Monthly close

What is monthly close?

The monthly close is the process of reconciling accounts, booking accruals, and finalizing financial statements for the prior month. Investor-ready startups close in roughly 5 to 10 business days. Continuous reconciliation throughout the month, rather than a scramble at month-end, is what shrinks that timeline.

Worked example

Benchmarks by stage

Why it matters for fast-growing companies

A slow, unreliable close means founders steer on stale numbers and diligence stalls. A tight monthly close gives boards timely burn and runway data, surfaces reconciliation errors early, and signals operational maturity to investors. Continuous reconciliation is the single biggest lever for speeding it up.

Related terms

• Accounting & closeAccrual vs cash basis accountingAccrual accounting records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of when cash moves.
• Accounting & closeDeferred revenueDeferred revenue is a liability representing cash collected before the product or service has been delivered.
• Accounting & closeChart of accountsA chart of accounts (CoA) is the structured list of every account a company uses to record transactions, organized into assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses.
• Cash & runwayBurn rateBurn rate is how much cash a startup spends each month to operate.
• Cash & runwayRunwayRunway is how many months a startup can keep operating before it runs out of cash, assuming its current net burn rate.
• Fundraising & equityFractional CFOA fractional CFO is a senior finance leader who works part-time across several companies instead of one full-time role.

Frequently asked questions