For too many finance teams, the month-end close is a recurring nightmare: spreadsheets sprawled across desktops, manual reconciliations bogging down progress, and outdated numbers stalling executive decisions. Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. According to PwC’s 2023 Finance Benchmarking Report, the average finance team still takes 6.4 business days to close the books—and for many mid-market and high-growth organizations, it’s much longer.
In this article, we’ll explore:
As Nova Advisory’s CPM Customer Success podcast (Episode 48) outlines, slow financial closes are often the product of three systemic issues:
Finance data lives across ERPs, CRMs, HR systems, and spreadsheets. Without integration, teams waste hours reconciling discrepancies.
Matching journal entries and handling intercompany eliminations by hand creates bottlenecks, errors, and audit headaches.
Spreadsheets remain a default tool for many teams, but they’re fragile, hard to audit, and riddled with human error. A study from Ventana Research found that 88% of spreadsheets contain errors, which directly impacts financial integrity.
“If your entire close process depends on fragile, error-prone spreadsheets, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.” — Andy Smetana, Host, CPM Customer Success
A delayed close doesn’t just frustrate your team. It impacts decision-making and slows down the business.
Faster closes enable real-time insights
If leadership is making decisions on data that’s two weeks old, they’re not making decisions based on reality. A fast close gives you a competitive edge through timely, relevant data.
It fuels better forecasting
Late actuals mean outdated forecasts. An accelerated close delivers fresher data into planning models, improving forecast accuracy and agility.
It builds agility across the business
In a volatile market, the companies that adapt quickly are the ones that win. And agility starts with visibility.
Platforms like OneStream are built specifically to address these bottlenecks—helping finance leaders shift from firefighting to forward-thinking.
Here’s how OneStream accelerates the month-end close:
Unified Data Platform
OneStream consolidates financial and operational data across ERPs and business units—eliminating spreadsheet sprawl and data silos.
Automated Journal Entries and Reconciliations
Automating repeatable tasks dramatically reduces close time and errors.
Real-Time Dashboards and Reports
With data updated in real time, decision-makers have access to live variances, drill-down capabilities, and one version of the truth.
Professional Services Firm:
Global Consumer Food Producer:
In both cases, finance teams reclaimed time to focus on strategy—not reconciliation.
If you’re stuck in month-end chaos, here’s what to evaluate:
Nova Advisory has helped dozens of organizations implement OneStream to automate close cycles, streamline reconciliations, and build finance functions that support growth.
Faster closes mean:
With OneStream and the right partner, you don’t have to choose between speed and accuracy. You can have both.