Timeliness In Your Numbers 

Think of numbers as perishable data. The longer it takes for numbers to come out, the less value those numbers can have.  If you are already deep into the next month, the less you care about last month's results. It would be like not finding out your score in golf on the front nine until the 15th hole!  By that time, you are thinking more about the back nine. It is too late to make changes that could have affected your score on holes 10-14!
 


Here are 5 recommendations to help expedite month end financials in a timely fashion:

1.)  I am a strong lover of the quick close for the financials.  I feel that results should be reported within usually 4 business days or sooner after month end.

2.)  Take a look at all the steps in the month end reporting process, then lay out a new plan based on a fast financial close.  Determine what needs to be done when, what data is needed at that time and who is responsible.

3.)  Evaluate what level of precision is needed.  I often find there are some numbers that are highly predictable and could be estimated ahead very close to what the final numbers would be. Rather than holding up the show for precision that won't make a material difference, if any, develop a process to do an estimate and then true up the minor difference versus actual in the following month.
4.)   I  make sure that the financial systems and people are set to provide the information needed on a the faster timeline. Hit the bottlenecks hard.

5.)   Consider the value of a flash report right at month end.  I have worked with companies where the actual results would be within 5% by the first morning after month end. They would get the flash report out to everyone on the reporting package, then used the next couple days to finalize the numbers. This takes some heat off of accounting (i.e. when will we have numbers?), since management knows what the results will be within reason ASAP after month end.