Best practices for administration roles in BlackLine
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Don’t know where to start when setting up your admin roles in BlackLine? Wondering how to save hours every year when reviewing your profiles and roles? Want to know what auditors really need when they inquire on user permissions and roles? Then you’ll need to view our slides and understand the key tools and techniques to ease yourself into BlackLine implementation. We’ll cover the key aspects and give you 5 proven best practices that you can use immediately.
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Best practices for administration roles in BlackLine
- 1. #ITB16 1 Best Practices for Administration Roles Sonia Luna, CPA, CIA Aviva Spectrum Quintin Dykes, BlackLine Solutions Consultant team
- 2. INTRODUCTIONS & SPEAKERS Sonia Luna, CPA, CIA; CEO, Aviva Spectrum Mrs. Luna CPA, CIA with over 16 Years in public and internal audit professional. Appointed to Smaller & Emerging Companies Advisory Comm. By the SEC. Mrs. Luna now leads the Aviva Spectrum financial transformation efforts with her clients regionally in the West Coast! Quintin Dykes, Solutions Consultant, BlackLine Mr. Dykes, has over 20 years of combined financial and accounting experience, 10 years within Corporate Accounting as a manager at UnitedHealth Group and 10 years at U.S. Bank in Corporate Accounting, Consumer Banking and Trust. He has worked on the Solutions Consultant team at Blackline for the past 3 years helping clients eliminate unnecessary manual activities during the close cycle. 2
- 3. HOUSE KEEPING ITEMS 1) Answer polling Qs 2) Complete Feedback form 3) Q&A = chat session on bottom right 3
- 4. 4 Agenda & Outcomes Best practice items for roles in: 1. Local Admin 2. Business Admin 3. System Admin Action items to leverage or create your own “cheat sheet” when back to “work”.
- 5. 5 Polling Question • What is your PRIMARY BlackLine User ROLE? A. Local Admin B. Business Admin C. System admin D. Process Owner &/or Preparer/Approver/Reviewer E. IT &/or Audit user
- 6. 6
- 7. 7 List of 5… 1. Diligently enforce Due Date compliance 2. Enforce Account Grouping integrity 3. Develop a consistent new User onboarding process 4. Encourage BlackLine Team usage 5. Encourage Account Rules based assignments For Local Administrators…
- 8. 8 Diligently enforce Due Date compliance Ensuring Due Date compliance is the first steps toward a robust, quality account reconciliation (and month-end close) program. Develop a culture that Due Date compliance is an integral part of each User’s responsibilities. o Due Date compliance is a “Must Have”, not a “Nice to Have”. PTO should not be an excuse to missed Due Dates. For Local Administrators…
- 9. 9 Enforce Account Grouping integrity Groups should occur because an Accounting process impacts multiple GL strings and/or one Supporting document package supports multiple balances. Get Preparers and Approvers away from the notion that “less clicks = more efficient reconciliation process”. Develop and publish expectations for Grouping requirements. For Local Administrators…
- 10. 10 Develop a consistent new User onboarding process Consistency is a primary building block of quality. o Introductory emails alert new Users to documents, training and FAQ answers that facilitate a smooth transition to BlackLine success. Leverage BlackLine U. Create a Peer-to-Peer checklist for teams to convey shared knowledge to new team members. For Local Administrators…
- 11. 11 Polling Question What resource do you use to find BlackLine answers to your questions? A. My friends/co-workers/other users B. BlackLine Resources (BL U/Detailed Help/Community) C. YouTube/videos online (free) D. LinkedIn User Groups E. My Boss/Manager
- 12. 12 Template – Onboarding (Sample) • BlackLine specific items
- 13. 13 Encourage BlackLine Team usage BlackLine Teams bolster Due Date Certification compliance and foster team knowledge sharing. Teams are crucial to Managers to help manage every changing priorities! For Local Administrators…
- 14. 14 Encourage Account Rules based assignments Assignments, risk ratings, Template choices can be automated! For Local Administrators…
- 15. 15 List of 5… 1. Lead a Quarterly Quality Assurance Program 2. Publish Monthly Trend Reports 3. Publish Timely Certification Attestation Status Updates 4. Publish a Quarterly newsletter 5. Lead Quarterly Accounting principles reviews For Business Administrators…
- 16. 16 Lead a Quarterly Quality Assurance Program Suggested topics to review: Reconciliation done on time? o Set operational due dates separate from SOX due dates. Are all required Supporting documents attached (at the correct spot)? Are BlackLine functions leveraged? o Correct template choice? o Purpose & Procedures populated with meaningful information? Are required adjustments (R items) correctly identified and managed? Are related Accounting principals correct? For Business Admin…
- 17. 17 Publish Monthly Trend Reports Distribute a rolling 12 month Trend Report to Management to publicize the work effort and results going on within the BlackLine processes. Key metrics to report on include: o # of reconciliations and licenses used o % of reconciliations certified on time. o # of R items (+ ABS) and # of R items > 90 days (+ ABS) o # of T items > 90 days o # of Account groups o % of reconciliations with empty Purpose & Procedures boxes For Business Admin…
- 18. 18 Publish Timely Certification Attestation Status Updates Develop a standard template to report Certification progress to Management. Report Certification progress during consistent times. Use Key accounts to highlight reconciliations with more risk and Manager focus than the rest of the population. For Business Admin…
- 19. 19 Publish a Quarterly newsletter Develop a newsletter as a method to cure program execution gaps and highlight new aspects of the BlackLine platform that will help Users to do more with less effort but higher quality. Suggested topics include: o What’s new? o FAQ o Who to contact? o QA and/or Certification progress reports o Tips and Tricks o Best Practices For Business Admin…
- 20. 20 Lead Quarterly Accounting principles reviews Develop Accounting reviews based on information contained in BlackLine. Alternate reviews throughout the quarter to balance work loads. Suggested Review topics include: o Abnormal balances (credit balance in Asset account & vice-versa). o Misc. Receivable/Accruals L items > 120 days. o R Items > 90 days. o Stale balances (GL balance hasn’t changed in 6 months). For Business Admin…
- 21. 21 List of 5… 1. Lead ongoing data feed automation 2. Promote Auto-certification rule usage 3. Encourage custom account reconciliation certification frequencies 4. Develop a consistent new user onboarding process 5. Routinely check for BlackLine updates For System Administrators…
- 22. 22 Lead ongoing data feed automation Account balance import scheduling: o Each day: 2 months (current reconciliation period + current accounting period) via an automated feed. o Work with Management to schedule the automation upgrade project for 2017 (if still importing balances manually). See where Items imported into a reconciliation template can be automated. See if there are opportunities to add automated sub-ledger balances into BlackLine. For System Admin…
- 23. 23 Promote Auto-certification rule usage Develop a semi-annual auto-certification review process. Be sure Auto-certification process metrics are included in the Trend reports distributed monthly. For System Admin…
- 24. 24 Encourage custom account reconciliation certification frequencies Develop an annual auto-certification review process. Ensure that each manual reconciliation frequency makes sense for the GL account type and the business performing the certifications! For System Admin…
- 25. 25 Develop a consistent new user onboarding process Coordinate with the Local Administrator on the new User onboarding process that begins with the System Administrator creating the User profile. The process should be easy to perform but impactful for all new Users. For System Admin…
- 26. 26 Routinely check for BlackLine updates Check Trust.BlackLine.Com for new system information. Check the Community for new User information. Understand how the BlackLine Customer Service Department can help you help your Users. For System Admin…
- 27. 27 What’s inside “Trust BlackLine” • Trust – Current Status – Status History – Web Requests – Response Time
- 28. #ITB16 28 Next Steps… • Embrace your role as a leader representing these topics to your organization • Meet with your Management to discuss their thoughts on some of these topics • Join “Free” user networks like……
- 29. 29 Community & Sharing BlackLine Best Practices & Tactics https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7039150
- 30. 30 ROI Analysis – FREE! Process review Module ROI Assessment Info@AvivaSpectrum.com
- 31. #ITB16 31 Questions? Let’s Connect: Quintin Dykes, Blackline Sonia Luna, Aviva Spectrum
Notes de l'éditeur
- Welcome one and all who love, live and breathe BLACKLINE, We are you hosts today, my name is Sonia Luna and my co-host from BlackLine is Quintin Dykes, a Blackline solutions consultant and what I call a GURU of System admin and other GREAT functions of Blackline.
- Sonia (Lead)
- Sonia (Lead)
- Sonia (Lead): We want to give you a list of topics that when your Boss asked you what you learned at this webinar, you can go through this list with that person and determine if any of these opportunities make sense for you.
- Sonia (Lead) – before we get going on these best practices we wanted you to get to know who you are. Our first polling question is…..
- Sonia (LEAD) BlackLine is a great tool. That said, I’ve seen the most success when Administrators lead positive change within BlackLine processes. I encourage each of you to use that tool to create positive change in your organizations. I’ll talk about Local Admin best practices, and then I’m going to turn it over to Quintin to discuss Business and System admin items that are very strategic! Quintin (Comment): Will comment on continuing to discuss with leadership on working on BlackLine, and this allows folks to become a strong voice within the organization.
- Sonia (Lead) I’ve ranked them in priority with the top item being my highest recommended focus. Feel free to start with any item but keep all in consideration moving forward. Let’s dive into each Item. NOTE: Item 1: remember that mgmt. agreed to due dates and that you may be put in a position to be the “local hall monitor”! NOTE: item 2: You want to make sure that if you have a group, there is NOT a bunch of separate support for those accounts. Remember it’s the preparers job to make it easier for the Reviewer to approve their work. So as a “general rule of thumb, if you NOTE there are several supporting items to “A” reconciliation item, really challenge, your preparer about “grouping”. NOTE: Item 3: Make sure that the new employee knows where their resources are for a QUALITY account reconciliation. So yes, some of the “consistency” is getting HR policies Outlook email set up: Script is the best practices. 1) Local ADMIN is copied 2) Recommended Courses 3) Attachments and/or PnPs NOTE: Item 4: Teams allow your organization to be more flexible when there are PTOs etc. NOTE: Item 5: In BL you can program BL when a new Rec comes thru that it can automatically assign someone that reconciliation. One of the criteria could be New Account is created, Business Unit, Account type (Asset/Liability) so Cash with a Legal entity gets assigned to a particular user. Automation – Materiality – Key Account
- Sonia (LEAD) Getting recs done is the first priority that BlackLine supports. Encourage a culture of accountability. For those administrators with reconciliations to certify, lead by example and be sure yours are done on time. Quality reports folder contains a sub folder called “Certification Log reports” thus allowing a mechanism to start the discussion with team members that may need help in developing an automated routine and meet those deadlines. Keep drilling into your users that deadlines are important Sonia to ask a question to Quintin” “Alerts help remind Users in various roles of what is coming due (warning alerts), already past due (delinquent alerts), of an outstanding item requiring action (pending alerts), or the status of an item (status alerts). Business or System Administrators are able to manage alerts. Local Administrators only have access to the Alert Status page” – What’s the best practice for Local Admins to “inform” Bus/System admins on changing /editing “alerts”? Quintin (Comment): He will comment on keep communications open. Local admins are in the front lines of these alerts.
- Sonia (Lead) Relating reconciliation supporting documents to Account groupings sets the Preparers up for efficiency + the approval and audit processes are much more streamlined. Ask your Manager and/or Business Administrator for their opinion for grouping requests that aren’t straight forward. Local Admin will usually conduct the grouping of accounts, and a quick set of Advanced Best Practices are: Never “group” cash accounts: because each bank account statement is different and you’d be comingling cash (this is a basic anti-fraud control) Don’t let asset accounts be grouped into liability accounts (basics of accounting and reconciliation processes) Quintin (Comment) Grouping supports logical approvals and efficient audits.
- Sonia (LEAD): The Local administrator should be the day-to-day contact with most Users. Ensure every Users knows your role, how you can help them with their responsibilities and how they can contact you.
- Sonia (LEAD): this allows you to Segway to checklist tool, based upon the answers (such as team/folks at work and leveraging the template would allow them to remember of other resources).
- Sonia (LEAD): Advertise Teams and their successful impact. Be sure to review Team rosters quarterly to see if Users need to be added or removed from Teams. “For those that are not that familiar with the various “hyperlinks” within BL, I’m sharing in this picture in yellow…. the “toggle” in order to switch which between your own individual assignments compared to the “Team assignments”
- Sonia (LEAD): Last, but not least, here is a picture of where you can …. Let the System to your work for you. You can still be the hero! Work with your System Administrator to make this happen. Sonia to Ask Quintin this “Question from the Community” What’s a good example, that accounting teams have used in the past that have leveraged account rules based assignments? Quintin (comment):
- Sonia (LEAD): We are now going to turn it over to Quintin, who for over 8 years was the Bus. Admin role at his previous company. Quintin (Comment): I think this section fosters the largest impact to overall Accounting and Account Reconciliation process quality improvements!
- Quintin (LEAD): This is my #1 recommendation of all 15 recommendations. A strong QA program has a direct positive impact on the reconciliation process, associated Accounting processes and finally all audit efforts.
- Quintin (LEAD): Be the spokesperson for the program! Publicize the quality improvements! Set the standard for other processes to follow your approach! Sonia to ask question: Where can admins find these reports?
- Quintin (LEAD): Let Management know before you leave on the Due Date where the Certification process is and then again right away in the morning the day after a due date!
- Quintin (LEAD): Give the Reconcilers more information so they can build in their own quality improvements! Sonia (Comment): Aviva Spectrum is in the planning stages for our own BlackLine news letter.
- Quintin (LEAD): You can lead a program that will have a direct positive impact on Accounting processes. Follow through with reviews quarter over quarter and follow-up items each quarter. Don’t let Reconcilers forget about needed improvements or changes!
- Quintin (LEAD): Managing the system is just about as important as the last section where we were focusing on managing people and procedures. Quintin will ask Sonia “What data feed best practices do your clients request during an implementation?” Sonia (ANSWER) During Implementation we’re consulting with our clients on the best scenarios of when to automate certain functions within BlackLIne, above and beyond the upload process of the Trial Balance including… Subledger balances Spot Exchange Rates Forecasted balances (to leverage the variance module) Transactions for Data Sources for Matching
- Sonia (LEAD): Have the systems do the work. Don’t accept manual work-arounds as permanent fixes. 2 months of automated feeds will allow an accrual and the accrual reversal to be reconciled. All of these process enhancements have a direct month-over-month impact on process efficiency. The System Administrator is in a great position to lead many of these system import processes enhancements. Sonia (comment): The most common question we get is “how long will an automation upgrade project be?” or “How many IT hours versus total hours should I expect when I want to “automate” my G/L feed? IT hours will be around 5-10 hours and finance team will be approximately 2 hours. Quintin to ask Sonia “When have you seen best practices to automate the importing process using BlackLine” Sonia (ANSWER) During Implementation we’re consulting with our clients on the best scenarios of when to automate certain functions within BlackLIne, above and beyond the upload process of the Trial Balance including… Subledger balances Spot Exchange Rates Forecasted balances (to leverage the variance module) Transactions for Data Sources for Matching
- Quintin (LEAD): Our list of auto-certification rules keeps growing. Also, now those rules can be applied to more specific groups and accounts than every before. Keep considering new rule usage as there continue to be new opportunities for great efficiency. Sonia (comment) It’s the ultimate best practice to review the “rules” to see if it “makes sense” for example, “No G/L Balance – ZBA or no movement”, you may want to review the year’s total activity to see if its logical not to have a movement in G/L Balances Classic examples, of also when to review regardless of a semi-annual process would be “Sale” or “Purchase” of an entity!
- Quintin (LEAD): As BlackLine and the Users realize process quality improvements, look to pivot to efficiencies available based on customer certification frequencies. Not all reconciliations contain the same month-over-month risk. Use custom frequencies for certain GL account types to properly weight the risks with the associated reconciliation frequency. Sonia (Comment) if you have an entity that is a lower dollar threshold (below materiality), you still may want to have a quarterly reconciliation process for that low risk & low dollar threshold account balance.
- Sonia (LEAD): We shared already a checklist on best practices for onboarding a new user, the same goes for System Admin roles too! Your role is the first step in the User provisioning process. Even before the Local Administrator onboarding process starts, the system admin needs to have an established a new user onboarding process. Be sure that first step begins a holistic process that culminates with each User knowing the Why? How? When? And Where? Of BlackLine.
- Quintin (LEAD): “Are there any questions from our participants now?” Please use the Q&A Chat box now. If not we’ll turn it over to Sonia to discuss BlackLine Updates and where to check to review those updates. NOTE: Sonia check the Q&A Boxes before going to next slide. Sonia (Comment): Keep an eye out for information on new releases! Here are a few examples……[read slide]
- Sonia (LEAD) Here is what the site “Trust” looks like and shows you [read slide]
- Sonia (LEAD): For existing BlackLine customers, I’d encourage you to engage with your Customer Success Managers on these topics and other topics as needed. Also…[read slide]
- Sonia (lead): We have a new matching module best practice guide covering Match Set best practices for you to start on your road to continuous accounting.
- Sonia (LEAD): During our last 2 BlackLine Best Practice meetings we held……[tell story] We are limiting our ROI analysis to only 5 live participants in this webinar that email us at: Info@avivaspectrum.com with the subject header of “ROI Assessment”
- Sonia (LEAD): If there are any other questions, please use the Chat box. On behalf of Aviva Spectrum we want to thank you for joining us. Thank you! Quintin any other final thoughts? Quintin (Comment)