BlackLine vs. Winshuttle

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.

It is easy to use. No technical backgroud required. Works extremely well in SAP GUi environments. Need to improve capabilities in scenarios involving data grids. Also it has a opportunity to address scenarios in SAP web Applications such as SAP CRM. The license is named user based which is cost effective challenging. Maybe a concurrent based model would be more attractive

Incentivized

• Maintains certification records, clearly showing reviews and approvals of tasks and reconciliations.
• It has multiple reconciliation templates, allowing the user to find the best template for their needs.
• It includes useful metrics and visuals to help the user keep track of their assignments and tasks/reconciliations that are coming due.

Incentivized

• "Training" I feel Winshuttle was extremely easy to learn' my team and I went to a week long training class on the uses of the software upon finishing the course we all became internal (company) support as well as expert functional users.
• "Ease of use" once a user learns the basics processes of the software it is functionally very easy to use and if there are problems with in the processing that cannot be supported internally Winshuttle community and support quickly helped clear up those issues, "if they occurred"
• "Processes data FAST" once the transaction is mapped and recorded the user can move through (process) large amounts of data very quickly, saving lots of time by eliminating manual steps.
• "Data Error Correction" through the transactional processing of large amounts of data, nothing is ever perfect, usually during data migration process if a single line fails the process stops, the correction is made to the data and the process starts all over again. Winshuttle data migration process doesn't stop it will provide a list of exceptions upon completion of the data load. It does this by only processing the "good" data and when bad data is encountered it is skipped and an error message is created and added to the data sheet. With this process the user now only has to worry about exceptions that didn't load and also knows why the line failed so making correction are easier and faster.

Incentivized

• The Reporting Module does not provide any FRA reports. Variance reporting is Limited.
• FRA, To trace from GL balances imported to the Variance module can be difficult, as you need to map the GL balances to the level in the Var Module. This is a manual offline process. Would be good to have reporting that provides the link.
• Matching Module - Intransit, when scheduling, you cannot pull all the unmatched transactions; only the current period.
• Match Sets: if you have a chance to a live match set (e.g., filter at DS), you can't update the Match Set; you have to rebuild. It would be good to be able to amend and not rebuild.

Incentivized

• While the tool is flexible you sometimes have to take unconventional routes to get your results.
• More standard templates for the less known modules such as the RE/FX module.
• Incorporating similar Excel formulas prebaked in the template for Transaction (like Query) would be great.

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

Incentivized

Fantastic tool and honestly the best out there for the particular need. I cannot think of any reason we wouldn't renew as it truly offers the perfect solution to what is often a supremely difficult process. Also, I believe that from a cost perspective it is quite agreeable given the amount of benefit/ROI received

Incentivized

There are some processes that we currently use that cannot be done in BlackLine. Our users don't want to change their processes or learn new processes even though it would make their jobs easier. We have very few users who have adopted BlackLine fully, and management has not made it a requirement to use the application.

Incentivized

Winshuttle is extremely useful for Master Data Management and Data Governance processes and becoming central system across 29 countries. Winshuttle implementation and configuration is extremely intuitive and easy to be done. There is no need for specific code language knowledge in order to develop items in Winshuttle. Winshuttle Forms UI is very flexible for setup and configuration and meets the end-user needs. Also its native API are very easy to integrate with various SAP systems and with minor adjustments Winshuttle is connected to other applications.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

On month ends we get complaints about delay in journal postage

Incentivized

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!

The winshuttle staff are some of the best in the business. I have been working with them for several years and always have had a positive interaction. There support staff are very knowledgeable. There product managers are very supportive as well and always open to hear feedback on how you like the product and any gaps that you would like to find a solution to better improve the products.

Incentivized

pragmatic and accessable

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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

Our design was simple. Originally we implemented two developer licenses, and 2 runner licenses

BlackLine is easier and cleaner in the sense of being on a platform that standardizes your system. FloQast just comes in and adds a tag to your already existing daily files and processes, which makes it just a bandaid to a larger more underlying problem. BlackLine for our use, is much better and cost wise was very similar.

Incentivized

I do not think - from what I have found - there is a comparative to another product. Winshuttle is in a league of its own. There are some other vendors out there, but I have not found a product that can do what Winshuttle does when it comes to SAP data. Yes, there are other ideas and SAP based answers to data problems, LSMW or ABAP programming and SAP Business Objects or BW. These are all more labor intensive and require IT support to do the builds. The bottom line is, a customer wants a product that allows the business user to be able to meet their data demands with autonomy. And the Cost center owner does not want to break the bank or have a grandstanding deployment of something. Winshuttle products blend right into the stride of the business flow. And it is easy to support internally. I have found these point to be true in my case.

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.

Incentivized

• Improved visibility into reconciliations & tasks.
• Ability to centralize certain functions across the team into one role, as opposed to having multiple team members perform the same function for their entities.
• While not a negative impact, it's important to note that getting the best use of BlackLine is a time commitment. The time, resources, and energy you put into it will determine how successful you are at utilizing BlackLine to transform how your team gets the job done. This optimization journey is a continuous evolution and will not be an overnight transformation.

• It definitely resulted in a positive ROI in corporate finance, with increased efficiencies achieved for closing activities when time is of the essence, especially in those quarter-end and year-end closing activities.
• Posting ROI was realized during cut-over activities by project teams and master data management teams with the utilization of Winshuttle.
• It helps business folks make complex journal entries on an as needed basis, especially when the entry is complex and needs a lot of cost objects for correction or adjustment entries.

Incentivized