BlackLine Systems, Inc., is an American

enterprise software Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than its individual users. Enterprise software is an integral part of a computer-based information ...

company that develops

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

-based services designed to automate and manage the entire financial close process as well as consolidation, invoice-to-cash, and intercompany accounting. The

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based company has 17 offices worldwide.

History

BlackLine was founded in 2001 by

Therese Tucker Therese Tucker is an American businesswoman, the chairman, CEO and founder of BlackLine, an enterprise software company with a market cap of $2.17 billion as of 2018. Early life She has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics fro ...

, a former CTO at SunGard Treasury Systems. The initial goal was to help customers replace their use of Excel with a suite of accounting software. The company functioned with no outside funding until 2013 when the private equity firm,

Silver Lake Partners Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C., is an American global private equity firm focused on technology and technology-enabled investments. Silver Lake is headquartered in Silicon Valley and New York, and has offices in London, Hong Kong, and ...

invested more than $200 million in the company. BlackLine reached an agreement to form a strategic alliance with the financial consulting firm

McGladrey RSM US LLP is an audit, tax, and consulting firm focused on the middle market in the United States and Canada and is a member of the global accounting network RSM International. RSM US has been ranked as the 7th most prestigious accounting firm i ...

, in 2015. As part of the alliance, the companies began offering a ''business process as a service'' (BPaaS) platform. The company's

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

was October 28, 2016; they're listed on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

under the symbol BL.

Runbook acquisition

In September 2016, the company acquired its European competitor, Runbook for $34 million. Runbook marketed a ''

dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

'' software application program for

SAP Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

; before it was acquired by BlackLine. The software's "automation of recurring financial processes" adds "visibility and transparency" and strengthens "internal controls and compliance documentation" of data maintained by SAP.

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."

Rimilia acquisition

In October 2020, the company acquired UK-based accounts receivable automation company Rimilia for $150 million. Rimilia's

-based

SaaS Software as a service (SaaS ) is a cloud computing service model where the provider offers use of application software to a client and manages all needed physical and software resources. SaaS is usually accessed via a web application. Unlike oth ...

platform "uses AI to accurately apply payments to customer's invoices with any ERP system".

Operations

BlackLine provides software for more than 4,400 companies including

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. 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 Continuous auditing is an automatic method used to perform auditing activities, such as control and risk assessments, on a more frequent basis. Technology plays a key role in continuous audit activities by helping to automate the identification of ...

. The company's software is cloud-based, primarily running on the

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, and meets

ISO 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 is an information security standard. It specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS). Organizations with an ISMS that meet the st ...

standards.

References