BlackLine Home page BlackLine home page
Solutions
Solutions
Financial Close Management
Financial Close Management
Overview
Overview
Account Reconciliations
Account Reconciliations
Task Management
Task Management
Transaction Matching
Transaction Matching
Journal Entry
Journal Entry
Financial Reporting Analytics
Financial Reporting Analytics
Variance Analysis
Variance Analysis
Smart Close for SAP
Smart Close for SAP
Accounts Receivable Automation
Accounts Receivable Automation
Overview
Overview
Cash Application
Cash Application
Credit & Risk Management
Credit & Risk Management
Collections Management
Collections Management
Disputes & Deductions
Disputes & Deductions
Team & Task Management
Team & Task Management
AR Intelligence
AR Intelligence
Invoicing & Compliance
Invoicing & Compliance
Intercompany Financial Management
Intercompany Financial Management
Overview
Overview
Intercompany Non-Trade
Intercompany Non-Trade
Intercompany Balance & Resolve
Intercompany Balance & Resolve
Intercompany Net & Settle
Intercompany Net & Settle
By Organization Size
By Organization Size
Midsize Organizations
Midsize Organizations
Large Enterprises
Large Enterprises
By Industry
By Industry
Banking & Financial Services
Banking & Financial Services
Consumer Products & Services
Consumer Products & Services
Energy & Raw Materials
Energy & Raw Materials
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Retail
Retail
Technology, Media & Communications
Technology, Media & Communications
See All Industries
By ERP
By ERP
SAP
SAP
Oracle
Oracle
Oracle NetSuite
Oracle NetSuite
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics
See All ERPs
By Topic
By Topic
Environmental, Social, and Governance
Environmental, Social, and Governance
Recruiting & Retaining Top Talent
Recruiting & Retaining Top Talent
Enabling an ERP Transformation
Enabling an ERP Transformation
CFO & CIO Collaboration
CFO & CIO Collaboration
F&A Transformation
F&A Transformation
IPO Readiness
IPO Readiness
Mergers & Acquisitions
Mergers & Acquisitions
Revenue Cycle Optimization
Revenue Cycle Optimization
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Compliance
Customers
Customers
Customer Success
Success Stories
Success Stories
Community
Community
Services
Services
Overview
Overview
Professional Services
Professional Services
Training & Education
Training & Education
Customer Success
Customer Success
Transformation Services
Transformation Services
Global Support
Global Support
Resources
Resources
Events
Events
Upcoming Webinars
Upcoming Webinars
On-Demand Webinars
On-Demand Webinars
White Papers
White Papers
Blog
Blog
Accounting Glossary
Accounting Glossary
Developer Portal
Developer Portal
About
About
Company
Company
About BlackLine
About BlackLine
Leadership
Leadership
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Environmental, Social & Governance
Environmental, Social & Governance
In the News
In the News
Press Releases
Press Releases
Investors
Investors
Awards & Recognition
Awards & Recognition
Careers
Careers
Partners
Partners
Consulting Alliances
Consulting Alliances
Solution Provider Partners
Solution Provider Partners
Software & Cloud Partners
Software & Cloud Partners
Business Process Outsourcers
Business Process Outsourcers

How to Maximize A&F Resources for Finance Transformation Projects

image

3-minute read

Digital transformation is more than just a software implementation. This article defines it as the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s meant to allow a company’s greatest asset—its people—to become more strategic about how they approach their work.

Successfully transforming often requires a culture change, where organizations encourage new approaches and become more comfortable with failure.

During a recent webinar, BlackLine’s Molly Boyle and Thyra Williams talked about how purpose-built technology has helped accounting teams dedicate up to 70% of their key resources to strategic initiatives.

Here are a few of the highlights from their conversation.

A Partnership, Not Just Another Platform

Companies aren’t just looking for good software or good vendors—they’re trying to transform the way they work. They want to move toward best practices and away from complicated and customized systems and processes.

And many companies aren’t just looking for a new technology platform: they’re looking for a partner.

Your People Are Critical to Your Success

No matter how much technology you implement, there’s no replacement for strategic thinkers. They can get the most out of systems or use data to inform better business decisions.

With that in mind, the skillset needed in Accounting and Finance is changing. Teams can move away from administrative work and toward delivering insight. To enable this, organizations must prioritize digital transformation, which often calls for the upgrade of an aging ERP system.

Here are the four biggest roadblocks that finance transformation can help you overcome:

  • Manual effort—the number one bottleneck in the financial close process

  • Retaining talent, which is key to improving finance

  • Security risk

  • Current systems—a barrier to improving finance effectiveness

The First Step: Quick Wins

By focusing on the financial close as first step in a larger transformation journey, you can achieve early and quick wins, free up expertise for the rest of the business, and provide additional visibility.

These creates valuable momentum for enterprise-wide change.

It means less time spent on repetitive tasks, increased confidence and accountability, better alignment, and more engaged employees, which can lead to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover.

With all these benefits, it’s still important to remember that any transformation project is a marathon. By involving the right people, understanding your goals, and getting some quick wins along the way, you can make it a success.

Watch this webinar on-demand to learn more about how you can maximize accounting and finance resources for your finance transformation projects.