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BlackLine

BlackLine

Overview

What is BlackLine?

BlackLine automates the the processes required to finalize periodic closing of the books. Beyond close/reconciliation management the product includes capabilities to enhance the management and control of financial processes throughout the accounting cycle.In October 2020, BlackLine acquired Rimilia, an AR…

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Recent Reviews

BlackLine Review

9 out of 10
March 31, 2024
Incentivized
We use BlackLine for Journal Entry and Reconciliation approvals within our organization. I am a part of the Internal Controls team, so our …
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amazing we want more

10 out of 10
March 28, 2024
I use BlackLine (BL) for reconciliations - in my case I cannot integrate the tool for credit cards recs with BL for some reason. I would …
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Excellent Product!

9 out of 10
October 22, 2023
BlackLine will allow us to more efficiently and effectively complete account reconciliations. We will be able to more readily analyze our …
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Goes Beyond

9 out of 10
October 21, 2023
BlackLine helps Carlisle Companies automate financial close processes across a disparate Finance and IT landscape. It gives us better …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 5 features
  • Multi-currency management (28)
    8.9
    89%
  • Customizable Workflows (35)
    8.9
    89%
  • Detailed Audit Trails (51)
    8.6
    86%
  • Journal entries and reports (41)
    8.4
    84%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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What is BlackLine?

BlackLine automates the the processes required to finalize periodic closing of the books. Beyond close/reconciliation management the product includes capabilities to enhance the management and control of financial processes throughout the accounting cycle. In October 2020, BlackLine acquired…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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What is Budgyt?

Budgyt is a platform made to simplify business budgeting. With built-in functions designed for data integrity, team collaboration, and scenario planning & analysis, Budgyt is presented as an optimized budgeting experience that rids users of complex, error-prone spreadsheets and the time-consuming…

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Features

Consolidation and Close

Consolidation of data from multiple entities with currency management, reporting and audit trails.

8.5
Avg 8.4
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Product Details

What is BlackLine?

BlackLine automates the the processes required to finalize periodic closing of the books. Beyond close/reconciliation management the product includes capabilities to enhance the management and control of financial processes throughout the accounting cycle.

In October 2020, BlackLine acquired Rimilia, an AR automation solution. Rimilia's capabilities are now part of the BlackLine platform.

BlackLine Features

Consolidation and Close Features

  • Supported: Financial data consolidation
  • Supported: Journal entries and reports
  • Supported: Multi-currency management
  • Supported: Detailed Audit Trails
  • Supported: Reconciliation Automation
  • Supported: Close Checklist
  • Supported: Customizable Workflows

Additional Features

  • Supported: Intercompany Non-Trade
  • Supported: Intercompany Balance & Resolve
  • Supported: Intercompany Net & Settle
  • Supported: Compliance
  • Supported: Financial Reporting Analytics

BlackLine Videos

BlackLine Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android

Frequently Asked Questions

Reviewers rate Multi-currency management and Customizable Workflows highest, with a score of 8.9.

The most common users of BlackLine are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(319)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(76-100 of 243)
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Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use BlackLine for month-end close process, creating journal entries, tasks, variances, and balance sheet reconciliations. Prior to implementing master journal entries, keeping up with prepaid entries was much more difficult, this has now become a much easier task. During close it was difficult to determine where the team was with journal entries, now I can look in BlackLine and see exactly what journal entries, tasks, variances, and reconciliations have been completed and which have not been completed. BlackLine makes it easy to review and certify or reject back to the user with a note. Over the past 10 years, BlackLine has made major improvements and has added different modules or systems to make our job much easier.
  • Journal Entries-everything is right there at your fingertips. As an approver/certifier, you have the details to the entry and you can automatically see that the journal entry balances.
  • Reconciliations-just like journal entries, everything is at the approver/certifier's fingertips. Support is available and you can immediately look to see if the reconciliation balances or if there is a variance because it pulls the GL balance for you.
  • Flexibility-each property has the flexibility to set up what reconciliations they find to be more critical for review, whether that is monthly or quarterly. You can set up what level you want each reconciliation to be approved, manager or executive level. These are just two that I find very helpful.
  • In the master journal entries, it would be nice if you could insert a line without having to rekey the entire entry over again.
  • Before I would have said the "to-do list" needed improvements, but now it is so easy to tell what I need to look at instead of searching each section for items.
  • It would be great if the "certify - next" worked on all reviews
BlackLine is very well suited for balance sheet reconciliations where the accounting teams are remote or working from home. Everything is loaded into BlackLine so there is no need for physical documentation. The Variances is a great addition; however, it would be nice if you could set up each variance with its own comparison period. Sometimes we need to look month over month, and others year over year. Currently, everything looks at the current month versus the end of the prior year. Unless there is a way to change that and I am unaware.
Stephanie Clevenger | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use Blackline to manage our account reconciliations, prepaid amortizations, some accruals, and some tasks. Blackline made tracking and managing our account reconciliation process much easier when we switched to remote work from home status. Having one trusted source for all of our reconciliations made our audits and SEC filings go swifter and easier. I personally like the function that allows the reconciliation submission and approval history along with all pertinent documents to be emailed directly from Blackline. This made my audit support response times significantly shorter.

We used the task function to manage the monthly close process for one of our divisions, it was very useful to have the audit trail of submissions and approvals for the various tasks done by remote employees. We are looking to roll out this capability to our full accounting group later this calendar year, to replace the various Excel spreadsheets were currently use.




  • acts as single source for audit trails
  • makes tracking status of outstanding items (tasks or recons) easy
  • gets rid of Excel sheets for prepaids and amortizable items
  • allows for the grouping of accounts as you need them beyond how your chart of charts has them grouped
  • their dashboards are a bit less than ideal
  • if you have many amortizable items in your recon looking up a specific one is not easy
  • also it is difficult to edit an amortizable item once it has been uploaded
I in fact recommended Blackline to a CFO at a med device start up because he was looking for something to "corral his month end JEs and recons". In a more remote work based world having a system like Blackline has gone from a nice to have to a must.

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
At our firm, we are primarily using BlackLine to upload and track our reconciliations. We are using it more as a cover page for the final reconciliation of the accounts we use. All accounts are uploaded into BlackLine after being reconciled in Excel format. We then finalize them and upload the detail into BlackLine for when the auditors come in. It makes life so much easier to log into BlackLine, open up an account (from revenue, liability, or cash accounts) and click a link with all the details in the same exact format.
  • Reconciliation
  • Formatting
  • Grouping of accounts
  • Journal Entry automation
  • Variance Analysis
  • Link to other accounting softwares.
I would recommend BlackLine to any large firm that takes auditing seriously. Being able to access all your accounts in one place with the same formatting is life-changing.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use BlackLine to close each period (monthly). BlackLine helps us easily close our books and make journal entries efficiently. Everything can be viewed in one location by each member that needs to see it. This makes the process of approving and posting journal entries very simple. Since all our finance team members have access it makes our period close less time-consuming.
  • BlackLine keeps all information in one convenient location, the account reconciliation, and backup is very easy to go back and look at.
  • It is available from nearly anywhere and we use it across our companies, which creates consistency between all of our companies.
  • BlackLine is very user-friendly. The training was great at implementation and updates are made that help make the software easier to use.
  • There are many updates to the software, which can make it hard to keep up with. However, the Customer service response seems great and is always able to help.
  • The layout of journal entries is well set up, but there are many lines that are not necessary to fill in.
  • The software is customized to fit the company but there is not a lot of customization for each user.
BlackLine software is appropriate for most of our account reconciliations because month to month we have a lot of the same transactions. Those accounts that do not change a lot do not need a lot of work to reconcile every month. If the account does change a lot it is a lot of uploading backup to each line and finding those changes. If that account changes while the month is being closed then often you have to re-start the entry. This scenario is also good because all information stays up to date and accurate.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
BlackLine is used by management to verify that the amounts for recurring entries match what should be in the reporting system. It is my responsibility to maintain these workbooks and ensure that adequate supporting documentation is uploaded to BlackLine to validate all entries recorded. It is crucial that consistency is applied amongst all reconciliations of a similar account in order to optimize our senior management's understanding when reviewing the accounts. BlackLine reconciliations include items such as audit fee payments, rent accruals, prepaid expenses/amortization, and detailed debt schedules, providing a breakdown of scheduled principal and interest payments. These schedules are then assessed monthly to ensure accuracy before being certified and reviewed by a senior.
  • Bank reconciliations
  • Balance sheet account reconciliations
  • Automatic matching function within bank reconciliations
  • Multi-currency functionality
BlackLine is well suited to balance sheet account reconciliations that are consistent. It is less well suited to accounts that change frequently, such as variable debt schedules.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
BlackLine is used for journal entries, reconciliations, tracking tasks, and completing variances within our organization. It is a great platform for keeping all your accounting functions in one area and for storing and maintaining all accounting documents in a paperless format. Any issue that we have had has been addressed in a timely manner.
  • Tracking tasks
  • Maintaining documents with reconciliations
  • Calculating variances for explanations
  • Adding lines anywhere in a journal entry
  • Rearranging lines on a journal entry
  • Setting default layouts where they show up everytime
Being able to create and use journal masters saves a lot of time during each month-end close as the data is already entered. You just have to verify and change any numbers as needed and certify and go. Using excel for uploads can allow time-saving entries as well but to have them all in one platform and be accessible by everyone and can be used remotely is a great business feature. Tracking tasks allows me to know at any time where we are with month-end close processes and allows me to know if we are on track or if there is an issue anywhere without having to ask multiple times throughout the day.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use BlackLine for all aspects of our close process. We utilize the journal entries, tasks, reconciliations, and variance features in this program. BlackLine is able to talk to our accounting program, SAP, which is extremely important and helpful. BlackLine allows us to make sure our balance sheet and P&Ls are correct.
  • BlackLine is very responsive and helpful when we have an issue.
  • BlackLine truly values our input and listens to our suggestions for changes.
  • BlackLine is very user friendly and easy to follow and find things you are looking for.
  • I wish we could insert a line into the middle of a journal entry that has been keyed instead of only being allowed to enter it at the bottom.
  • Similar to the above, I would like to be able to "move" a line in a journal entry up or down.
  • The "default" view does not default when I go into the different features - I have to change it to default each time.
From my experience, BlackLine is well-suited for every scenario that we have used it for. When we initially started using BlackLine, it was very time-consuming to key a large journal entry so it was frustrating - however, after asking for an easier way, we were eventually informed of how to upload data into a journal entry. This was life changing!
June 03, 2022

BlackLine Review

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use BlackLine as our primary software for reconciling all kinds of accounts that the company uses. We also use it to manage various types of tasks that our accountants complete. BlackLine makes the automation and reconciliation of everything so much easier, especially when dealing with a global company.
  • Provides a reliable and easy-to-use matching engine.
  • Implements a task system that makes managing tasks very easy.
  • Their account grouping system makes it very easy to group together accounts that go together.
  • Sometimes the matching engine can match the wrong transactions with each other.
  • Manually certifying a lot of journals at once can be time-consuming, so some kind of auto-certification option would be helpful.
  • When selecting options on a menu with multiple pages, sometimes it unselects things you've selected on previous pages.
BlackLine is very helpful when reconciling bank accounts because this is a situation where the auto-certify option can be extremely helpful and time-saving. It also is helpful when having to match up transactions from multiple sources using the matching engine.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, we use BlackLine to track monthly and quarterly tasks to ensure timeliness and accuracy for reporting purposes. Each month as tasks are completed by a preparer, items roll up to a reviewer to ensure the accuracy of monthly tasks are performed as needed. Also, as monthly tasks are completed Accounting team prepares reconciliations of activity to ensure items align to General Ledger balances.
  • Monthly Reporting
  • Task Tracking and Email Reminders
  • Ease of Use
  • User Interface Display
  • Audit and Historical Tracking Reporting
Ease of tracking tasks and staying on top of monthly tasks
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use BlackLine for reconciliations and are in the process of implementing it for task lists and variances. I am primarily a reviewer, and BlackLine provides me with one place to go to see the status of our team's work and deadlines. Previously, I had to navigate to many different locations. The workflow notifications streamline the review process, as I do not have to continually check to see when items are ready for review.
  • Provides single location to see status of all work.
  • Workflow routing
  • Auto certification of recons within established parameters
  • Variances will not provide a variance amount if beginning balance is zero.
Well suited to quick, high lever recons. More complex recons typically require preparation in Excel and then upload to BlackLine, requiring duplicate effort.
June 01, 2022

BlackLine is great

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our company uses BlackLine to prepare account reconciliations, and journal entries, upload internal control documentation and retain evidence of sign-off on controls and tasks. We also use the system to manage our closing process by running account reconciliation and passing adjustment reports.
  • It allows for JE's to be automated.
  • Easy to navigate in between months to see what was done in previous months.
  • Provides consistency when preparing account reconciliations.
  • When you delete a amortizable item on accident, there is no undo button and you have to re-upload the schedule.
It is great for account reconciliation, and for the closing process. In multi-level verification, you have someone be the preparer and an approver.
Mark Holmes, CPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We implemented Blackline in order to remediate 4 Material Weaknesses. We were able to remediate the material weaknesses within 12 months, we shortened close from 15 days to 7 days, we were able to manage our balance sheet account reconciliations appropriately, we were able to automate our amortization schedules. Blackline was instrumental in achieving these goals.
  • Month End Close Management
  • Balance Sheet Account Reconciliations
  • Amortization Schedules
  • More User Friendly
  • Mobile option
  • automatic sync
Blackline will help companies struggling with month end close. Blackline will help companies with management of balance sheet account reconciliations. Blackline will help companies automate their amortization schedules and produce the monthly journal entries. Blackline allows all users to be involved in the month end close process. Blackline will help organization within the accounting department.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We implemented BlackLine in May 2017 after a significant deficiency in our Account Recs. We also wanted better clarity on the monthly, quarterly, and annual close and automation of our prepaid and other JEs. The initial installation included Account Reconciliations, Tasks, and Journal Entries. BlackLine made a huge impact in those areas within the first six months.
  • The ability to determine which reconciliations should be auto-certified and the reasoning behind the decision.
  • Prepaid reconciliations and automation of the monthly journal entries.
  • Creation of automated journal entries from banking data in a high-volume environment.
  • Decertification of completed reconciliations when GL balances change and the communication of such.
  • Importing set up data for automated journal entries is missing. When ADJs are similar you have to go through the entire setup of each.
  • Could use a daily summary e-mail to notify the status of month-end close combining separate areas of function.
  • The user interface is wasting a tremendous amount of space for users with wide-screen monitors. Scrolling is a constant within the system.
  • Some tasks are to perform journal entries (even automated) so a link between the two would help rather than certifying in separate places.
Account Reconciliation is BlackLine's strength from having GL balances imported during the close process to uploading data within those recs that can be easily reviewed and balanced. The Preparer/Approver roles prevent someone who prepares a reconciliation, tasks, or journal entry from being the approver as well and timestamps on the process allow management to determine the timeliness of both. The approver can decertify recs/tasks/JEs and provide reasoning which is sent back to the preparer to correct all within the BlackLine system. BlackLine could use a better view of the overall close when a customer is using multiple modules instead of treating everything separately.
June 01, 2022

Blackline rocks!

Matthew Imreh, CPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Blackline here at Ontrak for task and rec management. It is directly integrated with our ERP system which makes life super easy here at Ontrak. We wouldn't be able to live without it! We plan on adding the variance analysis module soon too. Implementation was a breeze and the pricing is awesome for such a great software that saves so much time and energy. It is also great for SOX and Auditors too!
  • Task Management
  • Account Reconciliations
  • Product Support
  • User Interface
I think Blackline is an awesome tool that would be able to be used in almost any type of company. The task and account rec feature is a must for any accounting team.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We complete account reconciliations, track tasks, and perform variance analysis in BlackLine. It has provided a centralized repository for information that was previously in many different locations and formats. It has also provided more transparency into the timeliness and completeness of these tasks. When we experienced turnover in staff, it was a great tool to reassign tasks and instructions to others.
  • Identifies whether tasks and reconciliations are performed based on the frequency assigned.
  • Provides good workflow between preparers and approvers.
  • Accurately identifies account variances requiring explanation based on multiple criteria.
  • We are still importing the data manually as there is not currently a PeopleSoft import tool available.
  • I understand that passwords will need to be changed more frequently in future.
The BlackLine account reps have been very helpful and responsive. It is well-suited for Accounting departments that are not currently reconciling (key) accounts, have account purpose/policy documented, and/or have supporting documents stored in multiple locations.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, we are using BlackLine for task management with our close process. It helps organize our close checklist, keeps our team members on track during the close process, and allows us to have our review and sign-off in one place. It has taken a lot of manual work out of our process and has helped increase efficiency and speed up our timeline.
  • A centralized place to track our close process
  • Easy to navigate / Ease of use
  • Great customer service
  • Doesn't update automatically after certifying tasks.
  • Missing customizations for non-admins.
  • Access to more training.
It is great for task management and certifying tasks as completed and allowing for review in one place. Currently, we are not using the program to its full potential so it is hard to speak on other areas this software does well or lacks in. It is a good program for a company that is looking to move on from more manual processes as it is not an overcomplicated system.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our accounting and finance team currently uses BlackLine for task management and account reconciliations. Using just these two solutions we are able to streamline what once were very manual processes. The task management tool allows users to track outstanding tasks before and during the month-end close process, ensuring that we are recording all accruals and completing other items in a timely manner. The account reconciliation tool allows us to simplify our reconciliation process and have much more insight into balance sheet account balances.
  • The user interface is fairly good and easy to use.
  • Customer service has been great when issues arise.
  • They offer a lot of education and other learning opportunities to utilize BlackLine better.
  • Additional modules or service options can get very pricey.
  • Some system administration tasks can be tedious or difficult to complete.
  • It can sometimes be difficult to find an answer to specific questions within their support network.
Our organization has around 30 different manufacturing, warehouse, and office sites throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and China. We have an incredibly complex GL structure and over 3,000 balance sheet accounts. Because of this, our corporate accounting team has a wide variety of tasks that need to be completed on a monthly basis, and a number of accounts that need to be reconciled. Using BlackLine streamlines our processes by having one web location with all of the information we need to complete our tasks and reconciliations. This allows us to be significantly more efficient.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use BlackLine to automate account reconciliations, tasks, and variance analysis. It was easy to implement and has made our monthly and year-end close more efficient. It is easy for preparers and approvers to know what they need to do and by when management can see what the status of accounts is, and our auditors have everything they need without having to ask us. The use of BlackLine made our transition to remove work seamlessly.
  • Automates the assignment of account and due dates and workflow
  • Foreign currency capabilities
  • Decertifies accounts when balance changes
  • Amortization schedules
  • Storage of supporting documentation
  • Can reassign recons and tasks to others when someone is out on vacation or leaves
  • Variance analysis
  • Not a good way to set up tasks that only happen one time a year
  • Customized reporting to fit how we like to see our variance analysis
BlackLine works very well for preparers, approvers, management, and auditors.
Michael Johnson, MBA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I do not currently use BlackLine, however, I used it at my previous two organizations. It was primarily used as a reconciliation and task management tool. I have also used the matching functionality for accounts receivable and cash reconciliations. BlackLine delivers automation to the close process via account balance updates for reconciliations. This provides increased automations and controls around the monthly close process.
  • Document management (upload, download, large files, historical visibility)
  • Customizable templates for each account
  • Ease of use
  • Task management so leadership can see how the team is progressing each day of the close cycle
  • The schedule list templates lacks ability to upload multiple schedule items at once
  • The roll forward does not have an option to exclude old/closed items
Blackline is better suited for mid to large-sized public and private organizations that have many GL accounts and more transactional data. The tool greatly enhances auditability so it will be more beneficial to public companies. Smaller private organizations may not experience enough benefits to justify the costs.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We used Blackline for monthly reconciliations and close checklists, with plans to interface with Oracle/JE processing.
  • Reconciliation Accuracy/Completeness
  • Information Sharing in Real-Time/among team members
  • Close Checklist/Project Management
  • Training efficiency/more user friendly
  • Availability to sign up for training (many courses were full)
  • Training geared towards executive users/reviewers
-Project management and month-end close checklists are user friendly
-Risk ranking/assessment of account balances to assist with prioritization of monthly close activities
-Visibility of close activities to all team members facilitates the immediate process and better communication among the team
-Ability to add multiple reviewers for high-risk activities
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use BlackLine to prepare account reconciliations, and journal entries, upload internal control documentation, and retain evidence of sign-off on controls and tasks. We also use the system to manage our closing process by running account reconciliation and passing adjustment reports.
  • Provides consistency for preparing account reconciliations
  • Allows to add efficiencies to closing the books by automating JE's
  • Allows to streamline closing process and provides visibility on progress made
  • The system is not very straight-forward to use and requires training in order to get comfortable with using it
BlackLine is great for - account reconciliations - automated JEs - tasks and uploading control documentation
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
BlackLine is currently used by our corporate team who handles all the month end entries, reconciliations, variances and misc tasks. The use of Blackline has greatly improved the efficiency of our employee's workload. It has alleviated all the manual and massive spreadsheets we used to use for our reconciliations, journals, and task lists. There is less room for error with Blackline and we no longer have manual manipulation within spreadsheets that can hide errors and/or issues.
  • The community is a great place to voice your concerns about the product and suggest improvements. Blackline does actually review and listen to what its customers say.
  • Blackline support is available at all hours of the day.
  • My customer success rep is awesome and always available and willing to help when needed.
  • Blackline restricts users from changing account balances and historical support items that lead to manipulation in reconciliations which had been an issue with our previous excel version.
  • Variance analysis is not as easy to maneuver around with teams and the dashboard. It should have the same feature as other modules.
  • Variance analysis could be improved to group comparison periods year over year. This is the main way our company looks at variances.
  • Within journals it would be nice if you could insert line items where you want then in the entry versus being forced to add a new line at the bottom. It would also be nice if the journals could be organized how we want them versus sorting. When using journal masters the lines can change from month to month.
  • There should be an option to be able to link up an ADJ to a task.
BlackLine has helped our company be more automated and alleviate paper along with the outdated manual Excel workbooks that were vulnerable to errors. When it comes to reporting and budgeting Blackline's products are not too useful to our company. We have customized reports with SAP that better suit our needs.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
BlackLine is used in my department for key account review and documentation. It helps maintain SOX compliance with clear documentation and bright-line separation of duties. Because most work is done in Excel, it allows for cleaner timestamping and reviewing of our key items necessary to remain complaint.
  • Clean Look
  • Easy prior period referencing
  • Fast document uploads
  • Inability to delete multiple lines at a time.
  • Entry screen defaults to numerical input at appx 1s lag.
  • Inability to have sub-team views.
BlackLine works when the documents you upload are not too large and when there is a clear and obvious review chain. In an increasingly flexible work environment, BlackLine seems to adapt well but could always be improved in the mobility of items. BlackLine is also tedious when you have many-lined JEs that need to be replaced each month as each line needs to be manually deleted, the screen refreshes, then the next line can be addressed.
February 26, 2022

BlackLine Basics!

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We utilize BlackLine to organize, assign, and process JEs, Recons, Tasks, and use their Matching to help process bank statements. This helps us address the sheer volume of these processes that our company handles and additionally we have found that employee onboarding has improved through the early introduction of their role in BlackLine
  • Reconciliations.
  • User Management.
  • Journal Entries.
  • User Interface can be inconsistent but it's more annoying than actually harmful.
  • Updates, even commonly asked updates take a while to implement.
BlackLine has been well suited for our organizational and integration needs. It ties very well with JDE and allows for the negation of manual data entry. We simply have to allow the systems to talk to each other and our recons are easily done. However, we do have manual audits performed monthly on certain processes as the importing system can be particular about commas.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
BlackLine has been a great tool for our organization, helping us with the posting of journal entries in to SAP. BlackLine's journal entry process and interface is user friendly, and the available audit trail, as well as the option for the preparer to select the approver and reviewer, makes it an excellent tool for our Finance organization. In addition, the Task feature has helped us with organization and allowed team members to focus on their assignments. At our organization, BlackLine is used for manual journal entry posting, account reconciliations and tasks.
  • Journal Entry posting in real time
  • Tasks feature to help users stay organized
  • Preparer has ability to set Approver and Reviewer at time of entry posting
  • Audit trail for journal entry posting
  • Repository for journal entry support
  • Inability to require 2nd level approver for entries over certain amount in any currency
  • Interface journal entry support in to SAP
BlackLine is our current solution in posting journal entries in to SAP, which allows us to set Prepares and Approvers, and easily maintain an audit trail. The Task feature is significant in that it allows us to organize the close process, and the dashboard functionality helps with status updates and monitoring of the close process. Overall BlackLine is user-friendly. We operate in multiple nations with many different languages. Users from other nations seldom bring up issues regarding usability.
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