A slow close is rarely a lack of effort. It's usually waiting.
Close faster by moving work out of close week, not by skipping checks. Reconcile high-volume accounts during the month, agree cut-offs and accrual estimates in advance, run a dated close calendar with named owners and dependencies, standardise recurring journals, and set materiality for estimates. Then measure which tasks run late each month and fix those first.
Most close days are spent waiting: for supplier invoices, for another department's numbers, for a reviewer, or for a correction to a mistake made earlier. Working harder in close week doesn't remove waiting. Moving the work earlier does.
List every close task with an owner, a day (working day 1, 2, 3 and so on), a duration, and what it depends on. Publish it before month end. Dependencies show the critical path: the chain of tasks that sets your close date.
High-volume accounts such as bank, receivables and payables can be reconciled weekly during the month. At month end only the last few days remain, so the reconciliation takes minutes, not a day. See the bank reconciliation method.
Agree when invoices stop being processed for the period, and how you will accrue for those that arrive late. Recurring accruals can use standard estimates agreed before month end. See accruals and prepayments.
Depreciation, prepayment releases, recurring accruals and allocations should come from templates or schedules, not be rebuilt each month. Templates are faster and make errors easier to spot.
Decide in advance the level below which an estimate is good enough and needn't be chased to the cent. Chasing small amounts at day 4 is a common cause of a day-6 close.
Agree intercompany balances with the other entities before month end where you can. Intercompany mismatches discovered late are a classic close-week bottleneck.
Review reconciliations and journals as they're completed rather than in one batch at the end. A reviewer queue on the last day becomes the critical path.
Each month record the close day, the tasks that ran late, and any adjustments posted after close. Fix the task that was late most often first. Post-close adjustments are the sign that speed has cost control.
For the controls that must not be dropped, see month-end close controls.
12 questions on how strong your close controls are. Free to use online.
The Month-End Close & Controls System tests the trial balance against the sum of reconciled balances, keeps every open item on one exception dashboard and blocks sign-off while exceptions remain open. Excel, no macros, one-time price.
It depends on size and complexity. More useful than a benchmark is your own trend: fewer days, fewer late tasks and fewer post-close adjustments.
Not if work moves earlier rather than being skipped. Post-close adjustments are the signal: if they rise as the close gets shorter, controls are being cut.
Build the dated calendar with dependencies. It shows the critical path, so you know which task to fix first.
A lighter month end, often used for internal reporting, where some estimates and low-risk reconciliations are simplified. Many teams pair it with a full close at quarter end. Controls on high-risk accounts should stay the same either way.
Last updated 18 October 2026. General guidance for finance teams; check it against your own policies, systems and local rules.