This article breaks down the best month end reporting process for leaders using ten practical steps. Each point includes why it matters, how much time it wastes when it goes wrong, and how to implement a better approach. I focus on common mistakes finance leaders make in startups and scaleups and give clear actions to help you close faster, cut unnecessary admin, and improve the quality of your analysis.

Month end should not take your whole week. If it does, the issue is rarely your workload. It is more likely gaps in process, unclear definitions of what is included in the close, and messy bookkeeping that drags everything out.

This is where the best month end reporting process for leaders comes in. The goal is simple. Get the numbers out faster without sacrificing accuracy, and protect enough time for leadership level analysis instead of drowning in admin.

Below are ten practical tips that will immediately shorten your month end. Each one includes why it matters, how much time it wastes when ignored, and what to do instead.

1. Stop starting from scratch

Some finance teams reinvent month end every single month. You scroll through old checklists, Slack messages, and emails trying to remember the order of tasks. This alone can waste half a day.

What to do instead:
Build a standard month end checklist with owners, deadlines, and dependencies. It should cover pre month end work, day one tasks, day two tasks, and sign off.

I generally find the amount of work that can be completed before the month end even closes is quite large.  Especially communication to the rest of the business as to what you need from them, when.

How to implement:
Start with the last three months. Document every step you actually did. Clean up the order. Assign responsibilities. Store it in one place and use it every month.

2. Do the heavy lifting before month end

If you wait until the first of the month to start everything, you guarantee a slow and stressful close. Many tasks can be pre-completed. Payroll. Revenue cut offs. Fixed cost reconciliations. These delays can easily waste one to two days.

What to do instead:
Create a pre month end routine and include in the above timetable. The aim is for month end day one to be about confirming numbers, not discovering them.

How to implement:
Schedule specific pre-close tasks in the week before month end. For example, revenue review on the 27th, payroll check on the 28th, accrual assumptions on the 29th.

3. Tighten your bookkeeping standards

Slow month ends are usually messy bookkeeping in disguise. If the base data is inconsistent, you spend hours cleaning it up. That is one to three days lost to fixing things that should have already been correct.

What to do instead:
Define clear bookkeeping rules. Coding conventions. Cut off rules. Documentation requirements. A quality bar for reconciliations.  Essentially everything revolves around data input.  A lot of the data inputs should be automated.  So it's always worthwhile reviewing the data inputs / automations regularly to ensure that they're sound.

How to implement:
Audit your bookkeeping for one month. Identify recurring errors and create specific rules to stop them. Train the bookkeeper or outsource provider. Review weekly, not monthly.

4. Close to materiality, not perfection

Finance leaders lose days trying to fix tiny variances that do not change the story. If you are polishing ten pound differences, you are not acting like a leader. You are acting like a bookkeeper with a perfection problem.

Time wasted:
Between three hours and two full days depending on how deep the perfection goes.

What to do instead:
Set a materiality threshold. For example, anything under one percent of revenue does not delay the close.

How to implement:
Agree the threshold with your founder. Add it to your checklist. When you hit the threshold, move on.

5. Separate the close from the commentary

When you try to analyse while closing, everything slows down. You switch between tasks and context and end up with neither finished quickly. This wastes about half a day to a full day.

What to do instead:
Close the numbers first. Analyse after. This creates two clear phases of work and prevents distraction.  Especially has you potentially have team doing the doing and you're analysing.  They will work much faster if you don't ask questions on day one.

How to implement:
Set a firm deadline for the close. Only once numbers are locked do you move to commentary, insights, and the board pack.

6. Lock down version control

The fastest way to ruin month end is multiple versions of the P&L floating around the business. It leads to rework, confusion, and errors. You can lose one to two days correcting issues caused by multiple files.

What to do instead:
One master file. One owner. No local copies. No side edits.

How to implement:
Use one shared drive folder. Make it read only for non finance. Use a simple naming convention so nobody wonders which version is final.

7. Take revenue recognition seriously

Revenue is usually the biggest delay for startup finance teams. When nobody knows the rules, you spend hours debating what should be deferred and what should be recognised now. This can burn two to three days if left unmanaged.

What to do instead:
Document your revenue recognition policy once and use it every month. Make sure the whole business understands it.

How to implement:
Build a one page policy that covers timing, cut off, refund treatment, credit notes, accruals, and deferrals. Review quarterly as the model evolves.  Get AI to write the first draft for you and then edit it.  Much faster and easier than staring at an empty page.

8. Stop waiting for suppliers

Month end stalls because people wait for invoices that never arrive. This alone can add two or more days to the close.

What to do instead:
If an invoice is not in, accrue it. Leaders do not chase suppliers. Leaders build a clean process and move on.

How to implement:
Create a rolling accrual schedule. Estimate based on past months or contract terms. Adjust the following month if needed.

9. Hand off the wrong tasks

You cannot lead a finance function while coding expenses or chasing receipts. These tasks eat hours of your focus and prevent you from doing strategic work.

Time wasted:
Easily five to ten hours every month.

What to do instead:
Delegate operational work to the bookkeeper or junior finance support. Your time should be spent on judgment and analysis.

How to implement:
Review your tasks for one month. Highlight anything repetitive or admin heavy. Reassign it, document it, and train the person taking it over.

If you want further clarification on what you should be focusing on as a finance leader during month end and what CFO's do during a month end close (eg: it's not the month end close), then take a look at our short Advanced Management Accounts course, that shows you what and how.

10. Create a month end debrief ritual

Month end stays slow when nobody reviews why it is slow. This wastes hours every month that could be fixed with one review.

What to do instead:
Run a 15 minute debrief after every month end. Identify the three biggest blockers and commit to fixing one.

How to implement:
Add the debrief to your calendar on day four. Keep a running log of improvements. Action one every month before the next close.

Month end should not interrupt your leadership responsibilities. Implementing the best month end reporting process for leaders is about reducing noise, building repeatable structure, and focusing your time where it matters. Cleaning up the process is one of the quickest ways to show you are ready for a  CFO role.

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