BlackLine Adds Veteran Human Resources Leader As Chief People Officer

Susan Otto to oversee global HR function as financial automation software company continues to expand and add talent worldwide

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BlackLine

Oct 18, 2018, 09:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackLine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BL) announced today that human resources veteran Susan Otto has joined the financial automation software provider as the company's first chief people officer. In her new role, Ms. Otto will be responsible for building, scaling and elevating BlackLine's global talent practices and programs as the company continues to expand and add employees around the world.

"Our employees are our most important asset. We strive to provide a great place to work, offering an inclusive environment and helping employees grow and develop in their careers; happy employees are inevitably more creative and productive and will, in turn, work their hardest to treat our customers well," said Therese Tucker, BlackLine CEO. "Susan has a strong track record of building high performance workforces, fostering strong employee engagement, creativity and productivity. She understands the importance of the people who work here, and I'm confident will evolve BlackLine's culture and environment to enable teams and individuals to perform at their best."

Otto comes to BlackLine with more than 20 years of experience building and leading successful human resources organizations at mid-size and large companies across multiple industries. Otto most recently was chief human resources officer at digital automotive marketplace TrueCar, where she focused on organizational and talent development, driving employee engagement and cultivating a performance-based culture. Prior to TrueCar, she spent four years as chief people officer at ModCloth, a San Francisco-based online retailer of women's apparel, where she helped define company culture, transform the organization and scale teams to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth start-up environment. Previously, Otto held senior human resource leadership positions with Electronic Arts and Medtronic. She holds a B.A. in Marketing and Management from Saint Mary's University and an M.A. in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

"I'm thrilled to join BlackLine at such an exciting time of growth and expansion for the company. I believe great businesses are the by-product of highly capable individuals and teams, organizational excellence and a strong community," said Otto. "BlackLine has a great foundation of talent practices in place that I'm looking forward to building upon as we evolve the organization and culture to attract and retain the best people and enable them to thrive."

BlackLine has been recognized as one of the country's 'Best Workplaces' many times in a series of rankings based upon employee survey feedback, along with a culture audit completed by the company, that are put out each year by consulting firm Great Place to Work® in conjunction with Fortune magazine.

"Therese instills an employee-centric culture from the top-down that inspires employees to work hard and perform to the best of their abilities," added Otto. "I am excited to build on this legacy and help ensure that BlackLine continues to be a great place to work."

About BlackLine
BlackLine is a provider of cloud-based solutions that transform Finance and Accounting (F&A) by automating, centralizing and streamlining financial close operations, intercompany accounting processes and other key F&A processes for large and midsize organizations. The company is recognized by Gartner as a Leader in its 2018 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Close Solutions and as a pioneer in the cloud market for enhanced financial control and automation.

Designed to complement virtually all ERP and other financial systems including SAP, Oracle and NetSuite, BlackLine increases operational efficiency, real-time visibility, control and compliance to ensure end-to-end financial close management and accounting automation from 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 modernize accounting operations with intelligent automation, ensuring more accurate and insightful financial statements and a more efficient financial close.

More than 2,400 companies with users around the world trust BlackLine to help ensure balance sheet integrity and confidence in their financial statements. Based in Los Angeles, BlackLine also has regional headquarters in London, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, please visit www.blackline.com.

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 for the year ended December 31, 2017 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 8, 2018. Additional information will also be set forth in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018.

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.

SOURCE BlackLine