Global Media Business: BlackLine implementation

The issue

Having scaled significantly by acquisition over several years the Group had limited visibility of local balance sheet information as well as inconsistent & inefficient local reconciliation processes.

The solution

After Blackline had been selected as the global solution a Pilot was undertaken in 7 countries followed by a global roll out of the Account Reconciliation & Task Manager modules to 60 countries. Reporting dashboards were also built using additional technologies.

The approach

This was achieved through clear sponsorship & governance, agile project management, a rapid deployment methodology using standard templates, and effective training & change management

The outcomes

The implementation digitised c150,000 monthly reconciliations & 20,000 tasks for over 1,000 entities in 18 months. This resulted in increased controls, greater consistency, reduced monthly reconciliation cycle times & an improved user experience. Finance data is now mapped automatically from local finance systems to Blackline, balance sheet risk categories are now globally adopted and workflow is in place to drive adherence to month end reporting cycles. Roles are more clearly defined within the function both locally & with the shared service partner Additionally Internal & External Audit are trained & now have appropriate access to the tool. The scale, complexity & speed of this implementation enabled the client to win the Unifier award at the 2021 Blackline Modern Accounting Award