BlackLine Platform Enhancements To Be Unveiled At InTheBlack 2016 In LA

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14, 2016

Highlights of BlackLine's updated platform functionality include:

• Enhanced Reporting Framework – Historically, software users have gotten used to having to build reports manually, often accessing information via multiple data pulls and then having to export the data to Excel to analyze it.  With significantly increased processing speeds and enhanced functionality, BlackLine customers can now access extremely large amounts of data instantly, enabling customers to generate custom reports within seconds from within the BlackLine application screen where they are working.  
• Enhanced Navigation Menu Bar – With a sleek, modern look and feel, BlackLine's navigation tool now combines an intuitively organized menu with enhanced system search capabilities and represents the first of many graphical interface enhancements planned to be phased in over the next year to improve the overall user experience.
• Optimized Connector for SAP® ERP & Transaction Clearing – A typical customer running SAP ERP may have millions of open items, often requiring lengthy analysis as part of the reconciliation process and also manual effort to clear these items after analysis.  Without BlackLine, the manual process of analyzing this information can often lead to transactions that are written off or inaccurately left open. BlackLine's updated connector for SAP ERP is now able to automatically clear open items in SAP ERP, delivering an end-to-end solution to automate the analysis, reconciliation and clearing of open items.

"Through customer-focused events such as ITB LA, we are constantly soliciting end user feedback – looking for ways to continuously improve their experience with updates to things like reporting and navigation that will ultimately help all of our customers achieve unprecedented control, visibility and efficiency across their Finance and Accounting organizations," said Therese Tucker, CEO, BlackLine.  "For our customers running on SAP ERP, we are now providing an end-to-end open item clearing solution.  We believe an account reconciliation solution for SAP ERP without this capability would be incomplete."

"Using BlackLine alongside SAP ERP helps reduce risk by replacing manual, error-prone processes with a secure end-to-end process," said Dr. Christoph Ernst, senior director, Finance Solutions, SAP.  "The BlackLine Financial Close Suite for SAP® Solutions complements the functionality inherent in SAP ERP.  Together, BlackLine and SAP are ushering in a new era for Finance and Accounting, enabling continuous accounting – where activities are always happening, continuously throughout a period, minimizing the month-end crush during the close.  We believe this has transformational benefits and will become the norm."

About BlackLine
BlackLine is a provider of cloud-based solutions for Finance & Accounting (F&A) that centralize and streamline financial close operations and other key F&A processes for midsize and large organizations.  Designed to complement ERP and other financial systems, the BlackLine Finance Controls & Automation Platform increases operational efficiency, real-time visibility, control and compliance to ensure end-to-end financial close management, fueling confidence throughout the entire accounting cycle. 

BlackLine's mission is to continuously improve the quality, accuracy and efficiency of Finance & Accounting by centralizing key functions within a single, unified cloud platform.  Enabling customers to move beyond outdated processes and point solutions to a Continuous Accounting model, in which real-time automation, controls and period-end tasks are embedded within day-to-day activities, BlackLine helps companies achieve Modern Finance status, ensuring more accurate and insightful financial statements and a more efficient financial close.  More than 1,500 companies with users in approximately 120 countries around the world trust BlackLine to ensure balance sheet integrity and confidence in their financial statements. 

BlackLine is recognized by Gartner as a Leader in its 2016 Magic Quadrant for Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) Solutions and as a pioneer of the Enhanced Financial Controls & Automation (EFCA) software category.