How to solve the financial close dilemma: 3 strategies that never fail

Significant and widespread adoption of tech, both old and contemporary, was the result of the great surge in entrepreneurship after the Pandemic. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping teams work in synergy at a faster pace.

The finance teams are no different. The month-end closing process benefits greatly from automation, reducing manual errors, streamlining internal controls, and providing real-time insights into the process for quicker decision-making.

When you don't know where to start, it can be hard to adopt new platforms and technologies. I have put together three main strategies that you can use to improve your closing process.

Automate low-value tasks

The data gathered in these steps will allow you to identify your business’ root issues quickly, which will then let you assess what to do next.

There is an increasing need to remove repetitive tasks from your team's plate so they can concentrate on what's important. What can and should be done to automate the financial closing process?

When automated, these recurring tasks can help your team see their status at a glance.

• The preparation and review of balance sheet reconciliations.
• Completion and management of closing checklists.
• Balance sheet flux and/or P&L variance analysis.
• Data analytics on the health and status of the month-end close.

The data gathered in these steps will allow you to identify your business' root issues quickly, which will allow you to decide what to do next.

As technology continues to evolve, teams that layer these together will improve speed and accuracy. Investments in these areas result in financial and operational growth.

Streamline internal controls