Blog Post
How to Automate the Financial Close Process
For many finance teams, the month-end close is a frantic race against the clock. It involves late nights, manual data aggregation, and the constant fear of finding a material error after the books are closed. But it doesn't have to be this way. By shifting to financial close automation, modern CFOs are transforming this monthly burden into a seamless, non-event.
The Case for the "Continuous Close"
The traditional close is a "batch process." You wait until Day 30 to start reconciling. This creates a massive bottleneck.
Automation enables a Continuous Close. Software ingests data from banks, ERPs, and sub-ledgers daily. It matches transactions as they happen. By Day 30, 95% of the work is already done.
Step 1: Automate Transaction Matching
The foundation of the close is reconciliation. If your bank and credit card accounts aren't balanced, you can't close.
Use tools like Reconwizz to automate the matching of high-volume data. Instead of manually ticking 5,000 rows in Excel, the system does it instantly, leaving your team to manage only the exceptions.
Step 2: Automate Journal Entries
Recurring entries (depreciation, amortization, rent) should never be manual. Configure your ERP or close management software to auto-post these entries on Day 1.
Furthermore, for reconciled items (like bank fees), advanced software can automatically create and post the journal entry back to the ERP, closing the loop without human intervention.
Step 3: Centralize Task Management
"Did you finish the accruals?" "Is the fixed asset roll-forward done?"
Replace email chains with a centralized Close Checklist dashboard. This gives the Controller real-time visibility into the status of the close, identifying bottlenecks (e.g., "We are waiting on AP from the UK entity") before they delay the reporting deadline.
Step 4: Standardize Balance Sheet Substantiation
Every material balance sheet account must be substantiated. Instead of storing these in disparate folders on a shared drive, use software to attach supporting documentation directly to the account balance.
This creates an audit-ready package instantly. Auditors can be given read-only access to the system, eliminating the "PBC Request" scavenger hunt.
The Strategic Impact
Automating the close frees your finance team from being "scorekeepers" to becoming "strategic partners." When the numbers are ready on Day 3 instead of Day 15, management has more time to analyze performance and make data-driven decisions.