Late nights, tight deadlines, pressure to deliver good results...month-end is approaching.
Are you an Finance Director or CFO & regularly experience challenges, stresses & increased pressure around the time of month-end?
Have you ever stepped back & thought, “what can I do to alleviate some of this?”
Here are some thoughts.
Manage expectations – if you expect the numbers to be down versus forecast, tell the CEO & other stakeholders as soon as you know, even if it is mid-month. People don’t like bad news, particularly now, however where bad news is the case, people want to know sooner rather than later.
Communication – in order to complete the month-end you’re often reliant on getting information from other departments on a timely basis. If this is not regularly happening, what can you do about it? Do the other departments understand why the info is needed? What the implications are if it is delayed? By communicating & educating them, it may lead to more buy-in to the process.
Materiality – if you have confidence the number is broadly correct don’t spend ages trying to get it exact.
Month-end doesn’t have to be stressful & by putting in place some of these steps you might start to experience a more manageable, less pressured end of month process.
Tony Shafar