Closing the books is more than just an end-of-month ritual. For many finance teams, it’s a race against time, juggling spreadsheets, reconciliations, and approvals while maintaining accuracy and compliance.
Missed deadlines, manual errors, and last-minute surprises aren’t just frustrating, they can ripple across reporting, decision-making, and stakeholder confidence.
That is why financial close automation has become a game-changer. Streamlining reconciliations, journal entries, approvals, and reporting allows finance teams to move faster, reduce errors, and focus on insights rather than tedious manual work.
But not all solutions are created equal. Choosing the wrong vendor can turn what should be a smooth, stress-free close into a headache.
In this guide we’ll walk you through the essential questions to ask when evaluating a financial close automation vendors, helping you separate hype from real value.
Key Questions to Ask Your Financial Close Automation Vendor Before You Buy
- How does the solution handle account reconciliations?
- Can the platform manage intercompany eliminations?
- How does it manage journal entries and approvals?
- Is the platform real-time or batch-based?
- Does the solution support regulatory compliance and audit readiness?
- How flexible is reporting and analytics?
- How does the platform support month-end and year-end processes?
- Can it handle exceptions and anomalies automatically?
- How well does the vendor support implementation and ongoing training?
- What is the total cost of ownership and ROI?
- Does the solution leverage AI or machine learning?
- How scalable and future-proof is the solution?
- How does the solution support collaboration across finance teams?
- Does it support multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation?
- How does it facilitate continuous improvement of the close process?
1) How does the solution handle account reconciliations?
Reconciliations are the central piece of closing the books. Automation should minimize manual effort while ensuring accuracy.
Ask:
- Does the solution automate reconciliation across bank, sub-ledger, and intercompany accounts?
- Can it flag discrepancies and provide actionable insights?
- Does it support multi-currency and multi-entity reconciliations?
Automated reconciliations save time, reduce errors, and give your finance team confidence in the numbers. DOKKA’s AI-driven reconciliation module streamlines the month-end process, reducing the stress. It also provides audit-ready documentation and customizable dashboards, allowing teams to monitor reconciliation progress in real time and resolve discrepancies before closing.
2) Can the platform manage intercompany eliminations?
Intercompany transactions are notoriously complex. A financial close system should simplify consolidation across multiple subsidiaries.
Ask:
- Can the system automatically identify and eliminate intercompany transactions?
- Does it handle multi-entity consolidation and currency translation?
- How does it track intercompany disputes or mismatches?
DOKKA ensures intercompany balances are automatically reconciled and eliminated during consolidation, reducing manual work. It maintains a full audit trail of intercompany adjustments, helping multinational organizations stay compliant while closing faster.
3) How does it manage journal entries and approvals?
Manual journal entries are error-prone and can delay the close process. Automation should make the process faster, more transparent, and compliant.
Ask:
- Can journal entries be automatically generated from reconciliations or other sources?
- Are approvals configurable based on role, department, or transaction type?
- How is a full audit trail maintained for internal or external reviews?
DOKKA allows finance teams to automate recurring and complex journal entries while maintaining strict audit controls. Configurable approval workflows and AI suggestions reduce bottlenecks and ensure every entry is compliant and properly documented.
4) Is the platform real-time or batch-based?
Financial close automation works best when it provides real-time visibility rather than relying solely on month-end batch processing.
Ask:
- Can you view reconciliations, balances, and entries in real time?
- How quickly does the system process new data from the ERP or sub-ledgers?
- Are alerts or exceptions pushed immediately to relevant teams?
DOKKA’s solution provides real-time insights into financial data, helping teams identify and resolve issues faster. Continuous visibility allows finance teams to address discrepancies immediately, shortening the close cycle and improving reporting accuracy.
5) Does the solution support regulatory compliance and audit readiness?
Financial close is tightly linked to regulatory obligations. Your automation solution should make compliance easier, not harder.
Ask:
- Does the platform provide a complete audit trail of all entries, reconciliations, and approvals?
- Can you generate compliance reports for SOX, IFRS, GAAP, or local regulations?
- How does it store historical data and support retrieval during audits?
DOKKA provides robust compliance features, simplifying audits and reducing the risk of fines or penalties. All documentation and approval history is readily accessible, enabling your finance team to respond quickly to audit requests.
6) How flexible is reporting and analytics?
Automated reporting is valuable only if it is flexible enough to answer evolving business questions.
Ask:
- Can reports be customized for management, board, or investor needs?
- Are dashboards interactive, allowing drill-down into variances or exceptions?
- Can the system generate insights automatically using AI?
DOKKA offers dashboards and analytics tailored to finance teams, enabling proactive decision-making rather than reactive troubleshooting. It supports trend analysis and variance monitoring, helping executives identify potential financial risks before they escalate.
7) How does the platform support month-end and year-end processes?
Some vendors focus only on daily transactions and overlook challenges during close periods.
Ask:
- Does it streamline month-end reconciliations and journal entry posting?
- Can it handle year-end adjustments, accruals, and rollover processes?
- How does it manage approvals across multiple entities or departments during peak periods?
DOKKA’s platform reduces bottlenecks during high-pressure periods like month-end and year-end closes. It provides clear task tracking, automated reminders, and configurable workflows to keep the close process on schedule.
8) Can it handle exceptions and anomalies automatically?
Financial data often includes anomalies that require investigation. Manual handling slows the close.
Ask:
- Does the system flag mismatched transactions automatically?
- Can AI suggest resolutions or route issues to the correct user?
- How does the system track unresolved items?
DOKKA leverages AI to detect anomalies, reducing manual review and accelerating issue resolution. Teams can prioritize high-risk items and resolve discrepancies faster, ensuring the close is accurate and timely.
9) How well does the vendor support implementation and ongoing training?
The success of automation is not just software, it depends on adoption. So make sure you choose a vendor that offers a strong support.
Ask:
- What onboarding programs or implementation support are included?
- Are training resources provided for finance teams?
- Is ongoing support proactive or reactive?
DOKKA offers guided onboarding, live support, and ongoing education to ensure teams maximize their automation investment. Continuous training programs and dedicated support channels help finance teams stay current as processes evolve or regulations change.
10) What is the total cost of ownership and ROI?
Cost evaluation goes beyond software licenses. Consider long-term ROI, support, and additional modules.
Ask:
- Are there hidden fees for additional users, modules, or integrations?
- How long until measurable time and cost savings are realized?
- Does the vendor provide ROI examples or benchmarks?
DOKKA provides clear pricing and helps clients calculate realistic ROI from automated close processes. Transparent total cost of ownership ensures organizations can budget effectively and measure the benefits of faster, more accurate closes.
11) Does the solution leverage AI or machine learning?
Modern financial close automation increasingly relies on AI for faster and more accurate processes.
Ask:
- Does the system automatically categorize transactions and suggest journal entries?
- Can it learn from past reconciliations to improve accuracy over time?
- How transparent is the AI decision-making process?
DOKKA’s AI-driven approach reduces repetitive work and continuously improves the accuracy of reconciliations and postings. Machine learning capabilities help the system adapt to changing accounting patterns and reduce manual oversight over time.
12) How scalable and future-proof is the solution?
As organizations grow, automation solutions should grow with them.
Ask:
- Can the platform handle additional entities, users, or geographic locations?
- Are updates and new features included automatically?
- How adaptable is the system to regulatory or process changes?
DOKKA scales with your business, ensuring automation continues to provide value as complexity increases. Regular feature updates and cloud-based flexibility make it easier to evolve processes without switching systems.
13) How does the solution support collaboration across finance teams?
Financial close often involves multiple departments and stakeholders. Efficient collaboration reduces bottlenecks.
Ask:
- Can users collaborate within the platform without external tools?
- Are comments, approvals, and notifications tracked centrally?
- Does it support cross-entity or multi-department collaboration workflows?
DOKKA enables seamless collaboration across finance teams with built-in communication and approval workflows. Every stakeholder stays aligned, reducing delays caused by miscommunication or disconnected processes.
14) Does it support multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation?
Global organizations require automation that handles complex financial structures.
Ask:
- Can the platform consolidate data across subsidiaries and currencies automatically?
- Are foreign currency adjustments handled correctly?
- Can consolidated reports be generated quickly for management or external stakeholders?
DOKKA supports multi-entity and multi-currency consolidation, simplifying global financial reporting. Teams can close faster and generate reliable consolidated financial statements with minimal manual intervention.
15) How does it facilitate continuous improvement of the close process?
Automation should optimize processes over time, not just replicate manual work.
Ask:
- Does the platform provide analytics to identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies?
- Can it recommend process improvements based on historical data?
- Are workflow adjustments easy to implement without disrupting operations?
DOKKA helps organizations continuously improve the close process with actionable insights and recommendations. Learning from historical patterns enables finance teams to refine workflows, reduce errors, and progressively shorten cycle times.
Why DOKKA is the Best Choice for Financial Close Automation
Selecting the right vendor can make the difference between a smooth, stress-free close and a process full of delays, errors, and frustration.
DOKKA stands out because it combines powerful AI-driven automation, deep ERP integrations, robust reconciliation and consolidation capabilities, and a user-friendly platform that grows with your organization.
From multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation to audit-ready documentation and continuous process improvement, DOKKA empowers finance teams to close faster, reduce risk, and focus on insights rather than manual work.
With DOKKA, you are not just adopting software; you are partnering with a solution designed to optimize every step of the financial close. Finance teams gain real-time visibility, automated workflows, and actionable analytics that streamline month-end and year-end processes while maintaining full compliance.
Experience a faster, smarter, and more reliable financial close.
Book a demo with DOKKA and discover how automation can transform your finance operations.
