Saint-Gobain Joins BlackLine Systems, SAP, ACCA for Webinar on Automating Account Reconciliations as a Critical Step to 'Closing with Confidence'

LOS ANGELES and LONDON, April 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Worldwide industrial and construction industry leader Saint-Gobain is teaming up with financial and accounting software company BlackLine Systems and enterprise application software leader SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) for a webinar entitled "See How Saint-Gobain Closes with Confidence and Helps Ensure Greater Efficiency Using the BlackLine Financial Close Suite for SAP® Solutions."  The webinar, which will be hosted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the world's largest and fastest-growing global accountancy body, will be geared at finance, accounting, audit and compliance managers in midsize to large enterprises primarily in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, an increasingly fast-growing market for BlackLine's flagship account reconciliation software.

The session will focus on how finance directors and compliance officers can further ensure the integrity of their balance sheets – and ultimately financial reports – by implementing enterprise-class financial software packages, such as BlackLine's flagship SaaS-based offering, to automate the traditionally manual, labor-intensive and spreadsheet-driven account reconciliation process.  The Director of Finance Shared Services from Saint-Gobain will present a case study on the benefits of BlackLine, ease of integration with SAP solutions, and efficiencies that the global construction and industrial giant has realised since using BlackLine solutions alongside SAP software.

The webinar is designed to educate customers, whether operating in an environment of only SAP solutions or using applications from multiple vendors, on how account reconciliation process optimisation can help them achieve a quicker and more accurate financial close process.  The session will demonstrate the importance of the account reconciliation process as a critical step on the path to "closing with confidence." 

What:  "See How Saint-Gobain Closes with Confidence and Helps Ensure Greater Efficiency by Using the BlackLine Financial Close Suite for SAP® Solutions"

When:  Wednesday, 23 April 2014, 7 a.m. PDT (USA) / 10 a.m.  EDT (USA) / 15:00 BST (UK) / 16:00 CEST (Central Europe)

Speaker lineup:

• Chris Quick, Editor-in-Chief, Accounting and Business Magazine at ACCA (session moderator)
• Stefan Karl, Chief Solution Expert, Finance Solutions, SAP AG
• Mario Spanicciati, EVP of Operations and Executive Director of EMEA, BlackLine Systems
• Pascal Perrier, Director of Finance Shared Services, Saint-Gobain

Attendees will learn how, by automating their account reconciliations, they can:

• Virtually eliminate spreadsheets (and the manual errors that often come with them) from their account reconciliation process
• Automate traditionally manual accounting functions
• Have a faster, more efficient close cycle, thus maintaining more control and visibility worldwide, while reducing risk
• Increase efficiencies and productivity in a very short timeframe
• Improve the accuracy and timeliness of compliance reporting
• Manage compliance while servicing multiple locations

To register please go here.

BlackLine is an SAP gold partner in the SAP PartnerEdge® program.  The company is also a participant in SAP Store, the online e-commerce channel or "e-channel" for enterprise solutions and services from SAP and its partners, designed to provide SAP customers with information on relevant, complementary technology solutions that are certified by SAP.

BlackLine was named a 2011 SAP Pinnacle award finalist in the "Software Solution Newcomer of the Year" category.  SAP Pinnacle awards are presented annually to the "best and brightest" of the SAP partner ecosystem, recognising partners that have excelled in developing and growing their partnerships with SAP and driving customer success.

At the end of last year, the company announced that the BlackLine Financial Close Suite for SAP® Solutions has become an SAP-endorsed business solution – joining the ranks of fewer than 40 other software offerings globally.

About BlackLine Systems
BlackLine Systems was the first to develop and offer a commercially available Balance Sheet Account Reconciliation solution.  An experienced provider of software to companies from the Fortune 100 to beyond the Fortune 1,000, BlackLine provides quick-to-implement, scalable and easy-to-use applications that automate the entire financial close process to help improve financial controls for companies of all sizes.  With more than 85,000 users in over 100 countries, BlackLine software applications complement existing Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

BlackLine offers clients its enterprise-class financial software in a simple and secure SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform.  With a proven track record and a commitment to customer success, BlackLine seeks to reduce the burden the financial close places on accounting and finance professionals. 

BlackLine headquarters are in Los Angeles, with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, Melbourne, New York City and Sydney to serve the company's growing global client base.  For more information, please visit www.blackline.com.  

SAP, PartnerEdge and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contact:
Kimberly Uberti
Director of Corporate Communications
BlackLine Systems
[email protected]

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SOURCE BlackLine Systems