As the fiscal year winds down, your finance and accounting team is being pulled in several directions at once. They’re wrapping up projects, fielding last-minute requests and preparing for expected Q1 demands, all while working to deliver a fast, accurate financial close process.
Supporting your staff with the right mix of tools, processes and resources—including skilled contract talent where needed—can help increase team efficiency during this intensive work period. And by setting the stage for a more controlled year-end accounting cycle instead of a stressful scramble to the finish line, you can keep your employees off the path to burnout.
The 6 tips and sample year-end close checklist provided here can help you manage year-end demands while protecting work quality and keeping employees engaged, rather than exhausted.
1. Stay organized with a comprehensive year-end close checklist
A year-end accounting checklist can be a valuable reference point for keeping your team aligned and making the financial close process more predictable. Here’s a sample list with steps you might want to include on your own checklist:
Kick things off with a team check-in: Confirm priorities, review major deadlines and make sure no one is overloaded as the financial close process begins.
Review key accounts: Examine cash accounts, receivables, payables and inventory early to help prevent the need for last-minute corrections.
Tackle reconciliations: Complete all account reconciliations and verify that ledger balances match external records. Resolve discrepancies now to strengthen regulatory compliance.
Sort out accruals and deferrals: Record accruals and deferrals for revenue and expenses to help ensure financial activity for the year is captured correctly.
Finalize adjusting entries: Make sure the books accurately reflect the company’s financial position.
Prepare financial statements: Assemble essential reports as part of the financial statements preparation process.
Streamline reviews and approvals: Clarify who reviews each document and how the approval process will flow. This helps prevent log jams and reduces the potential for missteps.
Celebrate the finish line: Recognize the team’s hard work when everything is complete.
Gather feedback: Ask the team what worked well and what needs refining. Their input can help you develop and strengthen financial close best practices.
2. Make clear and timely communication a top priority
In addition to a well-organized year-end checklist, clear, proactive communication is essential to an efficient financial close. This includes connecting with stakeholders across the business early to track down missing pieces such as expenses or outstanding invoices that have yet to be finalized. Resolving these items upfront keeps the financial close process moving forward—and reduces the risk of fire drills.
You can make it easier for your team to monitor progress toward key milestones by using a shared spreadsheet or dashboard to track close activities in real time. Your staff should be able to see what’s complete, what’s still in progress and where emerging bottlenecks lie. This shared visibility helps prevent missed steps and enables a smoother workflow.
3. Offer work flexibility to boost focus and productivity
The year-end accounting cycle often requires staff to work longer hours and focus even harder than usual. Offering work flexibility during this period can help your team stay productive while preserving their overall well-being. Establish set time windows for collaboration so everyone knows when they need to be available and allow for autonomy outside of those blocks.
Digital collaboration tools like Teams or Slack can also streamline year-end work. Creating a dedicated channel for year-end close tasks gives your team a centralized place to share updates, troubleshoot issues, store key documents, and access approved year-end close tools.
Remote days can also help team members tackle detail-heavy work like account reconciliations, reviewing ledgers or preparing financial statements in a quieter environment. When the financial close process is in full swing, giving employees ample space to go deep on focused work can make a significant difference in their ability to stay productive and manage stress.
4. Stay vigilant for signs of burnout and act before it escalates
Speaking of stress, the year-end close cycle offers plenty of it, testing the mettle of even your most experienced employees. Burnout is worse: It can lead to exhaustion, disengagement and long-term health issues. Watch for telltale signs of emerging burnout, such as more frequent errors, withdrawal from team discussions or abrupt changes in work habits. If an employee who is usually very detail-oriented starts slipping, it may be a sign they’re overwhelmed.
If you spot red flags, step in early. Have an open conversation with your staff members about workload and expectations, and look for ways to redistribute responsibilities, adjust deadlines or bring in interim support. Emphasize that asking for help is encouraged and that managing employee burnout is a priority for the organization. Supporting your team’s well-being throughout the year-end close also helps protect the accuracy of financial statements preparation.
5. Bring in extra help to ease the load
Sometimes the best way to support your employees during the financial close process is by adding temporary accounting support and other specialized talent to your team. Contract accounting professionals experienced in account reconciliations, accruals and deferrals, and adjusting entries can reduce bottlenecks and keep critical work on track.
Common roles you may need to staff with contract talent during the year-end close cycle include:
Staff accountants: Ideal for handling account reconciliations, preparing schedules and supporting financial statements preparation during high-volume periods.
Senior accountants: Equipped to take on complex work like accruals and deferrals, adjusting entries, technical accounting tasks, and review support that frees up in-house leaders.
Financial analysts: Helpful for variance analysis, forecasting support and connecting financial results to operational insights during the financial reporting process.
By partnering with a talent solutions firm to hire contract talent, you can onboard highly skilled, prescreened professionals quickly. A swift and smooth staffing process is especially valuable when deadlines are tight or you need access to niche expertise fast..
Learn how contract roles can help strengthen modern finance functions.
Bonus tip: Staff strategically in line with critical steps for the year-end financial close
As you consider bringing in extra support, keep the steps outlined in your year-end close checklist in mind. This can help you position interim or contract talent exactly where and when they can have the greatest impact. Here’s what that might look like:
Reviewing key accounts: Staff accountants can prepare supporting schedules, giving leaders more time for review and analysis.
Completing account reconciliations: Extra staff accountants can help clear reconciliation backlogs and speed up this foundational step.
Finalizing accruals and deferrals: This stage of the year-end close is often ideal for engaging senior accountants who can manage more complex entries.
Adjusting entries: Senior accountants can help ensure accuracy and completeness before reports are finalized.
Preparing year-end financial statements: Senior accountants and financial analysts can support this critical phase by assembling reports and tying financial performance to operational trends.
Confirming regulatory compliance: Interim talent can assist with documentation, testing and validation to support consistent regulatory compliance.
Routing approvals and signoffs: Contract talent for finance and accounting can help ensure all documentation is complete and organized for leadership review.
Aligning your staffing plan with the steps critical to the year-end close can help you deploy contract professionals where they will add the most value and support your core team most effectively.
Learn more about making year-end processes agile with contract finance and accounting talent.
6. Show appreciation to your team to keep morale high
Employee recognition always matters, but it carries extra weight during the year-end accounting rush. Simple gestures like a handwritten thank-you note or a spot bonus, if appropriate, can help boost morale during the busiest days of the financial close process.
Once year-end close tasks are complete and the books are officially closed, take time to celebrate everyone’s hard work. A team lunch at a favorite spot or an extra day off can help staff decompress and recharge. Recognizing and rewarding your employees for a job well done immediately following the year-end close also helps set the tone for a strong and positive start to Q1.
Discover how year-end and retention bonuses can help keep your team motivated and engaged.
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To improve the year-end close process, strive to build a workflow for your team that enhances speed and efficiency, promotes the quality and accuracy of work, reduces stress, and keeps everyone focused and communicating effectively. It’s a tall order, but prioritizing these 3 practices can help you make significant strides toward achieving that goal:
Create structure: Use a detailed year-end checklist or financial close checklist that outlines every crucial task, who owns it and when it’s due to help minimize errors and keep the accounting close process moving.
Use the right tools: Dashboards, templates and other year-end close tools that promote efficiency and communication can simplify manual work and help your team stay coordinated.
Provide support: Flexibility, workload check-ins and the strategic deployment of contract accounting professionals are all measures that can reduce pressure on your team during the most demanding days of the year-end close.
If your organization could benefit from hiring contract talent to streamline the financial close, Robert Half is here to help. Contact us today to learn how our specialized recruiters can connect you with highly skilled professionals to support year-end accounting tasks—or other business needs.
