Moving Forward: Shining a New Light on Technology

The business world is finally moving out of seclusion and toward a brighter future than it’s been able to envision during the past 18 months. Our new issue of BlackLine Quarterly offers some examples of how companies are moving forward and how technology is equipping them to transform.

The availability of working capital—cash—quickly became a significant issue during the COVID lockdowns, and will remain an important indicator of company solvency in the future. For tips on maximizing your cash position, see Why Cash Intelligence Is Vital to the Controller.

BlackLine’s new Bank Reconciliation solution and services package is also helping companies get a grip on completeness and accuracy. Find out more in BlackLine Announces the First in a New Family of Targeted Services: Bank Reconciliations.

The move to digital transformation is well underway too, as companies get back to more normal business operations. But transformation success is about more than simply taking on new software and systems. It requires astute planning and employee engagement to be successful. Find out why in New Technology Needs Process Upgrades & People to Succeed.

Digital transformation also requires Finance and IT to work more closely together than ever before. A Partnership Between CFOs & CIOs Is Essential for Digital Transformation Success explains why, from the point of view of Lisa Schreiber, BlackLine’s new Chief Customer Officer—and a former CIO.

Another perspective on the growing partnership between Finance and IT deals with the importance of cloud security, which is a critical consideration in today’s multi-cloud environments. BlackLine’s David Brightman explains in The Importance of Accounting Cloud Security to the Controller & IT.

Another topic in this quarter’s magazine is making life easier for users. A major step in this direction features BlackLine’s new user interface, which is intended to help accountants think less about the interface itself and more about the project at hand. See A Look at BlackLine’s New User Interface for details.

Making life easier for users is the theme for SAP’s newly announced RISE with SAP initiative as well, intended to expedite the path toward the company’s S/4HANA cloud implementation. As an SAP solution extension partner, BlackLine plays a major role in easing the transition—something SAP pointed out at a recent Finance Innovation Week session. Find out more in SAP Finance Innovation Week Presentation Highlights BlackLine RISE Alignment.

Finally, making things easier for large, multi-entity business are some new incarnations of BlackLine’s Intercompany Hub. Read all about them in A Three-Tier Approach Is Needed for Intercompany Accounting.

Regardless of where you are on your path to transforming your accounting operations, it’s our hope that these stories will help you move out of the disruption caused by the pandemic and into the light of a more normal—and fruitful—future.