CREATE AUTOMATED WORKFLOW & ACHIEVE

BALANCE SHEET INTEGRITY

• BlackLine Systems Overview

• Discuss common challenges shared service centers face around the close and how technology can help companies ensure integrity of the balance sheet and financial reports

• Albemarle Case Study

AGENDA

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BLACKLINE SYSTEMS OVERVIEW

Susan ParcellsDirector, Finance Transformation & Product ExpertBlackLine Systems

Follow along via Twitter Handle:@SusanParcells

ABOUT BLACKLINE

• Global headquarters in Los Angeles with regional main offices in London and Sydney

• 800+ clients (many in the Fortune 500/Global 1000) and over 85,000 users worldwide

• First to market and offer software to automate the entire financial close process

• BlackLine Certified Implementation Professionals all around the world

• First account reconciliation provider with a SOC1 (SSAE 16), SOC II, & SOC III independent audits & ISO 27001 certification

• The BlackLine Financial Close Suite for SAP® Solutions is an SAP-endorsed business solution and is the only financial close solution to achieve this

• Solutions endorsed by SAP are complementary to SAP software offerings, have been specifically integrated with SAP solutions and tested by SAP

• BlackLine’s SAP Connector seamlessly integrates BlackLine to SAP Financials

• The BlackLine Financial Close Suite for SAP® Solutions is an SAP-endorsed business solution and is the only financial close solution to achieve this

• Solutions endorsed by SAP are complementary to SAP software offerings, have been specifically integrated with SAP solutions and tested by SAP

• BlackLine’s SAP Connector seamlessly integrates BlackLine to SAP Financials

SAP PARTNERSHIP

• REAL-TIME MONITORING AND REPORTING• CONTROLLED PROCESS• DATA INTEGRITY & INTEGRATION• SIMPLE, SECURE SaaS SOLUTION

BLACKLINE FINANCIAL CLOSE SUITE

SHARED SERVICE CENTERS – A QUEST FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS

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PROCESS EXCELLENCESERVICE EXCELLENCECONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTNEW TECHNOLOGIES

Shared Service Centers A Quest For Continued Success

HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP SHARED SERVICE CENTERS OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES

BLACKLINE PROCESS

HOW FINANCIAL CLOSE SOFTWARE CAN HELP SHARED SERVICE CENTERS

– Standardized policies, procedures and systems• Standard reconciliation templates• Ability to associate respective policy and

procedure to each reconciliation or task

– Transparency • Real time dashboards and reporting on status of

reconciliations, close tasks and journals• Proactive email alerts

– Clear ownership over activities• Workflow - All account reconciliations are assigned

a preparer and approver (2nd level reviewer is also available)

• Certification audit trail

– Standardized policies, procedures and systems

• Standard reconciliation templates

• Ability to associate respective policy and procedure to each reconciliation or task

– Transparency

• Real time dashboards and reporting on status of reconciliations, close tasks and journals

• Proactive email alerts

– Clear ownership over activities

• Workflow - All account reconciliations are assigned a preparer and approver (2nd level reviewer is also available)

• Certification audit trail

PROCESS EXCELLENCE

PROCESS EXCELLENCE

SERVICE EXCELLENCE

SERVICE EXCELLENCE

HOW FINANCIAL CLOSE SOFTWARE CAN HELP SHARED SERVICE CENTERS

– Visible metrics/KPI’s• Dashboards, reports, alerts• Access available to service center and

management– Timely feedback on performance

• Various reviewer type roles available• Evaluations

– Easy to set up and manage• Flexible• Configurable

– Easy to use• Intuitive• Training available 24/7

– Visible metrics/KPI’s

• Dashboards, reports, alerts

• Access available to service center and management

– Timely feedback on performance

• Various reviewer type roles available

• Evaluations

– Easy to set up and manage

• Flexible

• Configurable

– Easy to use

• Intuitive

• Training available 24/7

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

• BlackLine can be used for entire balance sheet (pre-paids, accruals, bank, sub-ledger, debt, equity, etc.)

• Auto-certification of low risk reconciliations

• Templates-based process for standardization and quality

• Supporting documents – can be saved/accessed from within the system

• Approval workflow – multiple levels with flexible scheduling

• Automated e-mail alerts for proactive notification/monitoring

• Reporting for real-time status updates

• Centralized, global access – anywhere, anytime

• Multi-currency AND multi-language (available in 15 languages!)

• Easy integration with existing ERP, GL systems

• BlackLine can be used for entire balance sheet (pre-paids, accruals, bank, sub-ledger, debt, equity, etc.)

• Auto-certification of low risk reconciliations

• Templates-based process for standardization and quality

• Supporting documents – can be saved/accessed from within the system

• Approval workflow – multiple levels with flexible scheduling

• Automated e-mail alerts for proactive notification/monitoring

• Reporting for real-time status updates

• Centralized, global access – anywhere, anytime

• Multi-currency AND multi-language (available in 15 languages!)

• Easy integration with existing ERP, GL systems

Albemarle Case Study

Andrea Balázsi-Vörös Accounting Team LeadAlbemarle

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Albemarle & BlackLine

Budapest, July 2014

Andrea Balázsi-Vörös, Accounting Team Lead

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Agenda -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Albemarle Overview• Before BlackLine• Why BlackLine?• Where we are now?• BlackLine in numbers• Benefits / ROI• Plans for the future

Agenda

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• 2013 Revenue $2.6 billion

• Leading specialty chemical company– Catalyst solutions– Performance chemicals

• Over 4,100 employees globally

• Serves customers in over 100 countries around the World

• Accounting operations– Americas (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA)– Europe (Budapest, Hungary)– Asia (Dalian, China)

Albemarle Overview

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Before BlackLine

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• No streamlined process for account recons• No appropiate ownership of accounts• No standardization of processes• Recons performed manually • Journal entries and supporting

documents printed on papers• Files stored locally• Time consuming approval process /

audit• Hard to control• Lack of confidence in recons /

approvals done completely

Before BlackLine

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Why BlackLine?

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• Flexibility to import open items and journalsdirectly from SAP

• Different modules (Account recons, Journalsand Tasks) at the same place

• Different roles settings• Automatic e-mail notifications (Alerts)• Possibility of group accounts / auto-certifications• Better policy compliance management• Ability to access site anywhere (with internet access)• Online trainings• Userfriendly system

Why BlackLine?

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Where we are now?

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• BlackLine Accounts module implemented in Q4 2010– Gradual induction– All accounts imported by Q2 2011

• BlackLine Journals module implemented in Q4 2011– Workflow approval electronically– Supporting documentation in one central place

• BlackLine TaskS module implemented in Q2 2013– closing and non closing tasks for RTR (Finance) and PTP

Where we are now?

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BlackLine in numbers

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• ~4,700 accounts• 250 groups

• Over 100 users

• Average 1500 JEs / month

• Over 500 tasks

BlackLine in numbers

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Benefits / ROI

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• Better quality• More consistent data in less time• Global visibility on account recons• Central repository for recons and journal entries• Much simpler and efficient review• Save an enormous amount of time

– Directly– Indirectly

• Aid in comliance with SOX• Supplying documentation to the auditors

much simpler

Benefits / ROI

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Plans for the future

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• Implement custom frequencies foraccount recons

• Standard account descriptions and recon procedures accross the globe

• Roll out the Tasks module globally

• Implementation of additional BlackLine modules– Variance module

Future plans

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Questions?

Any questions?

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