A mid-size accounting firm closed 120 sets of client books through spreadsheets, email threads, and daily status meetings. We built a close orchestration system that assigns every task, verifies completions via API, and escalates blockers — cutting the close from 12 days to 4.
Typical results
120
Client books closed monthly
75%
Partner supervision time saved
0
Close status meetings
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Each month-end, the firm tracked hundreds of close tasks across 120 clients in a wall of spreadsheets. Nobody knew in real time which reconciliations were done, bank feeds broke silently, and partners burned around 20 hours per cycle in status meetings and chasing. The close dragged to 12 days, delaying every client report.
Before and after
Close duration
−67%Partner hours per close cycle
−75%The automation
We built a live close checklist that generates each client's task list automatically on the first of the month and assigns owners by role. Connected via API to the accounting platform, it verifies bank feed freshness, reconciliation status, and ledger locks on its own — ticking tasks off without anyone reporting back. Blockers that sit too long escalate straight to the responsible partner, and a live dashboard shows the whole close at a glance.
How it works
- 01
Checklist spawns itself
On the first of the month, every client's close checklist is generated automatically and assigned to owners by role.
- 02
API verification
The system checks bank feed freshness, reconciliation status, and ledger locks directly in the accounting platform.
- 03
Tasks tick themselves off
Completed items are verified and closed automatically — no one reports status manually.
- 04
Blockers escalate
Tasks stuck past their threshold escalate straight to the responsible partner with full context.
- 05
One live dashboard
Partners watch the entire close across 120 clients in real time instead of holding status meetings.
Starts from
- Bank feeds & ledgers
- Client close checklists
Delivers
- Task assignments
- Partner escalations
- Live close dashboard
The impact
The close now finishes in 4 days instead of 12, across all 120 clients. Partner supervision time dropped from 20 hours per cycle to 5 — a 75% cut — status meetings went to zero, and clients get their monthly reports while the numbers are still fresh.
Questions about this automation
How are close tasks created and assigned?
On the first of each month, the automation generates every client's close checklist from a template and assigns each task to an owner by role, such as bookkeeper, reviewer or partner. Due dates follow the firm's close calendar, so each person sees exactly which tasks are theirs for every client.
How does the system know a close task is done?
It connects to the accounting platform through its API and checks bank feed freshness, reconciliation status and ledger locks directly. When the data shows a step is complete, the task closes itself. Tasks that cannot be verified by API, such as a client sign-off, are marked done by their owner.
What happens when a task is stuck?
Each task has a time threshold. When it passes, the task escalates to the responsible partner with the client, task history and blocking reason attached, and it shows up on the live close dashboard. It is a multi-step build with state and escalations, usually rolled out in stages.