The U.S. cloud-based solutions provider has experienced explosive growth in the past year, particularly in APAC, buoyed by ongoing digitalization amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Much of the demand for BlackLine’s solutions in APAC has been driven by two broad trends shaping the finance and accounting (F&A) sector in this region – the pace of digital transformation and the shift towards a more distributed workforce, Terry Smagh, the firm's senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, said.
«With the appetite for digitalization in ASEAN, there is increasing awareness among F&A professionals to keep pace with technological change and transform largely manual accounting processes into more streamlined automated operations,» Smagh told finews.asia.
BlackLine, which has regional headquarters in Singapore, helps companies improve their finance and accounting operations through the governance and automation of finance and risk processes. Its revenues have grown at a rate of 26 percent over the past five years, reaching $352 million in 2020 – an increase of 22 percent compared to 2019.
Regional Momentum
«While we have been around for a while now, we have recently turned the corner and are getting great clients on board,» Smagh said about the company's traction in Asia Pacific. Among its new clients in the region are Japan's NGK Insulators and ORIX Bank, and Australia's Servcorp.
«In these difficult times, we remained true to our founding principle – customer success - which has strengthened our relationships and driven expansion of existing accounts. More so, as we grow in key markets – net new customer acquisition is on the rise,» Smagh said.
Going forward, Smagh said he sees South Korea, India, Thailand and Vietnam as markets where BlackLine has the potential to grow further.
