Four people closing the books, each working 40 reconciliations and close tasks a month at 45 minutes, spend about 1,584 hours a year on the close. At a loaded accountant wage, that comes to $83,000. In one vendor’s survey of 100 finance teams, half took six or more business days to close.
Your close staff spend about 1,584 hours ($82,842) a year on 160 reconciliations and close tasks a month, at 45 minutes each with 15% reopened after review. An agent that takes over 60% of the hands-on work gives back about 790 hours ($41,337) a year.
- Staff hours, per year: 1,584
- Hours per person on the close, per month: 33
- Full-time staff it takes: 0.8
- Of those, hours on reopened tasks: 144
- Cost per close task: $43.15
- Hours back with an agent, per year: 790
- Staff cost back with an agent, per year: $41,337
How the number is worked out.
The model counts hands-on minutes on close tasks: bank and card reconciliations, accruals, intercompany, subledger tie-outs, variance notes. It does not price the days of delayed reporting or the overtime around quarter end.
- 01Tasks a year. People on the close times tasks per person per month times 12. Ledge’s 2025 survey of 100 finance teams found cash reconciliation alone takes 20 to 50 hours a month, and 94% of teams run the close in Excel.
- 02Minutes each. A reconciliation that ties on the first pass takes less than one that does not. The default is 45 minutes. That is about four working days a month for each of four people. For scale, APQC’s median close takes 6 calendar days, and its top performers take 5.
- 03Reopened after review. Tasks a reviewer sends back: an unexplained difference, an accrual re-estimated, an intercompany balance that does not agree. The default reopens 15% at 30 minutes.
- 04What the time costs. Hours times the federal median wage for accountants and auditors, plus 30% for benefits and overhead. If bookkeepers do most of the close, use their median of $24.36.
- 05What automation leaves. An agent pulls the bank and card feeds, matches transactions, drafts the recurring entries and flags the differences. A person still reviews each reconciliation, and the model counts those minutes.
The defaults.
Dials you change are marked in colour. The last column says where each default comes from and what kind of source it is.
| Dial | Yours | Default | Where the default comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| People on the close | 4 | 4 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Reconciliations and close tasks per person per month | 40 | 40 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Minutes per task | 45 | 45 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Tasks reopened after review | 15% | 15% | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Minutes per reopened task | 30 | 30 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Hourly wage of the people closing | $40 | $40 | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025 Official |
| Benefits and overhead on top | 30% | 30% | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Hands-on time an agent takes over | 60% | 60% | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Human review per item after automation | 5 | 5 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
Sources.
The cycle-time benchmark is APQC’s, across 10,201 organizations. The effort and tooling figures come from a vendor survey of 100 finance professionals. The wages are federal.
Our defaults. We set task counts and minutes so the default close lands near APQC’s median rather than its bottom quartile. Replace them with the counts from your own close checklist. How we set defaults.
- JRW default. JRW, 2026. No public benchmark we trust. The number is a round figure in the range we see in engagements, chosen so the headline errs low. Replace it with your own. Source
- Accountants and auditors, median pay. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025. Median pay $40.23 an hour, $83,680 a year, May 2025. Before benefits and overhead. Source
Also consulted
- Month-end close benchmarks for 2025. Ledge, 2025. Survey of 100 finance professionals by a close-automation vendor: 50% take six or more business days to close, 18% close in three or fewer; cash reconciliation alone takes 20 to 50 hours a month; 94% use Excel in the close. Source
- Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks, median pay. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025. Median pay $24.36 an hour, $50,670 a year, May 2025. Before benefits and overhead. Source
Where the hours go.
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Reconciliations
Bank, card, payment processor, intercompany. An agent pulls the feeds, matches what matches, and hands a person only the differences with a proposed explanation. How we automate reconciliations.
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Recurring entries
Accruals, prepaids, depreciation, deferred revenue. The agent drafts them from last month’s schedule and the new invoices. A person approves the batch.
-
The waiting
Your team spends much of the close waiting on other departments for invoices and timesheets. An agent that chases them on day one shortens the calendar more than any faster reconciliation.
Questions.
- How long should a close take?
- APQC’s benchmark across 10,201 organizations: 5 calendar days for top performers, 6 median, 10 bottom. Ledge’s 2025 survey found half of teams take six or more business days and 18% close in three or fewer.
- Where do 40 tasks a month come from?
- It comes from our engagements; we found no published count. Each person on a close with a dozen bank and card accounts, intercompany, accruals and a subledger tie-out lands near it. Count your close checklist and put in your own.
- Why the accountant wage and not the bookkeeper wage?
- Reconciliations and accruals are usually reviewed by an accountant even when a bookkeeper prepares them. The federal medians are $40.23 an hour for accountants and auditors and $24.36 for bookkeeping clerks. Pick the one that does most of your close.
- Does this include the cost of closing late?
- No. The model prices staff minutes only. Decisions made on stale numbers, auditors waiting and quarter-end overtime are on top.
“Copy a link” puts your dials in the address, and we store nothing. A browser agent that supports WebMCP can run this calculator as estimate_month_end_close_cost. How the calculators work.
Start the close with the matching already done.
Tell us your accounting system and walk us through your close checklist, and we’ll show you which tasks an agent can take over. Fixed price per automation. If the first one misses the scope we agreed, you don’t pay.
Book a call (opens in a new tab)Related: How to shorten the month-end close · Month-end close statistics · AI month-end close automation