Cut the number of days it takes to close the books each month
A diagnosis of the month-end close timeline with bottlenecks, quick wins, and a plan to close faster.
The prompt
Help me shorten our month-end close.
Current close length: [e.g. "business day 9"]
Target: [e.g. "business day 5"]
Close task list: [PASTE: task, owner, start day, end day, dependencies]
Systems used: [ERP, spreadsheets, reconciliation tools, consolidation]
Known bottlenecks: [e.g. late vendor invoices, manual intercompany, waiting on payroll]
Team size and constraints: [DETAILS]
Steps:
1. Map the critical path: which tasks determine the close date.
2. Identify bottlenecks and their causes: late inputs, manual work, rework, review queues, approvals.
3. Sort improvements into: move work before period end (pre-close), remove or simplify, automate, and change materiality thresholds or estimates.
4. Check that faster does not weaken controls: keep reviews and segregation of duties.
Return:
- A critical path summary.
- An improvement table: Change | Days saved | Effort | Risk | Owner | Timing.
- A revised close calendar by day.
- Metrics to track (days to close, post-close adjustments, late reconciliations).
- A 90-day rollout plan.
Base estimates on my task list; label estimated savings as estimates and mark unclear tasks [CONFIRM].
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Finance & Accounting prompts
What to fill in
- e.g. "business day 9"
- e.g. "business day 5"
- PASTE: task, owner, start day, end day, dependencies
- ERP, spreadsheets, reconciliation tools, consolidation
- DETAILS
- CONFIRM
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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