BlackLine's cloud-based financial operations management platform unifyies data and processes, automating repetitive tasks and enhancing accountability. BlackLine solutions for financial close, accounts receivable, and intercompany accounting support large enterprises and midsize companies.
N/A
FloQast
Score 9.1 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
FloQast offers their financial close software to streamline accounting month end close, simply providing automation around reconciliation and eliminating human error, and visibility via a close status dashboard, as well as providing a complete audit trail.
At the time of evaluation, FloQast just offered a web system that effectively did what we were already doing. It provided the ability to be SOX compliant which we didn't really need. Blackline offers a level of automation and integration unparalleled in the industry. We …
Both are great products and I’ve used both. Successfully implemented FloQast to great success. Looking at the BlackLine approach currently due to size and complexity and my desire to build a best-in-class shop with appropriate scale and the potential for further enhancements …
Better depth of product. You can have specific items in account reconciliations besides just an Excel spreadsheet. This increases the visibility of account reconciliations. You can use the reporting functionality to view each of these items, and classify them (temporary timing, …
FloQast is cheaper, but Blackline is more automated and facilitates comparability between periods because it stores historical information side by side with current periods, whereas FloQast really only provided tie-out functionality within Excel documents. Those Excel documents …
For FloQast, the answer is easy as they have built their platform around integration with existing Excel workbooks which is exactly what we were trying to get away from. Cadency has a lot of similarities to BlackLine and in some areas it had a more fluid UI experience however …
Blackline outperformed both FloQast and Vena in our RFP. The staff felt that Blackline was the most user-friendly. Both FloQast and Vena try to sell you on linking to already saved documents instead of saving documents onto their systems. They're both more of an Excel …
At the time, FloQast did not have the tasks function, which was important to us as we maintained our close process in an excel checklist. We were not able to know timely if all steps were completed.
We also assessed the FloQast platform. We felt BlackLine offers more functionality which is why we chose the platform. FloQast was limited in what they offered and also did not automate reconciliations greatly as they would still be completed in Excel. BlackLine also has many …
BlackLine's functionality is richer and broader. However, it is not as user-friendly as FloQast. I wish BlackLine would take on re-platforming the User Interface and Experience as a major initiative. This will enable BlackLine to explore new market segments such has High Tech …
so far from BlackLine. BlackLine has waaaayyyy more features and functionality.
Verified User
Manager
Chose BlackLine
We have a connection and relationship with someone at BlackLine.
Verified User
Professional
Chose BlackLine
BlackLine was more robust and well put together than competitors. The yearly 100M reinvestment into their product is a big selling point.
Verified User
Director
Chose BlackLine
BlackLine lacked nothing in capabilities compared to the competition and was best in class in the categories that meant most to us: transaction matching, partnership approach, data integration, price
Verified User
Manager
Chose BlackLine
BlackLine seems to have been in the business longer, and the product is more sophisticated.
We selected BlackLine because of the all in package that they quoted us versus having to build a comprehensive package that others were quoting us. The team also likes the number of banks that could be integrated with BlackLine.
Oracle Consolidations and Close has been evaluated, but it is significantly harder to get set up and easier to break.
Verified User
Vice-President
Chose BlackLine
I have not used any of the other products, but we did evaluate them during our discovery phase. BlackLine was the "Cadillac" of the product offerings. You could get a similar product, and maybe even at a lower cost, but we wanted the best of the best, and that's what BlackLine …
user experience and customer service was better. Pricing was also favorable with the additional features. Account manager for our company is proactive in working with us, getting full attention. Great support and recommendations on how to implement other features of the …
I like both- I do like that BlackLine forces people to enter reconciliation lines in the actual module, versus just uploading an excel. However I like that FQ allows you to add review notes, and the review notes will email directly to people.
FloQast provides support without getting in the way of the process (at the time of considering options, BlackLine got in the way with required journal entry park and post steps). It allows for enough flexibility to adjust between team members for sharing coverage in a small …
We evaluated BlackLine when we were considering Floqast. Although BlackLine is very robust and feature rich it was not right for us at the time of our review. We chose Floqast because: 1. It was simple to set up. We were up in running in a few weeks as compared to the 6 month …
We evaluated BlackLine along with FloQast and ultimately decided to sign up with FloQast. Our team really liked the ability to leverage their existing Excel reconciliation templates that could link to the FloQast user interface. Comparatively, the pre-made reconciliation …
I used BlackLine many years ago but found it to be a waste of time. I didn't like being required to use the BlackLine format for reconciliations. The one size fits all mentality never quite works out when it comes to accounting - every business does things a little differently. …
We found that FloQast fit well into our existing close process and made it much more efficient. Other rooms, such as BlackLine, required a longer and more costly implementation. It also required the use of their reconciliation formats. We did not see the value in that …
We started with BlackLine and after a year and limited adoption across the accounting team, changed to FloQast. We had numerous reasons, including difficulty in working with the BlackLine standard reconciliation, time needed to complete the set up for automatic reconciliation …
I used BlackLine a while ago with a different company and only for 3 months or so. From what I recall, it was fairly similar in functionality and service offering to what FQ offers. That was a good while ago, but I do like the layout and functionality in FQ. It didn't take long …
I used BlackLine at my previous job. Now I use FloQast at my current job. FloQast is, in my opinion, much easier to use than BlackLine and the looks and feels of the website are more user friendly and visually pleasing. BlackLine seemed like a separate system and was not …
FloQast offers more capabilities and a better user interface. Everything is centralized in one location and can be seen from an overall view. Being able to navigate throughout each period and finding whatever you need to find is convenient on FloQast as well. This is essential …
It is cost effective and also the team from FloQast is very much supportive and are super active when we raise any ticket they resolve the issue as soon as possible. It is also user friendly like the other tools are complicate to set up and to understand but FloQast is easy to …
Having FloQast automatically pulls updates from excel files saved in our shared folders is key instead of having to upload new files as we've done in the past with other comparable products
The User Interface and implementation were the key drivers for choosing FQ compared to BL. Our team was up in a matter of days or so it felt! Even if you didn't get properly trained in FQ, you could easily figure it out on your own, which was nice, especially for a large team.
We selected FloQast because of how flexible it was and how easily it incorporated our existing excel workpapers into the system. It was also able to accommodate our ERP, despite not having a native integration for it.
Lower cost for a much better, well organized software that on face value is far easier to use. It meant we didn't have to drastically change our close process too much whilst implementing a new system
Features
BlackLine
FloQast
Consolidation and Close
Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Product A and Product B
BlackLine is well-suited for us when it comes to the bank reconciliations, as our systems feed right into BlackLine, and the various match sets reconcile the data effortlessly. BlackLine would work to its fullest extent if all departments utilized it, so you can take advantage of all the various products that are available.
I used another vendor for close management before, and comparing the two, FloQast is easier to use and the site navigation is much easier. The looks and feels of the site are more engaging and pleasant. As mentioned before in the previous question, their Journal Entry posting functionality is not suited for a company with multiple entities since it only allows you to book an entry when debits and credits are hitting the same entity
Segregation of duties - allows for a formal way to ensure that there is a separate preparer/approver for a given task or reconciliation.
Provides visibility - having account reconciliation data in one place has automated processes that were once very manual, and involved multiple team members aggregating data.
Streamlines communication and status of close - having all tasks in one place, in the same format gives us the visibility needed to manage our close process, and know the status of items that are still pending and open for action. This was previously a game of telephone between staff, managers, and leaders, and now has been automated via tasks.
Automation/Optimization - BlackLine provides a lot of opportunity to automate certain reconciliations based on thresholds, rules, and templates. This allows the team to use that time for researching actual issues, and keeping our balance sheet reconciliations clean.
On the home page I can see Team Assignments usually first time not My assignments.
JV posting is slow.
Many error emails about failed JV with the same context.
We receive emails about task certification. Can we receive the list of reconciliations monthly?
Posted/prepared JVs cannot be deleted from the to-do list (there is only one extraordinary case, where we had a BL issue and the JV was booked but without a Document ID).
A setting to allow for attachments to automatically be opened within the app (Adobe, Excel, etc.) rather than as a separate tab in the browser
Some of our tasks are quarterly or annual so assigning a very specific date would be helpful
Eliminate the need of "closing" review notes. Once we change the status to Resolved, that should be sufficient. Make Resolved and Closed one and the same
BlackLine has made our finance team more effective and accurate. Our current ERP system is unable to do any sort of financial activities currently being done with our BlackLine licenses. Prior to BlackLine everything was done manually through Excel and stored in binders. There was no option for a paperless process. We are now 100% paperless in our close process, freeing up time, space and saving money on office supplies.
It has proven to enhance our procedures with closing. It is an effective tool that I would recommend to create a more efficient closing procedure and get the team more aligned. It increases the accountability among the staff and helps to keep us on task and on time. It is easy to sign into and has reminder emails for tasks that are coming up or late.
BlackLine could use a little work in getting around the system. The interface is not without its issues including lots of scrolling up and down and a lack of using the entire screen. Importing of the initial setup data could be better defined and reimporting data to add additional fields could pose an issue of overwriting data in a negative way.
FloQast is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is that the Flux Analysis feature is not great in terms of getting the information into the system. Once it's in, fantastic! But some work is needed
We never experienced an outage with BlackLine. The only time the system was unavailable was during planned outages for updates and upgrades usually Friday evening after 6pm pst until Saturday morning at 6am pst.
We have only noticed a slight slow down in accessing FloQast on a couple of occasions (near the beginning of a month when many people were likely trying to get online to close their books). The issue has always resolved itself with three to five minutes, so it's never been a hinderance.
FloQast's performance is great. The pages always load quickly, and reports are completed fast! I've never noticed any slowdown in our ERP from the interface with FloQast.
Since implementing Blackline, our support team has had quite a bit of turnover, and as such, it has taken longer than normal to get meaningful resolutions to our issues. The people we have worked with have all been great and responsive. However, the turnover has definitely had an impact on our experience.
They are rapid in their response. If they can't immediately offer a solution, they continue to keep in contact with you to let you know where they are in resolving your issues. The staff is friendly & speaks to you in layman's terms, not so high-tech that you can't understand
The FloQast team members are just so personable. FloQast has clearly done a great job hiring people who are not just good at what they do, but are also fun to work with! They have placed people in the right roles and the customer benefits from this. I have enjoyed every opportunity I've had to work with a FloQast team member on training.
Trainings are available for all topics on the BlackLine U portal. These were incredibly helpful when first starting with BlackLine to get the hang of it. Trainings are useful for any module. I have personally used this to teach myself how to use the tasks and variance modules, which are now fully utilized by my organization. The support team is also very helpful in training our team on anything additional we have needed.
The online training is good. But like all online, pre-recorded training, it is never quite as good as in-person or live training where one can ask questions or get clarification. That said, FloQast has an extensive training library and most of the time, if one finds they need help on a topic, it can be answered by going to the online training and watching appropriate recording.
You will have to meet up with your final users, approver, internal auditor and accounting policy holder. Everyone has to agree. When you have a well written process, workflow, policy, approval requirement, and control, your implementation process will be much easier
Implementation occured before I started with the company (but despite the instruction to skip the question if I did not participate, the site required I put in a rating in order to move on to the next page)
I have not used any of the other products, but we did evaluate them during our discovery phase. BlackLine was the "Cadillac" of the product offerings. You could get a similar product, and maybe even at a lower cost, but we wanted the best of the best, and that's what BlackLine is. We wanted a product that we could grow into, rather than a product we would outgrow over time as our organization grows. We have only touched the surface with BlackLine so far, and we've already reaped the benefits.
At the time we picked FloQast, they were the most cost effective and easiest tool to use. Fast forward a little bit, and Numeric has come to market. I really lie Numeric to be honest and feel that their pricing is better and for that lower pricing, they include more functions. However, we continued with FloQast for ease of continuity and my team is time strapped. What that said, FloQast is great - nothing wrong with it other than it could be cheaper.
After implementing BlackLine our company acquired another large company with multiple operations. We were able to use the COVID shutdown to bring them on board with BlackLine with little effort in the setup and training of the users.
We started using it with one client/customer and now use it with fourteen entities and plan to add two more in the next couple of months. It has made it possible to grow our business without hiring additional personnel. We can do more work with the same number of people
Talent retention by creating roles with value-add work and reducing the mundane.
Promotion opportunities for those that have embraced BlackLine and have taken on more complex and more rewarding work as a result of the automation achieved.
Time savings which allowed teams to take on new projects without increasing headcount and without employee burnout.
Floqast has reduced our closing schedule by roughly 15-20% of the time it took us beforehand.
The product has been very beneficial for us during audit time when we can easily demonstrate our control workflows on reconciliation and task approvals.
I can update our CFO at any point in time how we are trending towards close and can coordinate with finance as to the moment journal entries have been completed
