One Finance Workflow and How AI Changes It

Workflow focus: Month-End Close

Seven minutes to close the month, or seven hours of paperwork… which would you choose?

It seems a silly question, but it requires setting up AI engines to automate long hours of repetitive tasks. In this episode, we will find an appropriate approach to answer the following question correctly:

Would you rather achieve a highly accurate month-end close in just seven minutes or spend hours buried in reconciliation paperwork?

To give an overall understanding of what is being clarified, we move in the following route:

1. Classic approaches to month-end procedures

2. AI-assisted procedures

3. Required controls

4. Final takeaway

Month-end close is where finance teams lose sleep. Long hours, repetitive checks, pressure from management—and now AI is entering the picture.

Since it has already been proven how practical AI is, the question isn’t whether AI can help, but how to use it without losing control.

1. The Traditional Month-End Close

• Data extraction from ERP

• Excel reconciliations

• Manual variance analysis

• Email back-and-forth

• Drafting management explanations at 11 pm

Key pain points:

• Time pressure

• Human error

• Inconsistent explanations

• Over-reliance on Excel

“This is where finance teams burn energy—not insight.”

1. The AI-Assisted Month-End Close

Where AI fits safely:

• Data summarisation

• AI reviews exports and highlights unusual movements

• Variance explanations (first draft)

• AI proposes explanations based on historical patterns

• Checklist validation

• AI compares close steps vs prior months

• Management report drafting

• AI creates a structured narrative, not a final judgment

AI does the first pass. Humans keep the pen.

1. Controls You Must Keep (Very Important)

• Human review layer is non-negotiable

• No blind acceptance of AI outputs

• Clear documentation: what AI touched and what humans approved

• Sensitive data rules (what can and cannot go into AI tools)

If AI makes your close faster but weaker, you’ve failed.

1. Final Takeaway

• AI compresses time, not responsibility

• Finance professionals who master AI + controls will lead

• The future isn’t AI vs finance—it’s AI-augmented finance