Coming Soon: A Remote Audit Solution From BlackLine

A new remote audit use case solution will be released by BlackLine before the end of the year.

The solution will include:

• A template for managing PBC (Prepared By Client) lists

• A standard month-end close checklist with task tracking

• 10 custom reports for audit-related tasks and status

• Audit notes for internal and external auditors

• Internal and external auditor roles for a self-service model of documentation and testing

• Sample of policies and procedures for all standard balance sheet accounts

It will also feature a pre-designed services package with live virtual implementation, training, and support from BlackLine.

“With companies closing their books with a fully or partially remote workforce, auditors of those companies find themselves quickly adapting to procedures performed remotely as well,” says BlackLine Solutions Marketing Manager Katie Morris.

“That’s why BlackLine has developed leading practices for the remote audit process,” she says. “Seamless integration of Account Reconciliations, Task Management, and Reporting help companies adhere to policies, procedures, and regulations. That creates a more preventive and proactive control environment, with evidence centralized and available from anywhere.”

BlackLine offered this as a complimentary solution in the spring, to help customers face the sudden challenges of working remotely.

“The response was overwhelming, so we’ve now decided to release it as a use case solution, a focused, quick-implementation offering for customers,” says Morris.

With its announcement, this will be the third use case solution from BlackLine. The others are BlackLine Bank Reconciliations and BlackLine Open Item Clearing Automation for SAP customers.

For businesses that still employ manual accounting methods, working from home is immensely challenging. But it can be especially difficult for those undergoing the audit process, since auditors require access to extensive documentation—documentation that historically existed in paper binders, emails, and other shared drives.

“Pulling these files together from a remote workplace poses added risks of slowdowns and weakened controls,” Morris notes.

BlackLine’s cloud-based, unified automation has built-in audit trails and workflows that can be accessed from home—by accountants, their auditors, and other validated users. BlackLine’s unified repository keeps data and documentation visible and up to date, so all users know they’re working with consistent, timely, and accurate information.

“For years, hundreds of leading companies have used BlackLine to perform their audit-related work,” says Morris. “We’ve been able to take the knowledge we gained from helping these customers and create guided solution-driven processes and services packages.

“This packaging can help customers get up and running quickly, and can put them on the right track to succeed with one of the major challenges in accounting: the audit process.”

Read our latest issue of BlackLine Quarterly for more stories about how your F&A organization can make the move to modern accounting and thrive in our virtual world.