Financial reporting & month-end close statistics (2026)

How long the month-end close takes

1. 6.4 days is the median time to close the books each month, in calendar days from running the trial balance to completed consolidated financial statements.
   APQC General Accounting Open Standards Benchmarking, via CFO.com "Metric of the Month", 2018. 2,300 organisations; calendar days from running the trial balance to completed consolidated statements. Source
2. 4.8 days or less is what the top 25% of organisations need for the monthly close. The bottom 25% need 10 or more calendar days.
   APQC General Accounting Open Standards Benchmarking, via CFO.com "Metric of the Month", 2018. 2,300 organisations; calendar days from running the trial balance to completed consolidated statements. Source
3. 18% of finance teams close in 1 to 3 business days. 32% take 4 to 5 days, 23% take 6 to 7 days and 27% take more than 7 business days.
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source
4. 50% of finance teams take six or more business days to close (the 23% at 6 to 7 days plus the 27% at more than 7).
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source
5. Under 40% of the close is automated at most teams: "most teams automate less than 40% of their close".
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source
6. 56% cite dependency on other departments and regions as a blocker to a faster close, the most common answer; 40% cite legacy systems that do not integrate and 37% understaffing or capacity gaps.
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source
7. 20 to 50 hours a month is the average time spent on cash reconciliation, usually across 3 to 5 systems.
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source

Spreadsheets and manual work

8. 94% of finance teams use Excel in their month-end close.
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source
9. 50% of finance teams cite Excel as a key reason their close is slow.
   Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. Source
10. 45% of organisations still rely primarily on spreadsheets for planning, down from a peak of 60% in 2022.
    FP&A Trends Survey 2025, sponsored by OneStream, 2025. 459 finance professionals across industries and regions. Source
11. 46% of FP&A time is spent on data collection and validation, the highest figure in five years.
    FP&A Trends Survey 2025, sponsored by OneStream, 2025. 459 finance professionals across industries and regions. Source
12. 50% of their time goes on manual data collection and validation in FP&A teams that rely on spreadsheets, and just 28% on insight.
    FP&A Trends Survey 2025, sponsored by OneStream, 2025. 459 finance professionals across industries and regions. Source
13. 64% of C-suite and finance and accounting respondents say the volume of manual day-to-day work leaves little or no time for proper financial planning and analysis.
    BlackLine survey, conducted by Censuswide, 2024. 660 C-level and 679 finance and accounting professionals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore; BlackLine sells finance automation software. Source
14. 27% of respondents cite reliance on clunky spreadsheets that leave finance teams in the dark until month-end as a reason they do not completely trust their organisation's data.
    BlackLine survey, conducted by Censuswide, 2024. 660 C-level and 679 finance and accounting professionals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore; BlackLine sells finance automation software. Source

Errors and trust in the numbers

15. 18% of accountants make financial errors at least daily.
    Gartner, controllership survey press release, 2024. 497 people working in the controllership function, surveyed July 2023. Source
16. 1 in 3 accountants make at least a few financial errors every week.
    Gartner, controllership survey press release, 2024. 497 people working in the controllership function, surveyed July 2023. Source
17. 59% of accountants make several financial errors per month.
    Gartner, controllership survey press release, 2024. 497 people working in the controllership function, surveyed July 2023. Source
18. 73% of accountants say their workload has increased in the past three years because of new regulations; 82% say economic volatility has increased demands on their work.
    Gartner, controllership survey press release, 2024. 497 people working in the controllership function, surveyed July 2023. Source
19. 37% of CFOs do not completely trust the accuracy of their organisation's financial data.
    BlackLine survey, conducted by Censuswide, 2024. 660 C-level and 679 finance and accounting professionals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore; BlackLine sells finance automation software. Source
20. 50% of senior finance and accounting professionals do not fully trust the financial data they work with.
    BlackLine survey, conducted by Censuswide, 2024. 660 C-level and 679 finance and accounting professionals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore; BlackLine sells finance automation software. Source
21. 68% say manual work leaves their organisation vulnerable to errors that could undermine business decision-making.
    BlackLine survey, conducted by Censuswide, 2024. 660 C-level and 679 finance and accounting professionals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore; BlackLine sells finance automation software. Source
22. 17% of FP&A survey respondents report best-in-class or advanced data quality, down from a five-year peak of 23% in 2022.
    FP&A Trends Survey 2025, sponsored by OneStream, 2025. 459 finance professionals across industries and regions. Source

Restatements

23. 402 financial restatements were announced by SEC registrants in 2022, down from 858 in 2013.
    Center for Audit Quality, Financial Restatement Trends in the United States: 2013-2022, 2024. SEC registrants, Audit Analytics data, 5,793 restatements 2013-2022. Source
24. 30% of restatements from 2013 to 2022 cited accruals, reserves and estimation, the most frequently cited issue.
    Center for Audit Quality, Financial Restatement Trends in the United States: 2013-2022, 2024. SEC registrants, Audit Analytics data, 5,793 restatements 2013-2022. Source
25. 3% of all restatements from 2013 to 2022 implicated fraud (7% of Item 4.02 restatements).
    Center for Audit Quality, Financial Restatement Trends in the United States: 2013-2022, 2024. SEC registrants, Audit Analytics data, 5,793 restatements 2013-2022. Source
26. ~3% per year is the rate at which "Big R" restatements (those that withdraw reliance on prior statements) occurred from 2005 to 2024.
    PCAOB, Data Points: Financial Restatements and Auditor Turnover, 2025. SEC registrants 2005-2024, Audit Analytics data; Big R = restatement disclosed in Form 8-K Item 4.02. Source
27. 29% of companies with Big R restatements had changed auditor in the preceding year, against an 11% auditor-change rate across all companies.
    PCAOB, Data Points: Financial Restatements and Auditor Turnover, 2025. SEC registrants 2005-2024, Audit Analytics data; Big R = restatement disclosed in Form 8-K Item 4.02. Source

AI and automation in finance

28. 59% of finance leaders report using AI in their finance function in 2025, against 58% in 2024 and 37% in 2023.
    Gartner, 2025 AI in Finance Survey press release, 2025. 183 CFOs and senior finance leaders, surveyed May-June 2025. Source
29. 49% of finance functions using AI apply it to knowledge management, the most common use case; 37% use it for accounts payable automation and 34% for error and anomaly detection.
    Gartner, 2025 AI in Finance Survey press release, 2025. 183 CFOs and senior finance leaders, surveyed May-June 2025. Source
30. 91% of respondents reported low or moderate impact from AI initially; 16% have no AI implementations planned for the coming year.
    Gartner, 2025 AI in Finance Survey press release, 2025. 183 CFOs and senior finance leaders, surveyed May-June 2025. Source
31. 84% of finance organisations have implemented or plan to implement AI, yet only 7% report a high or very high impact.
    Gartner, Finance Symposium press release, 2026. June 2025 survey of 183 CFOs. Source
32. 72% of companies are piloting or selectively using AI in financial reporting, and 10% have adopted it widely.
    KPMG International, AI in financial reporting and audit (KPMG Malaysia release), 2024. Financial reporting executives and board members at 1,800 companies in six industries and 10 countries. Source
33. 87% of CFOs say AI will be extremely or very important to their finance department's operations in 2026.
    Deloitte, Q4 2025 CFO Signals survey, 2026. 200 CFOs at North American companies with US$1bn+ revenue, surveyed 14 Nov - 7 Dec 2025, published 13 Jan 2026. Source
34. 50% of CFOs name digital transformation of finance as their top priority for 2026; 54% say integrating AI agents into finance will be a transformation priority.
    Deloitte, Q4 2025 CFO Signals survey, 2026. 200 CFOs at North American companies with US$1bn+ revenue, surveyed 14 Nov - 7 Dec 2025, published 13 Jan 2026. Source
35. 18% of FP&A survey respondents use generative AI and 8% use predictive analytics.
    FP&A Trends Survey 2025, sponsored by OneStream, 2025. 459 finance professionals across industries and regions. Source
36. 42% cite data quality issues and 42% a lack of appropriate skills as the main barriers to using data in finance, with 40% citing difficulty integrating multiple sources (what ACCA calls a "triangle of frustration").
    ACCA and CA ANZ, Enabling finance insight: bridging skills and data gaps for AI-enabled finance, 2026. Global survey of 1,600 finance professionals. Source

Staffing and the accounting pipeline

37. 1,595,200 jobs were held by accountants and auditors in the US in 2025; the median annual wage was $83,680 in May 2025.
    US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Accountants and Auditors, 2026. United States; 2025 employment and pay, 2025-35 projections. Source
38. 115,300 openings for accountants and auditors are projected each year, on average, from 2025 to 2035; employment is projected to grow 5%.
    US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Accountants and Auditors, 2026. United States; 2025 employment and pay, 2025-35 projections. Source
39. 55,152 accounting bachelor's and master's degrees were awarded in the US in 2023-2024, down 6.6% on the prior year.
    AICPA 2025 Trends report, via Journal of Accountancy, 2025. United States; 2023-2024 academic year and CPA Exam pipeline. Source
40. 28,082 new candidates entered the CPA Exam pipeline in 2024, after 42,626 in 2023, the highest figure since 2016.
    AICPA 2025 Trends report, via Journal of Accountancy, 2025. United States; 2023-2024 academic year and CPA Exam pipeline. Source

Where sources disagree

• Close speed is measured in different units. APQC counts calendar days from trial balance to consolidated statements across 2,300 organisations (data published 2018); Ledge counts business days in a 2025 survey of 100 finance professionals. Ledge's "six or more business days" for half of teams and APQC's 6.4-calendar-day median are not directly comparable, and APQC's newer benchmarks are for members only.
• AI adoption depends on the definition. Gartner's 59% counts finance functions using AI at all (183 leaders, 2025). KPMG's 72% counts companies piloting or selectively using AI in financial reporting (1,800 companies, 2024), and only 10% had adopted it widely. On impact, Gartner adds that only 7% of finance organisations report a high or very high impact from AI.
• Restatement counts depend on scope. The CAQ counts every restatement by SEC registrants (402 in 2022, a long decline from 858 in 2013). The PCAOB data point covers only Big R restatements, which ran at around 3% a year over 2005 to 2024.
• Vendor surveys. Ledge and BlackLine sell finance automation software and the FP&A Trends survey is sponsored by OneStream. Their figures are reported as published, with the sample shown, so you can weigh them accordingly.

Methodology

We included a statistic only if the figure appears on the source's own page or report, and we quote it as the source states it, without rounding. Sources are professional bodies (ACCA, AICPA, APQC, CAQ), regulators and statistics agencies (PCAOB, US Bureau of Labor Statistics), research and advisory firms (Gartner, Deloitte, KPMG, FP&A Trends) and two software vendors whose surveys publish their sample. Two sources are cited through a publisher because the original is members-only or a summary: APQC's close benchmark as reported in CFO.com's Metric of the Month column (2018), and the AICPA's 2025 Trends report as reported by the AICPA's Journal of Accountancy. Any other figure we could find only second-hand, such as several UK survey results carried by trade press without a link to the original, was left out. Most sources are US or global; few UK-only figures met that bar. All links were checked on 10 October 2026.

Sources

1. APQC General Accounting Open Standards Benchmarking, via CFO.com "Metric of the Month" (2018). 2,300 organisations; calendar days from running the trial balance to completed consolidated statements. https://www.cfo.com/news/metric-of-the-month-cycle-time-for-monthly-close/659297/
2. Ledge, Month-End Close Benchmarks for 2025 (2025). Survey of 100 finance professionals at companies from 51 to 10,000+ employees (SaaS/technology, healthcare, manufacturing); Ledge sells finance operations software. https://www.ledge.co/content/month-end-close-benchmarks-for-2025
3. FP&A Trends Survey 2025, sponsored by OneStream (2025). 459 finance professionals across industries and regions. https://fpa-trends.com/sites/default/files/docs/FPA-Trends-Survey-2025-OneStream.pdf
4. BlackLine survey, conducted by Censuswide (2024). 660 C-level and 679 finance and accounting professionals in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore; BlackLine sells finance automation software. https://investors.blackline.com/news-releases/news-release-details/nearly-40-cfos-do-not-completely-trust-their-organizations
5. Gartner, controllership survey press release (2024). 497 people working in the controllership function, surveyed July 2023. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-21-gartner-survey-shows-that-a-third-of-accountants-make-several-error-per-weeo-due-to-capacity-constraints
6. Center for Audit Quality, Financial Restatement Trends in the United States: 2013-2022 (2024). SEC registrants, Audit Analytics data, 5,793 restatements 2013-2022. https://thecaq.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/caq-financial-restatement-trends-us-2013-2022_2024-06.pdf
7. PCAOB, Data Points: Financial Restatements and Auditor Turnover (2025). SEC registrants 2005-2024, Audit Analytics data; Big R = restatement disclosed in Form 8-K Item 4.02. https://pcaobus.org/resources/staff-publications/data-points/data-points--financial-restatements-and-auditor-turnover
8. Gartner, 2025 AI in Finance Survey press release (2025). 183 CFOs and senior finance leaders, surveyed May-June 2025. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-11-18-gartner-survey-shows-finance-ai-adoption-remains-steady-in-2025
9. Gartner, Finance Symposium press release (2026). June 2025 survey of 183 CFOs. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-06-08-gartner-says-cfos-need-structured-finance-ai-roadmaps
10. KPMG International, AI in financial reporting and audit (KPMG Malaysia release) (2024). Financial reporting executives and board members at 1,800 companies in six industries and 10 countries. https://kpmg.com/my/en/media-press-releases/2024/07/kpmg--99-percent-of-organizations-expected-to-adopt-ai-in-financ.html
11. Deloitte, Q4 2025 CFO Signals survey (2026). 200 CFOs at North American companies with US$1bn+ revenue, surveyed 14 Nov - 7 Dec 2025, published 13 Jan 2026. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/about/press-room/deloitte-q4-2025-cfo-signals-survey.html
12. ACCA and CA ANZ, Enabling finance insight: bridging skills and data gaps for AI-enabled finance (2026). Global survey of 1,600 finance professionals. https://www.accaglobal.com/policy-and-insights/reports/2026/enabling-finance-insight.html
13. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Accountants and Auditors (2026). United States; 2025 employment and pay, 2025-35 projections. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm
14. AICPA 2025 Trends report, via Journal of Accountancy (2025). United States; 2023-2024 academic year and CPA Exam pipeline. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2025/oct/the-accounting-graduate-pipeline-where-do-things-stand/