Financial Accounting Star: Closing Month-End Accounts

Course overview

Closing the month-end and year-end books, presenting the financial statements, and rushing them through an audit are some of the most difficult tasks a financial accountant must undertake. Management, shareholders, lenders, and regulators utilize the generated financial statements to make decisions.

For the closing procedure to be complete and financial statements to be issued, the accountants must adhere to regulatory deadlines. The closing procedure, however, has typically been drawn out.

For an average corporation, it takes three to four months to close the books and publish the financial results. The timeliness is quite rigorous for a corporation that has a large public interest. The task for the accountants is to close the accounts as quickly as feasible.

You will get the skills necessary to close the accounts quickly and produce accurate financial statements by taking this Training Bee training course.

Introduction

Welcome to the Fast Closing Month-End and Year-End Accounts introduction! Organizations must now deal with growing expectations for quicker, more accurate financial reporting in the current business environment. Timely decision-making, regulatory compliance and preserving a competitive edge all depend on the capacity to close month-end and year-end accounts quickly.

Fast closure is a term used to describe a simplified and effective procedure that helps businesses to finish their year-end and month-end accounts more quickly without sacrificing accuracy. This strategy entails streamlining operations, utilizing automation and technology, and encouraging productive communication amongst financial teams.

We will examine the main ideas, tactics, and best practices for quickly closing month-end and year-end accounts in this course. We will go into detail about the advantages of using a quick closure procedure.

We are The Training Bee, a global training and education firm providing services in many countries. We are specialized in capacity building and talent development solutions for individuals and organizations, with our highly customized programs and training sessions.

Learning Objectives

Upon completing Financial Accounting Star: Closing Month-End Accounts, participants will be able to:

• Remove the closing operations from the primary closure period.
• Automate and standardize the usage of journal entries in closure procedures.
• Norm the chart of accounts.
• Consolidate the accounting processes
• Improve the approval procedure for the payables and receivables
• Include a continuing evaluation of improvement in the closure procedure.

Our Unique Training Methodology

This interactive course comprises the following training methods:

• Role-playing – Participants will take part in several role-plays and understand practical ways of solving issues.
• Journaling – This consists of setting a timer and letting your thoughts flow, unedited and unscripted recording events, ideas, and thoughts over a while, related to the topic.
• Social learning – Information and expertise exchanged amongst peers via computer-based technologies and interactive conversations including Blogging, instant messaging, and forums for debate in groups.
• Project-based learning
• Mind mapping and brainstorming – A session will be carried out between participants to uncover unique ideas, thoughts, and opinions having a quality discussion.
• Interactive sessions – The course will use informative lectures to introduce key concepts and theories related to the topic.

Training Medium

This Financial Accounting Star: Closing Month-End Accounts training is designed in a way that it can be delivered face-to-face and virtually.

Course Duration

This training is versatile in its delivery. The training can be delivered as a full-fledged 40-hour training program or a 15- hours crash course covering 5 hours of content each day over 3 days

Pre-course Assessment

Before you enroll in this course all we wanted to know is your exact mindset and your way of thinking.
For that, we have designed this questionnaire attached below.

• Why are month-end and year-end accounts closed quickly?
• What are the main advantages of quickly closing year-end and month-end accounts?
• What stages comprise the month-end account rapid closure procedure?
• What stages comprise the year-end account rapid closure procedure?
• What distinguishes fast closure from conventional closing procedures?
• What possible difficulties or dangers may arise from quickly closing month-end and year-end accounts?
• How might automation and technology help the quick closure process?

Course Modules

This Financial Accounting Star: Closing Month-End Accounts covers the following topics for understanding the essentials of the Agile Workplace:

Module 1 – The Fast Closing Process: An Introduction

• Several kinds of rapid closes
• Advantages of the quick close
• Legal concerns affecting the quick close
• Steps to take in order to shut quickly

Module 2 – Examining the existing closure procedure

• Conventional methods for shutting
• Additional closure responsibilities for listed, international, multi-divisional businesses
• The existing closure procedure has issues.
• The time of the closure procedure as a whole

Module 3 – Changing the ending events’ time

• Changing the closing mentality
• The sub-ledger transactions should be examined and corrected.
• Speedier completion of bank reconciliations
• Changing the billing procedure
• Changing how costs and income are accrued

Module 4 – Modifying the financial statements’ substance

• Changing the way reports are delivered
• Modifying the financial statements’ substance
• Creating uniform reporting
• Cost reporting should not be included in the reporting bundle.
• Indicators that are distinct from those in the financial reporting package

Module 5 – Maximize the use of the chart of accounts and diary entries

• Delete any pointless journal entries.
• Make the journal entries consistent.
• Switch to regular journal entries
• Posting journal entries automatically
• The accounting chart should be uniform.
• Eliminate intercompany interactions automatically

Module 6 – Rapid closure procedure

• The inventory function is shut down
• Billing function shutdown
• Terminating the payroll operation
• Paying off the debts
• Closing the function for the cash procedure

Module 7 – Automation, standardization, and centralization of the closure process

• Impact of closure process standardization
• Effect of closure process centralization
• Automation’s effects on the closure process
• Financial reporting controls

Module 8 – continuous development of the closure process

• Ongoing process of improvement
• Measures of improvement

Post-course Assessment

Participants need to complete an assessment post-course completion so our mentors will get to know their understanding of the course. A mentor will also have interrogative conversations with participants and provide valuable feedback.

• Explain the meaning of fast closing month-end and year-end accounts in financial reporting.
• Give at least three advantages of using a quick closure procedure for month-end and year-end accounts.
• Describe the quick closing stages for month-end accounts, emphasizing the important tasks at each stage.
• The main distinctions between the slow closing procedure and the usual closure process for month-end and year-end accounts should be made.
• Discuss the various dangers or difficulties that might arise while implementing a quick closure procedure and offer solutions.
• How can automation tools and technology enable the quick closing of month-end and year-end accounts? Give examples of certain software or tools.

Lessons Learned

Benefits in terms of time savings: Quick closing procedures save the time needed to finish month-end and year-end accounts. This enables organizations to focus on other important activities and deploy resources more wisely.

Faster decision-making is made possible by quick closing procedures, which provide management access to current financial information. Real-time information enables stakeholders to act quickly in response to market developments and seize opportunities.

Improved precision: Although speed is important, accuracy shouldn’t be sacrificed. Financial statements that place a high priority on accuracy are credible and trustworthy, offering a good basis for decision-making.

“Having Confidence in Your Year-End Accounts: Timely, Effective, and Accurate”