Month-end pack taking days? Run it as one pack, in the right order.
When your month-end reports are pulled together one by one, or run in the wrong order, the close slows down. Your team sets up your month-end reports to run as one pack, in the right order, and runs it once with ECS during a live close.
Finance teams whose month-end reports don't run as one pack
This is for you if
- Your month-end report pack takes days to pull together
- Reports run in the wrong order, so figures change after they're released
- Nobody has one list of which reports belong in the pack, where each comes from, who owns it and when it's released
- The pack depends on one person remembering how it's done
What changes
- Every month-end report is mapped, with its source, owner and release day
- The reports run as one close pack, in the order your team releases them
- Each statement in the pack ties to the General Ledger
- Your team has run the pack in a real close, and a named owner runs it every month from the runbook
A close pack your team runs, with the evidence that it works
Deliverables
- Month-end report map, up to 12 reports
- Close pack design, and the close pack in production
- Tie-out evidence for the statements in the pack
- Close pack runbook
- Live close log, and a fix list from the live close
- ECS handover check against five acceptance criteria
- Client Hub dashboard for the engagement
- The ECS Close Pack Setup mini-course for your analyst
- 30 days of ECS Reporting Advantage
More than 12 reports? Additional reports are $650 each.
The five handover checks
ECS checks your close pack against these acceptance criteria before the handover:
- Mapped: every month-end report is listed with its source, owner and release day.
- Grouped: the reports are organized into one close pack in the order your team releases them.
- Ties: each statement in the pack agrees to the General Ledger.
- Proven live: your team ran the pack during a real month-end close.
- Owned: a named owner runs the pack every month from the runbook.
Four weeks, then one live close
Week 1 · Month-end map
A 90-minute kickoff, then a month-end map review: every report in your pack, the order it runs in and what it depends on.
Week 2 · Design
A two-hour design session to agree how the pack is grouped, the run order and the release steps.
Week 3 · Build
Your analyst builds the pack in your test environment with ECS alongside. In the build review, we check it ties and note anything to adjust.
Week 4 · Dry run
Your team runs the pack end to end in the agreed order while we watch, so the live close holds no surprises.
Live close
Your team runs the pack during the next month-end close. ECS is on call all day for the first five business days.
Handover
A 90-minute handover meeting: ECS checks the pack against the five acceptance criteria with you, and you approve the handover.
A 30-minute check-in every Friday keeps the work moving: what moved, what's next and anything blocking you.
What we need from you
- Your live-close month, and the pack owner's availability during it
- The release business day for your last three closes, and your close calendar
- Read and test access for your analyst, and the name of your administrator
- Your analyst's time for the build: provided by your team, or quoted separately
- Your analyst starts the mini-course before kickoff
Questions we hear often
Does ECS change our production system?
No. Your analyst builds the close pack in your test environment with ECS alongside, and your team moves it to production.
What happens during the live close?
Your team runs the pack during a real month-end close. ECS is on call all day for the first five business days, and each step is recorded in the live close log.
What if our pack has more than 12 reports?
Up to 12 reports are included. Each additional report is $650, agreed in your fixed-fee quote before work starts.
What happens after the handover?
You keep your close pack, its runbook and the handover check. Your 30 days of ECS Reporting Advantage are included, and you can continue month to month if you'd like ECS to keep improving your reporting.
Ready for a calmer close?
Start with a free, private 30-minute Private Reporting Review. We'll look at your month-end pack with you and send a fixed-fee quote.