60%
CDMOs at preliminary digital maturity
Life Sciences · CDMO
Multiple sponsors. One financial system that keeps them all straight.
CDMOs manage dozens of active client programs simultaneously — each with its own contract, cost structure, billing schedule, and compliance requirement. When 60% of CDMOs still operate at preliminary digital maturity, the ones with purpose-built financial infrastructure win both the programs and the audits.
92%
Of sponsors raise digital expectations in RFPs
$239B
Global CDMO market, 2024
$465B
Projected CDMO market, 2032
Multi-client
Project accounting complexity
Where CDMO finance breaks down
Multi-client operations expose every weakness in a financial system.
When project cost segregation is imprecise, sponsor billing disputes follow. When milestone schedules live outside the ERP, revenue recognition is a monthly manual exercise. When capacity data doesn't connect to financial data, profitability analysis is always an approximation. These aren't small inefficiencies — they're risks to sponsor relationships and regulatory standing.
Cost segregation that breaks down under volume
Direct materials, labor, equipment time, and overhead must be cleanly allocated by sponsor program — with zero cross-contamination. At volume, spreadsheet-based cost tracking creates reconciliation burden and billing disputes that erode sponsor trust.
92% of sponsors now evaluate digital maturity as part of CDMO RFP qualification
Milestone billing that requires manual intervention every cycle
Fixed-fee milestones, time-and-materials runs, and pass-through reimbursables coexist in the same program. Without automated billing schedules in NetSuite, every invoice requires someone to manually verify completion, calculate the amount, and generate the document.
Invoice errors and delays are among the top drivers of CDMO sponsor dissatisfaction
Capacity utilization invisible to financial reporting
Understanding which programs are consuming which equipment, cleanroom time, and headcount — and what that costs — requires operational data connected to financial records. When those systems are disconnected, margin-by-program analysis is always backward-looking.
Digitally mature CDMOs experience faster batch-release cycles and fewer documentation deviations
Sponsor audits on data that was never audit-ready
Sponsor QA teams audit CDMO financial records. Regulatory agencies audit manufacturing records. When documentation lives in disconnected systems, audit preparation is a reconstruction project — not a report. The time cost is significant; the risk is higher.
Documentation-related deviations are measurably lower in digitally mature CDMOs
Built for multi-client contract manufacturing
The tools that keep every sponsor program straight.
Archer's module set addresses the specific billing, documentation, and approval workflow complexity that multi-client CDMO operations demand — and that generic ERP configuration cannot deliver.
Archer Module
Contract Lifecycle Management
End-to-end management of master service agreements, study-level task orders, and change orders — with milestone billing schedules, budget tracking, and renewal workflows built into NetSuite. Every active program has its own contract record, timeline, and revenue schedule.
Archer Module
Accruals Management
Automated accrual calculations for sponsor-funded activity, pass-through costs, and capacity-based charges — with documented journal entry logic that satisfies both internal controls and sponsor audit expectations.
Archer Module
Approvals Workflow
Multi-level approval routing for sponsor-funded POs, change order amendments, capital expenditures, and intercompany charges — with immutable audit trails that document every authorization decision across the organization.
Archer Module
Invoice OCR Capture
AI-powered extraction and program-level coding of subcontractor, supplier, and testing lab invoices — reducing AP processing time and ensuring pass-through costs are captured with the documentation needed for sponsor reimbursement.
What becomes possible
Sponsor confidence built on financial precision, not promises.
When every sponsor program has its own cost record, revenue schedule, and billing workflow inside NetSuite, the CDMO operates with a level of financial transparency that becomes a competitive advantage.
Program-level
P&L by sponsor
Profitability clarity that drives better program decisions
Direct and indirect costs allocated by program, revenue recognized by milestone or percentage-of-completion, and sponsor-ready P&L reports generated without manual extraction — giving operations and finance a shared view of which programs are profitable and why.
Zero
Manual billing cycle for milestones
Invoices that generate when milestones are achieved
Billing schedules configured in NetSuite automatically generate invoices upon milestone completion — with sponsor-specific formats, pass-through documentation, and approval routing built in. The billing team validates, not assembles.
Audit-ready
From day one
Sponsor and regulatory audits that don't require weeks of preparation
Program-level documentation, immutable approval trails, and accrual methodology baked into NetSuite mean audit requests are answered with reports — not reconstruction projects that pull finance and operations teams off their core work.
Get started
Ready to run multi-client operations on financial infrastructure that scales?
Schedule a discovery call with Archer. We'll assess your current environment and show you what purpose-built NetSuite looks like for CDMO organizations managing your volume of active programs.