integrate with the ERP.
You should also document what historical data needs to be migrated, how far back it should go, and any data quality concerns that need addressing.
ERP access needs to be controlled carefully. This section defines who needs access to what, and at what level.
Clear role definitions make security setup much easier and reduce the risk of users seeing or changing things they shouldn’t.
Even the best ERP will fail if users don’t know how to use it. This section sets expectations around training, documentation, and post-go-live support.
It also helps implementation partners plan onboarding properly rather than treating training as an afterthought.
Most ERP business requirements documents fail for the same reasons. Knowing what to avoid is just as important as knowing what to include, especially if you want your document to be usable during a real implementation.
One of the biggest issues is writing requirements that are too vague to act on. Statements like “the system should be easy to use” or “reporting needs to be flexible” sound reasonable, but they don’t give an implementation partner anything concrete to configure or validate.
Another common mistake is relying too heavily on copied templates. Templates are useful starting points, but if they aren’t adapted to reflect how your business actually works, they can do more harm than good. This often leads to gaps that only surface once the system is already being built.
Missing input from key departments is another classic problem. Finance, operations, sales, and leadership all interact with the ERP in different ways, and if one group isn’t involved early, their requirements tend to appear late, when changes are more expensive.
Finally, many teams try to define everything as a phase-one requirement. That usually creates an overloaded scope and unrealistic timelines. A strong ERP BRD prioritises what truly needs to be live on day one, then clearly separates future enhancements.
ERP projects work best when they focus on core processes first and build from there. A clear, realistic BRD makes that possible and gives everyone confidence in the path forward.
To make this easier, we’ve created a free ERP business requirements document template that you can adapt to your own business. It’s designed specifically for ERP and NetSuite projects, not generic IT documentation.
The template includes:
Pre-built sections for all core ERP requirements
Guidance notes and example requirements
Department-by-department requirement tables
Space to define priorities and implementation phases
You can use it as a starting point or as a working document during discovery sessions.
The best way to use the template is to complete it collaboratively. Assign a project owner, gather input from each department, and work through one section at a time.
Once complete, this document becomes the foundation for your ERP implementation. It should be shared with your implementation partner before configuration begins, not halfway through the project.
If you’re unsure how to define requirements or want a second set of eyes on what you’ve documented, that’s usually a sign it’s worth getting expert input early.
A well-written ERP business requirements document won’t just make implementation smoother. It will help ensure the ERP you go live with actually supports how your business works, not the other way around.