Will you be able to perform your fiscal year-end in a matter of hours? Probably not. In fact, research suggests the average closing cycle is six business days, plus an additional five days for reporting.
It’s complex, tedious and riddled with compliance requirements. But there is good news: During your fiscal year-end, it is possible to close your books faster than you are closing them today using technology and cloud
With technology, you can produce more timely information for stakeholders, making everyone happy and turning you into a closing hero. Here are six ways that having the right
-
Prepare all year: Prepare for your fiscal year-end close all year with an integrated cloud accounting system. Fiscal year-end tasks can be quite tedious and require great attention to detail. It’s crucial that you catch every error, so give yourself enough time to do so.
-
Integrate your data: Timely and accurate information of available balances not only helps you improve your close process but also better manage your cash, reconcile your bank statements and resolve discrepancies. You will be in a much better position at the end of the year when you rely less on people power to get this part completed.
-
Built-in audit trails: Do notwait until the end of the year and try to clean up everything at once. An automated software system has the audit trails built in, making fiscal year-end close easier.
-
Automation: Less manual data entry with automation means less error and less fixes all year but pays off especially at year’s end.
-
Built-in controls: An integrated accounting software solution will allow you to set internal controls and data security, assign privileges to members of your organization based on the access they require and ensure your data accuracy at the end of the year.
-
Real-time reports: An Oracle
white paper , “The Fast Close: Are We There Yet?,” suggests that it’s critical to clearly define key performance indicators, focus on top-level results rather than unnecessary details and eliminate interim closes in order to speed up the year-end close. With an automated software system, you can create real-time reports that be used all year and at year-end close. Having fully integrated software and a web portal for the delivery of standard reports is critical for success.
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that you’re not going to make improvements overnight. It takes time. However, with the right financial system, your organization can move toward a faster and more successful fiscal year-end close.