The traditional month-end close process for accounting can be a time-consuming and tedious task, often requiring accountants to spend nights and weekends at the office. However, the implementation of a continuous accounting close can bring a variety of benefits to the company. Start your new year with a bang!

Here are five key benefits of a continuous month-end close, along with action items to help implement it in your company:

1. Cyclic accounting closes

• Spreading up the work required for a period close across the month, instead of few days means that whenever a business decides to officially close the books, it’s a fast process!
• Official financial statements for investors, the board of directors, and shareholders can be finalized without accountants spending excessive amounts of time on the task.

Action item: Implementing practical methods for cyclic continuous close process and automate as many tasks as possible to streamline the process.

2. Empowering accounting and finance teams

• When closing the books is not consuming a significant amount of time, accounting and finance staff can interact with colleagues and take on a more strategic role.
• This can lead to a higher profile for the CFO, as finance team members become strategic business partners who can focus on activities that are not amenable to automation.

Action item: Encourage your accounting and finance staff to take on a more strategic role and provide them with the tools and resources they need to do so.

3. More informed decisions and improved data integrity

• Immediate access to critical financial data leads to better-informed decisions, setting the company up for success and growth.
• Enable proactive controls: Reviewing key information daily can also help spot errors and fraudulent transactions before they become bigger problems.

Action item: Implement a systems and technology enabling real-time access to financial data and encourages daily regular review of key information by stakeholders.

4. Easier compliance and auditing

• The less manual intervention in accounting processes, the more likely the company is to stay compliant with statutory requirements.
• Automated systems also make it easier for auditors to access and review relevant information.

Action item: Implement automated systems in accounting that reduce repetitive tasks, Structured reports and analytics and consider open-book audits where possible. .

5. Culture of continuous improvement

• Adopting a continuous process improvement philosophy, such as Kaizen, as is popular in manufacturing, can help the finance team keep pace with changing accounting standards, markets, and technological advancement.

Action item: Encourage a culture of continuous improvement within the finance team and provide them with the tools and resources they need to stay on the cutting edge.

Overall, implementing continuous accounting close by leveraging technology can bring a variety of benefits to the company, better insights , faster access to financial information to decision makers, efficient compliance and auditing, and most importantly, empowered staff with improved data integrity, who can enjoy a healthy work-life balance. By taking the appropriate steps, your company and people can begin to reap the benefits of a continuous month-end close.