Speed Up Data Transfer & Improve Data Integrity with BlackLine’s Connector for SAP

Disparate systems, “swivel-chairing,” and data manipulation are all too common for Accounting and Finance. Organizations often waste hours of time moving data from system to system, with additional manual steps required to validate the data’s completeness and accuracy.

BlackLine delivers industry-leading solutions that help organizations transform their financial close. These solutions are differentiated, in part, by their flexible nature and ability to handle data from any source.

Yet, when the ERP or general ledger system is the system of record, Accounting must ensure that the corresponding data in BlackLine is complete and accurate.

How does data make its way into BlackLine without additional manual effort? And how can BlackLine post to the ERP without extra validations performed by accountants?

Enter the SAP Connector.

BlackLine’s SAP Connector is compatible with most versions of SAP, including SAP ECC and now SAP S/4HANA. This means data is transferred seamlessly between systems and its integrity is assured throughout the process.

With both data extraction and web services options available, accountants can achieve closed loop processes with BlackLine solutions receiving data from and posting transactions back to their ERP environment(s), without any manual intervention.

Beyond its ability to receive and post transactional data from SAP, the SAP Connector adds many important benefits for users. The solution removes the need for accountants to spend hours performing detective controls to ensure completeness.

In addition, eliminating the human component of bringing data—like subledger balances and GL balances—into BlackLine allows for additional auto-certification capabilities.

Organizations using the SAP Connector have experienced up to a 50% increase in auto-certification rates. This means more time for Accounting to focus on value-added work.

Finally, Finance and Accounting can fully configure the connector to automatically extract and format their data to and from the ERP, saving valuable IT time.

Data extraction will retrieve general ledger account balances, subledger balances, transaction details, and currency rates, as scheduled with BlackLine’s Account Reconciliations, Transaction Matching, Variance Analysis, and SAP Open Items Clearing products.

For open items clearing, the connector has the added benefit of identifying matched items and automatically posting the clearing documents, removing the need to do this manually. Data extraction is compatible with SAP ECC 4.6, S/4HANA 1709, and higher.

The Web Services connection takes the integration to the next level, providing real-time connectivity for posting of journal entry documents and intercompany transactions back to SAP with instantaneous master data validation. It is compatible with SAP ECC 6.0, S/4HANA 1503, and higher.

With BlackLine’s connector for SAP, pre-built integration tasks that used to take hours can be completed automatically in minutes.

Read this datasheet to learn more about connectivity and how it can increase your trust in financial data.