Business Case: Accelerating the Month-End Close Through Process Automation

Why Finance Process Performance Deserves Attention

Welcome to this month’s issue of Business Case. In each edition, we examine realistic scenarios from the world of business process management and explore how organizations can respond to them with clarity and discipline.

This issue focuses on a challenge familiar to many finance leaders: the month-end close. As organizations operate in increasingly competitive and data-driven environments, the speed and reliability of core finance processes matter more than ever. The case presented here looks at how month-end close process automation can improve efficiency and decision-making, using a grounded, numbers-based approach.

The Business Context: A Finance Team Under Pressure

Consider a mid-sized manufacturing company generating roughly €180 million in annual revenue. Its finance function consists of 18 professionals responsible for accounting, controlling, and financial reporting. Each month, this team prepares the financial close, drawing data from five different systems and coordinating activities across departments.

The current close takes ten business days. During this time, much of the work is manual: data is extracted and reconciled in spreadsheets, adjustments are entered by hand, and approvals are coordinated through email. Once the close is finalized, management reports are produced and shared with executives and operational leaders.

For senior management, the month-end close is a critical process. It determines when reliable financial information becomes available and directly influences planning, forecasting, and performance management. As the business grows in complexity, the limitations of the existing process have become more visible.

Where the Process Breaks Down

Several structural issues contribute to the extended close cycle. The most visible is the length of the process itself. Ten business days elapse between period end and finalized results, leaving decision-makers with outdated information for a significant portion of the month.

Manual work plays a central role. Finance staff spend substantial time collecting and validating data from disconnected systems, often repeating the same steps every month. Because coordination relies heavily on emails and spreadsheets, transparency is limited and errors are difficult to detect early. When mistakes occur, they tend to surface late in the process, requiring rework that further delays completion.

The cost implications are measurable. Fourteen full-time equivalents are actively involved in the close, contributing approximately 1,120 labor hours per month. At a fully loaded rate of €75 per hour, this results in €84,000 in regular labor cost. Overtime during the close adds an additional €12,600 each month. Over the course of a year, the total cost of the close exceeds €1.15 million.

Beyond cost, the process affects trust and morale. Rework caused by errors—estimated at around six percent of transactions—creates pressure within the team and undermines confidence in the numbers. Over time, this combination of inefficiency, stress, and delayed insight makes the status quo increasingly difficult to justify.

Using Business Process Management to Improve the Close

To address these challenges, leadership begins evaluating business process management in finance, with a particular emphasis on automation and standardization. The goal is not to eliminate human involvement, but to reduce manual effort where it adds little value and to make the process more predictable.

In practice, this means introducing automated data extraction and validation, replacing spreadsheet-based journal entries with standardized workflows, and shifting approvals from email to rule-based process steps. Real-time monitoring allows finance leaders to see where the close stands at any moment and to intervene early when exceptions arise.

Based on benchmark data and internal pilots, the company estimates that these changes could cut the close duration in half, from ten to five business days. Manual effort would be reduced by roughly forty percent, overtime by about seventy percent, and error-related rework from six percent to two percent.

The financial implications are significant. After automation, monthly close costs are projected to fall to approximately €45,800, translating into annual costs of about €549,000. Compared to the current state, this represents annual savings of more than €600,000.

The investment required to achieve this includes software licenses, process redesign, and training, totaling €340,000 in the first year. Even under conservative assumptions, the payback period is estimated at seven months, with a first-year return on investment of roughly seventy-nine percent.

Food for Thought: What the Close Reveals About the Organization

The financial case for automation is persuasive, but the implications extend well beyond efficiency metrics. A shorter, more transparent month-end close strengthens audit readiness and internal controls, while also reducing the recurring peak-load stress placed on finance teams. When pressure eases, skilled professionals gain time for analysis, interpretation, and collaboration with the business.

At the same time, automation initiatives tend to surface broader organizational questions. Is process ownership clearly defined? Are responsibilities transparent, or embedded in informal routines? And is the organization prepared to revisit long-standing practices that have evolved over time but were never intentionally designed?

For many leaders, the month-end close becomes a useful mirror. It highlights where manual effort absorbs disproportionate capacity and where technology could enable a more meaningful contribution from finance. In that sense, the close is often less about accounting mechanics and more about how the organization values process discipline and continuous improvement.

Conclusion

Making the Month-End Close a Source of Insight This business case illustrates how month-end close process automation, supported by business process management in finance, can turn a recurring operational obligation into a more predictable and value-oriented process. By reducing cycle time, lowering costs, and improving data reliability, organizations create the conditions for faster and better-informed decisions.

The key takeaway is not that every close must be fully automated, but that understanding the true cost and impact of existing processes is a prerequisite for meaningful improvement. For many organizations, even incremental changes can unlock significant benefits. We invite you to reflect on your own month-end close. How much time does it consume, and what opportunities might be hidden in its current structure?

FAQ

What is the month-end close?
The month-end close is the recurring finance process in which accounts are finalized, data is reconciled, and financial reports are prepared for management and stakeholders.

Why does finance process performance matter?
Finance process performance determines how quickly and reliably financial information becomes available, directly affecting planning, forecasting, and decision-making.

What is month-end close process automation?
Month-end close process automation uses software and standardized workflows to reduce manual tasks, accelerate closing cycles, and improve data accuracy.

How does business process management support finance teams?
Business process management in finance improves transparency, standardization, and control, while reducing errors, rework, and operational cost.

When should organizations automate their month-end close?
Automation is most valuable when the close cycle is long, heavily manual, prone to errors, or requires recurring overtime to complete.