Start Here: Tell Us About Your Close

• How many business days does your standard month-end close currently take from period end to finalized consolidated statements? Options: 1-4 days, 5-8 days, 9-12 days, 13-16 days, 17+ days
• Who formally sponsors this improvement effort, and who owns the day-to-day execution of the close? (Select all that apply) Options: CFO, VP Finance, Controller, FP&A Lead, Accounting Manager, Treasury/Head of Treasury, IT/ERP Lead, Other
• Which systems and tools form the backbone of your close today? (Pick all that apply) Options: Oracle EBS, NetSuite, SAP ECC/S4, Microsoft Dynamics, QuickBooks, Custom GL/ERP, Sub-ledgers (billing/AR/AP), Google/Excel Spreadsheets, Close task tracker (e.g., Smartsheet, Asana), Other
• In one short paragraph, what is the single biggest change you would make to your current close process if you could?
• How many legal entities or reporting units do you consolidate on a monthly basis? Options: 1-5, 6-15, 16-50, 51-150, 151+

What Feels Broken at Month-End?

• If you could only fix one thing that would shave days off your close, what would it be—and why hasn't it been fixed already?
• Which of the following pain points consumes the most time or introduces the most risk? (Select up to 3) Options: Manual intercompany reconciliations in spreadsheets, Late or fragmented bank/invoice feeds, Complex intercompany elimination rules, Revenue recognition outside the GL, High-volume manual journal entries, Lack of centralized task ownership, Audit restatement risk, Other
• Approximately how many manual journal entries or adjustments are created during close each month? Options: 0-50, 51-200, 201-500, 501-2,000, 2,000+
• How often do external auditors raise issues related to revenue recognition, intercompany, or reconciliations? Options: Never, Once in several years, Annually, Multiple times a year, Currently under review
• Tell us about a recent close that went sideways because of manual processes—what happened, who was affected, and what was the impact?
• When those month-end problems occur, how do they feel to your team and leadership—panic, embarrassment, resigned frustration, or something else? Options: High anxiety/board pressure, Frustration and overtime, Loss of confidence in reporting, Operational inconvenience only, Other

Who Holds the Keys—and What Keeps Them Up at Night?

• Who would refuse to sign off on month-end if their specific issue wasn't solved—and what would that person demand as a non‑negotiable?
• Select the stakeholders that must sign off before procurement can start or before a new close process is considered live. Options: Controller, FP&A Lead, CFO, IT/ERP, Legal/Compliance, Treasury, External Auditor, Other
• Which specific approval or sign-off steps currently create the biggest bottleneck in your close cadence? Options: Management review and adjustments, Intercompany netting sign-off, Audit schedules and prep, Consolidation variance explanations, IT/integration validation, Other
• What explicit acceptance criteria would the controller and FP&A insist on for the first successful close on a new system?
• How does your IT organization treat a change to financial systems—as a standard upgrade, a high-risk project, or somewhere in between? Options: Standard, low-risk upgrade, Moderate risk with change control, High-risk requiring rollback plans, Depends on vendor/contractor, Unsure
• What would convince your external auditor to be comfortable with consolidated numbers produced by a new close platform?

Where Your Data Lives—and How It Trips You Up

• If your chart of accounts could only express half of the realities your business runs, what would it hide—and how do you currently work around those gaps?
• Which chart-of-accounts architecture best describes your environment? Options: Flat COA, Segmented/dimensional COA (location, division, product), Multiple COAs by entity with mapping, Other
• How many distinct COA mappings or rollups are required to produce your consolidated statements? Options: 1 (same COA across entities), 2-5, 6-15, 16-50, 50+
• Where do you maintain intercompany mapping and reconciliation data today? Options: Inside the GL, Dedicated sub-ledger, Spreadsheets, Hybrid (sub-ledger + spreadsheets), Other
• Describe your most complex intercompany or elimination rule—what makes it manual and error-prone?
• Approximately how many intercompany transactions post between your entities each month? Options: <1,000, 1,000-10,000, 10,000-50,000, 50,000-200,000, >200,000
• Which of the following best describes your FX and currency handling in consolidation? Options: Single currency consolidation, Multi-currency with standard revaluation, Complex hedging or functional currency differences, Ad hoc manual FX adjustments, Other

If You Could Snap Your Fingers…

• Imagine the month close finished in half the time tomorrow—what would change at the boardroom, team morale, and in your day-to-day work?
• What is the target close timeline you hope to achieve with this program? Options: 1-3 business days, 4-5 business days, 6-8 business days, 9-12 business days, Unsure
• Which outcomes matter most to you? (Pick your top 3) Options: Faster close days, Audit-safe reconciliations, Real-time reporting, Reduced manual headcount, Clear ownership and tasking, Accurate intercompany eliminations, Lower restatement risk, Other
• When you say the consolidated statements must be 'parity' with current outputs, do you require exact numeric matches, defined tolerances, or narrative explanations to be acceptable? Options: Exact numeric matches required, Small tolerances acceptable with audit trail, Management narrative acceptable instead of exact match, Unsure
• On day 5 of an ideal close, what specific dashboards, KPIs, or alerts would you expect to see to feel confident?
• How would you measure ROI in the first 12 months if this project succeeds? Options: Days shaved from close, Hours saved per month, Reduction in audit findings, Lower operating costs/headcount, Faster decision-making (timeliness), Other

What Would It Take to Trust a New System?

• What would make you look back and think, 'We should have evaluated this sooner'—what single capability would create that regret?
• Which demonstration capabilities are must-haves for your evaluation? (Select all that apply) Options: Run full close against your COA, Map and consolidate entity relationships, Process sample intercompany transactions, Produce consolidated statements that match current reports, Show audit trail and journal explorer, Demonstrate task ownership and close calendar, Other
• What sample data can you provide for a mock close? (Select all that apply) Options: Detailed GL exports, Chart of Accounts file, Intercompany transaction logs, Trial balances by entity, Currency/FX rates and history, No data available yet, Other
• Are there compliance, privacy, or security constraints we should know about before asking for sample data for a demo? Options: Yes—NDA required and limited data only, Yes—only anonymized or sampled data allowed, No major constraints, Unsure
• Who must explicitly sign off on acceptance criteria before procurement begins? Options: Controller, FP&A Lead, CFO, IT/ERP, External Auditor/Advisor, Legal/Compliance, Other
• How long of a proof-of-value or mock close would you require to be convinced this works with your data? Options: 1 week, 2-4 weeks, 1-3 months, 3+ months, Unsure

Risks You Hide and the Mitigations You’d Need

• If the first live close on a new system failed, what would be the immediate business consequence—and how quickly would you demand a rollback?
• Which migration risks worry you most? (Select up to 3) Options: Data quality and mapping errors, Lost historical balances, Integration gaps with banking/AP/AR, Timing differences and FX variance, User adoption and loss of institutional knowledge, Other
• Have you ever experienced a data migration problem before? Tell us what happened, how long it took to resolve, and what you learned.
• What rollback criteria or safety nets would make you comfortable moving forward (e.g., reconciliation checks, freeze periods, fallback to legacy close)?
• What level of training and go-live support would your accounting team need during the first three closes? Options: Daily on-site/virtual support, Weekly guided dry-runs, On-demand support and detailed documentation, Train-the-trainer approach, Minimal—self-serve
• Do you have contingency budget or timeline flexibility to absorb potential migration delays? Options: Yes—buffer built in, Limited buffer, No buffer—must hit date, Unknown

Let’s Decide: Practical Next Steps

• What would make this discovery feel like it materially changed the trajectory of your close—what tangible next step would prove value to you?
• What is your internal decision timeline for selecting a close automation solution? Options: Immediate—next 30 days, 30-90 days, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, Unsure
• Who needs to be involved in the next technical mock-close session? (Select all required participants) Options: Controller, FP&A Lead, Accounting team (IC owners), IT/ERP, Treasury, External Auditor/Advisor, Procurement, Other
• Would you be willing to schedule a 2–4 week pilot to run a mock close against sampled data? Options: Yes, Maybe—with conditions, No
• What are the top three non-negotiable commercial or procurement constraints we should be aware of before drafting terms?
• Anything else you want us to know that will help design a mock close and implementation plan tailored to your team?

• Current State & Success Criteria Alignment
• Data Mapping & Sample Preparation
• Mock Close Execution — Dry Run 1
• Parity Review & Root Cause Remediation
• Final Validation & Controller Sign-off

• Ensure each remediation ties directly to eliminating manual effort or audit risk described in the current state.
• Seller: Transform and stage the sample datasets per the agreed mapping and run structural validation checks.
• IT: Ensure access and credentials are working and that any connectors are enabled for the mock run.
• Brief Recap of Acceptance Criteria & Run Scope
• Complete an end-to-end mock close run and produce consolidated statements.
• Surface, categorize, and assign ownership for all exceptions and reconciliation gaps.
• Demonstrate specific steps that eliminate manual reconciliations identified in the current state.
• Seller: Produce run log and export of consolidated statements; tag exceptions by type and severity.
• Customer: Provide clarification/materials for any disputed transactions within 48 hours.
• Seller & Customer IT: Log connector or mapping errors and schedule fixes for remediation.
• Methodology for Side-by-Side Comparison
• Produce a reconciled list of all material deltas with root causes and owners.
• Agree a prioritized remediation plan with timelines sufficient to hit acceptance criteria on re-run.
• Introductions & Meeting Objectives
• Customer: Deliver itemized reconciliations for disputed balances and any missing source documentation.
• Seller: Implement mapping/rule fixes and provide unit-test evidence for each remediation.
• All: Confirm the re-run date and pre-run checkpoint owner.
• Recap Acceptance Criteria and Success Metrics
• Obtain explicit controller and FP&A sign-off that the mock close meets acceptance criteria.
• Document any residual risks with mitigation plans and owners.
• Agree the next-step timeline into Solution Scope and procurement activities.
• Customer: Provide formal sign-off (email or signed doc) from controller and FP&A confirming acceptance.
• Seller: Produce mock-close evidence package (run logs, reconciliations, remediation evidence) for procurement review.
• All: Schedule Solution Scope kickoff with confirmed attendees and deliverables.
• Achieve a single agreed sentence describing the current state.
• Quantify the business consequence with measurable metrics.
• Agree one-sentence future state and explicit acceptance criteria for parity.
• Confirm required data artifacts and owners responsible for delivering them.
• Customer: Deliver COA extract, entity relationship diagram, and 2–4 sample intercompany transaction sets by agreed date.
• Seller: Provide mapping template and data checklist and confirm access method (SFTP/API) for staging.
• All: Confirm controller/FP&A/IT sign-off attendees and the validation date.
• Recap Preconditions & Goals
• Confirm all COA mappings and eliminate ambiguous account mappings.
• Validate entity relationships and intercompany elimination rules required for consolidation.
• Agree a representative set of sample transactions covering normal and edge cases.
• Have a clear staging and pre-run validation checklist with owners and timelines.
• Customer: Clean and re-submit COA rows flagged during mapping and provide any missing entity metadata.
• One-sentence Current State
• Present Final Mock Close Results vs Acceptance
• Review Major Deltas by Account & Entity
• Execute Journal Automation & Posting
• Review COA Extract and Mapping Strategy
• Run Intercompany Matching & Eliminations
• Entity Hierarchy & Intercompany Relationships
• Controller & FP&A Validation
• Tie Differences Back to the Problem Statement
• Consequence Quantification
• Document Residual Risks, Mitigations & Operational Handover
• Define Future State (Acceptance Criteria)
• Automated Reconciliations & Exception Handling
• Sample Intercompany Transaction Selection
• Agree Remediation Tasks, Owners & Priority
• Generate Consolidated Financials
• Data Transformation & Staging Plan
• Sign-off & Next Steps into Solution Scope
• Experience Preconditions & Data Checklist
• Schedule Re-run and Acceptance Validation
• Risk Hotspots & Contingency Steps
• Confirm Roles, Timeline & Decision Gate
• Initial Observations & Triage

• Import and Map Chart of Accounts
• Configure Entity Structure and Ownership
• Implement Intercompany Transaction Rules
• Automate Intercompany Elimination Entries
• Load Opening Balances and Prior Periods
• Automate Recurring and Periodic Journal Entries
• Deploy Multi-currency Revaluation and Translation
• Integrate Bank and Cash Feed Connections
• Reconcile Subledgers to General Ledger
• Deploy Centralized Close Calendar and Tasks
• Enable Revenue Recognition Automation
• Deploy Consolidated Financial Statement Packs
• Activate Audit Trail and Transaction History
• Configure Role-based Approvals and Workflows

Import and Map Chart of Accounts

• Do you require an import of the chart of accounts from your current GL? Options: Yes, No
• What file formats or connection methods are available for the COA export? Options: CSV/Excel, ERP export (flat file), API/Direct connector, Other
• How many active account segments/levels (e.g., account, cost center, region) are in your COA? Options: 1-3, 4-6, 7+
• Do you need mapping to a standardized account model (e.g., consolidated chart mapping) versus keeping entity-specific accounts? Options: Yes, No
• Do any accounts require transformation rules (e.g., renaming, splitting, roll-up) during import? Options: Yes, No
• Describe any custom dimensions, segments, or account attribution rules we must preserve or map (free response).

Configure Entity Structure and Ownership

• How many legal entities will be configured in the system? Options: 1-5, 6-20, 21-100, 100+
• Do you have multiple ownership hierarchies or cross-ownership that affect consolidation? Options: Single ownership hierarchy, Multiple hierarchies (by region/business), Cross-ownership or complex JV relationships
• Do entities share the same chart of accounts or does each entity have its own COA? Options: Shared COA, Unique per entity, Hybrid (some shared, some unique)
• Will you require consolidation at multiple roll-up levels (e.g., legal → business unit → corporate)? Options: Yes, No
• Are there any entities requiring equity-method accounting, minority interest, or special reporting treatment? Options: Yes, No
• Please list any special entity relationships or ownership nuances that will affect consolidation (free response).

Implement Intercompany Transaction Rules

• What is the typical monthly volume of intercompany transactions? Options: Low (<100), Medium (100-1,000), High (>1,000)
• Do you apply transfer pricing or specific intercompany pricing rules that must be enforced? Options: Yes, No
• Are there unique matching keys or identifiers used for intercompany matching (PO number, invoice number, contract ID)? Options: Yes, No
• Do you classify intercompany transactions as billable (invoiced) vs non-billable (statements/internal allocations)? Options: Yes, No
• Do you require tolerance and automated matching thresholds to auto-clear intercompany items? Options: Yes, No
• Describe the most common intercompany exceptions or manual adjustments your team performs (free response).

Automate Intercompany Elimination Entries

• Do you require the system to auto-generate elimination entries during consolidation? Options: Yes, No
• When should eliminations be generated: per transaction, as a period-end batch, or both? Options: Per transaction, Period-end batch, Both
• Do elimination rules vary by account type (e.g., revenue, cost of goods sold, intercompany receivables)? Options: Yes, No
• Do you need eliminations to be reversible or to retain historical elimination entries for audit purposes? Options: Yes, No
• Is currency remeasurement required prior to performing eliminations for certain entity pairs? Options: Yes, No
• Please describe any special elimination scenarios (e.g., pending invoices, elimination adjustments, manual override rules).

Load Opening Balances and Prior Periods

• Do you require loading opening balances and prior period history from your legacy system? Options: Yes, No
• How many historical periods should be migrated and available for reporting? Options: None, Current year YTD, 2-3 years, More than 3 years
• Do you need full subledger-level detail migrated (AP/AR/FA) or summarized GL balances? Options: Full subledger detail, Summarized balances, Hybrid
• Will any opening balance adjustments or restatements be applied during migration? Options: Yes, No
• Who will be the primary validators of migrated opening balances (Controller, FP&A, External Auditor)? Options: Controller, FP&A, External Auditor, Other
• Describe any known data quality issues or reconciliation items that may affect opening balance migration (free response).

Automate Recurring and Periodic Journal Entries

• Do you currently maintain a library of recurring journal templates? Options: Yes, No
• Which frequencies of recurring journals do you need automated? Options: Daily, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, Ad-hoc
• Do recurring journals require approval workflows before posting? Options: Yes, No
• Do you need rule-based generation (e.g., amortization schedules, allocation drivers) rather than static templates? Options: Yes, No
• Approximately how many unique recurring journal templates do you expect to configure? Options: Less than 50, 50-200, 200+
• Are there external systems or schedules (payroll, billing, amortization spreadsheets) that should trigger automated journals? Options: Yes, No

Deploy Multi-currency Revaluation and Translation

• Do you transact or hold balances in multiple currencies that require revaluation/translation? Options: Yes, No
• How many currencies should the system support actively? Options: 1-3, 4-10, 10+
• At what level do you require revaluation: subsidiary ledger, local ledger, consolidated ledger? Options: Subsidiary, Ledger, Consolidated
• What are your exchange rate sources and update frequency? Options: Bank or market feed, Internal published rates, Manual upload, Other
• Do you require special currency treatments (e.g., hyperinflation, constant currency reporting)? Options: Yes, No
• Describe any consolidation currency differences or local-GAAP adjustments tied to currency translation (free response).

Integrate Bank and Cash Feed Connections

• Do you want automated bank and cash feeds into the platform? Options: Yes, No
• How many bank accounts are in scope for automated connections? Options: 1-10, 11-50, 50+
• Are bank connections available via API or only via file transfer (MT940/CSV)? Options: API available, File transfer only (MT940/CSV), Both, Unknown
• Do you use a treasury or cash management system that must be integrated? Options: Yes, No
• Provide any constraints for cutover or parallel-run requirements for bank feeds (free response).

Reconcile Subledgers to General Ledger

• Which subledgers must be reconciled to the GL? Options: AP, AR, Fixed Assets, Inventory, Payroll, Other
• What is the required reconciliation frequency for each subledger? Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, On-demand
• Do subledgers reside in separate systems that require connectors or file extracts? Options: Yes, No
• Do you have existing automated matching rules, or will rules need to be defined? Options: Existing rules in place, Rules need to be defined, Partial rules exist
• What tolerance thresholds are acceptable for automated reconciliation (e.g., zero, <$100)? Options: Zero tolerance, <$100, <$1,000, Custom
• Describe frequent reconciliation exceptions or manual interventions that must be supported (free response).

Deploy Centralized Close Calendar and Tasks

• Do you currently maintain a formal close calendar that should be migrated or replaced? Options: Yes, No
• How many distinct owners/contributors participate in the close process? Options: 1-5, 6-20, 20+
• Do you require task dependencies, SLA reminders, and escalation rules? Options: Yes, No
• Should the close calendar integrate with external workflow or ticketing tools (e.g., Jira, ServiceNow)? Options: Yes, No
• Do you need entity-level and consolidated visibility or role-based calendar views? Options: Entity-level, Consolidated, Both
• Describe any mandatory cutover tasks or blackout windows the calendar must enforce (free response).

Enable Revenue Recognition Automation

• Which revenue recognition framework do you follow (ASC 606, IFRS 15, other)? Options: ASC 606, IFRS 15, Other/Not sure

• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Order Form & Pricing Schedule
• Acceptance Criteria & Mock Close Sign-Off
• Service Level Agreement (SLA) & Warranty
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA) & Security Addendum
• Integration Responsibilities & Interface Matrix (RACI)
• Integration & Data Risk Mitigation Plan
• Procurement & Purchase Order Confirmation
• Payment Terms, Invoicing & Escrow (if applicable)
• Change Order / Scope Amendment
• Go-Live Readiness & Cutover Approval
• Post-Deployment Success & Support Plan

• Live Close Validation Review
• Controller & FP&A Formal Acceptance Meeting
• Post-Close Retrospective & Lessons Learned
• Issue Triage & Enhancement Prioritization (Shared Log Governance)
• Monitoring, Controls & Continuous Improvement Cadence

• Agree a communication plan so affected finance stakeholders are informed of progress.
• Create an agreed remediation and support plan for any outstanding items.
• Publish signed acceptance artifacts and send to procurement and stakeholders.
• Log conditional items with owners, due dates, and verification criteria.
• Stand up the stabilization support roster and share SLAs.
• Close Metrics Review
• Capture a documented set of lessons learned and root causes for key failures.
• Produce a prioritized improvement backlog with owners and timelines.
• Agree communications and training to prevent recurrence of issues.
• Create backlog tickets for each improvement and tag severity/expected benefit.
• Assign owners and due dates for quick wins and project workstreams.
• Update process playbooks and run targeted training sessions before the next close.
• Shared Log Review
• Ensure the shared log is current, actionable, and prioritized against clear business criteria.
• Commit resources and timelines for fixes and enhancements with clear owners.
• One‑sentence Current State
• Move triaged items into sprint/backlog with owners, severity, and target dates.
• Publish an issues status update to stakeholders and update shared log entries with remediation plans.
• Schedule engineering runbook review for any items requiring rollback criteria.
• Define KPIs & Dashboard Requirements
• Implement monitoring and KPIs that provide early warning of close slippage.
• Ensure controls and audit trails meet internal and external audit expectations.
• Establish a recurring governance cadence and escalation framework to sustain improvements.
• Deploy agreed dashboards and configure alerts for KPI breaches.
• Document control checklists and schedule periodic audit-ready exports.
• Schedule recurring ops and executive review meetings and circulate agendas.
• Prove parity between live consolidated statements and the customer's manual baseline.
• Validate intercompany eliminations and reconciliations are automated and auditable.
• Obtain explicit validation or conditional sign-off from Controller, FP&A, and IT.
• Identify and document critical residual risks and immediate mitigations.
• Assign owners and deadlines to each variance and exception identified during the walkthrough.
• Create remediation tasks for data migration gaps with rollback criteria and test plan.
• Schedule a retest session with updated data/configuration within X business days.
• Update the acceptance criteria document to reflect any agreed conditional items.
• Recap of Validation Findings
• Secure formal acceptance or documented conditional acceptance from Controller, FP&A, and IT.
• Ensure procurement/commercial gates can proceed based on documented acceptance.
• What Went Well
• Consequence Summary
• Acceptance Criteria Matrix Walkthrough
• Control Checks & Audit Trail Requirements
• Severity & Root Cause Triage
• Formal Sign-off
• What Didn’t Go Well / Root Cause Analysis
• Future State Definition
• Prioritization Using Agreed Criteria
• Recurring Cadence & Meeting Types
• Escalation Paths & SLAs
• Line-by-line Statement Comparison
• Brainstorm Solutions & Quick Wins
• Commercial & Procurement Gate Check
• Resource Allocation & Timeline Commitments
• Prioritize and Assign Actions
• Intercompany & Elimination Proof
• Stakeholder Communication & Release Plan
• Continuous Improvement Roadmap & Training Plan
• Document Open Items, Mitigations & Ownership
• Communicate Changes & Training Needs
• Reconciliations and Exception Review
• Agree Post-Acceptance Support Plan