Finance · Financial reporting · Component
The close calendar
What happens when, so the pack arrives while it is still useful — which usually means accepting estimates.
The deliverable
What it is
A five-day close with estimates beats a twenty-day close with certainty, for management purposes. The precision gained in the extra fifteen days changes no decision.
The close is a process like any other, and it has a constraint. Improving anything other than the constraint changes nothing.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The sequence
The steps of the close, in order, with who does each.
3 attributes: Step · Performed by · Elapsed
LearnThe estimates
What is estimated rather than waited for, and within what tolerance.
3 attributes: Estimated item · Tolerance · True-up
LearnThe bottleneck
The step that actually determines when the close finishes.
3 attributes: Step · Waiting for · Fix
Learn
Map the close and find the one input everything waits for. It is usually the same one every period.
The other components in financial reporting
The reporting pack
What is produced each period and for whom — kept short enough that it is read and relevant enough that it is used.
LearnThe commentary
What changed, why, and what is being done — the part that turns numbers into something someone can act on.
Learn