Closing the books is one of the most time-sensitive and resource-intensive responsibilities in finance. But AI can streamline the process, enabling your accounting team to shift their focus from fixing problems to driving strategy.
Sydney Scott
Editorial Strategist, AI
Workday
Month-end or quarter-end close often feels like a high-stakes stress test for finance teams and accounting firms. Accountants must move fast, ensure accuracy, and provide crucial insights for business leaders, all while navigating increasing complexity and shrinking timelines.
Traditional spreadsheet-based processes can’t meet this demand. Without a streamlined, data-driven close process, teams risk inaccuracies that impact the entire organization. In fact, an alarming 50% of finance leaders say they still make decisions based on gut instinct—even when supporting data exists—because the data is siloed or not readily available.
Now, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a powerful solution to breaking down these silos and transforming the close process. AI in accounting and finance is helping teams eliminate bottlenecks, quickly surface and resolve anomalies, and refocus their energy from crunching numbers to high-value strategic collaboration that drives value.
71% of organizations using substantial, intelligent automation close the books in six days or less vs. 23% of those using minimal automation.
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AI in accounting refers to the use of advanced technologies—such as machine learning, natural language processing, generative AI, and intelligent automation—within financial systems to improve how accounting work is executed. Collectively, these technologies analyze large data sets, identify issues, suggest actions, and execute repetitive tasks that would otherwise require manual effort. As a result, they streamline and accelerate key processes like financial close.
In the context of the accounting profession, key AI capabilities include:
These capabilities are having a clear and growing impact on how finance teams manage the close process. For teams bogged down in reconciliations or struggling to surface issues in time, these advancements are forging a smooth path for smarter reviews, cleaner handoffs, and notably faster cycles.
Automating routine tasks also means more time for planning, analysis, and cross-functional collaboration—the kind of high-level contributions today’s finance leaders are expected to deliver.
Small delays or errors in one part of the financial close workflow can ripple across the entire cycle, creating risk and wasting time. AI tools help finance teams stay ahead with continuous visibility into what’s working, what’s not, and what needs immediate attention.
Let’s consider a common scenario: Navigating an international company's quarter-end close across multiple entities. Traditionally, this meant teams spent grueling days on intercompany reconciliations, often unearthing discrepancies—like currency conversion errors during invoice processing—only at the last minute. This inevitably led to delays and laborious manual backtracking.
With AI monitoring in real time, that same discrepancy is flagged the instant data is entered. The AI identifies the issue, references prior fixes, and alerts the team with a suggested solution. The controller resolves the problem during the period, keeping the close on track, rather than scrambling days before the deadline.
What's more, AI tools can identify recurring journal entries, like monthly accruals, and draft them based on past periods. This frees the accounting team to simply review and approve, shifting their focus from burdensome data entry to valuable oversight.
That level of efficiency fundamentally transforms the final week of the close from a reactive sprint into a controlled, insightful review. Workday research found that 71% of organizations using substantial, intelligent automation close the books in six days or fewer, compared to just 23% of those using minimal automation.
When embedded into the right platform, AI doesn’t just improve speed—it improves accuracy, accountability, and strategic focus.
The speed and scale of modern AI in accounting demands a robust software platform. Teams have to ditch those outdated, fragmented systems that act like roadblocks to progress and, instead, create a unified environment that's designed to be responsive from the ground up. The key to this is an accounting software platform that has AI technology woven into its very core, not just tacked on as an afterthought.
Here are five essential elements to look for in an accounting system that truly embraces AI:
Without the right system, AI will deliver small improvements—such as reducing errors and increasing efficiency—but can’t drive meaningful change. Unified software with clean, connected data and embedded intelligence unlocks the full value of AI. It allows insights to surface faster, workflows to adapt in real time, and strategic decisions to be made with confidence.
The most effective implementations for AI in accounting and finance begin with precision—identifying a few high-impact areas, proving the value quickly, and building on those wins. Finance transformation is sustainable when it’s grounded in clear priorities, solid data, and shared ownership across the business.
Here’s a framework for introducing AI to your close process in a way that drives results and builds momentum.
Review your last few closes and pinpoint where time is lost or errors recur. Common culprits include time-consuming reconciliations, last-minute manual journal entries, and intercompany mismatches. These pain points are often ideal entry points for AI because they are repetitive, rules-based, and rich in historical data.
Choose one use case—such as anomaly detection or transaction matching—and implement it within a specific business unit or legal entity. Capture measurable outcomes like time saved, error reduction, or audit improvements. Use these wins to build buy-in and expand adoption across additional teams or processes.
Disconnected systems create friction. AI requires access to reliable, connected data to generate meaningful insights. Ensure your financial, operational, and people data are part of the same system or easily integrated. Clean data is the fuel for accurate automation.
Bring IT in from the start. Their involvement is critical to ensure systems are secure, scalable, and properly governed. Finance and IT alignment also helps avoid rework and accelerates time to value. Workday research on the CFO-CIO partnership uncovered that organizations with high alignment are significantly further ahead on finance transformation initiatives like AI adoption.
AI only works when finance professionals trust the outputs. Select AI-powered tools that clearly explain the logic behind recommendations. Transparent AI builds confidence, supports accountability, and encourages adoption across teams.
An alarming 50% of finance leaders say they still make decisions based on gut instinct—even when supporting data exists.
The close process has long been a grueling source of strain for finance teams and across the accounting industry. The combination of tight timelines, high stakes, and fragmented systems often makes each cycle feel like starting over rather than building on progress. With AI now woven into the very fabric of the process, this demanding process is changing.
AI is helping finance teams streamline repetitive work, reduce risk, and bring more clarity to every monthly or quarterly close. When embedded into the right platform, AI doesn’t just improve speed—it improves accuracy, accountability, and strategic focus. Teams can identify issues earlier, act with greater confidence, and spend less time on cleanup and more on insights.
Leading organizations are already using AI to shorten their close timelines, reduce manual corrections in financial reports, and build a stronger foundation for forward-looking analysis.
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