Accelerating the Monthly Close Process with FloQast
The Situation
A leading ecological restoration company was purchased by a private equity firm, and they struggled to meet their new sponsor’s reporting deadlines just 1-2 months post-acquisition. The Company was closing in 30+ days and lacked a detailed close checklist, including clear tasks, owners, and target deadlines. Compounded with staff turnover, this rendered the team ill-equipped to track and meet their new reporting requirements. As a result, the sponsor engaged Accordion to assess the current state month-end close process and help accelerate the close timeline.
Services
Financial Statement Close Process
Controller Support & Process Optimization
Finance Process Automation & ERP Execution
The Execution
- Performed detailed interviews with key team members to assess the current state month-end close process.
- Built a robust Excel-based month-end close checklist inclusive of deliverables, preparers, reviewers, and due dates.
- Recommended FloQast as a financial close solution that is cost-effective, quick to implement, and easy to use. Characteristics include:
- Centralized view of the month-end close providing visibility via dashboards and detailed KPIs.
- Workflow automation and automated reconciliation tie-outs.
- Strong internal controls over high-risk accounts.
- Quick implementation and minimal client involvement.
- Managed the implementation on behalf of the Company:
- Dedicated a team member with accounting experience to support configuration, training, troubleshooting of issues, and ongoing support beyond the implementation timeframe.
The Results
With the help of Accordion, the Company achieved its key objective of successfully accelerating the month-end close process. Within only 2 months of utilizing Accordion’s robust checklist and the suite of workflow automation tools, the Company reduced its close by >50% (30+ to 15 Days). The CFO and Controller now have increased visibility into the monthly close via dynamic dashboards and KPIs, and the team can address bottlenecks or issues in real time (or before they arise). As the business continues to scale, positive outcomes also include process standardization across all entities, risk reduction, stronger controls including segregation of duties, and improved audit support.