How Long Should Month-End Close Take? Benchmarks for Canadian Companies

If you're asking how long your month-end close should take, start with APQC's benchmark. In its survey of about 2,300 organizations, reported by CFO.com, the median company took about six calendar days to close the month. The top quarter took five days or less. The bottom quarter took ten days or more.

APQC measures from running the trial balance to finishing the consolidated financial statements, and it counts weekends. Two CRA deadlines also land in the month after: payroll source deductions from regular remitters are due by the 15th, and monthly GST/HST filers file and pay one month after the period ends.

Rockwell's view: a close should run on a documented checklist with owners and deadlines, closed within ten business days and getting faster each month. Most of our clients are on a ten-business-day close by the third month, with reporting going out the same week.

the benchmark, in plain numbers

• Top quarter: five calendar days or less
• Median: about six calendar days
• Bottom quarter: ten calendar days or more

CFO.com published these APQC figures in 2018. APQC counts calendar days, including weekends. Rockwell's ten-day target is counted in business days.

what a month-end close includes

Here is the close as Rockwell's fractional controller page describes it:

• A written checklist. Owners and deadlines for every task.
• Reconciliations and accruals.
• Revenue recognition.
• Intercompany, if you have more than one entity.
• Review before anything goes out.
• Monthly statements. Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, with variance commentary against budget.

signs your close is too slow

Check your own close against this list, taken from the controller page:

• The close takes three weeks.
• The balance sheet has reconciling items nobody can explain.
• The bank wants monthly statements you cannot produce on time.
• The auditor's list arrives before you are ready. An audit, review or bank covenant is usually what exposes the gap.
• Reports are late or wrong, even with a good bookkeeper.

who owns the close

A bookkeeper records transactions. Your accounting firm does tax and year-end. A controller makes sure the financial statements are accurate, complete and produced on time, and builds the controls and processes that keep them that way. The controller owns the close and manages your bookkeeper.

A CFOuses those numbers for forecasting, board reporting, fundraising and treasury. Rockwell's controller page says many companies need the controller first. Our post on what a fractional controller costs in Canada covers the price side.

when you should not hire us

• Your close is on time and your statements hold up. If what you need is a forecast, a board pack or a raise, look at fractional CFO support instead.
• You need transactions recorded.That is a bookkeeper's job, and a controller manages that work.
• You need your annual return filed. Your accounting firm keeps doing tax and year-end.

how Rockwell helps

A Rockwell fractional controller works inside your accounting system for the days per month you need, at a fraction of a $120K+ controller hire. The first month is a clean-up and diagnostic: reconciliations caught up, chart of accounts fixed, close checklist written. QuickBooks Online, Xero or NetSuite gets configured to produce the reports you need.

The team is based in Edmonton and Kelowna and works with clients across Canada. Lyndon Weber, a CPA who was Corporate Controller at Próspera and Director of Finance at Bitcoin Well (TSXV:BTCW), leads the controllers who run your close day to day.

See fractional controller services, compare fractional CFO support, or talk to Rockwell about your close.