BlackLine Raises The Bar Again, Unveiling Next Generation Unified Platform For Accounts Receivable Automation

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Oct 27, 2021, 09:05 ET

Comprehensive suite of solutions helps customers unleash working capital and accelerate their journeys to modern accounting and financial operations excellence

LOS ANGELES and LONDON, Oct. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Accounting automation software leader BlackLine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BL) has expanded its accounts receivable (AR) automation offering, unveiling the next generation of its full-functionality AR automation suite – marking the industry's first unified platform for end-to-end cash flow optimization, including cash application and collection, credit and risk management and dispute resolution. BlackLine's AI-powered unified AR automation platform uses intelligent automation to help customers release cash from debtors faster, unleash working capital and accelerate their journeys to modern accounting and financial operations excellence.

Payment Analysis: BlackLine AR Automation provides the ability to track and measure payment terms, outstanding balances, cash collected and debt positions across the customer base and see how customers actually pay against those terms.

Forecast Analysis: BlackLine AR Automation provides the ability to forecast weekly collections and measure accuracy by using real-time customer payment behavior.

The roles of the CFO and controller are ever-changing, with balance sheet optimization and the ability to quickly turn receivables into cash becoming more important than ever. In fact, a PWC Working Capital Report highlights that €1.2 trillion is being held hostage on global balance sheets. As companies emerge from the pandemic, there is a renewed focus on how they manage cash in the business and on improving working capital and debt collection capabilities. BlackLine is committed to helping its customers in what is estimated to be a $10 billion+ global market opportunity for AR automation.

"Business resilience has never been higher up the CFO's agenda and history shows that those companies that invest during uncertainty are those that thrive when markets rebound," said Kevin Permenter, research director, IDC Financial Applications. "Having efficient control and predictability across all elements of finance is critical yet most businesses still aren't focusing on one of the biggest assets on their balance sheet, their receivables. I applaud the focus on innovation that BlackLine is bringing to the AR space and think this presents a powerful opportunity for transformation in this market."

Many of the world's leading companies already use BlackLine to automate key AR processes. In the first three quarters of 2021 alone, more than $170 billion worth of payments were applied globally via BlackLine AR Automation solutions. Here's what some customers are saying:

"BlackLine has revolutionized our cash application process. We have reduced the average time to apply a payment by over 50% and automated the remittance process leading to much less time being spent on administration. Due to the artificial intelligence BlackLine's unified platform offers, we have also reduced the number of incorrect payment applications which improves our customer experience." - Elisabeth Doppelhofer, head of credit, The Adecco Group UK & Ireland
"The most important thing for any credit control department is to collect money in the shortest amount of time, which then improves our cash flow and reduces the number of days sales outstanding. BlackLine streamlines our collections and other key accounts receivable processes. We're collecting more money, faster and more efficiently. My life in credit and collections has been made so much easier with BlackLine's automated solutions." - Jason Braidwood, global head of credit collections, Creditsafe Group

BlackLine's unified applications for end-to-end AR automation are all built on the same multi-tenant platform and include the following solutions:

BlackLine Cash Application intelligently applies customer payments to invoices automatically, reducing manual effort by up to 85%, freeing up lines of credit instantly and allowing AR professionals to focus on managing risk and collecting cash with full visibility and control, not chasing customers for remittances or rework
BlackLine Credit & Risk Management drives profitability by managing the balance between sales and the risk of non-payment by orchestrating collection strategies, recovery sequences and prioritization of team tasks with a complete understanding of customer payment behaviors
BlackLine Collections Management provides automated escalating recovery sequences and dynamic collections strategies to fit each customer's profile to unlock cash while strengthening customer relationships
BlackLine Disputes & Deductions accelerates dispute resolution to maintain customer relationships and collect debt faster by highlighting where issues may arise and which actions are required to ensure cash collection
BlackLine Team & Task Management focuses AR teams' time with data-driven task prioritization based on business impacts
BlackLine AR Intelligence automatically analyzes AR processes, customer behaviors, sales trends and payment outcomes to drive decisions on credit limits, risk policies, collection strategies and more

By bringing together all these key processes on one platform, BlackLine's AR automation solutions empower companies to maximize working capital by collecting cash faster and providing a better understanding of cash flow.

"Cash is the lifeblood of every business and having working capital on hand is essential to ensure business resilience," said Kevin Kimber, managing director of BlackLine's global AR automation business unit. "AR automation is a critical component in any modern accounting or digital finance transformation journey. Those companies that deploy intelligent automation across their finance and accounting organizations will be best positioned to accelerate, thrive and rise above the competition."

Visit BlackLine.com for more information on BlackLine's AR automation platform. Register for free to attend BlackLine's annual global user conference BeyondTheBlack™ to hear customers share their success stories with BlackLine AR Automation first-hand November 16^th to 18^th.

About BlackLine
Companies come to BlackLine (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 to manage and automate financial close, accounts receivable and intercompany accounting processes, helping large enterprises and midsize companies across all industries do accounting work better, faster and with more control.

Nearly 3,600 customers trust BlackLine to help them close faster with complete and accurate results. The company is the pioneer of the cloud financial close market and recognized as the leader by customers at leading end-user review sites including Gartner Peer Insights, G2 and TrustRadius. 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
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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.

SOURCE BlackLine