Drilling Down on Data Integrity: ARC Resources’ BlackLine Journey Ahead of SAP
ARC Resources Ltd. is a Canadian energy company with operations focused in the Montney resource play in Alberta and northeast British Columbia. The company has been operating since 1996. ARC pays a quarterly dividend to shareholders and its common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ARX. ARC was the first natural gas producer to achieve EO100™ certification and holds the largest certified production base out of Canadian E&Ps.
The Challenge
For more than 25 years, ARC Resources relied on an ERP designed specifically for oil and gas industry organizations.
“It made sense at the time,” says Katherine Gomes, Vice President, Controller, at ARC. “Our industry is unique. Many solutions that work for retail or manufacturing businesses won’t work for us. While our ERP was aligned with our specific processes, we were beginning to experience its limits, especially as we grew.”
To explore their options, ARC engaged the consulting firm Deloitte.
“We were looking for ways to speed up the financial closing process and increase our overall efficiency,” Gomes explains. “We weren't considering a complete overhaul at that point, but Deloitte quickly recommended that we implement a ‘proper’ ERP along with BlackLine.”
Why BlackLine
Making the case for BlackLine in addition to a new ERP was not difficult.
“We acquired another company, which not only doubled the size of our accounts but increased our accounts overall,” Gomes notes. “Having a tool that could help us bring transactions in and boil them down automatically was very appealing.”
Deloitte suggested that ARC implement BlackLine first, prior to transitioning to SAP, their selected ERP.
“The transition to SAP takes a long time,” says Gomes. “We wouldn’t see any benefits for several months beyond go live, so adding BlackLine first would give us some quick wins. It would also help our team adjust because we wouldn’t be changing everything at once.”
Most importantly, BlackLine would play a crucial role in preparing data for the transition to SAP.
“We learned from Deloitte that BlackLine could help us manage our data and provide a strong, reliable foundation in SAP.”
The Results
Accelerated SAP implementation. Implementing BlackLine before transitioning to a new ERP allowed Gomes and her team to ensure their data was clean and ready for import.
"We’re so glad we made the decision to go with BlackLine first. It let us get rid of our dirty data and clean up the old before moving to SAP. It also let us get a good handle on what accounts looked like prior to conversion. I'm a believer in BlackLine.”
Strengthened controls. Gomes relies on BlackLine Transaction Matching to validate data from two disparate systems.
"Invoices get uploaded to my accounting system, and I need to validate that the upload is both accurate and complete. We use BlackLine to match data from both systems. It allows us to compare information. It’s just one way we’re strengthening our controls.”
Standardized reconciliations. Implementing a consistent reconciliation and analysis process has improved and streamlined controls.
“Having a standardized approach to both reconciliations and variance analysis has been game changing,” says Gomes. “We’ve greatly increased our quality. It’s been one of the biggest benefits from a control perspective.”
Gained confidence in the accuracy of the balance sheet. BlackLine ensures reconciliations are completed regularly and on time, even as ARC continues to grow.
“With BlackLine, we know that accounts are being reconciled continuously,” says Gomes. “It’s given us real comfort in our balance sheet.”
Chemicals
SAP
Canada
Midsize
Accelerated SAP implementation
Strengthened controls
Standardized reconciliations and gained confidence in the accuracy of the balance sheet.
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