E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
We asked small-to-mid-sized businesses about
their close: how long it takes, how many people
are involved, how automated it is, what technology
they use, and what they would most like to change.
Key trends that emerged:
• When companies reach 50-100 employees, higher levels
of automation are needed to gain eff iciencies and stay
competitive
• While larger companies tend to be more automated,
a high percentage of work remains trapped in
spreadsheets across companies all sizes—from manual
imports and exports to allocations, budgeting and
planning, and more
• Companies are moving to the cloud for higher
availability, better reporting, and lower cost of
ownership
Learn how your close compares to other
organizations of similar size and industry. You can
also identify how many of our 10 best practices
you've implemented for a more eff icient close.
K E Y TA K E A W A Y S
• Close length decreases as organizations
grow—from 11 days down to 6 days
• Close team size (as a percentage of all
employees) decreases as companies grow:
• 8% at 1-49 employees
• 5% at 50-100 employees
• 2% at 100+ employees
• Manual imports and exports increase with
growth from an average of 6 up to 31.
• Industry averages for Excel-based journal
entries range from 42- 82%.
• 51% of companies with multiple business
entities spend more than 2 hours
consolidating
• 57 % use cloud vs. 42% on-premises
• 75% expect to be on cloud in the next 2 years
• 72% budget and plan in spreadsheets
P E O P L E
P R O C E S S
T E C H N O L O G Y
