BlackLine Speeds Time to Value with New Use Case Solutions

BlackLine has announced two solution packages that are intended to get customers up and running quickly for common accounting use cases.

BlackLine Bank Reconciliations and Open Item Clearing Automation (for SAP customers) combine BlackLine functionality and templates with training and assistance from BlackLine’s implementation team. They’re designed to help companies apply automation—and leading practices—to these important accounting functions.

“We have deep experience in these functions, so we know exactly what the customer needs to do to get up and running quickly,” says Katie Morris, BlackLine’s solutions marketing manager.

“In advance of the bank reconciliation use case implementation, for instance, we tell the customer exactly what files to request from their bank, so they’ll be prepared when we start. And we make sure that SAP customers have BlackLine’s SAP Connector in place to begin their open item clearing project.”

BlackLine Bank Reconciliations addresses the challenges inherent in reconciling bank transactions. These can be difficult, time-consuming, and potentially risky because of the typically high volumes of such transactions—often involving multiple banks and currencies—and the tedium involved with ticking and tying ledger items.

The BlackLine use case integrates Account Reconciliations and Transaction Matching functions and features, includes guided implementation, plus ongoing guidance and training via BlackLine U, which features a catalog of 135 courses in a range of subjects.

BlackLine’s Open Item Clearing Automation for SAP integrates Transaction Matching with BlackLine’s SAP Connector. It works with any SAP GL account designated as open item managed and is especially valuable for SAP customers planning a move to SAP S4/HANA.

“Open items can build up over time in SAP and can cause slowdowns in system performance if accounting teams fail to clear them,” Morris notes. “It can take years to manually clear a backlog of open items, causing unexpected write-offs and other problems.”

Here, BlackLine’s implementation team will help customers employ BlackLine leading practices and automation to prepare and harmonize open items data, post clearing documents back to SAP, and perform user acceptance testing. The package also includes access to BlackLine U.

“It’s no secret that in today’s business environment, there’s an increasing sense of urgency to automate key accounting processes,” she says. “We’re creating these packages, and will be adding more in the near future, to help companies quickly improve performance and mitigate risk in these critical use cases.”

Read our new issue of BlackLine Quarterly for more stories like this, including:

• Accounting with a Distributed Workforce: How to Make it Work

• How BlackLine’s Intercompany Hub is Helping Companies Go Digital