LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackLine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BL) today announced the broad launch of its 'Modern Accounting Playbook' (MAP), a solution package based on leading practices to help midmarket companies get up and running quickly on BlackLine's market-leading accounting automation platform and guide them through a proven process to achieve a stress-free financial close.  The company also announced it will offer complimentary MAP implementation services until June 30, 2020 for a limited number of midsize organizations to help reduce their financial burden and close with confidence in this difficult economic environment.

BlackLine MAP makes the move to modern accounting achievable for midsize companies by helping them realize the greatest value in the shortest amount of time.  By applying a combination of native cloud technology, a vast library of pre-configured best-practices templates, and a highly optimized delivery model, BlackLine MAP can drastically reduce implementation times and accelerate time-to-value. 

"Our BlackLine implementation was very straightforward," said Jade Lee, director of corporate accounting at HashiCorp, a multi-cloud infrastructure automation software company ranked No. 4 on the 2019 Forbes Cloud 100 list.  "I've been implementing systems for many years, and this was one of the most organized and smooth-running implementations I've ever experienced." 

BlackLine MAP is a repeatable, packaged process complete with all the knowledge and leading practices needed around ERP integration, data extraction, close checklists, ready-to-go reconciliation templates, close task tracking, reports, dashboards, approval flows and more. 

"We've created a curated playbook for rapid success, based not only on our experience working with so many market-leading companies, but also on our own growth path from boot-strapped business to Nasdaq-listed entity," said Marc Huffman, BlackLine's president and COO.  "With MAP, we're providing a guided process that shaves time off the close, slashing workloads and bolstering financial statement integrity, quickly." 

Despite uncertainty facing many of today's organizations, one thing remains certain—businesses still rely on Finance & Accounting (F&A) to deliver an accurate picture of financial health.  F&A is now also tasked with adjusting to a distributed workforce.  BlackLine MAP can help on both these fronts by guiding teams to achieve a collaborative and continuous close from wherever they're working, without sacrificing productivity in their F&A departments.

After following BlackLine's leading practices approach and getting up and running, companies will be well poised to further modernize their F&A function.  As their business evolves, they won't have to 'rip and replace' to a new solution.  BlackLine will grow with them. 

"After MAP's core foundation is in place, we guide the customer on how to approach each growth milestone they may encounter," added Mr. Huffman.  "So when a customer needs to automate more accounting processes as business volume and complexity increases or tackle more advanced needs to prepare for significant milestones like an IPO, acquisition or venture-capital round, there's never a gap from demand to delivery."

As the cloud financial close market leader, BlackLine has helped thousands of companies solve business challenges and scale for growth.  Many leading midsize companies and organizations including the American Medical Association, Clif Bar, HashiCorp, Impossible Foods, the Institute of Internal Auditors, Philz Coffee, Postmates and Travelzoo are already realizing the benefits of using BlackLine to automate and modernize processes in F&A – closing faster with more accurate results.

BlackLine was recently recognized as a 2020 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for Cloud Financial Close Solutions.  Here's what users in other midsize companies are saying about BlackLine, taken from the 249 reviews at the Gartner Peer Insights website:

• "BlackLine has helped us go from manual Excel processes to an integrated quarterly close process using a uniform reconciliation format in just a few simple steps." – Senior Accountant, Manufacturing, company size < $50M
• "Everything was professional and expedient.  Great experience.  Our implementation consultant was very easy to work with and support over the years has been wonderful." – CFO, Miscellaneous industry, company size $50M–250M
• "We've been using BlackLine for 10 years and can't imagine going anywhere else because they continue to improve their technology and support our emerging needs." – Accounting Supervisor, Services, company size $250-500M
• "I absolutely love BlackLine!  They make reconciling balance sheet accounts much less time consuming so I can direct my time toward other things." – Senior Accountant, Energy & Utilities, company size $500M–1B
• "BlackLine has been a great business partner with us.  Our project implementation team has been very helpful and always there with us every step of the way." – Assistant Corporate Controller, Manufacturing, company size $500M-1B

To learn more about BlackLine MAP or schedule a meeting with a BlackLine expert, go here.

About BlackLine
Companies come to BlackLine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BL) because their traditional manual accounting processes are not sustainable.  BlackLine's cloud-based solutions and market-leading customer service help companies move to modern accounting by unifying their data and processes, automating repetitive work, and driving accountability through visibility.  BlackLine provides solutions for financial close management, accounting automation, and intercompany governance, helping large enterprises and midsize companies across all industries do accounting work better, faster, and with more control.

More than 3,000 customers trust BlackLine to help them close faster with complete and accurate results.  The company is the pioneer and recognized Leader in Gartner's 2019 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Close Solutions.  Based in Los Angeles, BlackLine also has regional headquarters in London, Singapore and Sydney.  For more information, please visit blackline.com.

BlackLine Forward-looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "intend," "potential," "would," "continue," "ongoing" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding our growth plans and opportunities.

Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon BlackLine's current plans, estimates and expectations and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith beliefs and assumptions as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if any assumptions prove incorrect, actual performance or results may differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to the Company's ability to execute on its strategies, attract new customers, enter new geographies and develop, release and sell new features and solutions; and other risks and uncertainties described in the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K.  Additional information will also be set forth in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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SOURCE BlackLine