“Speeding up the closing”The article I choose to review is “Speeding up the closing” by Gaye van den Hombergh and Laurie Streling of Financial Executive magazine, June 2004 issue. Companies with a The 12-month accounting period otherwise known as the fiscal year is coming up with alternative ways to reduce the time and speed up the process to meet the impending 60-day deadline. This article discusses the fiscal year and the ability of companies to quickly close the books to access real-time financial results, which, in turn, leads to better decision making. Companies spend or invest funds in projects that will hopefully make the company more profitable, having real-time financial results would make this more efficient. Faster closes mean more time for the company to crunch the numbers, plus a quick close is a sign of the efficiency and success of management and the company. If management has real-time financial results, this allows them to respond more efficiently to market changes, which, in turn, helps investors make meaningful investment decisions. The article goes on to discuss the growing pressure for virtual closure, but how urgent is it and is it worth the investment? A survey of corporate finance executives was conducted to see if the growing pressure to close virtually is significant and often drives further action. The Johnsson Group found that fewer than one in five respondents reported fully automated closing, more than half said the closing process is semi-automated and requires manual intervention, and a quarter responded that their systems require a significant manual intervention. Accelerating closure should not be seen as a fundamental step to be taken all at once, but as an evolutionary process. The virtual closing concept shows us how far the financial organization has come in the last two years in the time it takes to execute closings. Two-thirds of companies closed their quarterly accounts in 4-7 business days, 16% are completing closings in 1-3 days, but on the other hand 21% of companies reported needing more than 7 days working hours for closing. While companies must be prepared to address some issues while achieving faster closure, such as less emphasis on training, leaving companies with fewer “financial historians who actually know the rationale behind the processes and have a better understanding depth of business.” The next paragraph in this article discusses a more strategic role for finance.