Month-End Close Procedures Improvement by Using the Army's After-Action Review Process

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Episode  #149: Month-end doesn’t have to feel like a rolling emergency. We walk through a proven, blame-free framework—the U.S. Army’s After Action Review—to turn your close into a reliable, data-driven process that gets faster and more accurate every cycle. If your calendar is packed and bottlenecks keep returning, this is the practical reset your team needs.

We start by reframing performance reviews as a leadership habit that compounds. Then we break down the AAR into three simple stages: plan, prepare, execute. You’ll learn how to define clear success metrics for close, set roles and handoffs, and create a safe environment where facts matter more than opinions. We show how to gather evidence during the cycle—timelines, task logs, error heat maps—so the review pinpoints root causes and turns observations into action.

From there, we dive into the backbone of a modern close: standardized processes, integrated systems, and tools that truly enable collaboration. Expect concrete ideas for automating data flow, reducing manual entries, and mapping end-to-end dependencies. We share ways to align accounting and FP&A early, cut late reclasses, and measure progress with a focused KPI set: close duration, on-time tasks, aged reconciliations, and post-close entries.

Episode outline:

1. The U.S. Army’s After-Action Review process,
2. Let’s always focus on processes, systems, and tools, and
3. Using the After-Action Review system to evaluate our month-end close procedures.

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Episode Transcript

Stephen McLain (00:05):
You have a process to review how well your
team performed during projects,critical tasks and even for
month end close, reviewing teamperformance is often overlooked
because of the time availableeach day, we are all scrambling
for more capacity. Our calendarsare filled with meetings and

(00:28):
requirements. That's how ithappens in finance and
accounting. However, reviewingteam performance must be a key
leader task for it. Can identifywhere in your processes, systems
and tools that weaknesses orobstacles may hurt accuracy and
timeliness, but also causes muchfrustration on your team. I am

(00:52):
an advocate for using the USArmy's formal process to review
team performance, so I will showyou how for month end close over
the next several minutes, thatyou can use this to improve your
process. Please enjoy theepisode. Welcome to the finance
leader podcast where leadershipis bigger than the numbers. I am

(01:14):
your host. Stephen McLain, thisis the podcast for developing
leaders in finance andaccounting. Please consider
following me on Twitter,Facebook, Instagram and
LinkedIn. My usernames and thelinks are in this episode's show
notes. You can also followfinance leader Academy on
LinkedIn. Thank you. This isepisode number 149, I will be

(01:36):
talking about how to effectivelyuse the Army's after action
review process to evaluate andto improve the month end close,
and I will highlight thefollowing topics. Number one,
the US Army's after actionreview process. Number two,
let's always focus on processes,systems and tools. And three,

(01:57):
using the after action reviewsystem to evaluate our month end
close procedures. Are youcurrently reviewing the
performance of your team aftercompleting a key project or
complex task requiring more thanone team member? Most will say
that there's no time to look athow we did. And I would say that
I understand that you have acapacity issue, but a key

(02:21):
component of leadership is tocapture what was done right and
what could have been donebetter, so that for the next
project you can apply thoselessons learned. The idea is to
keep improving, but to do sorequires commitment and an
investment in time. The lasttime I shared episode number
148, from comfort to excellence,aligning finance teams for real

(02:46):
impact, comfort feels safe, butit quietly drains our careers
and our teams. In the episode Ishow how alignment, clear
standards and betterconversations can turn routine
finance work into strategicresults. Please go back to
listen to that episode in caseyou missed it. Now, evaluating

(03:08):
performance as a team providesthe opportunity to seek input
from everyone involved. It helpsto accept personal
accountability, to improve inthe next project and to improve
our overall teamwork,collaboration, our understanding
of the problem to be solved, andmany other team oriented work

(03:28):
activities, one of our mostimportant processes is month end
close. We all know what it meansto start the close process. It
usually will take half of ourmonth, and it requires
meticulous planning andcoordination. It takes a
deliberate process to close thebooks in a timely and effective

(03:49):
manner and in accordance withgap and applicable laws, plus
complying with our own internalprocedures. Month end close can
be clunky and time intensive,while also trying to conduct
your normal tasks that arerequired every day and every
week. Many of you know that myfirst full career was in the US

(04:13):
Army, more than 20 years onactive duty, we would evaluate
every team exercise, every majorproject and every training
event, evaluating teamperformance is part of the
culture of the army. We want tobe better. We need to improve.
Because what our country and ourallies ask us to do every day,

(04:35):
if it was a collective event, wehonestly evaluated that event
for our performance so we canfigure out how to do it better,
how to communicate better, andwhat training we needed to
improve on what resources weremissing or inadequate, and much
more, we looked at how weplanned the event, how we
prepared for it, and how weexecuted. So we will use the

(04:58):
simple format of plan, prepare.
Prepare and execute, to look atthe exercise, training, event or
operation we just performed withthe focus on improving for the
next time, please subscribe tothe podcast on the platform you
are currently listening to, andalso please subscribe to my
weekly email. What we want to dois to create an environment of

(05:18):
continuous improvement, toinvest the time and effort to
ensure we can perform our keytasks to the best of our ability
as a team and as individuals.
Once our staff is trained andwell coordinated, we need to
review what other resources wemay need or upgrade the
resources we currently have. Iam always supportive of the team

(05:42):
and the individual who wants toimprove. We never embrace
complacency and we never settlefor doing just a good job. We
look at ways to be better in ourprocesses, in our methodology,
in our skills level, and withinthe context of the resources we
do have now, let's talk abouthow to effectively use the

(06:03):
Army's after action review inmonth end close to improve the
process. Number one, what is theUS Army's after action review
process? The after action reviewis a structured professional
discussion conducted after amission, a training event or
operation to analyze whathappened, why it happened, and

(06:24):
how to sustain or improve futureperformance. It promotes shared
learning, rather than blame orcritique, and reinforces
strengths while addressingdeficiencies in the plan phase
of the US Army's after actionreview process leaders prepare
the foundation for an effectiveand focused discussion by

(06:45):
defining the purpose, scope andlogistics of the review. This
phase begins immediately afteror even during a training event
or mission, when facilitatorsidentify what specific actions
or objectives will be reviewed,who will participate and what
resources or data are needed tosupport the discussion the

(07:05):
leader reviews the event'straining objectives, collects
key observations, gathers inputfrom participants and prepares
visual aids or performance data.
A critical part of this phase isselecting a neutral, comfortable
environment that encouragesopen, honest communication,
without fear of blame,experiences into actionable
improvements for futureperformance. In the Prepare

(07:27):
phase, the leader organizes thematerials, data and environment
needed to conduct an effectiveand meaningful review.
Preparation involves collectingand validating key information
about the events, such astimelines, mission, objectives,
results achieved, and anyrelevant performance metrics to
ensure the discussion is factbased rather than opinion

(07:50):
driven. The facilitatoridentifies major events,
decision points and outcomes tohelp structure the review flow
and develops discussion aidslike charts or slides that
visually reinforce Key learningpoints
in the execute phase of the USArmy's after action review

(08:10):
process, the facilitator leadsthe structured discussion that
allows participants to analyzewhat happened, why it happened,
and how performance can beimproved for future tasks. This
phase begins with setting thetone, reinforcing that this
process is learning, focused andnon punitive, and reviewing the

(08:32):
mission, objectives and the planversus actual outcomes. The
facilitator guides the groupthrough a chronological or event
based review, encouraging openparticipation from all
perspectives, key questions suchas, what was supposed to happen,
what actually happened? Why didit happen? And what can we do

(08:52):
better next time drive thediscussion, the facilitator
ensures facts are separated fromopinions, lessons are clearly
identified, and the conversationremains respectful and focused.
By the end of the execute phase,the group has collaboratively
identified successes, rootcauses of shortfalls and

(09:13):
actionable steps forimprovement, turning experience
into collective learning. Numbertwo, let's always focused on
processes, systems and tools, awell managed month end close is
one of the most criticalresponsibilities in any
organization. It delivers thefinancial integrity leadership
depends on for accurate decisionmaking. Yet for many accounting

(09:37):
teams, the close can still feellike a race against time marked
by late nights, manual entriesand reconciliation bottlenecks,
improving processes, systems andtools can transform the
recurring cycle into astreamlined, predictable and
value driven operation thatstrengthens both efficiency and

(09:59):
confidence. Evidence infinancial results. A successful
close starts with disciplined,standardized processes. Many
organizations still rely onlocalized knowledge,
spreadsheets and inconsistentprocedures across departments,
which then introduces errors,delays and rework. The first
step to improvement is to mapthe entire closed process end to

(10:23):
end, identifying every task,handoff and dependency. Even
with disciplined processes, aslow or fragmented system
environment can still limitperformance. Modernizing
financial systems improves bothaccuracy and speed by automating
data flow, integrating subledgers and reducing manual

(10:44):
journal entries. Tools bridgethe gap between processes and
technology, enabling the team towork smarter and not harder.
Finance teams should evaluatewhether their current tools
enable true collaborationbetween accounting fpna and
business partners, or simplyreplicate manual work digitally.

(11:05):
One of the most impactfulenhancements to the month end
close process is bridging thegap between accounting and fp
and a when both teams align,early sharing, preliminary
results, variance, expectationsand reclassifications, the close
becomes faster and moreinsightful. As we have heard
before, you can't improve whatyou don't measure. Establishing

(11:28):
closed performance metrics helpstrack progress over time and
drive more accountability.
Number three, how can we use theArmy's AAR system to evaluate
our month end close. The goal ofapplying the US Army's after
action review process tocorporate accounting is to
transform the month end closefrom a compliance exercise into

(11:51):
a continuous improvement cycle.
By using structured reflection,accountability and
collaboration, finance leaderscan make each close faster,
cleaner and more accurate, whilebuilding a culture of shared
learning and ownership for theplanning phase, here are a few

(12:12):
suggestions to considerreviewing. Did we define clear
success metrics for the closeprocess? For example, close by
day five, zero post, closedjournal entries or even full
reconciliation? Did we identifykey participants, such as
accounting managers, staffaccountants, fpna liaisons and

(12:33):
IT support now? What aboutestablishing a closed calendar
and document dependencies? Didwe communicate expectations
early to clarify roles, handoffsand also checkpoints now for the
prep phase, here are a few areasto review. Did you track timing

(12:53):
and completion of each closedtask? Did you document
bottlenecks, delays or issues asthey occurred. Did you record
communication gaps or unclearownership? What about capturing
positive deviations orimprovements observed during the
cycle now for the execute phasewithin three to five business

(13:15):
days after the close conduct anafter action review meeting with
all the participants after thereview process is completed,
ensure you develop a plan tointegrate the findings into next
month's month end close process.
Now, due to the complexity ofmonth end close, the Army's
after action review process isperfect to review how we can do

(13:36):
it better so we are preparedeach month, the month end
process is our most complex andrecurring super event, involving
nearly everyone in fpna andaccounting. So that's why it is
so fitting to have a reviewprocess to find areas for
improvement, now for actiontoday. Does your organization

(13:56):
have a formal way to reviewmonth end process, if not,
consider using the US Army'safter action review process to
review what happened and whatcould be better. The idea is to
have a continuous improvementenvironment so we all get better
at the jobs and processes wehave. Today I talked about how
to effectively use the Army'safter action review and month

(14:20):
end close to improve theprocess, and I highlighted the
following points. Number one,the US Army's after action
review process. Number two,let's always focus on systems,
processes and tools. And three,using the after action review
system to evaluate our month endclose procedures. There are some

(14:41):
amazing benefits you can achievefrom using the Army's after
action review process everytime, which include accelerated
closed process by identifyingand removing recurring delays,
improved accuracy with fewerpost close adjustments, greater.
Accountability as each teammember owns their process,

(15:01):
stronger collaboration andlearning culture and a shift
from reactive problem solving toproactive improvement. I hope
today's episode can help youimprove and even design a better
month end close process for yourorganization. I hope you enjoyed
the finance leader podcast. Youcan find this episode wherever

(15:23):
you listen to podcast. If thisepisode helped you today, please
share with a colleague untilnext time. You can check out
more resources at finance leaderacademy.com and sign up for my
weekly updates so you don't missan episode of the podcast, and
now go lead your team, and I'llsee you next time. Thank you.
You.