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The Modern Approach to Closing the Books An Introduction to Continuous Accounting Trust is in the Balance™ Table of Contents The Future of Finance is Bright..................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 The Trouble with Record-to-Report............................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Costs of Reactive Operations......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 The Evolution of Record-to-Report: Continuous Accounting���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 Transformational Benefits of Continuous Accounting...........................................................................................................................................16 5 Steps to Continuous Accounting.............................................................................................................................................................................20 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started............................................................................................................................................. 22 The Modern Finance Journey.......................................................................................................................................................................................29 Companies on the Modern Finance Journey........................................................................................................................................................... 33 Achieving the Point-in-Time Close.............................................................................................................................................................................38 Modernity is Not an Option: Adapt Or…....................................................................................................................................................................41 The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 2 The Future of Finance is Bright There’s cause for a lot of optimism in finance. By 2020, Accenture predicts productivity of Finance will increase by two to three times while organizational costs will decline by 40%1. They also predict a dramatic shift in time spent on analysis, from a mere 25% today to 75% in the future. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 3 The Future of Finance is Bright These transformative predictions, are due in large part to the digitization of accounting, and the digitization of business in general. Technologies like cloud computing, mobile, automation and analytics are delivering dramatic improvements in efficiency, and finance organizations are tapping into it, with 82% of CFOs pointing to cloud applications as the future of their business applications2. Finance is shifting from traditional rigid Nearly 70% of respondents in a recent survey and manual accounting processes to more by The Hackett Group found that manual automated, more flexible, and more agile processes are still the #1 bottleneck, with cloud based systems. This shift is essential, much of the resource utilized at the end of because it provides the productivity benefits the accounting period. Clearly, smart use of, so that finance can focus more on reporting and reallocating those resources through and analyzing financial performance. automation is a significant opportunity to However, successfully making the shift means make the shift. overcoming roadblocks across four key areas – automation, talent, risk, and technology. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 4 The Future of Finance is Bright Making the shift to being more strategic, millennial workforce, but current systems are also means attracting and retaining the often a barrier to making the shift. It requires best talent. While 97% of CEOs see this as a cloud and mobile systems that complement priority, only 1/3 give CFOs a passing grade3. existing infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, manual and repetitive tasks drain satisfaction and motivation – and are a predictor to churn. To compete for and retain talent, automation is key. The complex nature of 24/7 global business requires a change or, more accurately, a revolution. The legacy processes saddling finance operations are endemic, but Finally, organizations see challenges moving especially burdensome for core accounting from the systems they have to the future. and financial close. In order to make the the CFOs see cloud as the future of their shift from overworked cost center to strategic applications and mobile applications are partner for their business, accounting and increasingly important with an incoming finance teams must embrace the future. How do organizations move away from legacy systems and processes while reducing cost and improving productivity? The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 5 The Trouble with Recordto-Report The traditional record-to-report process was designed to map out tasks and responsibilities required to be performed after the period-end, whether directly involved in the financial close process or part of after-close reconciliations and analysis. Close activities and processes that were created and implemented twenty or more years ago were not built for the modern business economy. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 6 The Trouble with Record-to-Report BANK Prepare Analyze Report ERPs CREDIT CARD Account Reconciliations Journal Entry Month-End Close Analysis Compliance & Control Reporting POS SUBLEDGERS DAY 1 DAY 7 DAY 14 DAY 21 DATA The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 7 The Trouble with Recordto-Report It’s not that the process is broken; it’s that it has failed to modernize. Record-to-report processes were built to Technically, this is a completely functional accommodate rigid systems that didn’t process. But it is no longer optimal. Some integrate well with general ledgers nor ascribe to the philosophy of if it ain’t broke, provide accurate visibility into the chart- don’t fix it. It’s not that the process is broken; of-accounts. As a process, it represents a it’s that it has failed to modernize. It is start-stop view of how accountants approach not equipped to keep up with the always- reconciliation and close activities at the on, continuous nature of business today. period end, manifesting problems that can Globally dispersed transactions – from final have a significant impact on the business. product sales to intercompany invoices – Record-to-report is a linear process, analogous to an assembly line. By definition, results can only be produced and the end of a given period, be it a month, quarter, or year. Fundamentally, on the day after the come in around the clock, vastly increasing the number of unreconciled transactions. Record-to-report brings significant costs to organizations looking to modernize, even more to those who are reluctant to do so. period closes, steps are taken to first prepare, subsequently analyze, and ultimately report results. By the time those results are in, the information is necessarily out of date. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 8 Costs of Reactive Operations As the record-to-report model represents items to be completed upon the end of the period, it condenses a huge amount of work into a short span of time. This is a reactive approach to getting the job done, one that leaves accounting and finance always playing catch-up. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 9 Costs of Reactive Operations Reactive accounting operations in the form of the traditional record-to-report process risk damaging the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of results while placing incredible amounts of strain on employees. By leaving so much work to get done in just a week or so, accounting and finance teams face costly challenges. When Business Happens Close Activities Period-End Close Reporting & Analysis 0 CALENDAR DAYS 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 10 Costs of Reactive Operations No Time for Analysis By completing close activities at the end of a period, there is no extra time for in-depth analysis. Out of Date Results When the results are in and reporting is completed, the results are from days ago if not older. Increased Risk of Error As the pressure mounts to complete the close, rushed approvals and late journal entries lead to missed errors. Discrepancies Discovered After Reporting If a material error gets through or an account balance fluctuation needs investigation, it only happens after reporting. Employee Burnout Long hours and overtime are fast lanes to employee burnout, and ultimately expensive employee turnover. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 11 The Evolution of R2R: Continuous Accounting Continuous Accounting embeds automation, control, and period-end tasks within day-today activities, allowing the rigid accounting calendar to more closely mirror the dynamic nature of the broader business. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 12 The Evolution of R2R: Continuous Accounting The truth is automating the R2R process Continuous Accounting transforms tasks only gets accounting so far — faster close like reconciliations, intercompany processes, times, and reduced accounting effort. transaction matching and variance analysis, Continuous Accounting provides a way so they aren’t just automated: they’re real forward — shifting traditional end of period time. It delivers more than a faster close and tasks to continuous day-to-day activities efficiency benefits alone, because it spreads throughout the accounting period, unlocking the accounting workload over the accounting more productivity, more agility, and more period, reducing overtime and weekend visibility. Continuous Accounting is the natural crunches that often overload and burn out evolution of record-to-report. The reality is accounting talent. It turns visibility into that Automating the R2R process is valuable. financial results that is traditionally reserved Because the benefits are confined to the for the close process, into a real-time picture close period itself, it can only buy at any point in the accounting period. accounting so much. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 13 The Evolution of R2R: Continuous Accounting The accounting team can perform tasks in technology to shorten their record-to-report smaller chunks on a more frequent basis, close cycles with automation, improvements smoothing out workloads. They can also are limited by the very structure of the old evaluate the integrity of information at way of doing things. Continuous Accounting any given point in time, enabling continual is more than a change in technology; monitoring for errors, fraud, and inefficiencies. it is a fundamental shift in philosophy. Furthermore, they can look at the impact of The technology takes care of processing changes like currency fluctuations with up- transactions as they come in, but the to-date financial data. In short, Continuous people, now refocusing on continual Accounting more evenly distributes the analysis of discrepancies and anomalies, workload associated with the period-end close, are unleashed with this philosophical shift. while enabling constant reporting, verification, Moving from record-to-report to Continuous and analysis. Accounting is a significant shift, but one with This is done by combining a mix of people, process, and technology. While many a practical, stepwise application yielding quantifiable benefits. companies have found ways to leverage The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 14 The Evolution of R2R: Continuous Accounting BANK CREDIT CARD POS INTEGRATION LAYER ERPs PROCESS REPORTING CONTROL ANALYZE SUBLEDGERS DATA The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 15 Transformational Benefits of Continuous Accounting By applying this methodology and philosophy, accounting and finance teams reduce business-process costs and optimize process effectiveness and efficiency. Successful application of this modern process improves the ability to continually capture, validate, and provide timely and accurate financial data necessary for reporting. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 16 Transformational Benefits of Continuous Accounting When Business Happens Close Activities Reporting & Analysis 0 CALENDAR DAYS 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 45 17 Transformational Benefits of Continuous Accounting More Balanced Workloads Rather than execute the majority of period-end accounting efforts in only a few days work can be performed as required in smaller batches. Time Freed for Analysis Spreading tasks out through a period does more than balance workloads, it frees time for in-depth, daily analysis of the latest data. Current – Not Out of Date - Results Data analysis is performed continuously, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. depending on the needs of the business. Finance Better Aligned w/ Business Operations With real-time data analysis, Finance becomes more intelligent, always armed with information to guide business strategy. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 18 Transformational Benefits of Continuous Accounting Improved Business Agility Strategic guidance from Finance enables executive leadership to continually make better decisions with current information. Refocus on Value Adding Services By moving accounting teams away from a reactive, transactional approach, they can focus on analysis and adding new value to the organization. Employee Engagement Balanced workloads and meaningful work ends the era of turnover due to burnout, and unleashes exceptional accountants. Continuous Improvement Combining all other benefits, this modern approach to accounting enables Finance leaders to constantly hone and optimize internal process. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 19 5 Steps to Continuous Accounting Continuous Accounting is not an abstract concept, but a practical approach to improving core accounting and financial close operations. Apply these five steps to accounting activities currently left for the period end. Step by step, anyone can modernize back office accounting. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 20 5 Steps to Continuous Accounting 1. Split Batch Processes into Smaller Tasks Identify batch activities, break them down into logical work units, and make them more manageable. 2. Schedule Tasks as Early as Possible Schedule those smaller tasks as early in the process as possible or as business needs might require. 3. Embed Tasks within an Everyday Workflow Live the philosophy of Continuous Accounting by embedding tasks into daily workflows, simply making them a part of one’s day. 4. Automate where Possible; Standardize Elsewhere Automate tasks where technology can take over, and standardize routine process where an accountant’s nuanced approach is ideal. 5. Monitor Metrics to Adapt & Intervene in Real Time Monitor data, results, and benchmarks to address process gaps, anomalies, and discrepancies as they happen, in real time. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 21 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started The 5 Steps of Continuous Accounting can apply broadly to finance transformation projects looking for immediate results. However, at first glance, it can be hard to envision where exactly those steps can be applied. While there are many, here are a few prime examples that can make a difference in any organization, immediately. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 22 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started Variance Analysis Current State If any real variance analysis – the investigation of balance fluctuations – is done, it is quick, high-level, and usually last minute. With little more than a cursory glance, there is huge risk of reporting errors. If anomalous variance issues are discovered, investigation and corrections are rushed at the end of the period. 5 Steps to Continuous Variance Analysis 1. SPLIT batch process into smaller tasks: Instead of analyzing Total Current Assets as a whole, break it up to analyze Cash, AR, and Pre-paid individually. 2. SCHEDULE tasks as early as possible: Move from analyzing account balance variance once a month to once a week. 3. EMBED tasks within a normal everyday workflow: Work with your team to make this a part of their ongoing, day-to-day thought process. 4. AUTOMATE where possible: Leverage technology to automate variance analysis and alerts if unexpected flux arises. 5. MONITOR metrics to adapt and intervene: Use trend analysis reports to find patterns and adjust task scheduling to avoid unnecessary investigation based on event timing. Future State Investigating anomalies in balance fluctuations throughout the month minimizes the compounded research historically left for the end of the month. With more time to react and interrogate data, errors will be caught and handled, increasing confidence in financial statements. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 23 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started Account Reconciliations Current State Most reconciling of accounting balances happens at the end of a period. In many cases, that’s fine. However, key accounts or those subject to high volumes of transactions might require more regular analysis. The old way of doing thing is reactive. It doesn’t allow for those accounts to get the attention they need; it doesn’t allow teams to conduct proactive research and analysis. 5 Steps to Continuous Account Reconciliations 1. SPLIT batch process into smaller tasks: Instead of waiting until the end of the period, reconcile key accounts daily or weekly. 2. SCHEDULE tasks as early as possible: Shift from scheduling certain reconciliations from getting done at month-end, to event-based execution, i.e. when it can or needs to be reconciled. 3. EMBED tasks within a normal everyday workflow: Socialize process improvement plan and its advantages for the business (and accounting team!). 4. AUTOMATE where possible: Technology can match high volumes of transaction data and flag unmatched exceptions for immediate follow up. 5. MONITOR metrics to adapt and intervene: Analyze data and reports to find consistent issues, benchmark productivity outcomes, and continually hone internal process. Future State After applying the five steps, accounts identified as of particular importance can be investigated throughout the month, even every day if needed. This means there is more time to react to items needing further investigation or adjustment. In fact, a little later you’ll read about a company that does this daily in order to make correcting entries in near real time. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 24 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started Intercompany Accounting Current State Intercompany accounting is complex. Foreign exchange rates, time variance between entity bookings, and local laws are just a few of the many challenges confronting intercompany accountants. Legacy processes necessitate waiting until books are closed to even wrap one’s head around the task at hand. As a result, there is zero time to react to or research discrepancies, and rushed reviews and marginal controls result in inaccurate reporting. 5 Steps to Continuous Intercompany Accounting 1. SPLIT batch process into smaller tasks: Book and approve transactions on each entity’s books in real time. 2. SCHEDULE tasks as early as possible: Finalizing all parts of intercompany transaction as they happen realigns the process from month-end review and approval, to daily completion. 3. EMBED tasks within a normal everyday workflow: Establish clear rules and workflows so transactions can be automatically approved, or swiftly approved manually at a minimum. 4. AUTOMATE where possible: Use intercompany accounting automation and controls solutions to facilitate automatic processing, approval, and booking where possible. 5. MONITOR metrics to adapt and intervene: View recent fluctuation trends of foreign exchange rates to augment intercompany processes as needed. Future State Given its unique intricacies, intercompany accounting and transaction management needs technology’s help. Unfortunately, there are only a few fully capable systems available today. But, they do exist. And, when coupling technology with these five steps, organizations can clear intercompany transactions in real time, embed control throughout their global process, and free up time to focus on value-adding activities. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 25 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started Task Management Current State When considering how to improve process and its associated task hierarchy, it helps to remind how workload imbalances associated with traditional approaches to the financial close still plague many companies. Close tasks are largely left for the end of the period. This leads to long hours, hasty execution, and a generally disengaged workforce. Moreover, there is no time for quality analysis of results and irregularities. This can lead to catching errors too late and a lack of confidence in balance sheet reporting. Monthly Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 26 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started Task Management 5 Steps to Continuous Task Management Task Management is a key component of effectively applying the 5 Steps of Continuous Accounting. And, as a component, it can be hard to precisely break it down into the five steps. Nevertheless, they still work! Steps 1-3 – Split, Schedule, and Embed – are primarily focused on internal process improvement, not technical automation. Steps 4 and 5 – Automate and Monitor – are where technology is best suited to help manage task assignment and execution. 1. SPLIT batch process into smaller tasks: Analyze opportunities to divide larger tasks, and make smaller tasks more achievable on a regular basis, e.g. daily reconciliations. 2. SCHEDULE tasks as early as possible: Identify events that complete prior to the period end, and ensure they got done earlier in the period. 3. EMBED tasks within a normal everyday workflow: Realign close tasks and move them from being period-end focused to becoming a part of day-to-day task lists. 4. AUTOMATE where possible: Use a task management solution (no, not Excel) to assign and manage tasks. Parent task auto-certification when subordinate tasks are certified is especially helpful here. 5. MONITOR metrics to adapt and intervene: Use reports and benchmarking to adjust imbalanced workloads for individuals, and identify opportunities to reassign critical tasks to top performers. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 27 Baby Steps: Practical Examples to Get You Started Task Management Future State Analyzing your current task management process is a great first step toward Continuous Accounting. Optimizing your task management process by splitting batch processes into smaller parts, scheduling tasks as early as possible, and then embedding them into daily workflow, will help any organization improve the efficiency, productivity, and engagement of its employees, and thus the quality of output. Event Driven Sunday Monday Tuesday Monthly Wednesday Weekly Thursday Friday Daily Saturday The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 28 The Modern Finance Journey The concept of Modern Finance can seem all encompassing, from Finance Transformation to technology investments in Enhanced Finance Controls and Automation, ERP, and CPM platforms. Succinctly, Modern Finance combines process improvement with technology to improve control, accuracy, and efficiency for the office of Finance. Modern Finance moves the CFO and team from being a cost center to a valueadding, strategic leader of the business. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 29 Continuous Accounting is a pillar of Modern Finance. And together, they should be thought of as journeys, not destinations. These ideas are not finish lines. Top performing finance organizations are always adapting, innovating, and improving. This shouldn’t be discouraging. It’s inspiring. Every day can be better than the last. Strategic Value The Modern Finance Journey R2R Old Way R2R w/ Technology Continuous Accounting The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 30 The Modern Finance Journey Analyze Current State • Recognize the challenges of current close procedures • Consider visibility and efficiency gaps • Identify risk exposure Design Future State • Imagine the ideal state – Play the What-If Game • Start with easy wins • Identify critical areas for regular review and proactive investigation Optimize & Automate Process • Split batch processes into smallest components • Schedule components more often • Embed in daily activities • Automate where possible The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 31 The Modern Finance Journey Monitor Metrics & Results • Leverage continuous activity to continuously review output • Investigate alerts from flux analysis, exceptions, & anomalies • Make adjustments as needed in real time Review Outcomes & Controls • Discover macro trends • Identify process and controls gaps • Compare successes vs. original objectives – trouble areas? Improve Continuously • Use Review stage discoveries to design a new Future StateSchedule components more often • Move to a more challenging tier of improvements • Focus on most risky or critical gaps “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 32 Companies on the Modern Finance Journey Many companies have taken crucial first steps toward transforming their finance function by embedding automation into their processes. And, as we’ve explored, Continuous Accounting means more than simple automation; it means process optimization. The following two examples are companies applying this modern approach to their close operations and realizing quantifiable and immediate benefits. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 33 The Old Way Nasdaq began as a U.S.-based equities exchange. Today, Nasdaq is recognized around the globe as a diversified worldwide financial technology, trading, and information services provider to the capital markets. From 50 offices in 26 countries across six continents, more than 3,500 Nasdaq employees serve businesses and investors in every capital market. Recently, a focus on expansion and growth added tremendous complexity to their accounting and close operations. A lack of standardization across their global organization created inconsistent close processes. Historically, Nasdaq’s record-to-report process was manual and, not surprisingly, quite cumbersome. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 34 Their Modern Approach Today, Nasdaq closes their books monthly, no longer on a quarterly basis. They now close three times more often a year. Here’s a company just embarking on the journey of Continuous Accounting and Modern Finance. Companies can’t evolve every process over night. You focus on the key areas first – Analyze, Design, and Automate – then take those results to further optimize process – Monitor, Review, and Improve. Now Nasdaq completes 5,000 balance sheet reconciliations every month, resulting in more accurate and timely reporting. The best part? They’ve refocused staff on analysis and discrepancy investigation. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 35 The Old Way Caesars Entertainment audits the revenue of their food and beverage outlets across 35 properties. This is done every day. However, this meant more than 1,000 unique spreadsheets were being updated every day of the month. That required manually ticking-and-tying transactions from various systems on a daily basis. If that wasn’t hard enough, they repeated this process at month-end, tallying daily totals from each spreadsheet back to POS reports. They reviewed transaction and balances daily, but manually. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 36 Their Modern Approach Caesars was already on the path to Continuous Accounting. The workload associated with manually investigating 30,000+ spreadsheet cells at month-end had them optimize their process by executing the reconciliation of these totals daily. Recalling the 5 Steps, they split the month-end task formerly reserved for month end and scheduled a piece of it to be done every day. This was embedded in the team’s daily workflow. Committed to continuous improvement, Caesars next automated that process. They use technology to automate transaction matching, associated account reconciliations, and adjusting journal entries on a daily basis. One would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect example of applying the 5 Steps of Continuous Accounting to a problem facing core accounting operations. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 37 Achieving the Point-inTime Close By embedding automation, control, and period-end tasks within day-to-day activities, and realigning the antiquated period-end accounting calendar, accounting and finance teams can become strategic partners to the broader business. Arming company leadership with up-todate financial intelligence and analysis is an undeniable competitive advantage. It boils down to one simple idea: The Pointin-Time Close. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 38 Achieving the Point-in-Time Close Real-Time Preparation Variance Analysis Daily Reconciliations Reconciliation Management BANK Point-in-Time Close & Analysis Variance Analysis Debt Covenant Analysis P&L Analysis KPIs MD&A Disclosures Intercompany Settlement Hard Close Report CREDIT CARD POS INTEGRATION LAYER ERPs AUTOMATION ENGINE BUSINESS RULES PROCESS SUBLEDGERS DATA Journal Entry Netting & Settlement Transaction Matching The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 39 Achieving the Point-inTime Close The point-in-time close is the pinnacle of they arise. When this happens, everyone Continuous Accounting. As companies knows how the company is doing it at every continually improve process and automate given point in time. Instead of just reporting wherever possible, transactions will be on the past, Finance guides the future. processed constantly, regardless of time zone or source system. Those transactions will be automatically matched, reconciled, and analyzed as they happen. Irregularities are flagged, generating instant alerts so accounting teams can investigate issues as Constantly processing Matching, reconciling, Know where you are at any transactions, regardless of analyzing, alerting, and point on the calendar – time zone or source system automating at every step “Call it and close it.” The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 40 Modernity is Not an Option: Adapt or… Continuous Accounting is an exciting and A world where the CFO can walk into any novel approach delivering incredible benefits meeting and provide real-time – not only for accounting and finance. Instead of up-to-date, but up-to-the-minute – financial reactive operations, organizations and intelligence is achievable. Modernizing legacy teams work proactively. Instead of gross record-to-report processes is not an option. workload imbalances, work is distributed Any company that avoids transforming throughout the period, freeing time for in- its finance function is putting itself at risk. depth analysis and value-adding projects. Beyond the risks associated with out-of- With unique visibility into the current state date accounting and finance practices, of a company’s finances, company leadership, the increasingly complex nature of global and thus the entire business, realizes business cycles means that companies that unprecedented agility. are slow to modernize their accounting operations are at a competitive disadvantage. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 41 Modernity is Not an Option: Adapt or… Modern Finance, Continuous Accounting, and the Point-in-Time Close are the new paradigm. This is the future of Finance. Those that don’t evolve will be left behind. The Modern Approach to Closing the Books 42 About this eBook For more on Continuous Accounting and how you can optimize core accounting operations immediately, go to blackline.com/continuous-accounting A Modern Approach to Closing the Books An Introduction to Continuous Accounting Written By About BlackLine Zach Deming BlackLine provides software that automates and manages complex, manual, Director, Product Marketing, BlackLine and repetitive accounting processes for more than 1,400 customers. We help Edited By companies around the world modernize the way accounting and finance work. Paul Turner Skyview Consulting By improving the efficiency, accuracy, and control of accounting operations, we help enhance the office of Finance’s strategic impact and better serve the broader organization. Designed By Katy Abramson Graphic Designer, BlackLine LEARN MORE ABOUT BLACKLINE & SCHEDULE A DEMO TODAY Special Thanks To BLACKLINE.COM/DEMO The BlackLine community of employees, the Creative Design and Content teams, and especially our customers for driving our continuous innovation. Sources 1 David Axson, “Death by Digital: Goodbye to Finance as You Know It,” Accenture, October 27, 2015 2 Survey Analysis: Critical CFO Technology Needs: 2015 Gartner FEI Study 3 CEO Survey, “The View from the Top”, KPMG Trust is in the Balance™