Accounting automation solution provider BlackLine Inc. has acquired FourQ Systems Inc., a developer of intercompany financial management technology, effective Jan. 26, 2022.
BlackLine paid $165 million in cash up front, with an earnout consideration of up to $75 million over the next three years, subject to certain performance conditions.
The acquisition will deepen BlackLine’s ability to automate intercompany accounting, at a time when the complexity of multinational company reporting has become more complex, thanks to changing regulation and a trends toward global expansion and M&A. In particular, FourQ’s technology will add advance tax and regulatory compliance capabilities to BlackLine’s current functionality.
“Intercompany accounting is one of the biggest distractions for finance and accounting for multinational corporations. Hard to believe, but most companies are still using legacy, repetitive and manual processes to manage intercompany, exposing their businesses to unnecessary costs, significant compliance risks, and missed working capital and tax opportunities,” said BlackLine CEO Marc Huffman, in a statement. “F&A must become more agile to respond to constantly evolving market dynamics and regulatory needs — but they’re often buried in tactical transactional work and intercompany disputes. Intercompany challenges are not new but with increasingly complex global business models and regulatory scrutiny, demand for intercompany transformation is higher than ever.”
“FourQ and BlackLine share a vision to help optimize customers’ global operations for greater profitability and efficiency, while freeing F&A teams to focus on strategic aspects of their business,” said FourQ co-founder and CEO Varun Tejpal, in a statement. “At the same time, FourQ meets a need in the office of the controller that is highly complementary to BlackLine’s comprehensive financial operations management platform. I look forward to reducing the headaches caused by messy intercompany accounting processes and further cementing BlackLine’s market-leading position as we join forces to help customers continue to advance their intercompany journeys.”
Tejpal will serve as managing director for intercompany at BlackLine.
