Fixing the Financial Close Process  Financial executives work to
rehabilitate the dysfunctional close-to-disclose process by
highlighting efficiency, standardization and streamlining.
While most financial organizations have found ways to navigate
the convoluted financial close-to-disclose process, it still
remains a time-consuming, headache-inducing processbut one that
has to be done. However, companies can make the process easier
by streamlining efforts, working on the human element and
investing in automation software.  For decades, financial
departments have attempted to revise the the close-to-report
cycle, which requires public companies to follow frequently
stiff Securities and Exchange Commission requirements at both
quarter end and year end. Business executives are hoping to
change the job from an elaborate set of processes to a timely,
efficient streamlined one. In fact, in a survey from APQC, which
gathered responses from 145 senior finance executives from the
U.S., Europe and Asia, 75 percent of o