The "Month-End Close" is often synonymous with late nights, pizza orders, and stress. It traditionally takes 10-15 days for companies to finalize their books. In 2024, that speed is unacceptable. Business moves too fast for two-week-old data.

The 24-Hour Goal

Achieving a 24-hour close sounds impossible to many, but it's a reality for AI-first finance teams. The secret isn't working faster on day 1; it's about not letting work pile up during days 1-30.

Pillar 1: Real-Time Reconciliation

Waiting until the end of the month to reconcile bank statements is a recipe for disaster. With automated bank feeds and AI matching, reconciliation should happen daily. If a transaction doesn't match, it's flagged instantly, resolved while the memory is fresh, and closed out.

Pillar 2: Automated Accruals

Recurring expenses and revenue recognition often bog down the close process. Intelligent systems can predict accruals based on historical patterns and contracts, drafting the entries for review rather than requiring manual calculation from scratch.

Pillar 3: Continuous Consolidation

For multi-entity companies, intercompany eliminations are a nightmare. By standardizing the chart of accounts and using a unified platform, consolidation can happen in real-time, not just at period end.

"Speed is not just about efficiency; it's about agility. A company that knows its position on the 1st of the month can pivot 2 weeks faster than its competitor."

Conclusion

The 24-hour close requires a cultural shift as much as a technological one. It demands a move from batch processing to continuous processing. But the reward—real-time visibility and a sanity-check for the finance team—is worth every bit of effort.

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