Map the month-end close calendar and identify the tasks that create the greatest delay.
Finance & Banking
Accelerating the Month-End Close and Balance Sheet Reconciliations
Learn to redesign the month-end close calendar, risk-tier balance sheet reconciliations, automate recurring entries, and measure close performance with defined indicators.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A close process that stretches across two weeks usually is not slower because the accounting is harder; it is slower because tasks are sequenced by habit, reconciliations are treated as equally risky, and exceptions are chased after the fact rather than prevented. This course rebuilds the close from the calendar up: mapping every task against its owner and deadline, standardising journal entry templates and policies, and risk-tiering balance sheet accounts so reconciliation effort matches materiality and volatility rather than tradition. Participants design escalation workflows for ageing reconciling items, identify recurring journals and intercompany entries suitable for automation, and plan a realistic path toward a continuous or soft close without compromising data completeness. The governance module embeds segregation of duties between preparers and reviewers and defines the evidence auditors expect to see. Throughout, the emphasis is on diagnosing root causes rather than working faster at the same broken process. Participants leave with a redesigned close calendar, a reconciliation risk-tiering model and a set of close performance indicators they can report to finance leadership immediately.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Standardise journal entry policies and close checklists across preparers and business units.
Risk-tier balance sheet accounts and set reconciliation standards proportionate to each tier.
Design escalation workflows that resolve ageing reconciling items before they recur.
Automate recurring journals, accruals and intercompany entries to reduce manual close effort.
Design a continuous or soft close approach that shortens the path to reliable management information.
Measure close performance using defined indicators and report progress to finance leadership.
Who Should Attend
Financial controllers responsible for the group or entity month-end close process.
Record-to-report and general ledger accountants preparing balance sheet reconciliations.
Finance transformation staff redesigning close processes as part of a wider programme.
Shared service centre managers overseeing multi-entity close and reconciliation activity.
Internal audit staff assessing close controls and reconciliation quality.
Finance systems analysts implementing automation within the close cycle.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Diagnosing and Redesigning the Close Process
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Mapping the Current Close Calendar and Bottlenecks
- Map every task in the current close calendar against the day and owner responsible for completion.
- Identify bottleneck tasks that delay downstream steps using a dependency analysis of the close timetable.
- Benchmark the current days-to-close figure and set a realistic target based on process complexity.
- Interview process owners to separate tasks that are genuinely sequential from those scheduled that way by habit.
Session 2Standardising the Close Checklist and Journal Entry Policy
- Standardise journal entry templates and supporting documentation requirements across all preparers.
- Define a policy for recurring, accrual and reversing journal entries, including approval thresholds.
- Build a close checklist that assigns each task an owner, deadline and evidence requirement.
- Eliminate duplicate or redundant close tasks identified during the process mapping exercise.
02Balance Sheet Reconciliation Discipline
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Risk-Tiering Accounts and Setting Reconciliation Standards
- Classify balance sheet accounts into risk tiers based on materiality, volatility and susceptibility to error.
- Set reconciliation frequency and required supporting evidence for each risk tier.
- Define what constitutes a fully substantiated reconciliation, including aged item thresholds.
- Prioritise remediation of historically problematic accounts identified through prior period exceptions.
Session 2Reviewing, Approving and Escalating Reconciliation Exceptions
- Design a tiered review and approval workflow that matches reviewer seniority to account risk level.
- Set escalation triggers for reconciling items that remain unresolved beyond a defined age.
- Build a dashboard that tracks reconciliation completion status and outstanding exceptions by owner.
- Conduct a root cause review of recurring reconciling items to eliminate them at the source.
03Automation and Continuous Close Techniques
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Automating Recurring Journals, Accruals and Intercompany Entries
- Identify recurring journal entries suitable for automated posting based on stable calculation logic.
- Automate accrual calculations using consistent drivers rather than manual re-estimation each period.
- Standardise intercompany transaction recording and matching to reduce elimination entry adjustments.
- Configure exception-based review so staff focus only on entries that fall outside expected ranges.
Session 2Moving Toward a Continuous or Soft Close Model
- Assess which close tasks can move earlier in the cycle without compromising data completeness.
- Design a soft close approach that produces reliable management information ahead of the full statutory close.
- Sequence the shift toward continuous close by piloting it on lower-risk business units first.
- Redesign flux analysis to run throughout the period rather than as a single post-close exercise.
04Governance, Controls and Performance Measurement
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Embedding Segregation of Duties and Review Controls
- Define segregation of duties between preparers and reviewers for journal entries and reconciliations.
- Embed system-enforced approval controls that prevent posting without independent review.
- Document control ownership and evidence requirements to support internal and external audit testing.
- Test the control environment periodically using a sample of completed reconciliations and journals.
Session 2Measuring Close Performance and Reporting to Management
- Define close performance indicators, including days to close, entries per closer and exception rates.
- Build a management report that tracks close performance trends over consecutive periods.
- Present close process improvements and remaining risks to finance leadership with supporting data.
- Establish a continuous improvement cycle that revisits the close calendar after each reporting period.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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