It’s Time to Go BeyondTheBlack with BlackLine & SAP

This blog originally appeared on Inside SAP. It's a 4-minute read.

Accounting teams are increasingly being called to do more: manage risk, optimize business processes, and align to and guide the corporate strategy. As the scope of their roles continues to evolve, accounting teams often struggle with capacity issues as their required compliance, controls, and other record-to-report work leaves little to no time to meet the demands of their expanding roles.

Doing work the way it’s always been done is not sustainable. To adequately support the business, A&F leaders must create capacity that allows their teams to deliver insights, analysis, and technical expertise on an ongoing and ad hoc basis.

While many companies have SAP solutions, like SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA, leading companies are deploying modern accounting technology, like BlackLine Solutions for SAP. An SAP partner since 2009 and the 2021 SAP Partner of the Year, BlackLine offers solution extensions that complement and extend SAP software.

By deploying modern accounting technology, accountants can focus capacity where it matters most to embrace the evolving role of Accounting and use your team’s expertise to guide your company’s strategic success.

Join us for BeyondTheBlack 2021, a three-day virtual event, and check out the SAP Track for a unique experience that will offer achievable steps to automate busywork, unlock global visibility, and become a better business partner.

The SAP Track is a specially curated agenda for BlackLine customers operating in an SAP environment and features multiple sessions with insights from thought leaders at SAP, transformation experts, partners, and leading global customers.

Here are some highlights from the SAP Track and sessions you don’t want to miss.

To kick off the SAP Track, we are delighted to introduce three SAP regional CFO’s: Joel Bernstein, CFO Customer Success & Head of Global Finance, Gina McNamara, CFO, APJ Region, and Roger Daoud CFO, SAP Canada.

This round table, moderated by Stephanie Miller, RVP North America Finance COE will dive into CFO priorities including digital initiatives, investment in people, and navigating new regulations. Join this session to hear the unique perspective of each CFO and finance transformation journey from customers unique to their regions.

The SAP Track will continue with a session highlighting five ways BlackLine solutions help SAP customers. SAP and BlackLine transformation experts will share insights, like how BlackLine solutions complement your SAP ERP to enable financial close excellence, how BlackLine is aligned to RISE with SAP to accelerate your digital transformation, and more.

The SAP Track will also feature customer success stories from leading companies, including insights from Moody’s and other global customers across multiple industries. You will hear how these leading companies have addressed business challenges, their approach to digital transformation initiatives, benefits experienced with a modern accounting approach, and what’s next on their transformation journey.

You don’t want to miss these insights on how leading SAP customers are using BlackLine to enhance their SAP experience.

There are many other sessions in the SAP Track that will feature valuable insights from customers and partners. Join Heineken for a session on their transformation journey, including key benefits they’ve experienced with SAP S/4HANA Central Finance and additional benefits SAP and BlackLine have brought to their financial close.

And check out some of our partner sessions, like optimizing intercompany processes and technology in an SAP environment.

Throughout the three-day virtual event, there will also be opportunities beyond the SAP Track to engage, learn, and collaborate with more than 15,000 controllers, accountants, finance executives, and BlackLine experts from around the world.

Special guest Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and TED speaker who helps people find meaning and motivation at work. He has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven straight years, and during his keynote, he’ll share his perspective to help us position ourselves for excellence at work and wisdom in life.

Amy Webb is a futurist, author, and professor who advises CEOs at the world’s most admired companies, three-star admirals and generals, and the senior leadership of central banks and intergovernmental organizations. She’ll bring the same candor and humor from her TED Talk, How I hacked online dating, to BeyondTheBlack as she explores why The Future of Work Is Smart (not hard).

BlackLine leaders and strategic alliance partners will also headline, inspiring and motivating you to begin your own transformational experiences. There will be binge-worthy breakout sessions with perspectives from research analysts, alliance partners, and more.

Don’t miss the skill development workshops with deep-dive training sessions from the experts behind BlackLine U. And you can earn up to 12 CPE credits from more than 40 CPE eligible sessions.

The SAP Track at BeyondTheBlack is full of actionable insights and leading practices for a unique experience that will help you unlock endless possibilities.

No matter your role or where you are on your modern accounting journey, there’s tangible and achievable guidance for everyone.

We hope you’ll join us for this global celebration, beginning every day at 9:00 am in Los Angeles, London, and Singapore. Register now for complimentary access to the SAP Track, inspiring keynotes, educational sessions and workshops, and unique experiences as we take you BeyondTheBlack.