Blackline (software company)

Short description: American software company

Blackline

Type| Public

Traded as

| NASDAQ: BL
Russell 2000 Component
Industry| Software
Founded| 2001; 25 years ago (2001)
Headquarters|

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles , California

Key people

| Therese Tucker, Founder
Marc Huffman, CEO
Mark Partin, CFO
Products| Financial software
Revenue| $425.7 million[1] (2021)

Number of employees

| 1,055[2] (2019)
Website| www.blackline.com

Blackline is an American enterprise software company that develops cloud-based services designed to automate and control the entire financial close process.[3][4][5] The Los Angeles -based company has 11 offices worldwide.[6]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Runbook acquisition
* 1.2 SAP agreement
* 1.3 Rimilia acquisition
* 2 Operations
* 3 Recognition
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## History

BlackLine IPO

BlackLine was founded in 2001 by Therese Tucker, a former CTO at SunGard Treasury Systems.[7][8][9] The initial goal was to help customers replace their use of Excel with a suite of accounting software.[10]

The company functioned with no outside funding until 2013 when the private equity firm, Silver Lake Partners invested more than $200 million in the company.[11][10]

Blackline reached an agreement to form a strategic alliance with the financial consulting firm McGladrey, in 2015. As part of the alliance, the companies began offering a business process as a service (BPaaS) platform.[12]

The company's IPO was October 28, 2016; they're listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol BL. [13][14]

### Runbook acquisition

In September 2016, the company acquired its European competitor, Runbook for $34 million.[9][15]

Runbook marketed a dashboard software application program for SAP;[16] before it was acquired by Blackline.[17]

The software's "automation of recurring financial processes" adds "visibility and transparency" and strengthens "internal controls and compliance documentation" of data maintained by SAP.[18]

### SAP agreement

In 2018 Blackline reached an agreement with SAP for the latter "to resell BlackLine's .. cloud-based finance and accounting solutions" as part of "SAP Solution Extensions."[19]

### Rimilia acquisition

In October 2020, the company acquired UK-based accounts receivable automation company Rimilia for $150 million.[20]

Rimilia's cloud-based SaaS platform "uses AI to accurately apply payments to customer's invoices with any ERP system".[21]

## Operations

Blackline provides software for more than 3,100 companies including Costco, Netflix, Coca-Cola, JetBlue Airways, Google, Kraft Heinz, Under Armour, Sirius XM Holdings.[9] The company creates enhanced financial controls, in contrast to basic general ledger applications. BlackLine's software manages financial data, reconciles balances from sub-systems, ensures accurate and complete closings, and monitors regulatory controls through a system known as continuous auditing. The company's software is cloud-based, primarily running on the Google Cloud Platform, and meets ISO 27001 standards.[22]

## Recognition

BlackLine was ranked number 43 on Forbes Cloud 100 list in October 2016.[23] With its current market cap of $3.5 billion, the company is the largest tech company having a single female founder.

In May 2016, a Gartner Magic Quadrant report on the 10 major financial corporate performance management solutions ranked BlackLine among the top four "Leaders" with Oracle, IBM and Workiva.[24] Additionally, in 2018, Blackline was positioned as a "Leader" again in Gartner's Magic Quadrant but for "Cloud Financial Close Solutions", a new category[25] developed around cloud based financial technologies by Gartner.[26]

In March 2020, Blackline received the SAP North America Award for Partner Excellence for SAP Solution Extension Growth - Cloud.[27]

In June 2020, BlackLine, Inc. has received a 'Top Rated Award' for 2020 from TrustRadius in the category Financial Close.[28]

## See also

* Robotic process automation

## References

1. ↑ "BlackLine Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results". GlobeNewswire. February 13, 2020. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/02/13/1984918/0/en/BlackLine-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-Financial-Results.html.
2. ↑ "Blackline". May 21, 2020. https://craft.co/blackline.
3. ↑ "Reuters.com Updated BlackLine Definition". https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/BL.A.
4. ↑ Emily Chasen (May 20, 2014). "Silver Lake's BlackLine Systems Expects IPO in 18-20 Months". The Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/20/silver-lakes-blackline-systems-expects-ipo-in-18-20-months.
5. ↑ Heather Clancy (December 3, 2014). "Could This Cloud Financial Software Reduce Dependence on Spreadsheets". Fortune Magazine. http://fortune.com/2014/12/03/blackline-systems-cloud.
6. ↑ "BlackLine To Open Offices In The San Francisco Bay Area With Initial Focus On R&D And Innovation". https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackline-to-open-offices-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area-with-initial-focus-on-rd-and-innovation-300847101.html.
7. ↑ Hilary Burns (August 28, 2014). "How Hiring Impatient-Even Crazy-Employees Helped This Business Gain 900 Clients". BizJournals.com (Biz Women). http://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/profiles-strategies/2014/08/when-nobody-in-their-right-mind-is-just-what-you.html.
8. ↑ Benjamin Kuo (July 23, 2009). "Interview Therese Tucker, BlackLine Systems". Socal Tech. http://www.socaltech.com/interview_therese_tucker_blackline_systems/s-0023003.html.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 I-Chun Chen (October 3, 2016). "BlackLine Files for An IPO to Raise Up to $100 Million". L.A. Biz. http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2016/10/03/blackline-files-for-an-ipo.html.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 William Alden (August 15, 2013). "Silver Lake Unit Invests in Maker of Accounting Software". The New York Times. https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/15/silver-lake-sumeru-invests-in-accounting-software-firm. "BlackLine makes a suite of accounting software that ..."
11. ↑ Maxwell Murphey (August 15, 2016). "Silver Lake Cash to Help BlackLine Hire, Grow: CFO". The Wall Street Journal (The Wall Street Journal). https://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2013/08/15/silver-lake-cash-to-help-blackline-hire-grow-cfo/.
12. ↑ Danielle Lee (September 3, 2015). "McGladrey, BlackLine Form Strategic Alliance". Accounting Today. http://www.accountingtoday.com/accounting-technology/news/mcgladrey-blackline-form-strategic-alliance-75695-1.html.
13. ↑ Filed September 30, 2016"Accounting Software Maker BlackLine Files For IPO". Fortune. September 30, 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/09/30/accounting-software-maker-blackline-files-for-ipo.
14. ↑ Brian Deagon (October 25, 2016). "ZTO Express, BlackLine Headline Busy Week In IPOs". Investor's Business Daily. http://www.investors.com/news/technology/zto-express-blackline-headline-busy-week-in-ipos.
15. ↑ Mark Madler (September 2, 2016). "Acquisition Expands BlackLine's Offerings". San Fernando Valley Business Journal. http://www.sfvbj.com/news/2016/sep/02/acquisition-expands-blacklines-offerings.
16. ↑ Robert Leesberg; Herman Heller, Simplifying Financial Accounting with Runbook, https://sap.cioreview.com/vendor/2015/runbook
17. ↑ Steve Brooks (September 2, 2016). "Has BlackLine run closer to SAP?". Enterprise Times. https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2016/09/02/has-blackline-run-closer-to-sap.
18. ↑ "Runbook Company International". Informationweek. https://www.informationweek.com/whitepaper/company/detail/20142?gset=yes&.
19. ↑ "Blackline Announces Reseller Agreement with SAP". Computerworld. November 2, 2018. https://www.computerworld.com.au/mediareleases/33223/blackine-announces-reseller-agreement-with-sap.
20. ↑ BlackLine. "BlackLine Acquires Rimilia to Add AI-Powered Accounts Receivable Automation To Modern Accounting Platform" (in en). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackline-acquires-rimilia-to-add-ai-powered-accounts-receivable-automation-to-modern-accounting-platform-301144785.html.
21. ↑ "Rimilia | Rimilia Achieves Certification with S/4HANA® combined with SAP PI". 2020-08-17. https://www.realwire.com/releases/Rimilia-Achieves-Certification-with-S4HANA-combined-with-SAP-PI.
22. ↑ Brian Sommer (February 20, 2015). "BlackLine:The Big, Understated Force in Cloud Financial Software". ZD Net. http://www.zdnet.com/article/blackline-big-understated-force-in-cloud-financial-software.
23. ↑ Ranica Arrowsmith (October 4, 2016). "8 Tech Cos. From Accounting Space Named to Forbes Cloud 100". Accounting Today. http://www.accountingtoday.com/accounting-technology/news/8-tech-cos-from-accounting-space-named-to-forbes-cloud-100-79463-1.html.
24. ↑ "Magic Quadrant for Financial Corporate Performance Management Solutions". Gartner Group. May 2016. https://www.gartner.com/doc/reprints?id=1-38CBQOH&ct=160531&st=sb&aliId=37421204. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
25. ↑ "The New Gartner 2018 Magic Quadrants for Cloud Financial Planning & Analysis and Cloud Financial Close Solutions". https://kellblog.com/2018/08/06/the-new-gartner-2018-magic-quadrants-for-cloud-financial-planning-analysis-and-close-financial-close-solutions.
26. ↑ "BlackLine Positioned As A Leader In Gartner 2018 Magic Quadrant For Cloud Financial Close Solutions". PR News Wire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackline-positioned-as-a-leader-in-gartner-2018-magic-quadrant-for-cloud-financial-close-solutions-300692153.html.
27. ↑ "BlackLine Receives SAP® North America Partner Excellence Award 2020 for SAP Solution Extension Growth Cloud". https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackline-receives-sap-north-america-130000083.html.
28. ↑ "BlackLine Wins 2020 Top Rated Award In The Financial Close Category From TrustRadius". 25 June 2020. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackline-wins-2020-top-rated-130000685.html.

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