Spotlight On:
Growth-ready record-to-report
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already convinced of one thing: that optimizing the record-to-report process is crucial to gain and maintain your competitive advantage.
It can be hard to envision what that looks like in practice.
At BlackLine, we empower finance and accounting leaders to navigate the challenges of modern-day demands on teams involved with the record-to-report process. Our aim? To help you accelerate R2R, unleash productivity, and boost your competitive advantage.
When you combine the power of
SAP and BlackLine, you’ll discover
R2R activities that deliver:
Accuracy—Reliable and error-free data that feeds downstream processes through financial review and reporting.
Efficiency—Processes that run smoothly without bottlenecks and eliminate silos, decrease manual work, and supercharge financial review.
Intelligence—Advanced analytics and AI that transform data into a strategic asset, enabling F&A to provide proactive insights and analysis.
In this lookbook, you can explore the real-life success stories of the people and companies who have partnered with SAP and BlackLine.
Ready to see how BlackLine helps you take your SAP investment even further by turning your R2R processes into an enabler of profitable growth?
Reducing close time
from 7 days to 3
Products used:
“With BlackLine it's not just a shorter close, it's a more efficient close”
Sherisse Thiyagarajan
Senior Manager, Global Financial Reporting Transformation
Finning
Finning’s accounting and finance organization had been relying on tools that weren’t designed to effectively manage the month-end close. This was making it a challenge to manage.
“We were using many different repositories for all of our accounting information. It was challenging to manage. It also made it difficult to standardize our processes and procedures across the organization, especially as we rely on several different ERPs.”
The team at Finning knew things could be better. As part of a record-to-report project, leadership performed a comprehensive review of the existing close and determined that both a shorter and lower-effort close were a priority for the company.
There were quite a few stakeholders with needs that had to be fulfilled by a centralized, automated close solution, including Accounting, Finance, IT, and Audit. In addition, business units that relied on SAP wondered why they needed another solution outside of the ERP.
The search led them to BlackLine, which complements and extends SAP and non-SAP ERPs.
“BlackLine’s capability around establishing robust controls and capacity to automate really made it stand apart from the native functionality in the ERP systems.”
The Results
Reduced close time by over 50%
Blackline enabled Finning to gain visibility into the month-end close and make process changes. Because of that, they’ve shortened their close time from seven days to three.
Automated manual work
Previously, staff matched transactions manually. Today, transactions are matched automatically, in minutes, within BlackLine. Users no longer have to download all the information, manually tick and tie, or explain any discrepancies.
Standardized processes
Before BlackLine, close processes lacked standardization at Finning. Now they have tools for standardization and control across all their regions, which was a key objective.
Geared up for more?
Does Finning’s story spark your interest in streamlining operations across complex, asset-heavy industries?
An on-time and on-
budget move to SAP
S/4HANA
“BlackLine served as a source of confidence and continuity during a period of change. And our auditors love it.”
Doug Tramp
Director of Finance & Operational Change
Zurich North America
The insurance industry is going through significant change, and technology is unlocking new and efficient ways of operating and conducting business. New accounting standards required Zurich North America to adapt its finance landscape to prepare for and adopt them, including a move to SAP S/4HANA.
“We realized the regulatory environment was changing, and it was going to create more work in the long term unless we updated our technology.”
The team kept thinking there had to be a better way.
“BlackLine [had] helped us improve our controls, not just with reconciliations, but also in the whole close management process. We thought it could help us do the same during the move to SAP S/4HANA.”
The Results
Transitioned to S/4HANA in two years—on budget and on time
With BlackLine, Zurich North America not only maintained transparency throughout the transformation but also absorbed an increased workload without hiring additional staff.
Automated 98% of reconciliations
For many organizations, transitioning to a new platform and adjusting to new policies and regulations can significantly increase workloads. However, Zurich was able to automate 98% of reconciliations while managing multiple non-leading parallel ledgers.
Prepared for growth and enabled increased efficiency
Now that Zurich North America is live on SAP S/4HANA, the team is excited about expanding its BlackLine capabilities beyond reconciliations to transaction matching and more.
Insurance is built on trust. So is transformation.
Ready to learn more about how Zurich used BlackLine in its successful move to SAP S/4HANA?
Achieving results in 30
days with BlackLine
Products used:
“You have to make sure you have the best technology. That’s why we partnered with BlackLine. Not only are they the leader in the space, but they also integrate seamlessly with SAP.”
Jose Prado
Global R2R BlackLine Design Lead
Anglo American
Anglo American operates across six continents and employs more than 53,000 people. The sheer scale of the business made it difficult for finance and accounting to ensure compliance and drive standardization across all processes.
“Many of our accounting processes were still siloed, which led to inconsistencies and created a lot of non-value-added work.”
Prado and his team knew they needed to update their record-to-report process, from improving the quality of their reconciliations to standardizing journals.
As part of a company-wide financial transformation, Anglo American decided to create a new shared services center. Prado, for whom shared service centers are a passion, knew the secret was putting together the right process, people, and technology.
Anglo American saw the opportunity to implement a single R2R solution that could be used across the globe.
“That’s why, at the start of our finance transformation journey, we partnered with BlackLine. Not only are they the leader in the space, but they also integrate seamlessly with SAP.”
The Results
Improved standardization and increased compliance.
Previously, achieving process standardization across six continents was challenging, if not impossible. With BlackLine, Anglo American standardized and increased compliance of the R2R process.
Achieved results in 30 days
Within a month of implementing BlackLine, they were automating 60% of reconciliations, which was a quick win and a big achievement for the business. This freed people to focus on more value-added work.
Enabled continuous financial transformation
The team plans to continue transforming Anglo American’s processes with BlackLine, including their intercompany accounting. SAP alone doesn’t provide an end-to-end solution, and because their users are already familiar with BlackLine, implementing intercompany globally will be a smooth process.
Digging into smarter operations?
Discover more about how Anglo American improved standardization and increased compliance.
Ready to go for the gold?
SAP & BlackLine deliver the gold standard for R2R. If you're ready to take the next steps and implement changes that BlackLine can help with at your organization, schedule your free demo today, or check out other resources.