Month end can be a stressful time for finance departments. It's not always easy to produce accurate and timely management accounts. So how can we streamline the process, reducing the stress levels involved and meet that monthly deadline?

1. Have a task list

It might seem obvious but having a plan is essential. For most business, the same tasks need to be completed every month. A monthly 'To Do' list will make life a lot easier. Having these tasks well documented will make sure nothing is overlooked and will also enable different staff members to complete these tasks. If the one person who knows how to do something is unexpectedly unavailable, everything can fall down. It can be helpful to use task management software such as Asana. This will help to delegate tasks to other members of the team while continuing to ensure that all tasks are completed on time.

2. Learn from the past

We're all only human and sometimes things go wrong. If the worst happens and you make a material error or miss the deadline make sure you understand why that happened and most importantly what can you do to ensure it doesn't happen again.

3. Automate

Take time to look at the monthly process and see if any manual tasks can be fully or partially automated. Automation, done well can increase speed and improve accuracy. Focus on the high volume areas. For example, if you have a large number of purchase invoices to process every month, that might be a good place to start.

4. Don't take shortcuts

When time is precious, it's tempting to take shortcuts. Don't neglect those Balance Sheet reconciliations because you're under time pressure. Make sure that the Balance Sheet is at least materially correct and always check the accruals and prepayment control accounts balance.

5. Know when to stop

We all like everything to be perfect but there comes a time when looking for that five cent difference doesn't make sense. There's a difference between taking shortcuts and spending hours looking for a tiny immaterial difference. Perfectionism can be the finance team's enemy.

6. Manage expectations

If something goes wrong and you can't make a deadline come up with an alternative plan and communicate it to management. This might mean producing a draft set of accounts which is subject to change or delaying a meeting. Be as open and honest as possible and communicate the issue as early as you can.

7. Budget comparisons

Well thought out budgets are essential. It's much easier to produce monthly accounts if you have realistic budgets to compare against. Understanding and explaining variances is essential. Budget variances can be a genuine difference due to an unexpected event, but are just as likely to indicate an error somewhere in the process.

8. Reporting

The reporting process needs to be thought out. In a lot of cases we will have different reports for different stakeholders. Most modern accounting systems have report design capabilities which allow us to design reports within the system so that monthly reports can be produced at the press on a button. Keying figures into a spreadsheet from the accounting system should be avoided if at all possible.

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