According to PwC’s Finance Effectiveness Benchmarking report, leading organizations take less than three days to close. They also have fewer errors for first-time processing of journal entries, and they spend an average of three times more effort on reporting and analytics for improved business performance. For many finance companies, accelerating the close is an ongoing challenge. In this episode, host Adam Boutros sits down with Jill Satre, a partner in Risk Assurance Services at PwC Canada and Marino Fremis, Finance Transformation Lead at PwC Canada, to explore the compliance processes that can slow down the close and opportunities for improvement to ultimately deliver more value to the business. We offer tips for speeding up the process without compromising on quality, and why accelerating the close is such a crucial opportunity for finance companies. 

00:12- Adam introduces the theme of today's episode: accelerating the close

00:34- Adam introduces today's guests: Jill and Marino

00:48- Jill and Marino provide background on what they do at PwC

02:15- Marino dives into the meaning of "accelerating the close" and what it means to him

03:22- Jill explores the role of compliance in the close process

04:47- Marino discusses opportunities that usually have the biggest impact

06:17- Jill and Marino discuss how companies can get deeper insights for running their businesses by reimagining their compliance processes.

08:10- Marino offers his take on where companies should start with accelerating the close

09:34- Jill and Marino discuss strategies for working with organizations that help them through change management

11:29- Jill shares her final thoughts on accelerating the close

12:11- Adam's closing reflections