Case Study: Saint-Gobain Corporation NA achieves automated reconciliations and faster financial closes with BlackLine

Automated accounting processes and increased efficiency with BlackLine

Saint‑Gobain, a 350‑year‑old leader in sustainable housing with ~170,000 employees in 66 countries and about €40 billion in revenue, faced a fragmented, paper‑based accounting environment across nearly 900 subsidiaries and 25 shared service centers (SSCs). Each SSC prepared reconciliations in its own way, creating time‑consuming processes with poor traceability, inconsistent controls, and slower month‑end closes—prompting a drive to standardize, automate, and strengthen internal controls.

Saint‑Gobain deployed BlackLine’s Finance Controls & Automation across its SSC network (about 2,000 users), automating GL balance loads and reconciliation workflows with a rapid rollout (first SSC in ~15 days, full network in ~6 months). The result was standardized, automated reconciliations with full traceability, faster and more efficient audits, reduced printing and storage costs, leaner close processes, improved accuracy and visibility into the financial close, and strong satisfaction from SSC directors, CFOs and auditors.

Saint-Gobain Corporation NA

Pascal Perrier-Gustin

Director of Shared Service Centers and Financial Organization Projects