A Calm Finance Close

How to bring calm to your year-end close 

Every finance team knows the feeling. The final weeks of the year: invoices still trickling in, spreadsheets open on multiple screens, deadlines fast approaching.  

For some, this is just how closing works. It feels intense, high-stakes, and completely unavoidable.  

But for others, the close is calm, structured, and surprisingly predictable. They finish early, share results confidently, and still make the Christmas party on time.  

So, what’s their secret? It’s not luck or bigger teams.  

It’s structure, visibility, and the right tools to make both stick. 

Why chaos closes happen 

The “last-minute close” isn’t just a matter of effort. It’s a system issue. Manual approvals, late expenses, scattered data, and missing receipts are all part of the chain reaction.  

Deloitte’s Finance Trends 2026 report notes that businesses with structured close routines spend 25% less time on corrections and reworks.  

And the cost adds up: 

• Errors: Manual reconciliations, last-minute approvals, and late nights lead to fatigue and mistakes. 
   
• Delayed visibility: When reporting is reactive, leaders make decisions using incomplete or outdated data. 
   
• Inefficiency cycles: Each close becomes a “one-off rescue mission” instead of a repeatable routine. 
   
• Lost opportunity: Time spent chasing receipts or correcting entries is time not spent improving forecasting or business planning. 

Without connected processes, finance becomes reactive: chasing data instead of using it. So, when year-end pressure hits, finance teams gear up for long nights, rushed reconciliations, and error-prone reporting. 

Your next close can be calmer and more controlled 

If your current month-end feels like an endurance test, that’s a sign your process has outgrown your tools. At this stage, it’s not about fine-tuning workflows — it’s about building a foundation that scales. 

Start by identifying where the friction lives.  

Ask yourself:  
 

• Are expenses still being collected manually from employees or inboxes?  

• Do you rely on shared spreadsheets to reconcile spend?  

• Are approvals or receipts holding up reporting?  

• Does your team spend more time gathering data than analysing it?  
   

If those questions hit close to home, you’re not alone. Most growing finance teams start here. The shift to a calmer, more controlled close begins when these manual checkpoints become automated ones. 

How Soldo can help 

Instead of rehearsing the same chaotic routine, you’re free to design a better one that runs quietly in the background, freeing your team to focus on insight and strategy. 

With Soldo, finance teams can: 

• Capture spend data automatically with company cards that feed directly into your accounting system. 

• Eliminate chasing approvals and receipts happen in real time. 

• See every transaction instantly, so by month-end, the data is already there. 

• Build repeatable structure that removes the uncertainty from every close. 

After all, consistency turns best practices into habits. The more you repeat and refine the process, the less reactive your team and process become.