A slow close is rarely caused by one big problem. It is caused by dozens of small tasks done in the wrong order, by the wrong person, or not at all until someone notices. A clear checklist, with owners and deadlines, is the simplest way to fix that.
Below is the checklist we use as a starting point with mid-size finance teams. Adjust the days to your own calendar, but keep the order.
Before the month ends
- Publish the close calendar. Every deadline for the next close, sent to finance and to the departments that feed it.
- Confirm cut-off. When the last invoices, expenses, timesheets and sales will be accepted for this period.
- Prepare the accruals list. Known costs without invoices yet: services received, open purchase orders, utilities, bonuses.
- Clear what you can early. Unapplied cash, unmatched bank items and aged reconciling items from last month.
Day 1: close the subledgers
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Final AP invoices and payments posted, AP period closed | Accounts Payable |
| Final billing and cash receipts posted, AR period closed | Credit & Collections |
| Payroll posted and agreed to the payroll report | Payroll |
| Fixed asset additions, disposals and depreciation run | Fixed Asset Accounting |
| Bank statements downloaded for every account | Treasury |
Day 2: reconcile and journal
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Bank reconciliations for every account | Treasury |
| AR to GL and AP to GL reconciliations | Credit & Collections, Accounts Payable |
| Fixed assets to GL roll-forward | Fixed Asset Accounting |
| Accruals and prepaids booked and supported | Business units, GL team |
| Intercompany balances agreed between entities | GL team |
| Recurring and adjusting journals posted and approved | GL team, Controller |
Day 3: review and explain
- Balance sheet review. Every account reconciled, every difference explained, every reconciliation signed off.
- P&L review. Actual against budget and last year, with the main variances explained in plain words.
- Commentary. Account owners explain their balances; the controller reviews the story, not just the numbers.
Day 4 to 5: report and sign off
- Management reporting pack and KPI dashboard refreshed.
- CFO review and sign-off.
- Close lessons captured: what was late, what broke, what to fix before next month.
Why most checklists fail
Most finance teams already have a checklist. It lives in a spreadsheet that one person updates, and by day 2 nobody is sure what is really finished. Three things make the difference:
- Owners, not departments. Every task has a named person and a deadline.
- Live status. The controller can see what is open, what is late and what is blocking the close, without sending a single email.
- Evidence in one place. Reconciliations, comments and sign-offs stored together, so year-end and audit are already prepared.
What to automate first
If you do nothing else, automate these two things. They take the most time and cause the most delays:
- The reconciliations. Bank, AR to GL, AP to GL and fixed assets to GL, matched automatically from your ERP so only the exceptions need attention.
- The close tracker. Tasks, owners, deadlines and reminders in Power Automate and Power BI, so nobody has to chase anyone.
After that, the statements and the reporting pack can build themselves from the same data. That is how a close moves from days of spreadsheets to a routine the team barely notices.
Former Global Product Line Finance Director at SLB. 18+ years in finance leadership across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, building the automation that takes close cycles from days to hours.
Connect on LinkedIn →
Hazem El Banna · 8 min read