Despite investments in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, workflow tools, and automation, it remains one of the most time-consuming and error-prone processes in the finance function. And it’s not just a finance issue. A slow or fragmented close can delay strategic planning, hinder decision-making, and create risk across the organization.

What is the month-end close and why does it matter

Month-end close is the process of finalizing all financial activity for the period, validating transactions, reconciling accounts, and preparing reports that inform leadership and external stakeholders. It’s foundational to financial visibility and corporate performance – yet it’s also notoriously complex.

Many enterprises still rely on manual steps and spreadsheets, especially when managing close across global entities. That’s why CFOs and Shared Services leaders are increasingly prioritizing efforts to shorten the close cycle.

The business benefits of a faster close

Speeding up the close isn’t just about meeting deadlines faster – it’s about unlocking better business performance. Here’s how:

1. Enables real-time financial insights

• Real-time financial data enables earlier visibility into trends, risks, and performance gaps
• Faster closes support quicker, more informed strategic decisions
• Timely reporting improves resource allocation and investment planning

2. Boosts finance team productivity

• Reduces team members’ reliance on manual data entry and spreadsheet work
• Frees up finance teams for higher-value activities like forecasting, analysis, and business partnering
• Minimizes burnout and stress during close windows

3. Improves accuracy and compliance

• Fewer manual steps mean a lower risk of human error
• Streamlined processes support consistent reporting and regulatory compliance
• Enhanced audit readiness with clear, standardized documentation

4. Streamlines cash flow management

• Earlier insights enable proactive management of receivables, payables, and working capital
• Finance leaders can intervene earlier to address anomalies or underperformance

Why the month-end close is so hard to improve

Despite its importance, the close process is often a black box. While ERPs capture structured data, the true workflow lives in the manual tasks between systems – the spreadsheet uploads, the Outlook threads, the copy/paste from system to system. These types of steps are overlooked during traditional process discovery efforts like manual interviewing, whiteboarding, or time studies with the team and are completely invisible even when using technologies like process mining. This makes these steps difficult to measure, standardize, or improve. That’s where task mining comes in.

How task mining reveals and fixes inefficiencies

Task mining captures every activity performed by a team by recording the clicks, keystrokes, and desktop actions that team members perform during their work. By recording and analyzing these desktop actions, task mining builds a highly accurate view of real-world workflows – revealing inefficiencies, opportunities for automation, and process gaps that may otherwise go unnoticed. With Mimica, Shared Services and Finance Centers of Excellence (CoEs) gain:

• A full picture of how work actually gets done
• Visibility into exceptions, rework, and off-system activity
• Data-backed process maps for every workflow, not just ERP logs

What Mimica task mining delivers for the month-end close

Mimica’s task mining platform uses AI to analyze work faster than ever before possible, helping finance leaders move from visibility to action – without months of manual analysis. Here’s what that looks like during a month-end close initiative:

• Identify friction points to understand where delays, inefficiencies, and rework occur
• Map real processes with export-ready diagrams of how tasks unfold
• Spot automation candidates for RPA, GenAI, or workflow tools
• Monitor improvements to ensure standardization and track gains over time

Where task mining adds the most value

Mimica helps teams streamline common close-related tasks, such as:

• Journal entry preparation and approvals
• Intercompany reconciliations
• Balance sheet substantiation
• Closing checklist management
• Manual reporting package assembly

Whether managing one entity or dozens across global regions, task mining tools help reduce manual effort, drive consistency, and shorten close cycles.

A smarter close starts with process visibility

Month-end close will always be a cornerstone of financial integrity, but it doesn’t have to be a bottleneck. By giving finance leaders visibility into every task and decision that shapes the close, task mining turns complexity into clarity.

With the right insights, teams can standardize faster, automate smarter, and deliver a close process that’s not just faster, but more accurate, reliable, and ready for the demands of modern enterprise finance.

Want to see how leading Shared Services teams are using AI to transform finance operations? Watch our on-demand webinar to explore how AI-driven process intelligence helps organizations move from transactional work to enterprise-wide transformation.