The Problem Nobody Wants to Admit
If your month-end close takes more than five business days, you're not alone. Most mid-market finance teams spend 10-15 days reconciling, adjusting, and validating before they can confidently report numbers. Some companies don't finalize until the third week of the following month—by which point the data is already stale and the next close is looming.
But here's the uncomfortable truth that most finance leaders eventually confront: the problem isn't your team's speed. It's not that you need more people, longer hours, or better accountants. The problem is your process.
A slow close isn't just inconvenient—it's expensive in ways that compound over time. It delays decision-making, forcing leadership to operate on outdated information. It frustrates executives who need current data for board meetings, investor calls, and strategic planning. It burns out your finance team, who spend half their month in close mode instead of doing the analysis and strategic work they were hired for. And it often means your team is still closing last month while the current month's transactions pile up, creating a perpetual backlog that never quite gets resolved.
The companies that close in five days or less aren't working with fundamentally different accounting standards or simpler businesses. They've simply designed their processes for speed from the ground up—and they've invested in the automation and customization needed to make those processes work.
Understanding the True Cost of a Slow Close
Before diving into solutions, it's worth quantifying what a slow close actually costs your organization. Most companies have never done this math, which is why slow closes persist.
Direct Labor Costs
Count the hours your team spends on close activities each month. Include overtime, weekend work, and the time senior people spend reviewing and re-reviewing. A 15-day close at a mid-market company easily consumes 200-400 hours of labor monthly. At fully-loaded labor costs, that's $15,000-$40,000 per month in close-related work alone.
Now consider what that time could be worth if redirected. Your senior accountants could be doing variance analysis, supporting FP&A, improving processes, or training junior staff. Instead, they're reconciling the same accounts they reconciled last month, catching the same types of errors, and explaining the same variances.
Decision Delay Costs
If your close takes 15 days, your leadership is making decisions based on data that's 15-45 days old. In fast-moving markets, that's an eternity. Consider a company that discovers a product line is unprofitable—but discovers it six weeks after the fact because the close took so long. How much margin was lost in those six weeks of continued investment in a losing proposition?
The decision delay cost is harder to quantify but often larger than the direct labor cost. Every day your leadership operates without current data is a day they might be making suboptimal decisions.
Audit and Compliance Costs
Slow closes often correlate with poor documentation and inconsistent processes. When auditors arrive, they find reconciliations done differently each month, adjustments without clear support, and tribal knowledge that can't be verified. The result: more audit hours, more questions, and higher fees.
Companies with fast, well-documented closes typically spend 20-30% less on their annual audit than companies with messy, slow processes—even at the same revenue level.
Opportunity Costs
What strategic initiatives has your finance team deferred because they're perpetually in close mode? Process improvements, system optimizations, automation projects—these all require bandwidth that a slow close consumes. The close becomes a self-perpetuating problem: you can't improve it because you're too busy doing it.
The Usual Suspects: Why Closes Actually Take So Long
When we dig into slow close processes—and we've done this with hundreds of companies—we find the same culprits over and over. The specific manifestations vary, but the root causes are remarkably consistent.
1. Reconciliations Live in Spreadsheets
This is the single most common driver of slow closes. Bank reconciliations, intercompany reconciliations, revenue validation, inventory reconciliation, fixed asset tracking—all happening in Excel files that live on someone's desktop or a shared drive.
The problems with spreadsheet reconciliations compound:
Version control is nonexistent. Which file is current? Did someone overwrite the master?
Collaboration is difficult. Two people can't work on the same reconciliation simultaneously.
Audit trails are weak or absent. Who made that change? When? Why?
Automation is limited. Every month starts from scratch or from a template that requires manual updates.
Error rates are high. One wrong formula can cascade through the entire reconciliation.
The good news? Custom saved searches and SuiteScript solutions can bring most of these reconciliations directly into NetSuite where they belong. When your reconciliations live in the system, they can be automated, tracked, and completed in a fraction of the time.
2. Manual Journal Entries Pile Up
A few adjusting entries are normal and expected. Every close will have some entries that can't be predicted or automated—unusual transactions, one-time adjustments, corrections.
But dozens of manual journal entries every month? That's not normal. That's a symptom of processes that aren't captured correctly upstream.
Common sources of excessive manual entries:
Accruals that could be automated but aren't
Allocations done manually instead of through allocation schedules
Intercompany entries that should generate automatically from transactions
Corrections for data entry errors that proper validations would prevent
Reclassifications between accounts that result from poor chart of accounts design
Every manual journal entry is a band-aid over a broken workflow. It takes time to prepare, time to review, time to approve, and time to audit. And it introduces risk—manual entries are where errors and fraud hide.
Well-designed automation can eliminate 80% of these entries. Memorized transactions, scheduled scripts, workflow-triggered entries—the technology exists to handle recurring adjustments automatically. The question is whether you've invested in implementing it properly.
3. Waiting on Other Departments
Finance can't close until Sales confirms commission calculations. Operations hasn't finished inventory counts. HR sent payroll corrections late. IT hasn't provided the hosting cost allocation. Marketing hasn't submitted their expense reports.
Sound familiar? Cross-functional dependencies without deadlines or automation create unpredictable delays that make close timelines impossible to manage.
The pattern typically looks like this:
Finance sends reminder emails on day 1 of the close
Other departments acknowledge but don't prioritize
Finance follows up on day 3, then day 5, then day 7
Other departments finally submit on day 8-10
Finance discovers errors or questions, requiring back-and-forth
Final data arrives on day 12-14
Finance rushes to incorporate it and close
This pattern repeats every single month because nothing structural has changed. The solution isn't sending more reminder emails—it's building systems and processes that make timely submission the path of least resistance.
4. Review Loops That Never End
When there's no clear checklist of what "done" looks like, reviews become open-ended fishing expeditions. Someone always finds one more thing to check. One more variance to explain. One more account to investigate.
Without defined criteria for what constitutes a completed close, the close expands to fill available time. If you have 15 days, you'll use 15 days. If someone gives you 20 days, you'll use 20 days.
The symptoms of undefined review criteria:
Multiple rounds of review with no clear endpoint
Different reviewers looking at the same things repeatedly
Investigations of immaterial variances that don't affect decisions
Last-minute changes that trigger re-reviews of previously approved items
Uncertainty about whether the close is actually "done"
5. Inadequate Sub-Ledger Integration
When your sub-ledgers don't talk to your general ledger cleanly, reconciliation becomes a major undertaking. Accounts receivable doesn't tie to the AR aging. Accounts payable doesn't match the vendor balances. Fixed assets don't reconcile to the FA module.
These disconnects often result from poor initial implementation, accumulated workarounds over time, or integrations that were never built properly. Every month, someone manually reconciles these differences—time that could be eliminated with proper integration.
6. Chart of Accounts Chaos
An overcomplicated or poorly designed chart of accounts creates close delays in multiple ways. Too many accounts means too many reconciliations. Inconsistent account usage means transactions end up in wrong places and need reclassification. Missing accounts means creating manual workarounds to capture activity properly.
We've seen companies with 5,000+ accounts when 500 would suffice. Every unnecessary account is a reconciliation point, a potential error source, and a drain on close efficiency.
What Actually Works: Building a Fast Close Process
Companies that close in five days or less don't have superhuman accountants. They have better systems and clearer processes. Here's what separates fast closers from slow ones.
Automate Recurring Entries
If you make the same journal entry every month—or even a similar entry with updated numbers—it should be automated, not manual.
Memorized Transactions
NetSuite's memorized transactions handle simple recurring entries effectively. Set them to post automatically on specific dates, and they require no monthly intervention.
Scheduled Scripts
For more complex recurring entries—entries with calculations, entries that depend on other data, entries with variable amounts—custom SuiteScript solutions can automate what memorized transactions can't handle. A well-written scheduled script can calculate accruals, generate allocations, create intercompany entries, and post them automatically on schedule.
Workflow-Triggered Entries
Some entries should generate automatically when certain events occur rather than on a schedule. Order ships? Generate the revenue recognition entry. Invoice posts? Create the commission accrual. Project milestone completes? Recognize the deferred revenue. Custom workflows can trigger entries based on business events, not calendar dates.
Move Reconciliations Into NetSuite
Every reconciliation that happens outside NetSuite is a bottleneck waiting to slow your close. The goal should be to reconcile as much as possible within the system itself.
Bank Reconciliation
NetSuite's native bank reconciliation works for straightforward scenarios. For complex situations—multiple bank accounts, foreign currency, high transaction volumes—custom matching logic can automate 90%+ of the reconciliation process.
Intercompany Reconciliation
Custom saved searches can identify intercompany imbalances in real-time, not just at month-end. When Company A records a sale to Company B, the system should immediately flag if Company B hasn't recorded the corresponding purchase. Don't wait until close to find out you have elimination problems.
Sub-Ledger Reconciliation
Build saved searches that compare sub-ledger balances to general ledger account balances daily. When discrepancies emerge, address them immediately rather than accumulating them for month-end.
Create Hard Deadlines with Automated Reminders
Hoping other departments will submit their data on time doesn't work. You need systems that make timely submission the default behavior.
Automated Workflow Notifications
Build workflows that notify departments when their inputs are due. Start notifications before the deadline—5 days out, 3 days out, 1 day out. Escalate to managers if deadlines are missed.
Self-Service Data Entry
Instead of Finance chasing data, give other departments direct entry points. Custom Suitelet forms for expense submissions, commission confirmations, inventory adjustments. When people can enter their own data, they own the deadline.
Consequence Systems
Make it someone else's problem to explain why they're late. When the CFO's close report shows "Waiting on Sales for commission data - Day 8," the Sales VP gets uncomfortable. Visibility creates accountability.
Build a Close Checklist with Sign-Offs
Not a Word document that gets copied and edited each month—a tracked process in NetSuite where each task is assigned, timestamped, and approved.
Custom Close Management Solution
A purpose-built close management tool within NetSuite can transform close coordination. Each task has an owner, a deadline, dependencies, and a sign-off requirement. Dashboards show real-time progress. Nothing falls through the cracks because nothing is invisible.
Defined Completion Criteria
Every task should have clear criteria for what "done" means. "Bank rec complete" isn't enough—specify "Bank rec complete, all items over $1,000 resolved, variance under $500 documented." When criteria are explicit, reviews focus on verification rather than investigation.
Fix the Upstream Issues
For every manual adjustment you make at close, ask: why didn't this record correctly the first time? Then fix the root cause, not just the symptom.
Transaction Validation
Custom scripts can validate transactions at entry time, preventing errors that would require correction at close. Wrong department code? Block the save. Missing project assignment? Require selection. Invalid vendor? Reject the entry.
Process Redesign
Sometimes the fix isn't technical—it's procedural. If expense reports consistently arrive late, maybe the process needs to change. If inventory counts always have discrepancies, maybe the counting process is flawed. Look upstream for root causes.
The Close Calendar: A Practical Timeline
Here's what a five-day close actually looks like in practice:
Day 1: Sub-Ledger Closes and Preliminary Reconciliations
AR aging finalized and reconciled to GL
AP aging finalized and reconciled to GL
Inventory valued and reconciled
Fixed assets reconciled
Bank transactions imported and preliminary matching complete
Day 2: Accruals, Allocations, and Intercompany
Automated accruals posted and verified
Allocations run and validated
Intercompany eliminations prepared
Bank reconciliation finalized
Day 3: Revenue Recognition and Adjustments
Revenue recognition schedules run
Deferred revenue validated
Final adjusting entries posted
Preliminary financial statements generated
Day 4: Review and Variance Analysis
Controller reviews preliminary financials
Variances to budget/prior period documented
Final corrections posted
Supporting schedules finalized
Day 5: Final Approval and Distribution
CFO review and approval
Financial statements finalized
Board package prepared
Period locked
The Real Obstacle: Finding Time to Improve
Most companies know their close is too slow. The real challenge isn't identifying the problem—it's finding time to fix it when you're perpetually behind.
It's hard to improve a process while you're in the middle of running it. You can't take three weeks to redesign the close when the close is happening. You can't implement new automation when all your resources are consumed by manual work.
This is why closes stay slow for years. Everyone knows it's a problem. Nobody has bandwidth to address it.
That's where outside help makes a difference. Not to do your close for you, but to redesign the process, implement the automation, and hand you back a system that actually works. A good partner can work in parallel with your normal operations, building the improved process while you continue running the current one, then cut over when the new approach is ready.
Measuring Success: Close Metrics That Matter
If you're going to improve your close, you need to measure it. Here are the metrics that matter:
Days to Close
The headline metric. Count business days from period end to final approval. Track this over time to verify improvement.
Manual Journal Entries
Count them. Every month. A declining number indicates improving upstream processes.
Adjustments After Day 3
Late adjustments indicate process problems. If you're still finding material issues on day 10, your earlier processes aren't working.
Hours Spent on Close
Track actual hours, including overtime. This captures the true cost and shows whether automation is delivering value.
Error Rate
Track adjustments required after books close. Corrections in subsequent periods indicate quality problems in the close process.
Bottom Line
A 5-day close isn't a fantasy—it's an achievable standard for any mid-market company willing to invest in getting there. But getting there requires honest assessment of where time actually goes and willingness to change processes that have "always been done this way."
Your team is capable. Your system is capable. The question is whether your processes are designed for speed—or just designed to eventually finish.
The investment in close optimization pays back every single month. Faster decisions, lower costs, happier teams, cleaner audits. The only question is whether you'll make the investment this year or continue paying the slow-close tax indefinitely.
