Speed Up Your Monthly Close: Automate Workflows and Eliminate Bottlenecks
Using a spreadsheet is one way to track the month-end close process. Depending on series of binders with checklists to mark off month-end procedures is another. A third option: Posting a series of stickie notes that march across the wall as financial month-end close tasks are completed.
Sure, these are all options – just not very good options. If your goal is producing accurate and timely financial reports each month, you need a more sophisticated approach to the monthly close.
Our financials software automates your month-end procedures to ensure a smooth close. Use the system to create tasks and track critical activities. The easy-to-access queries show which tasks are open and who is responsible for closing them. Once all tasks are complete, the period is closed with a few clicks giving decision makers instant access to timely and accurate financials.
Our system accelerates the close by guiding you through the process step by step. Even if you're not using our Financials Suite, these tips can ease your month-end crunch:
Record daily financial transactions
- Eliminate bottlenecks by recording transactions as part of your daily workflow
- Generate and reconcile a daily or weekly (depending on the size of your organization) AP report
- Run a daily process to reconcile and record summary journal entries from other systems to the General Ledger
- Automate any export/import processes to eliminate manual keying
Recurring monthly journal entries
- Accrued expenses
- Pre-paid expenses
- Amortization
- Depreciation
Reconcile Balance Sheet Accounts
- Reconcile cash accounts to identify missing or incorrect entries
- Reconcile accounts daily to monitor cash on hand
- Once cash accounts are reconciled and journal entries are made, reconcile any remaining balance sheet accounts
Review Revenue & Expense Accounts
- Check to see that expenses have been recorded in the correct accounts and correct period.
- Review accruals and pre-paids to make sure they have been accurately reflected.
Prepare financial statements
- When you're confident the GL is accurate, run your financial statements
- In SBS, both financial statements and statistical reports (such as KPI) can be assembled into financial packages
