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BlackLine Systems

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Not to be confused with Blackline (GPS company).
Blackline
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: BL
Russell 2000 Component
IndustrySoftware
Founded2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Headquarters
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Key people
Therese Tucker, CEO and founder
Marc Huffman, COO
Mark Partin, CFO
ProductsFinancial software
Revenue$289.0 million[1] (2019)
Number of employees
1055[2] (2019)
Websitewww.blackline.com

Blackline is an American enterprise software company that develops cloud-based services designed to automate and control the entire financial close process.[3][4][5] The Los Angeles-based company has 11 offices worldwide.[6]

History

BlackLine IPO

BlackLine was founded in 2001 by Therese Tucker, a former CTO at SunGard Treasury Systems.[7][8][9] The initial goal was to help customers replace their use of Excel with a suite of accounting software.[10]

The company functioned with no outside funding until 2013 when the private equity firm, Silver Lake Partners invested more than $200 million in the company.[11][10]

Blackline reached an agreement to form a strategic alliance with the financial consulting firm McGladrey, in 2015. As part of the alliance, the companies began offering a business process as a service (BPaaS) platform.[12]

The company's IPO was October 28, 2016; they're listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol BL. [13][14]

Runbook

In September 2016, the company acquired its European competitor, Runbook for $34 million.[9][15]

Runbook marketed a dashboard software application program for SAP;[16] before it was acquired by Blackline.[17]

The software's "automation of recurring financial processes" adds "visibility and transparency" and strengthens "internal controls and compliance documentation" of data maintained by SAP.[18]

2018 SAP agreement

In 2018 Blackline reached an agreement with SAP for the latter "to resell BlackLine's .. cloud-based finance and accounting solutions" as part of "SAP Solution Extensions."[19]

Operations

Blackline provides software for more than 3,100 companies including Costco, Netflix, Coca-Cola, Google, Kraft Heinz, Under Armour, Sirius XM Holdings.[9] The company creates enhanced financial controls, in contrast to basic general ledger applications. BlackLine's software manages financial data, reconciles balances from sub-systems, ensures accurate and complete closings, and monitors regulatory controls through a system known as continuous auditing. The company's software is cloud-based, primarily running on the Microsoft cloud stack, and meets ISO 27001 standards.[20]

Recognition

BlackLine was ranked number 43 on Forbes Cloud 100 list in October 2016.[21] With its current market cap of $3.5 billion, the company is the largest tech company having a single female founder.

In May 2016, a Gartner Magic Quadrant report on the 10 major financial corporate performance management solutions ranked BlackLine among the top four "Leaders" with Oracle, IBM and Workiva.[22] Additionally, in 2018, Blackline was positioned as a "Leader" again in Gartner's Magic Quadrant but for "Cloud Financial Close Solutions", a new category[23] developed around cloud based financial technologies by Gartner.[24]

In March 2020, Blackline received the SAP North America Award for Partner Excellence for SAP Solution Extension Growth - Cloud.[25]

In June 2020, BlackLine, Inc. has received a 'Top Rated Award' for 2020 from TrustRadius in the category Financial Close.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "BlackLine Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results". GlobeNewswire. February 13, 2020.
  2. ^ "Blackline". May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  3. ^ "Reuters.com Updated BlackLine Definition". Reteurs.
  4. ^ Emily Chasen (May 20, 2014). "Silver Lake's BlackLine Systems Expects IPO in 18-20 Months". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  5. ^ Heather Clancy (December 3, 2014). "Could This Cloud Financial Software Reduce Dependence on Spreadsheets". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  6. ^ "BlackLine To Open Offices In The San Francisco Bay Area With Initial Focus On R&D And Innovation". Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  7. ^ Hilary Burns (August 28, 2014). "How Hiring Impatient-Even Crazy-Employees Helped This Business Gain 900 Clients". BizJournals.com. Biz Women. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  8. ^ Benjamin Kuo (July 23, 2009). "Interview Therese Tucker, BlackLine Systems". Socal Tech. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c I-Chun Chen (October 3, 2016). "BlackLine Files for An IPO to Raise Up to $100 Million". L.A. Biz. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  10. ^ a b William Alden (August 15, 2013). "Silver Lake Unit Invests in Maker of Accounting Software". The New York Times. BlackLine makes a suite of accounting software that ...
  11. ^ Maxwell Murphey (August 15, 2016). "Silver Lake Cash to Help BlackLine Hire, Grow: CFO". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  12. ^ Danielle Lee (September 3, 2015). "McGladrey, BlackLine Form Strategic Alliance". Accounting Today. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  13. ^ Filed September 30, 2016"Accounting Software Maker BlackLine Files For IPO". Fortune. September 30, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  14. ^ Brian Deagon (October 25, 2016). "ZTO Express, BlackLine Headline Busy Week In IPOs". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  15. ^ Mark Madler (September 2, 2016). "Acquisition Expands BlackLine's Offerings". San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  16. ^ Robert Leesberg; Herman Heller]], Simplifying Financial Accounting with Runbook
  17. ^ Steve Brooks (September 2, 2016). "Has BlackLine run closer to SAP?". Enterprise Times.
  18. ^ "Runbook Company International". Informationweek.
  19. ^ "Blackline Announces Reseller Agreement with SAP". Computerworld. November 2, 2018.
  20. ^ Brian Sommer (February 20, 2015). "BlackLine:The Big, Understated Force in Cloud Financial Software". ZD Net. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  21. ^ Ranica Arrowsmith (October 4, 2016). "8 Tech Cos. From Accounting Space Named to Forbes Cloud 100". Accounting Today. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  22. ^ John E. Van Decker; Christopher Iervolino (May 2016). "Magic Quadrant for Financial Corporate Performance Management Solutions". Gartner. Gartner Group. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  23. ^ "The New Gartner 2018 Magic Quadrants for Cloud Financial Planning & Analysis and Cloud Financial Close Solutions".
  24. ^ "BlackLine Positioned As A Leader In Gartner 2018 Magic Quadrant For Cloud Financial Close Solutions". PR News Wire.
  25. ^ "BlackLine Receives SAP® North America Partner Excellence Award 2020 for SAP Solution Extension Growth Cloud". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  26. ^ "BlackLine Wins 2020 Top Rated Award In The Financial Close Category From TrustRadius". yahoo! finance. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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