Likelihood to Recommend BlackLine has worked well for our companies, as we have a very old ERP system that is limited to what can be done within the system. Everything was done manually through Excel and binders to keep everything together, and each location had their own way of closing, so there was no consistency. It took longer to complete our close, and it created opportunities for a lack of separation of duties within the process. BlackLine has everything in one place, easy viewing of past months, strict separation of duties implemented (based on your specifications,) easy viewing for an auditor to get everything they need without a lot of hands on from the team, and works the same across all of our global locations, but in their local language and currency. BlackLine may not be a huge assist to those that have ERP systems that can handle doing the Recs, the JE's, the approvals, etc., all within its own system, as long as every location is on the same system. If they are all on different accounting systems, BlackLine can assist in providing consistency across all accounting locations, so processes can be the same no matter where they are located.
Read full review SAP S/4HANA Cloud leverages an in-memory database, allowing for real-time data processing and analytics. This enables organizations to make informed decisions based on up-to-the-minute information S/4HANA Cloud integrates various business modules, including finance, procurement, sales, manufacturing, and supply chain. This integration facilitates seamless data flow across different functional areas
Read full review Pros Saving time! Our manual process became automated the minute we "turned on" Blackline! Focus! By saving time using Blackline, our employees are able to focus on other job responsibilities and profit-generation Support! Blackline's support throughout our implementation and post-implementation has been exceptional. We always receive timely responses and get answers fast, when needed User Friendly! Their system is very easy to navigate. Even individuals in our organization that don't like or embrace change said the transition to Blackline was smooth and painless Read full review Complete production cycle, right from planning to final product manufacturing. Keeping all documents in one place, with ability to upload important stuff against the particular entries. Maintain trail of any changes made to data, validations at the right places and methodological working of each process Read full review Cons Early functionality for Oracle users - a lot of the new products are only for use by SAP users. Access to API data to improve the reporting of data out of BlackLine. Ability to create reports in BlackLine across data sources. Ability to email reports out of BlackLine (either ad-hoc or scheduled reports) as opposed to the current process of having the user access BlackLine to retrieve the report. Read full review The complex integration we have with ERPs make it difficult to move or upgrade to SAP S4 HANA. Reimplementing all integrations and not impact business is a challenge Requires a lot of tedious testing so that no role or function is impacted Very time consuming to implement or upgrade. For large corporations it would take years to slowly migrate to S4HANA Read full review Likelihood to Renew Because this is a great tool with many possibilities and cool perks. Plus, as an admin - because I am both user and admin - I can say that this is easy to handle, you don't even have to be able to write a single piece of code to do so
Read full review The cost of SAP as an ERP is quite high and the switching costs associated with ERP systems are even higher. That being said moving from one ERP to another only happens once in a great while for large organizations. Those switching costs include retraining, IT hardware requirements, outside consultants and more
Read full review Usability 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.
Read full review Modern User Interface:
The system features a contemporary and visually appealing interface, promoting a more engaging user experience.
Role-Based Access:
Users access role-specific dashboards and functionalities, ensuring a personalized experience tailored to their responsibilities.
Intuitive Navigation:
Streamlined menus and navigation paths contribute to an intuitive user experience, reducing the learning curve for new users.
Responsive Design:
The platform is designed to be responsive across various devices, allowing users to access information and perform tasks on desktops, tablets, or mobile devices
Read full review Reliability and Availability 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.
Read full review Performance BlackLine performs rather quickly considering the amount of data we were pushing in and out of it.
Read full review Support Rating In my experience, the support team is beyond exceptional. They are incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated to the customer. You can expect prompt, professional and succinct responses. I have been working with the support team for BlackLine for more than ten years where I have been a customer four times. If anyone does Support right, it is definitely BlackLine. Not only can you trust your financials, but you can trust the team to support you through all your objectives!
Read full review The technical support received by the ITT design teams and OS implementation team has been very useful in ensuring that the SAP ERP is well-tailored to our company's specific needs and operations. This coupled with the training materials, business process maps, and concept demos (sand-box demos) makes adoption easy on end-users.
Read full review Online 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.
Read full review Implementation Rating 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
Read full review Implementation was as expected. We had minor issues with our Z* transactions, but nothing special. Some tables were extended and needed regeneration. Overall satisfactions is good.
Read full review Alternatives Considered I have not used any products similar to Blackline. However, Excel does offer many similar functionalities to Blackline in terms of reconciling accounts. Blackline offers many benefits over simply using Excel. The reconciliations are organized and easy to find, and they roll over each month on their own. They include the ability to auto-certify if they meet the criteria that your team selects. They also include an audit trail of documentation and approval for each step.
Read full review In our quest for an ERP solution, we evaluated alternatives such as Oracle ERP Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics 365. However, SAP S/4HANA Cloud's reputation for advanced analytics, scalability, and seamless integration with other SAP solutions made it the natural choice for our organization's digital journey.
Read full review Scalability 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.
Read full review Return on Investment More insight into balance sheet account balances. Our team is more timely with getting errors fixed and monitoring important accounts. The task management tool helps us ensure that we are completing all accruals and reviews each month. This has led to fewer errors and missing accruals. Our use of BlackLine has greatly increased our efficiency by reducing manual work. Read full review Cost Savings and Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): While the initial implementation costs might be significant, the centralized data management and automation features can lead to cost savings over time. This might be achieved through reduced manual labor, better inventory control, optimized procurement processes, and streamlined operations, resulting in a lower TCO. Better Visibility and Compliance: The system's ability to offer comprehensive data visibility can enhance compliance efforts, mitigating risks and ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements. This can lead to reduced fines or penalties related to non-compliance issues. Read full review ScreenShots SAP S/4HANA Cloud Screenshots