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Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
INCREASE EFFICIENCY
Create a faster, more efficient close with configurable
auto-reconciliation rules and nine standard
reconciliation templates. Save time by auto-certifying
up to 85% of your accounts each month.
UPHOLD DATA ACCURACY
Automatically import data from any ERP, subledger
system, or other data source and use BlackLine’s
matching engine to auto-populate reconciliation details.
STREAMLINE WORKFLOWS
Define role-based workflow approval processes with
built-in segregation of duties to further enhance internal
controls. Records are locked down post-certification to
eliminate the risk of unauthorized changes.
GAIN VISIBILITY
Use real-time dashboards and enhanced reporting
to gain visibility into reconciliation status, timeliness,
content, and quality. Choose from 80 standard reports
or configure your own with any user-defined field.
CUSTOMIZE RECONCILIATION RULES
BlackLine allows you to define auto-reconciliation
rules on an account by account basis to fit your unique
business needs.
INTEGRATE PROCESSES
Connect with other BlackLine products to further
streamline your close. Integrate with Journal Entry
to create automated journals from scheduled items.
Use Notebook to add comments and collaborate with
team members.
MULTINATIONAL SUPPORT
BlackLine supports multiple currencies and 16
different languages.
BlackLine Account Reconciliations drives
financial close accuracy by automating and
standardizing the reconciliation process.
Quickly import transactions and balances from any ERP
and compare it to source data to ensure completeness
and accuracy. Automatically identify differences and
focus your attention on discrepancy research and
resolution. Consolidate all comments and supporting
documents in one centralized repository, and gain
visibility into your reconciliation process.
Eliminate the manual financial close process and
work smarter with BlackLine’s automated account
reconciliation system.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
Account Reconciliations
Trust is in the Balance™
View Reconciliations & Supporting Items
Build, import, or bulk-import any schedule, prepaid, or accrual. Address
unidentified differences with reconciling items. BlackLine automatically
ages all items.
Compare Previous Periods
Compare current and prior account reconciliations with a click of a mouse.
System Calculate the Unidentified Difference
Automatically calculate your unidentified difference in real time for all
reconciliations. Configurable certification thresholds ensure adherence to
company policy.
Auto-Import GL Balances
Automatically import your GL balances from any ERP or subledger
system. If your reconciliation has been completed and the balance
changes, BlackLine decertifies the reconciliation and alerts users via
email.
Centralize Comments
Attach comments to a reconciliation and choose whether to keep them for
one period, carry them forward, or mark them as temporary review notes.
Use the “@user” functionality to mention and notify team members.
Electronically Store Supporting Documents
Eliminate binders and boxes by uploading supporting documents. Files
can be uploaded once and carried forward if necessary. BlackLine can
accept any file format.
Use Cases
BlackLine Account
Reconciliations standardizes the
reconciliation process across
all business units, increasing
reconciliation quality and
simplifying reviews and audits.
Ten Use Cases for Account
Reconciliations:
1. Bank Reconciliations
2. Credit Card Reconciliations
3. Prepaid Account Reconciliations
4. Accounts Payable Reconciliations
5. Accounts Receivable
Reconciliations
6. Fixed Asset Reconciliations
7. Suspense or Deferred Accounts
Reconciliations
8. Intercompany Reconciliations
9. Stat to GAAP Reconciliations
10. P&L Reconciliations
“With BlackLine, instead of four reviews a year, we’re getting 12. What we’ve
seen is that what wasn’t getting reviewed until the end of the quarter is now
getting reviewed every month. As a result, quarterly financials are prepared
more quickly and accurately.”
—MIKE GALUS, VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING, NASDAQ
Features & Capabilities
17091EUS
Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
CENTRALIZE CHECKLISTS
BlackLine Task Management provides a centralized
platform for managing your accounting and finance
checklists. Track and control month-end tasks,
recurring journal entries, operational checklists,
and more.
AUTOMATE PERIOD-ENDS
Define logic to automatically schedule recurring close
tasks each period.
STREAMLINE WORKFLOWS
Hierarchical task lists and role-based workflows
seamlessly execute across accounting and
finance. Integrate with Journal Entry and Account
Reconciliations to further guarantee tasks are
completed in the correct order.
CONTROL THE CLOSE
Utilize real-time dashboards and enhanced reporting
to transform your close with unmatched transparency
and business intelligence.
INCREASE VISIBILITY
BlackLine’s enhanced reporting allows you to
compare expected versus actual completion times and
report on any user-defined field.
COMPLY WITH POLICIES
BlackLine lets you structure and schedule your close
while staying within best practices and company
policy so that audits run smoothly.
MAINTAIN SCHEDULES
Choose from multiple holiday calendars and time
zones to fit your business needs. Use business days,
calendar days, or weekdays, or configure your own
periods to schedule your close.
Manage your close from end to end with
BlackLine Task Management.
Centralize and control any accounting and finance
checklist. Attach and preserve all supporting documents
and define role-based workflows to automatically assign
tasks to your team. Further streamline and manage your
close with BlackLine’s powerful reporting capabilities
and real-time dashboards.
Leverage BlackLine Task Management to attain the
efficiency, visibility, and control your business requires.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
TaskManagement
Trust is in the Balance™
Use Cases
BlackLine Task Management
provides a configurable, web-
based command center where
you can manage and automate
your accounting and finance
tasks.
Ten Use Cases for Task Management:
1. Accounting Checklists
2. Finance Checklists
3. Operational Checklists
4. PBC Lists
5. Compliance Controls
6. Period-end Tasks
7. Close Calendars
8. Recurring Journal Entries
9. Tax Filings
10. Supporting Documentation
Features & Capabilities
17091EUS
“BlackLine has given us a greater amount of efficiency in terms of
workflow. It replaced all our manual processes. We have everything
in a one-stop shop.”
—SHAY CARROLL, ACCOUNTING DIRECTOR GSAS, WESTERN UNION
Tasks Grid
• Visualize Your Tasks - An Outlook style task calendar color
codes by task and timeliness.
• Configure Task Segments - Apply Task Management to any type
of recurring project or ad-hoc task.
• Schedule Due Dates - Automatically schedule recurring tasks
in relation to your period-end date. You can also set up custom
frequencies or calendars.
Tasks Template
• Centralize Comments - Attach comments to tasks. These can
be temporary review notes, one-time comments, or recurring text
that carries forward to future tasks.
• Attach Supporting Documents - Do away with paper. Upload
supporting documentation to BlackLine’s secure, centralized
document repository.
• Calculate Actual Completion Time - Management can compare
actual to expected completion time to determine where resources
can be best allocated. This also assists with outsourcing.
• Track Certification Details - Full audit trail tracks and timestamps
all certification events for each user.
• Define Task Dependencies - Task dependencies allow for the
creation of hierarchical sub-task relationships and give you the
ability to structure your close in BlackLine.
Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
STREAMLINE YOUR CLOSE
BlackLine matches millions of transactions each
minute, so you can shorten your close, reduce tedious
manual labor, and shift to value-add accounting.
INCREASE DATA INTEGRITY
Increase data integrity by automatically importing
information from any editable file format or data
source. Perform look-ups, concatenations, parsing, or
custom data manipulation.
AUTOMATE MATCHING
BlackLine’s configurable, rules-driven process lets
business users automate any cash, credit card,
intercompany, or other high-volume reconciliation.
CUSTOMIZE MATCH TYPES
Build one-to-one, many-to-one, and many-to-many
matches. Specify automatic or suggested match types
and assign configurable journal reason codes to meet
your business needs.
STREAMLINE JOURNAL ENTRIES
Create reconciling items and adjusting journal entries
in bulk based on user-defined logic.
ENHANCE INTERNAL CONTROLS
Define role-based workflows to automatically route
exceptions to appropriate individuals. Maintain proper
segregation of duties.
REDUCE RISK
Quickly identify and address exceptions in any
matching scenario, regardless of file format, data
quality, or volume.
BlackLine Transaction Matching allows
clients to automatically match and reconcile
millions of transactions in minutes, saving
time for value-adding discrepancy and
reporting analysis.
Empower business users to define matching logic,
manage workflow processes, and address reconciling
items. Integrate any type of data into one streamlined
system to quickly identify matched and unmatched
transactions. Eliminate detail-heavy, manual tick-and-
tie reconciliations and leverage accounting automation
to shorten the period-end close.
With BlackLine Transaction Matching, accounting
teams can focus on strategic analysis that better
supports operational objectives.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
TransactionMatching
Trust is in the Balance™
Use Cases
BlackLine Transaction Matching
allows you to manage any
accounting transaction type.
Data from multiple sources
is synthesized into one
streamlined, cloud-based
solution.
Ten Use Cases for Transaction
Matching:
1. Accruals
2. Bank to General Ledger
3. Credit Card Matching
4. Subscription Services
5. Sales – Invoices, Purchase Orders,
Payments, Receipts & Widgets
6. Open Items Management Matching
7. Intercompany Transactions
8. Purchasing Cards
9. Lockboxes
10. Benefits & Payroll
Features & Capabilities
17091EUS
“We use the matching functionality to prepare schedules for accounts
where we need to eliminate the debits/credits to arrive at what’s left in
the account. This has cut the time required on these accounts in half.”
—VALERIE HENNING, DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNTING, AIR MEDICAL GROUP HOLDINGS
Choose to Manually Match
Users can manually match transactions. Manual matches can be made
subject to a workflow approval process.
Create an Item
Required adjustments or timing items can be quickly created and moved
to a reconciliation.
View Data & Drill Into Details
Create and save custom views of your data for ease of research.
Use Reason Codes to Organize Items
User-defined reason codes allow you to quickly organize and report on
millions of matched transactions or exceptions.
Filter Data & Search for Transactions
All data can be quickly filtered and/or searched by users in order to
identify exceptions or potential manual matches.
Define Role Assignments
Standard workflow approval processes ensure you maintain control over
your high-volume reconciliations.
Import Multiple Data Sources
Automatically import and match on any data types. Matching scenarios
can include any combination of data sources, as few as one with no
upper limit. You can also filter a data source down to ensure you’re
targeting the right data.
Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
CENTRALIZE JOURNALS MANAGEMENT
Centralize all supporting documentation related to a
given journal in one easily accessible location. Link
to related transactions and reconciling items, and
automatically retrieve document IDs for each journal.
AUTOMATE JOURNAL CREATION
Create journals automatically from any data source,
such as supporting items, bank files, and matched
transactions.
STREAMLINE WORKFLOWS
Dynamic workflows can be configured to route
journals to appropriate individuals for approval based
on user-defined rules, like amount thresholds and
roles. Auto-certify reasonable entries and reserve
time for nuanced journal analysis.
STANDARDIZE RECURRING JOURNALS
BlackLine’s Journal Masters feature allows recurring
journal entries to be created automatically at specified
intervals. These entries may be automatically certified
or routed through an approval workflow.
INCREASE VISIBILITY
Create reports with any user-defined field to meet your
business needs.
CONNECT SYSTEMS
BlackLine integrates with all of your financial
systems and ERPs to reduce timing and reconciling
differences. Journals can be posted in real time
through web services and the BlackLine SAP or
NetSuite connector.
SIMPLIFY AUDITS
Go paperless and breeze through audits with full
certification history on each journal entry and
dedicated internal/external auditor roles.
BlackLine Journal Entry streamlines journal
entry creation, validation, and approval – all
in one integrated web-based solution.
Journals posted to the general or sub-ledger are pre-
validated with user-configured rules, eliminating excess
labor and failed journal posts. Centralize, track, and
expedite journal processes with BlackLine’s electronic
certification feature and connected supporting
document repository.
Eliminate tedious, manual work and leverage
accounting automation to cruise through your period-
end close and audits with ease.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
Journal Entry
Trust is in the Balance™
Journals Grid
• Monitor JE Status - Monitor and report on the status of all JEs,
from creation to posting.
• View Workflow Status - Electronically route JEs for approval.
• Import Journals from Excel - Quickly import thousands of
completed or partially completed journals from report writers or
3rd party systems.
Journal Entry Template
• Define Header Items - Configure header items to match your
journal templates and general or sub-ledger. All fields are backed
by validation rules, which prevent users from entering bad data.
• Configure Line Items - Configure line items with user defined
logic and validation. Items can be keyed in by a preparer or
imported in bulk.
• Relate Items - Each journal entry can be linked to account
reconciliations and related reconciling items.
• Centralize Supporting Documentation - Upload supporting
documents in any file format.
• Track Certification Details - BlackLine automatically identifies
and displays certification requirements, along with electronic
signatures and signoff dates. Maximize efficiency by bulk
certifying journal entries.
Use Cases
BlackLine Journal Entry
modernizes the journals
experience by providing
advanced accuracy and control
with improved efficiency at
every step.
Ten Use Cases for Journal Entry:
1. Amortizations
2. Bank Fees
3. Credit Card Fees
4. Intercompany Allocations
5. Intercompany Loans/Interest
Entries
6. Matched Items Within Threshold
7. POS Clearing Entries
8. Revenue & Cost Allocations
9. Resolving Unmatched Exceptions
10. Tax Calculations & Accruals
Features & Capabilities
17091EUS
“A lot of times in the paper-based world, you’d go home and forget something at work. In
our new environment where everything can be pulled off the Internet, you can upload an
email, a PDF, or any of the documentation you need, and it’s all in one place,”
—TOM HOOVER, SENIOR MANAGER OF FINANCE SYSTEMS, EBAY
Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
ENSURE DATA INTEGRITY
Automatically import GL balances from
multiple source systems on a scheduled basis
to eliminate error-ridden spreadsheets, and
ensure the accuracy and reliability of your
decision support data.
IMPROVE CONTROLS
Ensure the appropriate execution of your
internal controls. Standardized templates
and configurable, rules-based workflows are
designed to effectively identify unusual activity
and route variance analysis to control owners
for further investigation.
SIMPLIFY PROCESSES
BlackLine automates the calculation and
identification of account balance and activity
fluctuations based on user-defined materiality
thresholds, so your teams can focus on the
underlying issues, rather than non-value
adding tasks that are inefficient and costly.
ACCELERATE DECISION-MAKING
Rather than performing flux analysis at period
end, automate the process to continuously
monitor account and activity balance changes,
and support timely decision analysis. And
because decision data is current, you can
identify the business levers that have the
greatest impact on organizational performance.
INCREASE VISIBILITY
Real-time dashboards and reports provide a
complete view into the status of every variance
analysis. And with the policy, purpose, and
procedure displayed on the face of each
identified variance, responsible owners have a
common understanding of the purpose of each
review, the risks they are intended to detect,
and the supporting documentation required to
execute each control.
In an environment where the pace of change is showing
no signs of slowing down and data continues to inundate
organizations at increasing velocity, it is critical for
Accounting and Finance teams to manage and process
information faster than ever before.
By automating the calculation and identification of account balance
and activity fluctuations, BlackLine Variance Analysis enables
continuous monitoring for risk to ensure the effective and timely
execution of critical management review controls.
Standardization of data and processes, along with configurable
business rules, help to accurately identify and electronically route
unusual fluctuations to appropriate control owners. This enables
teams to manage by exception, rather than waste time and effort
on non-value adding tasks.
And because BlackLine provides one view into your most current
business information, teams are armed with the right information
at the right time, speeding up decision making and improving their
ability to affect organizational change.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
Variance Analysis
Trust is in the Balance™
Variance Rules
Create variance rules based on standards that are reasonable for your
organization. Rules can be applied to all account types and run ad hoc or
automatically upon import to detect fluctuations outside of your pre-defined
materiality thresholds.
Activity-Based Variance
BlackLine automatically calculates and stores variance activity upon
import to enable the comparison of cumulative balance and individual
account activity fluctuations between periods. A balances chart provides
a means for users to quickly assess whether activity is trending negatively
over time.
Variance Groups
Create variance groups to proactively track period-to-period account and
activity balance fluctuations for specific regions, product lines, business
units, or any segments you wish to monitor. Drill down to the individual
account level details to pinpoint where an issue is occurring.
Workflow Approval
Once certified by a user, a completed variance analysis template can
be electronically routed to other users or management for review and
approval. The certification history is automatically recorded and displayed
on the face of every variance analysis, providing complete auditability.
Automatic Balance Imports
Load GL account balances, both balance sheet and P&L, into the
application on a scheduled frequency. BlackLine integrates with your
ERP and multiple source systems to automatically calculate fluctuations
and identify issues requiring investigation, so your teams can dedicate
their time to researching root causes.
Users & Teams
User and team assignments listed on every variance analysis provide
control owners with a clear escalation path. And with comments, variance
items, and supporting documentation stored in a single space, teams can
easily follow up and collaborate on open issues.
Period Comparisons
BlackLine Variance Analysis
delivers more than 15 different
types of period comparisons
to enable the monitoring of:
• Budget vs. actual costs
• Material fluctuations
• Relational accounts (e.g., fixed
assets to depreciation, sales
to receivables, prepaid and
amortization expenses)
• Period and seasonal changes
• And many more
“With the old system, if our
company controller called at
the end of the day asking about
a balance sheet change on a
European account, we would
have to call people in Europe
and wake them up. Now, we
can take one look and tell the
controller precisely what is
happening with that account.”
—PAT WITHROW, ACCOUNTING DIRECTOR,
THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY
Features & Capabilities
17102EUS
Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
STREAMLINE RECONCILIATIONS
BlackLine automatically reconciles and certifies
accounts where balances tie out. Focus on a
fraction of your consolidation reconciliations
each month.
MANAGE ACCOUNT ROLL-UP
Define and manage account groupings and
easily map general ledger accounts to your
consolidation system. Drill down into account
details directly within the reconciliation.
AUTOMATE WORKFLOWS
Role-based workflows automatically route
reconciliations for review and approval. Users
receive an email notification and accounts are
automatically decertified if a balance changes.
INCREASE VISIBILITY
Real-time dashboards and reports allow you
to monitor reconciliations and track all topside
journal entries.
MAINTAIN AUDITABILITY
BlackLine keeps a record of all certification
events within a reconciliation, resulting in
simplified audits.
CENTRALIZE DOCUMENTATION
Attach and store all supporting documentation
in one location.
IMPROVE DATA ACCESSIBILITY
Easily access all related data in BlackLine for
research. Access underlying reconciliations for
each account with one click.
BlackLine Consolidation Integrity Manager
automates the tedious system-to-system, excel-
driven reconciliation process of comparing
multiple ledgers to a consolidation system and
replaces it with an efficient, seamless workflow.
Save time during your close by automatically populating
reconciliations with source data based on user-defined
rules. System certify accounts where accounts are in
balance and attach comments and supporting documents
where additional follow-up and evidence is needed.
Automatically route reconciliations for review with
BlackLine’s role-based approval process.
Consolidation Integrity Manager streamlines the validation
of consolidated balances, resulting in an error-free, stress-
free close.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
Consolidation Integrity Manager
Trust is in the Balance™
System Certify Accounts
Using a rules-based process, BlackLine can system-certify accounts
where the unidentified difference falls beneath a certain threshold.
Most companies auto-reconcile the vast majority of their consolidated
reconciliations.
Automate Data Imports
Data from virtually any third party system, including all major consolidation
tools, can be imported into BlackLine on a scheduled basis. If the
consolidation balance or GL total is changed by an automatic import, the
application will automatically decertify the reconciliation and notify a user.
Define Account Roll-up
Easily define relationships between different systems and reconcile at
any level by grouping accounts together. BlackLine will also automatically
subtotal all grouped accounts and associated items.
Easily Access Balance Sheet Reconciliations
Quickly access the corresponding account reconciliation, as well as any
reconciling item and documentation, for research purposes.
Create Supporting Items
User-created supporting items serve as placeholders should an exception
or late journal entry be identified. These items are tracked and aged
automatically, offering management full visibility into the consolidation
reconciliation process.
Automatically Calculate the Unidentified Difference
Each template automatically calculates the unidentified difference
between the consolidation balance and the GL total. Once this number is
sufficiently reduced, a user can certify the reconciliation.
Use Cases
BlackLine automates system-
to-system reconciliations.
With Consolidation Integrity
Manager, seamlessly reconcile
subsidiary subledger accounts
to the consolidation.
Five Use Cases for Consolidation
Integrity Manager:
1. Consolidation Tie Outs
2. Ledger to Ledger Tie Outs
3. Stat to GAAP
4. Tax to GAAP
5. System to System
Features & Capabilities
17091EUS
“With BlackLine, we’ve eliminated the majority of the reconciliation that
happens at the local levels. We’ve automated much of the process and
enhanced our reconciliation quality and supporting documentation.
—MARK KOOLIS, POWER SEGMENT ASSISTANT CONTROLLER, HUBBELL INCORPORATED
Trust is in the Balance™
Benefits
CONTINUOUSLY VALIDATE ACCOUNTS
Streamline monitoring and verification
of high-frequency accounts. Data from
multiple sources is automatically imported,
discrepancies are identified, and reconciliations
are performed every day or as needed.
EMBED CONTROL
Automatically pull in data from multiple source
systems and compare data in one standardized
location. Define approval workflows and embed
complete auditability and control throughout
every step.
STANDARDIZE PROCESSES
BlackLine provides standardization for frequent
reconciliations by automatically populating
daily reconciliations with balances from the GL
and bank accounts.
CUSTOMIZE MATCHING RULES
Configure matching rules to meet your unique
business needs. Capture all transactions from
your data sources and automatically populate
reconciliations based on user-defined rules.
STREAMLINE WORKFLOWS
Role-based workflow rules and team
assignments automatically route unmatched
transactions for investigation and resolution,
and send reconciliations for review. Enforce
segregation of duties for increased security
and control.
BlackLine Daily Reconciliations enables teams
to reconcile and certify transactional activity at
any point in time.
Eliminate the manual ticking and tying of large data
sets across spreadsheets and your reconciliations in
a fraction of the time. BlackLine’s powerful matching
engine captures all transactions and automatically
populates reconciliations, reducing the risk of error and
strengthening controls.
Ensure the validity of your organization’s high-volume
accounts that require increased visibility and attention.
Use Daily Reconciliations to validate cash positions and
other key accounts to enhance operational efficiency and
reduce regulatory risk.
BLACKLINE PRODUCTS
Daily Reconciliations
Trust is in the Balance™
Import & Centralize All Transactional Data
Import all GL and source data into one standardized system and
define matching rules to automatically populate your reconciliations.
Click into details to see individual transactions.
Increase Visibility
View the status of each reconciliation to increase visibility and control
over your high-frequency accounts. See when a reconciliation was
last certified.
Enforce Segregation of Duties
Role-based workflows control preparer, approver, and reviewer
functions, ensuring segregation of duties. Route assignments to the
appropriate individual or team.
Auto-Calculate the Unidentified Difference
Automatically import and populate your reconciliations and view the
unidentified difference.
Embed Auditability
Automatically record all certification details on every reconciliation to
simplify your audits.
Attach Comments & Supporting Documents
Electronically store all comments and supporting documentation to
further substantiate your reconciliations. Access a centralized location
to view all reconciliation details.
Use Cases
Reconcile your accounts at any
point in time, regardless of the
close cycle. For businesses that
need granularity over high-
volume accounts and detailed
oversight of cash positions,
BlackLine is the solution.
Additional Use Cases for Daily
Reconciliations:
1. Suspense Accounts
2. Lockbox or Unapplied Cash
Receipts
3. Bank or Credit Card Accounts
4. Consolidated or Pooled Bank
Accounts
5. Accounts Payable
6. Point of Sale Processes
Features & Capabilities
17091EUS
“There are so many processes within our day-to-day work that are
streamlined through BlackLine. We’ve enhanced our controls and
improved the efficiency of the entire organization.”
—ALLISON COMBS, CONTROLLER, CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION