Month-end is rarely delayed by accounting. It is delayed by a dozen missing things and the days it takes to chase the people holding them. This recipe finds the gaps first, chases the humans itself, and hands your finance team a list of what is actually blocked rather than a list of what to go and find out.
Find the gaps, then do the chasing nobody enjoys.
Sweeps for the things that stall a close: unmatched documents, missing approvals, paperwork that never arrived.
Messages or calls the person who owes each item, with the specifics attached rather than a general reminder.
Parks and comes back. A first chase that goes unanswered becomes a second one without anyone remembering to send it.
Hands finance a short list of what is genuinely stuck and who has it, instead of a mystery.
The close is a deadline the whole business feels, and most of the delay is chasing.
Chasing happens in parallel and starts immediately rather than after somebody builds the list.
The awkward third reminder gets sent, on time, without a person having to feel rude.
Your team spends the week on judgement, not on finding out who has the delivery docket.