The Global Finance Operations Division (GFO) of The Coca-Cola Company manages more than 50,000 GL accounts. Yet multiple systems and approaches to the reconciliation process created serious challenges for the global company.

“For reconciliations, each region was allowed to determine what type of supporting documentation and technology they would use, from hard copies to Lotus Notes to the SAP ERP. Additionally, regions determined the frequency of reconciliations, who was involved, and training materials,” says Eamonn Matthews, business process lead – accounting & reporting, The Coca-Cola Company.

This regional approach to the financial close ensured there was little to no standardization—and zero access to “big picture” analytics throughout the close. The process was also time consuming, with more than 800 associates spending 14,000 hours a month on reconciliations alone. “Every region created and collected its own metrics and maintained the administration and change management of its particular part of the technology,” says Matthews.

In late 2013, the company began reviewing its existing balance sheet reconciliation process and tools. According to Eamonn, “We found major audit concerns. Timely completion, inadequate explanations, lack of follow-up on aged items, and lack of overall visibility all needed to be addressed.”

During the same time period, The Coca-Cola Company was instituting 2020 Vision, a plan designed to double revenue within the decade. For GFO, supporting the company’s plan meant ensuring all processes were “standardized, global, accessible, and easy to use”—including balance sheet reconciliations. “In order to meet the Global Business Services (GBS) promise to the 2020 Vision, we needed to analyze all accounting processes and drive improvements and business value,” says Matthews. “Improving our balance sheet reconciliations was our pilot program.”

The company began its search for a cloud-based, globally accessible reconciliation solution by stipulating certain non-negotiable features for any new system: auto-certification, administration rules and auto alerts, enhanced reporting and analytics, and real-time dashboards. While Eamonn and his team reviewed numerous vendors, they partnered with BlackLine.

“One of the most important factors in assisting us in making our decision was the customer reference calls with BlackLine customers, in companies of a similar size,” says Matthews. “These candid interviews formed a key part of our justification to partner with BlackLine.”

According to Eamonn, implementation of BlackLine was seamless. “It shows how good the implementation team was that we didn’t even need consultants to help decipher what exactly we were supposed to be doing. I have a lot of respect for the implementation team at BlackLine. They were absolutely brilliant.”

Prior to rolling out the BlackLine platform, the company created a global business process lead role. “Historically, we would have allowed each region to customize the technology to its local needs,” says Matthews. “With a global lead, we used the introduction of BlackLine to drive standardization and improve controls. Some people suggest that you should fix a process before you introduce new technology. In our case, BlackLine’s technology drove us to fix and standardize our process.”