Case Study: Aker Kvaerner standardizes and accelerates the financial close across 20 countries with BlackLine

Standardizing the Close across 20 Countries while Increasing Transparency and Efficiency

Aker Solutions, a global provider of products, systems and services to the energy and raw materials industry with 17,000 employees across 20 countries and NOK 33 billion in annual revenue, faced an inefficient, spreadsheet-driven record-to-report close. A benchmark showed the finance function used roughly three times the FTEs per billion revenue of peers, and the move to a more centralized model exposed poor standardization, quality issues and limited transparency across close activities.

To address this, Aker implemented BlackLine (integrated with SAP) for account reconciliations and close automation, supported by online BlackLine U training and a company Smart Close program. The solution standardized close processes and terminology, accelerated the close, increased real-time transparency for owners and auditors, strengthened internal controls and audit trails, and reduced fraud risk—freeing staff for higher‑value analysis and improving overall finance efficiency.

Aker Kvaerner

Anniken Røssing

Manager Finance Process Improvements