Case Study: sPower achieves a 66% faster month-end close (15 to 5 days) and eliminates close-based overtime with BlackLine

Reducing the Financial Close From 15 Days to 5

sPower, an AES and AIMCo company and the largest private owner of operating solar assets in the U.S., was preparing to scale rapidly but faced a time‑consuming, error‑prone month‑end close. Relying on spreadsheets and manual reconciliations across hundreds of bank accounts, the finance team endured a 15‑day close that required significant overtime and limited visibility for the controller.

sPower implemented BlackLine (Account Reconciliations, Task Management, Transaction Matching, Journal Entry) with a NetSuite connector to automate data imports, matching, and task workflows. The result: the close shortened by 66% (from 15 days to 5), daily close hours fell from ten to eight, close‑based overtime was eliminated, errors were reduced, real‑time balances and automated decertification improved continuity, and controller visibility and automated task reminders removed much manual follow‑up.

sPower

Ray Willardson

Controller