Dun & Bradstreet’s Success Story

AI-Powered automation for Accounts Receivable
Dun & Bradstreet grows the most valuable relationships in business. By uncovering truth and meaning from data, it connects its customers with the prospects, suppliers, clients, and partners that matter most, and have since 1841. Nearly 90% of the Fortune 500, and companies of every size around the world, rely on its data, insights, and analytics.
Dun & Bradstreet wanted to establish global accounting and reconciliation standards across all its entities with a vision to be able to close the books from anywhere in the world. Prior to deploying BlackLine, the company used a combination of SharePoint, Microsoft Excel, and physical printouts to track and manage its account reconciliations, which numbered in the thousands from over 50 entities spread around the world. The complexity and volume of accounts forced accounting personnel to manually reconcile many of the accounts, which was time-consuming and inefficient. Dun & Bradstreet looked for a solution that could automatically certify and standardize accounts.
The company began exploring potential new accounting and reconciliation solutions in 2012, comparing BlackLine with another vendor’s solution. Users scored the software on ease of use and functionality. Ultimately Dun & Bradstreet selected BlackLine for three primary reasons:
Dun & Bradstreet deployed BlackLine to streamline its global reconciliations process and reduce its audit costs. Nucleus Research found that the company shrank the time it takes to perform a financial close and automated many manual processes, eliminating time-intensive and tedious tasks. By developing a Center of Excellence with BlackLine, Dun & Bradstreet was able to implement best practices for its global reconciliation process and standardize policies across its operations.
Using BlackLine, Dun & Bradstreet was able to standardize its reconciliation process and improve control, while automating manual processes. Key benefits of the project include: