We typically associate month-end close with a tedious, resource-intensive, error-prone process. It’s arguably the most “stressful” task for the finance team, repeated every single month without exception.
In this context, automation stands out as a key solution, not only by shortening the closing timeline but by delivering a better-quality close.
The main goal is to free up time from repetitive tasks, enabling the finance team to focus on higher-value work, such as data analysis that drives better organisational decisions.
It’s about avoiding the tendency to prioritise speed over quality—a common cause of human error, an area where automation can significantly reduce mistakes.
At the same time, moving from manual processes to automated workflows tends to eliminate redundancies, for example in bank statement reconciliations or in classifying and posting invoices to generate corresponding journal entries.
It also improves transparency.
Automation enhances transparency, since every operation is logged and traceable in a precise and secure manner, improving the quality of information and enabling better decision-making not only in finance but across the entire organisation.
However, integrating automation is a critical process that goes beyond technology alone, requiring organisational and cultural priorities.
Everything starts with data quality. No automation, no matter the technology solution chosen, can produce reliable information if the underlying data is flawed.
The first step is improving critical processes.
That’s why the first step is to improve critical processes and establish controls to ensure high-quality data is entered into the system.
Cultural resistance within the finance team is often the main challenge. Fear of changing the current situation and the worry about being replaced by a “machine” can become the biggest obstacle to change—this is not about technology but about managing people.
It’s essential to understand these concerns and needs, as this shift requires acquiring new skills and adapting traditional roles within the team.
A lack of adequate training can cause any automation initiative to fail, making investment in training and communication essential so that finance team members can understand and embrace the benefits of change.
In other words, technology on its own isn’t enough. Work must first be done on redesigning processes, training teams, and above all aligning expectations with existing resources.
In this way, automation itself is pushing the finance function toward a different model, with real-time information and the ability to make far more reliable forecasts about what may happen.
This means moving from a management approach focused mainly on the past to one centred on the present, with the ability to visualise and “interact” with the future—a new way of understanding financial management.
In short, streamlining the month-end close will move from being a competitive advantage to an absolute requirement. The adoption of new technologies, such as generative AI, will accelerate this change even further, removing the need to “pause” routine finance activities to handle month-end tasks.
Ultimately, this is one more step in redefining the finance function—and the CFO’s role—from operational manager and executor to a more strategic partner delivering greater organisational value.
