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Benchmark 06 · AI workflows

Financial close speed benchmark

How many days does your team need to close the books, and why? We map your month-end and year-end close step by step and place your cycle time against APQC's cross-industry quartiles.

Get your free snapshot Industry report · $199
The market reference

What the market looks like.

≤ 4.8 daysMonthly close at top-performing organisations (APQC)1
6.4 daysMedian monthly close; the bottom quartile needs 10 days or more1
55%Share of finance functions targeting a touchless close (Gartner survey)2
KPIMarket referenceBest-in-class / noteSource
Monthly close — top quartile4.8 calendar days or less—1
Monthly close — median6.4 calendar days—1
Monthly close — bottom quartile10+ calendar days—1
Finance leaders wanting a faster, real-time close86%68% want a cheaper close2

A slow close delays every decision that depends on the numbers. In a Gartner survey, 86% of finance leaders said they want a faster, real-time close, 68% a cheaper one and 55% target a touchless close2.

Who it’s for

Is this benchmark for you?

Industries

Manufacturing · Wholesale & distribution · Financial services & insurance · Professional services · Retail & e-commerce

Buyer

CFO & finance

Company profile

Multi-entity or 50+ employees

You need it if…

  • Month-end close takes more than a week
  • Reconciliations live in spreadsheets
  • Management gets the numbers too late to act
The benchmark

What we measure. What you get.

What we measure

  • Close calendar: every task, owner and dependency
  • Days to close, monthly and annual
  • Reconciliations done manually vs automated
  • Journal entries, adjustments and late corrections
  • Spreadsheet hand-offs between systems

What you receive

  • Your close speed vs APQC quartiles
  • Critical path and the three tasks that add the most days
  • Reconciliation and matching steps ready for automation
  • Target close calendar with the days you can remove
Typical turnaround: 2–3 weeksService: AI workflowsFree snapshot: available
Industry report · $199 · in production

The full financial close study.

Planned contents. Everything behind this page, in depth: the numbers by sector and company size, what top performers do differently, and a model to price your own gap.

  • Market size and growth, every analyst estimate reconciled
  • KPI quartiles by company size, sector and region
  • Original survey data from decision-makers
  • Cost-of-the-gap model with worked examples
  • How top-quartile companies close the gap
  • Solution landscape and a 12-month roadmap
  • Self-assessment scorecard
Reserve your copy · $199 Publishing in 2026. Reserve now and we email you the day it is available. No payment today.
How it works

Four steps. No disruption.

01

Intake call

30 minutes with a senior engineer to agree scope, KPIs and the data we need.

02

Data, read-only

Exports or read-only access to the systems involved. Nothing is changed.

03

Analysis

Your numbers placed against the published market references, KPI by KPI.

04

Readout

Your position, the cost gap in dollars and a costed roadmap to close it.

Reports & custom benchmarks

Reserve this report.

Reserve the financial close industry report, or ask for a custom benchmark on your own data.

  • Your close speed vs APQC quartiles
  • Critical path and the three tasks that add the most days
  • Reconciliation and matching steps ready for automation
Your details are used only to prepare your benchmark. A senior engineer replies, not a sales rep.
Thank you. We have your request and will be in touch by email.

Sources

  1. 1
    CFO.com (APQC, 2,300 organisations), “Metric of the Month: Cycle Time for Monthly Close”. cfo.com/news/metric-of-the-month-cycle-time-for-monthly-close/659297/
  2. 2
    Gartner press release, “55% of Functions Aiming for a Touchless Close by 2025” (22 Sep 2022). gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-09-22-gartner-finance-survey-shows-55-percent-of-functions-aiming-for-a-touchless-close-by-2022