Where month-end close loses time

Report

Written by Lontra from 9 conversations, 3 shared documents and 4 Deep Study conversations.

The answer

The close loses most of its time between working days two and six, waiting for information that arrives after its cut-off.

The plan is five working days; the last three closes took eight, seven and eight. Late goods-received lists, intercompany differences and failed overnight runs each cost half a day or more, and nobody records how often the month is reopened.

What people said

Goods-received lists arrive a day after the cut-off, so accruals are estimated and redone 6 of 9 people Strong signal

The plan puts the plants' list at working day two. It arrives on day three or four, so payables accrues last month's figure and redoes it when the real list comes: ten of the last twelve months, in half a day or more each time.

“They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.”Financial controller, 7 years in role

Show all 4 quotes and their conversations

“They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.”

Financial controller, 7 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Financial controller, 7 years in role · Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack

Lontra
Can you walk me through a close, from the last day of the month to the pack going out?

Financial controller
Day one we shut the sub-ledgers. Day two, accruals and the goods-received cut-off. Day three, intercompany. Day four the consolidation run. Day five I issue the pack. We close in five days. It's what the board's been told.

Lontra
What takes the longest?

Financial controller
Intercompany, and accruals, because the plants confirm late. They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.

Lontra
You've shared the close calendar. For the March close, the goods-received cut-off was planned for 12:00 on working day two and shows an actual finish of working day three at 11:00. What happened there?

Financial controller
That's the plants. Day three is typical, honestly. The cut-off moved from day three to day two in March last year. It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.

Lontra
Earlier you said the pack goes out on day five. In the calendar it goes out on working day eight. Which is closer to a normal close?

Financial controller
Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit. The last three were eight, seven and eight.

Lontra
What happens between day five and day eight?

Financial controller
Reopening. Someone finds an item. A plant says one more invoice, I say fine, and then intercompany has to be redone. And the consolidation run, that's IT's. When it falls over we lose half a day.

Lontra
How often does the close get reopened?

Financial controller
Most months. I'd say nine in twelve. I haven't counted it properly.

Lontra
Who decides to reopen?

Financial controller
I do. I say yes because the alternative is a wrong number in the pack.
“It comes day three, not day two, so I estimate.”

Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role · Team of five, posts the accruals for goods received

Lontra
What does payables do in the first two days?

Accounts payable lead
Close the sub-ledger on day one, then accruals for anything received but not invoiced. I need the goods-received list from the plants for that. It comes day three, not day two, so I estimate.

Lontra
How do you estimate?

Accounts payable lead
Last month's figure, plus what the buyers tell me. Then on day four or five the real list comes and I redo it.

Lontra
How much changes?

Accounts payable lead
Ten, fifteen percent of the accrual, typically. We had one delivery of components worth sixty thousand that wasn't in the estimate at all.

Lontra
How long does the redo take?

Accounts payable lead
Half a day, sometimes a full one. Every month.

Lontra
What's the cut-off for the list?

Accounts payable lead
Second working day. It's in the calendar. It's been day two for over a year.

Lontra
If you could change one thing?

Accounts payable lead
A list from the plants by day two, even if it's not perfect. I can work with imperfect. I can't work with late.
“Finance's deadline is day two, the plant's rhythm is day four.”

Business-unit finance partner, 4 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Business-unit finance partner, 4 years in role · Manufacturing division, five plants

Lontra
What's the close like for a business-unit finance partner?

Business-unit finance partner
I'm in between. The plants send me their numbers on day two or three, I send them up, and on day six I get asked to explain them after I've forgotten the plant's reasons.

Lontra
What holds your numbers back?

Business-unit finance partner
Goods receipts, mostly. Overheads accrued by the plant. Anything found late. Finance's deadline is day two, the plant's rhythm is day four. I explain each side to the other.

Lontra
What do you tell the plants about the cut-off?

Business-unit finance partner
It was day three, it's day two since last year. I told them. I told them twice.

Lontra
Do they know?

Business-unit finance partner
Some do. The operations manager would tell you nobody said.

Lontra
And once the numbers go up?

Business-unit finance partner
Sometimes my division's figures in the group pack don't match what I sent. It's the overnight feed, I'm told. I only find out when I read the pack on day seven. And half the questions I get on day six are about intercompany.

Lontra
Does the month ever reopen?

Business-unit finance partner
Often. A plant finds an invoice, I send it up, and it goes in. I don't know how many times in a year.
“When it's late I put in last month's number.”

Junior accountant, 8 months in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Junior accountant, 8 months in role · Accruals and reconciliations for the smaller entities

Lontra
What are you responsible for in the close?

Junior accountant
The accruals list for the smaller entities. And some reconciliations.

Lontra
What are you waiting for?

Junior accountant
The goods list from the plants. When it's late I put in last month's number.

Lontra
What do you find hardest?

Junior accountant
Knowing what's finished. I keep going until someone says.

Lontra
How do you build the accruals list?

Junior accountant
I copy last month's and change it. There's a tab called 'old' I don't touch.

Lontra
Why not?

Junior accountant
I don't know what's in it. Someone said don't.

Lontra
Who could tell you?

Junior accountant
Maybe the senior accountant. She's busy in the close.

Intercompany balances do not agree until day six, because each entity books on its own timing 5 of 9 people Strong signal

Six entities trade with each other and each books an invoice when it sends or when it arrives. Senior accountants chase for days three to six, and some months book an accrual and reverse it. A shared sheet for the balances lapsed after three months because nobody owned it.

“Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.”Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Show all 4 quotes and their conversations

“Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra
What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant
Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra
Chasing for what?

Senior accountant
Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra
You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant
Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra
How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant
Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra
Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant
We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra
What happened to it?

Senior accountant
Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra
What else takes your time?

Senior accountant
Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra
Which fails?

Senior accountant
The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.
“The other side hasn't booked it.”

Accounts receivable accountant, 3 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Accounts receivable accountant, 3 years in role · Invoicing and cash allocation for three entities

Lontra
What does the close look like from receivables?

Accounts receivable accountant
Not bad. Invoices out by day one, cash allocated by day two. We're mostly done early. It's others I wait for.

Lontra
Who do you wait for?

Accounts receivable accountant
The other entities, on invoices between our own companies. They sit in my ledger as receivables, so I'm the one who gets asked why it doesn't match.

Lontra
How often does that happen?

Accounts receivable accountant
Every close, two or three of them. The other side hasn't booked it.

Lontra
What do you do about it?

Accounts receivable accountant
Email them. Then email again on day four.

Lontra
What would you change?

Accounts receivable accountant
I'd have them book it the day it's sent. Not when it's approved.
“Transfers between entities never agree first time.”

Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role · Additions, depreciation and transfers between entities

Lontra
What do you do in the close?

Fixed assets accountant
Fixed assets. Depreciation, additions.

Lontra
Where does it get stuck?

Fixed assets accountant
Additions. Waiting on project managers.

Lontra
What are you waiting for?

Fixed assets accountant
To say it's complete.

Lontra
How long does that take?

Fixed assets accountant
Depends.

Lontra
Anything else that doesn't go smoothly?

Fixed assets accountant
Transfers between entities never agree first time.

Lontra
How do you run the depreciation?

Fixed assets accountant
It's in my file.

Lontra
Could anyone else run it?

Fixed assets accountant
Not really.
“Nobody owned it. It went stale.”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra
What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant
Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra
Chasing for what?

Senior accountant
Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra
You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant
Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra
How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant
Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra
Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant
We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra
What happened to it?

Senior accountant
Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra
What else takes your time?

Senior accountant
Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra
Which fails?

Senior accountant
The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.

The month is reopened for one more item, and then intercompany is redone 4 of 9 people Emerging

The controller estimates nine closes in twelve are reopened and says yes each time to avoid a wrong number in the pack. Late items come from the plants; the reopen sends the senior accountant back to rebuild the pairs. Nobody records how often it happens.

“Most months. I'd say nine in twelve.”Financial controller, 7 years in role

Show all 3 quotes and their conversations

“Most months. I'd say nine in twelve.”

Financial controller, 7 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Financial controller, 7 years in role · Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack

Lontra
Can you walk me through a close, from the last day of the month to the pack going out?

Financial controller
Day one we shut the sub-ledgers. Day two, accruals and the goods-received cut-off. Day three, intercompany. Day four the consolidation run. Day five I issue the pack. We close in five days. It's what the board's been told.

Lontra
What takes the longest?

Financial controller
Intercompany, and accruals, because the plants confirm late. They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.

Lontra
You've shared the close calendar. For the March close, the goods-received cut-off was planned for 12:00 on working day two and shows an actual finish of working day three at 11:00. What happened there?

Financial controller
That's the plants. Day three is typical, honestly. The cut-off moved from day three to day two in March last year. It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.

Lontra
Earlier you said the pack goes out on day five. In the calendar it goes out on working day eight. Which is closer to a normal close?

Financial controller
Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit. The last three were eight, seven and eight.

Lontra
What happens between day five and day eight?

Financial controller
Reopening. Someone finds an item. A plant says one more invoice, I say fine, and then intercompany has to be redone. And the consolidation run, that's IT's. When it falls over we lose half a day.

Lontra
How often does the close get reopened?

Financial controller
Most months. I'd say nine in twelve. I haven't counted it properly.

Lontra
Who decides to reopen?

Financial controller
I do. I say yes because the alternative is a wrong number in the pack.
“I send it on day five and they put it in.”

Plant operations manager, 10 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Plant operations manager, 10 years in role · Confirms goods received for one plant

Lontra
When you get a request from finance at month end, what is it?

Plant operations manager
To confirm what's been received. A list. I send it to the stores office.

Lontra
When do you have to reply by?

Plant operations manager
They say day two now. It used to be day three. Nobody told us it moved.

Lontra
How did you find out?

Plant operations manager
An email from someone in finance, when I'd missed it.

Lontra
What happens when you miss it?

Plant operations manager
They estimate. Then they ring on day four for the real figure and I send it.

Lontra
And if something turns up afterwards?

Plant operations manager
Sometimes I find an invoice after I've sent the list. I send it on day five and they put it in.

Lontra
Who enters the receipts?

Plant operations manager
The stores supervisor. He does it when the delivery notes come back in the drivers' bags. Friday's are Monday's.

Lontra
Is there someone who knows more about how that works?

Plant operations manager
The stores supervisor, yes. Speak to him.
“someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs.”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra
What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant
Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra
Chasing for what?

Senior accountant
Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra
You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant
Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra
How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant
Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra
Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant
We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra
What happened to it?

Senior accountant
Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra
What else takes your time?

Senior accountant
Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra
Which fails?

Senior accountant
The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.

A failed overnight feed is found by finance, hours later, because no alert goes to anyone 4 of 9 people Emerging

The feed fails a couple of times a month. The log records it but nothing alerts the owner, so finance staff find that their numbers are missing, ring the helpdesk, and the owner hears 7 to 12 hours after the run. Each failure costs about half a day.

“No alert. If I look I see it.”ERP interface owner, 6 years in role

Show all 3 quotes and their conversations

“No alert. If I look I see it.”

ERP interface owner, 6 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: ERP interface owner, 6 years in role · IT, owns the feed from each ledger to the consolidation tool

Lontra
What does the interface do in the close?

ERP interface owner
It moves each entity's ledger into the consolidation tool. Overnight, 02:00, every night during the close. One job per entity, six in all, chained.

Lontra
When does it fail?

ERP interface owner
A couple of times a month. A file's locked because someone's still in the ledger. Or a mapping error when someone adds an account.

Lontra
Who finds out?

ERP interface owner
The log shows it. No alert. If I look I see it. Mostly the finance team finds out first because their numbers don't show. Then they ring me.

Lontra
How long from the failure to someone noticing?

ERP interface owner
Morning. Seven, eight hours. Then an hour to fix and two more to rerun. So half a day gone.

Lontra
Why isn't there an alert?

ERP interface owner
I raised it last year. It was parked. I don't know who parked it. An alert needs a monitoring set-up we don't have.

Lontra
Could you share the log for the March close?

ERP interface owner
I'll pull it.
“I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra
What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant
Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra
Chasing for what?

Senior accountant
Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra
You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant
Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra
How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant
Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra
Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant
We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra
What happened to it?

Senior accountant
Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra
What else takes your time?

Senior accountant
Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra
Which fails?

Senior accountant
The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.
“When it falls over we lose half a day.”

Financial controller, 7 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Financial controller, 7 years in role · Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack

Lontra
Can you walk me through a close, from the last day of the month to the pack going out?

Financial controller
Day one we shut the sub-ledgers. Day two, accruals and the goods-received cut-off. Day three, intercompany. Day four the consolidation run. Day five I issue the pack. We close in five days. It's what the board's been told.

Lontra
What takes the longest?

Financial controller
Intercompany, and accruals, because the plants confirm late. They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.

Lontra
You've shared the close calendar. For the March close, the goods-received cut-off was planned for 12:00 on working day two and shows an actual finish of working day three at 11:00. What happened there?

Financial controller
That's the plants. Day three is typical, honestly. The cut-off moved from day three to day two in March last year. It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.

Lontra
Earlier you said the pack goes out on day five. In the calendar it goes out on working day eight. Which is closer to a normal close?

Financial controller
Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit. The last three were eight, seven and eight.

Lontra
What happens between day five and day eight?

Financial controller
Reopening. Someone finds an item. A plant says one more invoice, I say fine, and then intercompany has to be redone. And the consolidation run, that's IT's. When it falls over we lose half a day.

Lontra
How often does the close get reopened?

Financial controller
Most months. I'd say nine in twelve. I haven't counted it properly.

Lontra
Who decides to reopen?

Financial controller
I do. I say yes because the alternative is a wrong number in the pack.

Parts of the close live in one person's spreadsheet 3 of 9 people Emerging

The accruals workbook, the depreciation calculation and a tab nobody dares to touch are each held by one person. In Deep Study the junior asked the senior accountant about the tab; she did not remember what it was, and three of its lines were still live.

“It's in my file.”Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role

Show all 3 quotes and their conversations

“It's in my file.”

Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role · Additions, depreciation and transfers between entities

Lontra
What do you do in the close?

Fixed assets accountant
Fixed assets. Depreciation, additions.

Lontra
Where does it get stuck?

Fixed assets accountant
Additions. Waiting on project managers.

Lontra
What are you waiting for?

Fixed assets accountant
To say it's complete.

Lontra
How long does that take?

Fixed assets accountant
Depends.

Lontra
Anything else that doesn't go smoothly?

Fixed assets accountant
Transfers between entities never agree first time.

Lontra
How do you run the depreciation?

Fixed assets accountant
It's in my file.

Lontra
Could anyone else run it?

Fixed assets accountant
Not really.
“There's a tab called 'old' I don't touch.”

Junior accountant, 8 months in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Junior accountant, 8 months in role · Accruals and reconciliations for the smaller entities

Lontra
What are you responsible for in the close?

Junior accountant
The accruals list for the smaller entities. And some reconciliations.

Lontra
What are you waiting for?

Junior accountant
The goods list from the plants. When it's late I put in last month's number.

Lontra
What do you find hardest?

Junior accountant
Knowing what's finished. I keep going until someone says.

Lontra
How do you build the accruals list?

Junior accountant
I copy last month's and change it. There's a tab called 'old' I don't touch.

Lontra
Why not?

Junior accountant
I don't know what's in it. Someone said don't.

Lontra
Who could tell you?

Junior accountant
Maybe the senior accountant. She's busy in the close.
“Forty-odd tabs.”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra
What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant
Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra
Chasing for what?

Senior accountant
Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra
You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant
Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra
How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant
Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra
Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant
We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra
What happened to it?

Senior accountant
Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra
What else takes your time?

Senior accountant
Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra
Which fails?

Senior accountant
The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.

Where accounts differ

Whether the goods-received cut-off was communicated

The cut-off moved from day three to day two a year ago. Finance says it was published in the close calendar and a newsletter. The plant's operations manager says nobody told him, and the stores board that the team actually works to still shows day three.

In finance 2 people

“It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.”

Financial controller, 7 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Financial controller, 7 years in role · Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack

Lontra
Can you walk me through a close, from the last day of the month to the pack going out?

Financial controller
Day one we shut the sub-ledgers. Day two, accruals and the goods-received cut-off. Day three, intercompany. Day four the consolidation run. Day five I issue the pack. We close in five days. It's what the board's been told.

Lontra
What takes the longest?

Financial controller
Intercompany, and accruals, because the plants confirm late. They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.

Lontra
You've shared the close calendar. For the March close, the goods-received cut-off was planned for 12:00 on working day two and shows an actual finish of working day three at 11:00. What happened there?

Financial controller
That's the plants. Day three is typical, honestly. The cut-off moved from day three to day two in March last year. It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.

Lontra
Earlier you said the pack goes out on day five. In the calendar it goes out on working day eight. Which is closer to a normal close?

Financial controller
Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit. The last three were eight, seven and eight.

Lontra
What happens between day five and day eight?

Financial controller
Reopening. Someone finds an item. A plant says one more invoice, I say fine, and then intercompany has to be redone. And the consolidation run, that's IT's. When it falls over we lose half a day.

Lontra
How often does the close get reopened?

Financial controller
Most months. I'd say nine in twelve. I haven't counted it properly.

Lontra
Who decides to reopen?

Financial controller
I do. I say yes because the alternative is a wrong number in the pack.
“It's been day two for over a year.”

Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role · Team of five, posts the accruals for goods received

Lontra
What does payables do in the first two days?

Accounts payable lead
Close the sub-ledger on day one, then accruals for anything received but not invoiced. I need the goods-received list from the plants for that. It comes day three, not day two, so I estimate.

Lontra
How do you estimate?

Accounts payable lead
Last month's figure, plus what the buyers tell me. Then on day four or five the real list comes and I redo it.

Lontra
How much changes?

Accounts payable lead
Ten, fifteen percent of the accrual, typically. We had one delivery of components worth sixty thousand that wasn't in the estimate at all.

Lontra
How long does the redo take?

Accounts payable lead
Half a day, sometimes a full one. Every month.

Lontra
What's the cut-off for the list?

Accounts payable lead
Second working day. It's in the calendar. It's been day two for over a year.

Lontra
If you could change one thing?

Accounts payable lead
A list from the plants by day two, even if it's not perfect. I can work with imperfect. I can't work with late.

In operations 1 person

“Nobody told us it moved.”

Plant operations manager, 10 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Plant operations manager, 10 years in role · Confirms goods received for one plant

Lontra
When you get a request from finance at month end, what is it?

Plant operations manager
To confirm what's been received. A list. I send it to the stores office.

Lontra
When do you have to reply by?

Plant operations manager
They say day two now. It used to be day three. Nobody told us it moved.

Lontra
How did you find out?

Plant operations manager
An email from someone in finance, when I'd missed it.

Lontra
What happens when you miss it?

Plant operations manager
They estimate. Then they ring on day four for the real figure and I send it.

Lontra
And if something turns up afterwards?

Plant operations manager
Sometimes I find an invoice after I've sent the list. I send it on day five and they put it in.

Lontra
Who enters the receipts?

Plant operations manager
The stores supervisor. He does it when the delivery notes come back in the drivers' bags. Friday's are Monday's.

Lontra
Is there someone who knows more about how that works?

Plant operations manager
The stores supervisor, yes. Speak to him.

In between 1 person

“I told them. I told them twice.”

Business-unit finance partner, 4 years in role

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Business-unit finance partner, 4 years in role · Manufacturing division, five plants

Lontra
What's the close like for a business-unit finance partner?

Business-unit finance partner
I'm in between. The plants send me their numbers on day two or three, I send them up, and on day six I get asked to explain them after I've forgotten the plant's reasons.

Lontra
What holds your numbers back?

Business-unit finance partner
Goods receipts, mostly. Overheads accrued by the plant. Anything found late. Finance's deadline is day two, the plant's rhythm is day four. I explain each side to the other.

Lontra
What do you tell the plants about the cut-off?

Business-unit finance partner
It was day three, it's day two since last year. I told them. I told them twice.

Lontra
Do they know?

Business-unit finance partner
Some do. The operations manager would tell you nobody said.

Lontra
And once the numbers go up?

Business-unit finance partner
Sometimes my division's figures in the group pack don't match what I sent. It's the overnight feed, I'm told. I only find out when I read the pack on day seven. And half the questions I get on day six are about intercompany.

Lontra
Does the month ever reopen?

Business-unit finance partner
Often. A plant finds an invoice, I send it up, and it goes in. I don't know how many times in a year.

Documents

Close calendar, March close (extract) Shared by a participant

The controller's plan against what happened: the pack was planned for working day five and went out on day eight. The goods-received cut-off, the accruals and the intercompany agreement each finished a day or more late.

Shared by: Financial controller, 7 years in role

Open the document

The line Lontra asked about is marked.

Working day	Task	Owner	Planned finish	Actual finish
WD1	Sub-ledgers closed (payables	receivables	fixed assets)	Accounts teams	17:00	WD1 17:00
WD2	Goods-received cut-off	Plant operations	12:00	WD3 11:00
WD2	Accruals posted	Accounts payable	17:00	WD4 15:00
WD3	Intercompany balances agreed	Senior accountants	17:00	WD6 12:00
WD4	Consolidation feed run and checked	IT and group finance	17:00	WD5 09:00
WD5	Group reporting pack issued	Financial controller	17:00	WD8 12:00

What Lontra asked about it

Excerpt from the conversation with: Financial controller, 7 years in role · Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack

Lontra

Can you walk me through a close, from the last day of the month to the pack going out?

Financial controller

Day one we shut the sub-ledgers. Day two, accruals and the goods-received cut-off. Day three, intercompany. Day four the consolidation run. Day five I issue the pack. We close in five days. It's what the board's been told.

Lontra

What takes the longest?

Financial controller

Intercompany, and accruals, because the plants confirm late. They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.

Lontra

You've shared the close calendar. For the March close, the goods-received cut-off was planned for 12:00 on working day two and shows an actual finish of working day three at 11:00. What happened there?

Financial controller

That's the plants. Day three is typical, honestly. The cut-off moved from day three to day two in March last year. It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.

Lontra

Earlier you said the pack goes out on day five. In the calendar it goes out on working day eight. Which is closer to a normal close?

Financial controller

Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit. The last three were eight, seven and eight.

Lontra

What happens between day five and day eight?

Financial controller

Reopening. Someone finds an item. A plant says one more invoice, I say fine, and then intercompany has to be redone. And the consolidation run, that's IT's. When it falls over we lose half a day.

Lontra

How often does the close get reopened?

Financial controller

Most months. I'd say nine in twelve. I haven't counted it properly.

Lontra

Who decides to reopen?

Financial controller

I do. I say yes because the alternative is a wrong number in the pack.

Intercompany reconciliation, five pairs (extract) Shared by a participant

The senior accountant's reconciliation for one close: two of five pairs agree, three do not, and each difference has a different cause.

Shared by: Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Open the document

The line Lontra asked about is marked.

Pair	Receivable per seller (EUR)	Payable per buyer (EUR)	Difference (EUR)	Cause noted
A to B	412300	412300	0
A to C	186400	171900	14500	Invoice booked in following month
B to C	97250	97250	0
C to D	58000	52400	5600	Exchange rate difference
D to A	230100	226800	3300	Credit note not yet received

What Lontra asked about it

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra

What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant

Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra

Chasing for what?

Senior accountant

Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra

You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant

Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra

How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant

Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra

Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant

We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra

What happened to it?

Senior accountant

Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra

What else takes your time?

Senior accountant

Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra

Which fails?

Senior accountant

The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.

Consolidation feed job log, March (extract) Shared by a participant

Five nightly runs in the close. Two failed, a locked file and a mapping error, and were noticed by finance staff 7 and 12 hours later, not by an alert.

Shared by: ERP interface owner, 6 years in role · Shared during Deep Study

Open the document

The line Lontra asked about is marked.

Date	Job	Scheduled	Status	Noticed by	Noticed at
03 Mar	Ledger feed (six entities)	02:00	Completed
04 Mar	Ledger feed (six entities)	02:00	Failed (file locked)	Senior accountant	09:40
05 Mar	Ledger feed (six entities)	02:00	Completed
06 Mar	Ledger feed (six entities)	02:00	Failed (mapping error)	Financial controller	14:10
07 Mar	Ledger feed (six entities)	02:00	Completed

What Lontra asked about it

Excerpt from the Deep Study conversation with: ERP interface owner, 6 years in role · IT, owns the feed from each ledger to the consolidation tool

Lontra

In the log you sent, the run on 4 March failed with a locked file and was noticed at 09:40 by a senior accountant, about seven and a half hours after it ran. What happened next?

ERP interface owner

She saw her entities weren't there. She rang the helpdesk, the helpdesk raised a ticket, and I saw it at ten past ten.

Lontra

And on 6 March it failed on a mapping error and was noticed by the financial controller at 14:10?

ERP interface owner

That one was twelve hours. The controller saw the pack was off by one account.

Lontra

What would an alert have changed?

ERP interface owner

I'd have had it on my phone at five past two. I'd probably have fixed it by seven.

Lontra

What's stopping an alert?

ERP interface owner

Nobody's said no. It was parked, and I haven't gone back to it.

What we still don’t know

How many closes in the last year were reopened.The controller estimated nine in twelve and the finance partner said "often". Nobody logs a reopen, so this study cannot confirm the figure.
Who parked the request for an alert on failed overnight runs, and why.The interface owner raised it a year ago and does not know who decided. Nobody else in the study mentioned it.

Deep Study

Four days after the last first-round conversation, Deep Study went back to three people whose answers left a question open, and spoke to one colleague a participant suggested.

Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role Asked again

Said the real goods-received list arrives on day four. How often, and how much does it change the accrual?

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: ·

ERP interface owner, 6 years in role Asked again

Offered to share the job log for the March close. Who noticed the failures, and when?

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: ·

Junior accountant, 8 months in role Asked again

Answered briefly throughout and avoids a tab nobody explained. Could they give one real case?

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: ·

Stores supervisor, 9 years in role Suggested by: Plant operations manager, 10 years in role

Suggested by the plant operations manager: the person who enters the goods received.

Open the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: ·

What Deep Study added

The goods-received list was late in ten of the last twelve closes, and the last redo moved the accrual by 29,000, about 14 percent.
The cut-off on the board in the stores office, where the receipts are entered, still reads the third working day. The move to day two never reached the people who enter them.
A failed overnight run is found 7 to 12 hours later, by a finance colleague and not by IT, and no alert goes to anyone.
The tab nobody dared touch held three live rebate accruals, about 4,000, which went into the list a day late.

Who took part

People are described by their role and context, as in any Lontra study.

Financial controller, 7 years in role Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack · 18 min

Read the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Financial controller, 7 years in role · Group finance, issues the monthly reporting pack

Lontra
Can you walk me through a close, from the last day of the month to the pack going out?

Financial controller
Day one we shut the sub-ledgers. Day two, accruals and the goods-received cut-off. Day three, intercompany. Day four the consolidation run. Day five I issue the pack. We close in five days. It's what the board's been told.

Lontra
What takes the longest?

Financial controller
Intercompany, and accruals, because the plants confirm late. They confirm receipts when the paperwork gets to the office.

Lontra
You've shared the close calendar. For the March close, the goods-received cut-off was planned for 12:00 on working day two and shows an actual finish of working day three at 11:00. What happened there?

Financial controller
That's the plants. Day three is typical, honestly. The cut-off moved from day three to day two in March last year. It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.

Lontra
Earlier you said the pack goes out on day five. In the calendar it goes out on working day eight. Which is closer to a normal close?

Financial controller
Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit. The last three were eight, seven and eight.

Lontra
What happens between day five and day eight?

Financial controller
Reopening. Someone finds an item. A plant says one more invoice, I say fine, and then intercompany has to be redone. And the consolidation run, that's IT's. When it falls over we lose half a day.

Lontra
How often does the close get reopened?

Financial controller
Most months. I'd say nine in twelve. I haven't counted it properly.

Lontra
Who decides to reopen?

Financial controller
I do. I say yes because the alternative is a wrong number in the pack.
Senior accountant, 5 years in role Intercompany and accruals for six entities · 21 min

Read the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Senior accountant, 5 years in role · Intercompany and accruals for six entities

Lontra
What fills your week in the first days of the close?

Senior accountant
Intercompany. Six entities, they all trade with each other, and every pair has to agree before I can consolidate. Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.

Lontra
Chasing for what?

Senior accountant
Mostly timing. One entity books the invoice in the month it's sent. The other books it when it arrives.

Lontra
You shared your reconciliation. The line for A to C shows 186,400 on one side and 171,900 on the other, a difference of 14,500, with "invoice booked in following month". Who fixes that?

Senior accountant
Entity C. But their accountant is part-time and does her close on day five. So I wait. Or I book an accrual myself and reverse it next month.

Lontra
How often do you do the second?

Senior accountant
Most months, for two or three pairs. It's rework. I do it on a Friday afternoon.

Lontra
Has anyone tried to fix it?

Senior accountant
We tried a shared sheet last year, where each entity puts in its balance by day two. It lasted three months.

Lontra
What happened to it?

Senior accountant
Nobody owned it. It went stale.

Lontra
What else takes your time?

Senior accountant
Accruals. I rebuild the workbook every month from the last one. Forty-odd tabs. And then someone reopens the month for one more invoice and I redo the pairs. If it fails I find out when the numbers don't show.

Lontra
Which fails?

Senior accountant
The overnight run to the consolidation tool. IT's job. I find out when I open it in the morning and my entities aren't there.
Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role Team of five, posts the accruals for goods received · 15 min

Read the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role · Team of five, posts the accruals for goods received

Lontra
What does payables do in the first two days?

Accounts payable lead
Close the sub-ledger on day one, then accruals for anything received but not invoiced. I need the goods-received list from the plants for that. It comes day three, not day two, so I estimate.

Lontra
How do you estimate?

Accounts payable lead
Last month's figure, plus what the buyers tell me. Then on day four or five the real list comes and I redo it.

Lontra
How much changes?

Accounts payable lead
Ten, fifteen percent of the accrual, typically. We had one delivery of components worth sixty thousand that wasn't in the estimate at all.

Lontra
How long does the redo take?

Accounts payable lead
Half a day, sometimes a full one. Every month.

Lontra
What's the cut-off for the list?

Accounts payable lead
Second working day. It's in the calendar. It's been day two for over a year.

Lontra
If you could change one thing?

Accounts payable lead
A list from the plants by day two, even if it's not perfect. I can work with imperfect. I can't work with late.

Excerpt from the Deep Study conversation with: Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role · Team of five, posts the accruals for goods received

Lontra
You said the real goods-received list arrives on day four and you redo the accrual. Could you give me last month's numbers?

Accounts payable lead
Estimate was 212,000, actual 241,000. So 29,000 out, about 14 percent. Twenty-eight lines changed.

Lontra
Twenty-eight of how many?

Accounts payable lead
About a hundred and ten.

Lontra
How long did the redo take?

Accounts payable lead
Half a day, me and the junior.

Lontra
How many of the last twelve months was the list late?

Accounts payable lead
I counted. Ten of twelve.

Lontra
Who else is affected by the redo?

Accounts payable lead
The senior accountant, if a purchase came from another entity. She has to redo the pair.
Accounts receivable accountant, 3 years in role Invoicing and cash allocation for three entities · 12 min

Read the conversation

Excerpt from the conversation with: Accounts receivable accountant, 3 years in role · Invoicing and cash allocation for three entities

Lontra
What does the close look like from receivables?

Accounts receivable accountant
Not bad. Invoices out by day one, cash allocated by day two. We're mostly done early. It's others I wait for.

Lontra
Who do you wait for?

Accounts receivable accountant
The other entities, on invoices between our own companies. They sit in my ledger as receivables, so I'm the one who gets asked why it doesn't match.

Lontra
How often does that happen?

Accounts receivable accountant
Every close, two or three of them. The other side hasn't booked it.

Lontra
What do you do about it?

Accounts receivable accountant
Email them. Then email again on day four.

Lontra
What would you change?

Accounts receivable accountant
I'd have them book it the day it's sent. Not when it's approved.
Business-unit finance partner, 4 years in role Manufacturing division, five plants · 16 min

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Excerpt from the conversation with: Business-unit finance partner, 4 years in role · Manufacturing division, five plants

Lontra
What's the close like for a business-unit finance partner?

Business-unit finance partner
I'm in between. The plants send me their numbers on day two or three, I send them up, and on day six I get asked to explain them after I've forgotten the plant's reasons.

Lontra
What holds your numbers back?

Business-unit finance partner
Goods receipts, mostly. Overheads accrued by the plant. Anything found late. Finance's deadline is day two, the plant's rhythm is day four. I explain each side to the other.

Lontra
What do you tell the plants about the cut-off?

Business-unit finance partner
It was day three, it's day two since last year. I told them. I told them twice.

Lontra
Do they know?

Business-unit finance partner
Some do. The operations manager would tell you nobody said.

Lontra
And once the numbers go up?

Business-unit finance partner
Sometimes my division's figures in the group pack don't match what I sent. It's the overnight feed, I'm told. I only find out when I read the pack on day seven. And half the questions I get on day six are about intercompany.

Lontra
Does the month ever reopen?

Business-unit finance partner
Often. A plant finds an invoice, I send it up, and it goes in. I don't know how many times in a year.
ERP interface owner, 6 years in role IT, owns the feed from each ledger to the consolidation tool · 19 min

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Excerpt from the conversation with: ERP interface owner, 6 years in role · IT, owns the feed from each ledger to the consolidation tool

Lontra
What does the interface do in the close?

ERP interface owner
It moves each entity's ledger into the consolidation tool. Overnight, 02:00, every night during the close. One job per entity, six in all, chained.

Lontra
When does it fail?

ERP interface owner
A couple of times a month. A file's locked because someone's still in the ledger. Or a mapping error when someone adds an account.

Lontra
Who finds out?

ERP interface owner
The log shows it. No alert. If I look I see it. Mostly the finance team finds out first because their numbers don't show. Then they ring me.

Lontra
How long from the failure to someone noticing?

ERP interface owner
Morning. Seven, eight hours. Then an hour to fix and two more to rerun. So half a day gone.

Lontra
Why isn't there an alert?

ERP interface owner
I raised it last year. It was parked. I don't know who parked it. An alert needs a monitoring set-up we don't have.

Lontra
Could you share the log for the March close?

ERP interface owner
I'll pull it.

Excerpt from the Deep Study conversation with: ERP interface owner, 6 years in role · IT, owns the feed from each ledger to the consolidation tool

Lontra
In the log you sent, the run on 4 March failed with a locked file and was noticed at 09:40 by a senior accountant, about seven and a half hours after it ran. What happened next?

ERP interface owner
She saw her entities weren't there. She rang the helpdesk, the helpdesk raised a ticket, and I saw it at ten past ten.

Lontra
And on 6 March it failed on a mapping error and was noticed by the financial controller at 14:10?

ERP interface owner
That one was twelve hours. The controller saw the pack was off by one account.

Lontra
What would an alert have changed?

ERP interface owner
I'd have had it on my phone at five past two. I'd probably have fixed it by seven.

Lontra
What's stopping an alert?

ERP interface owner
Nobody's said no. It was parked, and I haven't gone back to it.
Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role Additions, depreciation and transfers between entities · 6 min

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Excerpt from the conversation with: Fixed assets accountant, 11 years in role · Additions, depreciation and transfers between entities

Lontra
What do you do in the close?

Fixed assets accountant
Fixed assets. Depreciation, additions.

Lontra
Where does it get stuck?

Fixed assets accountant
Additions. Waiting on project managers.

Lontra
What are you waiting for?

Fixed assets accountant
To say it's complete.

Lontra
How long does that take?

Fixed assets accountant
Depends.

Lontra
Anything else that doesn't go smoothly?

Fixed assets accountant
Transfers between entities never agree first time.

Lontra
How do you run the depreciation?

Fixed assets accountant
It's in my file.

Lontra
Could anyone else run it?

Fixed assets accountant
Not really.
Junior accountant, 8 months in role Accruals and reconciliations for the smaller entities · 8 min

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Excerpt from the conversation with: Junior accountant, 8 months in role · Accruals and reconciliations for the smaller entities

Lontra
What are you responsible for in the close?

Junior accountant
The accruals list for the smaller entities. And some reconciliations.

Lontra
What are you waiting for?

Junior accountant
The goods list from the plants. When it's late I put in last month's number.

Lontra
What do you find hardest?

Junior accountant
Knowing what's finished. I keep going until someone says.

Lontra
How do you build the accruals list?

Junior accountant
I copy last month's and change it. There's a tab called 'old' I don't touch.

Lontra
Why not?

Junior accountant
I don't know what's in it. Someone said don't.

Lontra
Who could tell you?

Junior accountant
Maybe the senior accountant. She's busy in the close.

Excerpt from the Deep Study conversation with: Junior accountant, 8 months in role · Accruals and reconciliations for the smaller entities

Lontra
Last time you said you don't touch the tab called 'old'. Could you give me one case from the last close where you weren't sure something was finished?

Junior accountant
The accruals list for one of the small entities. I had it done on day three and didn't send it, because I wasn't sure. I asked the senior accountant on day four.

Lontra
What were you not sure about?

Junior accountant
Whether the 'old' tab mattered.

Lontra
Did you find out what's in it?

Junior accountant
I asked. She said it's rebate accruals from before. She didn't remember. We looked together. Three of the lines are still live.

Lontra
What did that do to the list?

Junior accountant
We added them on day four. That's about four thousand.
Plant operations manager, 10 years in role Confirms goods received for one plant · 7 min

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Excerpt from the conversation with: Plant operations manager, 10 years in role · Confirms goods received for one plant

Lontra
When you get a request from finance at month end, what is it?

Plant operations manager
To confirm what's been received. A list. I send it to the stores office.

Lontra
When do you have to reply by?

Plant operations manager
They say day two now. It used to be day three. Nobody told us it moved.

Lontra
How did you find out?

Plant operations manager
An email from someone in finance, when I'd missed it.

Lontra
What happens when you miss it?

Plant operations manager
They estimate. Then they ring on day four for the real figure and I send it.

Lontra
And if something turns up afterwards?

Plant operations manager
Sometimes I find an invoice after I've sent the list. I send it on day five and they put it in.

Lontra
Who enters the receipts?

Plant operations manager
The stores supervisor. He does it when the delivery notes come back in the drivers' bags. Friday's are Monday's.

Lontra
Is there someone who knows more about how that works?

Plant operations manager
The stores supervisor, yes. Speak to him.
Stores supervisor, 9 years in role Same plant, enters the goods received · 8 min · joined in Deep Study

Read the conversation

Excerpt from the Deep Study conversation with: Stores supervisor, 9 years in role · Same plant, enters the goods received

Lontra
Your operations manager said you enter the goods received. How does it work?

Stores supervisor
Drivers bring the delivery notes back in a bag. Friday afternoon's come out on Monday morning. I enter them as they come out.

Lontra
What's the cut-off you work to?

Stores supervisor
Third working day. It's on the board in the stores office. It's been there since I started.

Lontra
Do you know what finance needs?

Stores supervisor
The operations manager asks me for a list at month end. He says by the second day. I do what I can.

Lontra
Could entries happen sooner?

Stores supervisor
If the drivers could scan them in the cab. We've talked about it. We've no scanners.

About this study

The question

“I want to understand where the monthly close loses time, who is waiting for whom, and which steps could happen earlier.”

A manufacturing group with six operating companies. Nine people took part: a financial controller, a senior accountant, a payables lead, a receivables accountant, a fixed assets accountant, a junior accountant, a business-unit finance partner, the owner of the ERP interface in IT and a plant operations manager. Each conversation lasted 6 to 21 minutes. Deep Study went back to three of them and spoke to one colleague a participant suggested.

What Lontra asked about

What the close plan says and what actually happens each working day
Who waits for whom, and for what
What happens when the month is reopened
What would let steps happen earlier

Ask your results

Answers from 9 conversations and 3 documents

These are questions the organiser asked about this study. Each answer shows the quotes it rests on.

Where does the close lose the most time?

Between working days two and six, not at the end. The plan is five working days and the March calendar shows eight. The goods-received list, the accruals and the intercompany agreement each finished a day or more late, and the controller says the last three closes took eight, seven and eight days.

The last three days are described mostly as reopening for items found late.

Show 3 sources

“Eight. Five's the target, I say it out of habit.”

Financial controller, 7 years in role

“It comes day three, not day two, so I estimate.”

Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role

“Most of my week on days three to six is chasing.”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

Is it a systems problem?

Mostly not. Most of the lost time is waiting for information from people, on a date nobody agrees on. The one clear systems gap is that a failed overnight run alerts nobody: it is found by finance staff and the interface owner hears 7 to 12 hours later.

Only one person from IT took part.

Show 3 sources

“No alert. If I look I see it.”

ERP interface owner, 6 years in role

“I'd have had it on my phone at five past two.”

ERP interface owner, 6 years in role · Deep Study

“I can work with imperfect. I can't work with late.”

Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role

Why was the cut-off missed?

Finance and operations give different accounts of how a change a year ago was passed on. Finance says the new day two was in the close calendar and a newsletter. The plant says nobody told it, and the board in the stores office, where the receipts are entered, still says the third working day.

This study cannot say who is right about the message. It can say the board never changed.

Show 3 sources

“It's in the close calendar and it went out in the group finance newsletter.”

Financial controller, 7 years in role

“Nobody told us it moved.”

Plant operations manager, 10 years in role

“Third working day. It's on the board in the stores office.”

Stores supervisor, 9 years in role · Deep Study

What would the people in the close change first?

Each asked for something different: a list from the plants by day two even if imperfect, receivables booked the day they are sent, and an alert on the overnight feed. None of the three is a new system. One thing has been tried: a shared sheet of intercompany balances that lapsed after three months.

Show 3 sources

“A list from the plants by day two, even if it's not perfect.”

Accounts payable lead, 9 years in role

“I'd have them book it the day it's sent.”

Accounts receivable accountant, 3 years in role

“We tried a shared sheet last year”

Senior accountant, 5 years in role

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Lontra says when the evidence is not enough. It never invents a quote.

The close loses most of its time between working days two and six, waiting for information that arrives after its cut-off.

What people said

Where accounts differ

Whether the goods-received cut-off was communicated

In finance 2 people

In operations 1 person

In between 1 person

Documents

What we still don’t know

Deep Study

Who took part

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