Continuous Accounting

The E2E process from receipt to balance sheet - where does BlackLine plug in? Why?

Ulrich Müller: With our Continuous Accounting platform, companies organize and streamline the record-to-report process. We take a continuous accounting approach because we believe that the traditional record-to-report process cannot fully meet today's accounting requirements.

Continuous Accounting automates workflows and distributes the workload for control or period-end closing activities evenly across daily tasks. Accounting can therefore move away from a rigid accounting calendar and support strategic business goals with real-time reporting, for example.

In principle, the user could also solve this task with SAP's tools: Where is the difference between theory and practice here?

Muller: BlackLine is an Endorsed Business Partner of SAP. We complement the functions in SAP ERP Finance and S/4 Hana Finance and map the complete reconciliation process including snapshots for audit trails.

Do you have an example of this?

Muller: There is a gap in the financial close process between ERP or S/4 Hana Finance and CPM/EPM. Most companies still close this gap manually, using spreadsheets. A very time-consuming and error-prone process. We have developed our solution for this purpose.

There is an integrated workflow, reconciliation templates, and many automation options based on auto-reconcile rules. And for the auditor, there is a tool that enables a central audit for group reporting.

BlackLine works exclusively from the cloud: What are the interfaces between SAP and BlackLine and are there differences between SAP on-premise and SAP in a cloud - AWS, Azure, etc.?

Muller: BlackLine provides an SAP Connector that enables customers to automatically extract financial data from their SAP system, whether on-premise or cloud. Examples include G/L account balances, open items, subledger balances such as accounts payable and accounts receivable.

However, BlackLine not only extracts data, Transaction Matching provides a way to import line items from different sources and search for matches based on flexible rules. These matches can then be automatically cleared in the SAP system via the SAP Connector.

Many experts from the FI/CO area are on the road for the closing of accounts and the balance sheet: who works and benefits most from the BlackLine system?

Muller: BlackLine offers benefits to any area directly or indirectly involved in the record-to-report process: the CFO can rely on and very easily verify that financial data has been reconciled, validated and approved.

Accounting, in turn, benefits from a central platform that simplifies daily work, for example through automation and control mechanisms or integrated workflows.

Are there key figures for an FI/CO department on the basis of which one should evaluate the BlackLine system? How and where does it pay off?

Muller: On average, companies need many hours for the financial close processes. With BlackLine Smart Close, these processes are largely standardized and automated. Companies thus save a lot of time and accelerate the closing process while improving data quality.

Audits can be implemented more quickly and the increased personnel requirements for closing peaks and coordination can also be reduced. The decisive factor in determining whether BlackLine is worthwhile is therefore not the industry or size of the company, but the number of company codes, transactions or even ERP systems and SAP instances used in the company.

Do you have any examples of this?

Muller: Nucleus Research surveyed the return on investment achieved by some of our customers. For example, Cox Communications, a telecommunications and cable provider, achieved an ROI of 227 percent in just six months.

By automating processes, Cox was able to significantly save time, reduce IT consulting costs and increase employee productivity.

How do you explain BlackLine's unique selling proposition to an existing SAP customer and why SAP S/4 Finance won't be able to do these tricks in a few months?

Muller: While SAP's S/4 Finance provides integrated ERP financial reporting with real-time analytics, forecasting and simulations, BlackLine specializes in automating the financial close process.

With this specialization, we offer a complement to S/4 in the closing process for our joint customers and are in talks with SAP to further expand this partnership in this regard.

Will the BlackLine system change because of techniques like AI, machine learning and robotics - and how?

Muller: The use of AI will intensify in the coming years and also arrive in financial accounting. Wherever there is potential to automate rule-based processes, AI can help.

In order to use AI sensibly in financial accounting, you need an accurate database. The safest way to ensure this is with a cloud tool for "Financial CPM".

Does BlackLine also change the role of a CFO and controller?

Muller: In terms of content, the role of the CFO or the controller will not change. But BlackLine will shift the focus of their activities from transactional tasks to value-creating ones.