Item: BlackLine
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with BlackLine

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use BlackLine primarily for account reconciliations and journal entries. For some of our account recons, we use Transaction Matching plus In Transit rules and auto-certification. All of our GAAP entries are performed within BlackLine, and soon we will be performing STAT and TAX as well. We utilize automated journals, of which about 10% auto-certify. We use Tasks for FR and SOX deliverables, and are currently piloting Variance. We use BlackLine to complete month end close in a timely and efficient manner, and use reporting to gain a quick and consolidated view into the status of each stage of that process.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Auto-certification for reconciliations
Transaction Matching
Developer tools for APIs

Cons

Reporting across multiple data sources
Visibility into Automated Journal Configurations
Linking a Journal Master to an account / reconciliation

Return on Investment

400+ hours saved during close every month
Increased visibility to workflow of international offices
Single place for post-close deliverables (less shared drives and SharePoint sites)

Support Rating

Most times support is really great, but there are times when we have questions about our specific functionality that we receive a "canned" response that doesn't address our issue or question. We then have to repeat our initial message, now that someone is assigned to the case, plus advising that the generic response wasn't adequate. This results in unnecessary back and forth and extended resolution time.

Also, it would be more productive to schedule a working session with the direct user facing issues when we submit a ticket on their behalf. We can be included, but should not be a roadblock or bottleneck.

Partnership

We have attended the Optimization Academy and that helped us communicate with various accounting teams how BlackLine can streamline their processes and give them assurance that it can be done. It helped to give us ideas on processes to tackle, and the opportunity to talk to other customers and learn from them as well.

Key Insights

Do you think BlackLine delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with BlackLine's feature set?

Yes

Did BlackLine live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of BlackLine go as expected?

Would you buy BlackLine again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Hyperion

Likelihood to Recommend

BlackLine can help with automation and process optimization really well. The import definition feature is easy to learn and provides the flexibility that makes importing data seamless. Transaction Matching has so many features that can be utilized and combined to create the perfect pass rules and matching set up. Plus the connectivity to automated journals and recons through In Transit rules allows an ecosystem to be created.

BlackLine Feature Ratings

Comments

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Confidence in BlackLine