What day your books actually close
Our close lands on the fifth business day. That is worth more than a close that is merely accurate, because you can put a board meeting in the diary around it. Here is where that sits against the published survey data, and the calendar we work to.
These services do not require a state licence, and we are not a CPA firm.
Half of finance teams take longer than five business days
50%
of finance teams close in more than five business days. Ours lands on day five, and the date is published a month ahead.
1 to 3 business days
18%
4 to 5 business days
32%
6 to 7 business days
23%
More than 7 business days
27%
Shares of surveyed finance teams. The highlighted band is where our close lands. We are ahead of the median and short of the top quartile, and we would rather print that than round it in our own favour.
Source. Ledge, The State of Month-End Close 2025, reported by CFO.com: 18% close in one to three business days, 32% in four to five, 23% in six to seven, and 27% in more than seven. 18 + 32 + 23 + 27 = 100. Separately, APQC’s General Accounting benchmark of more than 2,300 organisations puts the median close at 6.4 calendar days, with the top quartile at 4.8 and the bottom quartile at 10 or more. We quote the business-day survey because our own figure is a business day; comparing a business day against a calendar day would flatter us by about two days.
Published in advance, so you can hold us to it
Five working days, each with an owner. Yours is agreed in the first month and published before it starts.
- Day 1Cut-off confirmed, cash posted, card feeds pulled.
- Day 2Bank, card and payroll reconciliations complete.
- Day 3Accruals, prepaids, revenue cut-off and fixed assets.
- Day 4Trial balance reviewed and signed off by name.
- Day 5Package delivered: P&L, balance sheet, cash, variance notes.
Miss a published close date and the cause is ours, and half that month’s fee comes back.
Send us last month, and we will send this back about your company.
Email us your last close calendar and your last month-end P&L. Within five business days we will send you, free, where your close actually loses its days, which accounts are not reconciling, and the three things we would change first. In writing, with the arithmetic attached.
On the call we can show you a sample of our own work, so you see the reporting pack you would actually receive rather than a description of it.
You keep what we send whatever happens next, and there is no fee for it. We are not going to put you on a mailing list, because we do not have one. If your books are in good shape we will tell you that and you will have spent nothing to find out.
Over time we may publish anonymised, aggregate observations from these reviews: the median day a close lands, the causes that recur. Never your name, never your figures, and never anything that could identify you. If you would rather we left your review out of even that, say so in the email and we will.