--- title: "Month-end close benchmark checker: Days to close (2026)" description: "Free month-end close benchmark checker. Enter your days to close and entities to see your estimated score against Vena 2026, Ledge, APQC, and other surveys." url: https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/tools/close-benchmark-checker language: en --- [Free tools](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/tools) Free benchmark tool # Month-end close benchmark checker: How do your days to close compare? A month-end close benchmark compares your days to close with how long other companies take to close the books. Most companies close in about 5 to 6 business days, but the right comparison depends on how many entities you consolidate and how you count the days. This free checker turns your days and entity count into an estimated score on a blended survey curve, a modelled median, and a band, so you can show your CFO where your close ranks against published surveys. Below the checker you’ll find the benchmark tables, the scoring math, four worked examples, and every published survey with its year and sample size. For targets and timelines, see the guide to [month-end close time](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/month-end-close-time). - Free to use - No signup - Shows its math ## Your close Enter your days to close and entity count. Your result updates as you type. Days to close 0.5 to 30 Counted in Business days Calendar days Your clock ends when Legal entities consolidated Company details — Context only: these never change your score. Annual revenue Employees ERP or general ledger Company type Region Industry Source systems feeding the close People working on the close Optional Target days Business days, optional Your inputs stay in your browser. The share link holds inputs only. ## Your result Estimated score 28: Slower than most peers. Estimated score 28 on the blended survey curve Slower than most peers ### Slower than most peers. You’re 1.8 business days behind the typical 4.2-day close for companies with a single entity, about 21 days a year. The usual causes: waiting on other teams (56%), Excel-driven work (50%), and legacy systems (40%), per Ledge 2025. Modelled median, business days 4.2 Fastest-fifth line 2.5 Days behind the median (21 days a year) +1.8 Anchored: your entity count matches a published Vena 2026 group. No survey publishes days to close by ERP, so your ERP never changes your score. ### What each published source says - Ledge 2025 (n=100, business days): your close is in the 6–7 day bucket, with 23% of teams. - Vena 2026 (n=624, business days, mean): all companies 6.2; single-entity companies 4.7. - ISG 2023 (business days): 59% of companies close the month within 6 business days. You’re inside that group. - Sage 2023 (n=1,031, under 1,000 employees, working days, mean): US average 8. - FloQast 2026 (days, mean): the most AI-mature teams average 6.7 days, the least mature 8.7. How we scored you 1. Your input: 6 business days. 2. Entity factor f = 0.76 + (1.34 − 0.76) × ln(1) / ln(11) = 0.76. 0.76 = 4.7 / 6.2 and 1.34 = 8.3 / 6.2 (Vena 2026 means, business days); capped at 11 entities. 3. Adjusted days = 6.0 / 0.76 = 7.89 business days. 4. Blended curve at 7.89: Ledge 2025 76.0%, Velosio 2026 67.1%, average 71.5% close at or below. Estimated score = 100 − 71.5 = 28. It blends two vendor samples, so it is an estimate, not a percentile of all companies. 5. Modelled median = 5.54 × 0.76 = 4.2 business days. Fastest-fifth line = 3.30 × f = 2.5. Slowest-15% line = 10.15 × f = 7.7. 6. Assumptions: Ledge’s top bucket is spread to 15 business days and Velosio’s to 20; Velosio doesn’t state its unit, so the checker treats it as business days. Revenue, ERP, region, and industry add context lines only. The full curve, and the four worked examples, are [in the scoring section below](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/tools/close-benchmark-checker#how-the-checker-scores-you). Key takeaways - On our blended estimate from two surveys, the typical company closes the books in about 5.5 business days. Half of teams close within 5 business days (Ledge 2025), and Vena’s 2026 survey of 624 finance professionals puts the average at 6.2. - Entity count is the clearest published driver of close length: single-entity companies average 4.7 business days and groups with more than 10 entities average 8.3 (Vena 2026), so the checker adjusts your number before it scores you. - Every figure on this page carries its year, unit, and sample size where the source publishes one. On the blended survey curve, a 9-business-day close with 3 entities gets an estimated score of 23, 3.3 days behind its modelled median of 5.7. ## What is a month-end close benchmark? A month-end close benchmark, also called a financial close benchmark, is a published figure for how many days companies take to close the books after a period ends, used to judge whether your own days to close is fast, typical, or slow. - **Days to close** The number of days from the last day of the period until the books are locked and every entry is posted. Most surveys count business days. - **Benchmark** A survey result such as an average, a median, or a share of companies in each day range, with its year, sample size, and unit. - **Estimated score** The share of the blended survey curve you close faster than, after adjusting for your entity count. The curve blends two vendor samples, Ledge’s 100 finance professionals and Velosio’s 151 US ERP decision-makers at companies with $100M–$999M revenue, so the score is an estimate, not a percentile of all companies. Days to close is the most common speed measure for the [month-end close](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/month-end-close), but it’s [only one KPI](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/month-end-close-kpis). Track it next to accuracy measures such as post-close adjustments and reconciliation completion, because a fast close that gets reopened isn’t a fast close. ## How long does month-end close take on average? The typical month-end close takes about 5.5 business days on the checker’s blended 2026 curve. Vena’s 2026 survey of 624 US finance professionals puts the average at 6.2 business days, and Ledge’s 2025 survey found 50% of teams close within 5. Here’s how the main surveys describe the same question: | Survey | Year and sample | Unit | Result | | --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Vena (fielded by Centiment) | August 2026, 624 US finance and accounting professionals | Business days, mean | 6.2 days on average | | Ledge | Published April 2025, 100 finance professionals | Business days, share | 18% close in 1–3 days, 32% in 4–5, 23% in 6–7, 27% take more than 7 | | Velosio ERP study | 2026, 151 US ERP decision-makers at companies with $100M–$999M revenue | Days (unit not stated), share | 9% close in 1–3 days, 41% in 4–6, 36% in 7–10, 14% take longer | | ISG (Ventana Research) | Published December 2023 | Business days, share | 59% close the month within 6 days | | APQC | Live database of 11,223 organizations, checked November 7, 2026 | Calendar days from first trial balance, median | 6.0 days | The averages run higher than the medians because a long tail of slow closes pulls the mean up. Vena’s 6.2 is a mean, while the checker’s 5.5 is the midpoint of the blended curve. Both describe the same picture: most teams finish in the first or second week, and about a quarter take more than 7 business days. **Is a 10-business-day close too long?** For most companies, yes: it’s slower than about 85% of the blended survey curve before any adjustment. With more than 10 entities, it still trails about 69% of the curve, because large groups average 8.3 business days (Vena 2026). The guide to [month-end close time](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/month-end-close-time) covers realistic targets by team and how the days break down. ## Where does your close rank? How the checker scores you The checker converts your days to business days, divides by an entity factor built from Vena’s 2026 results, and places the result on a curve that averages Ledge’s 2025 and Velosio’s 2026 survey buckets. A 9-day close with 3 entities gets an estimated score of 23. The curve below is the reference for a typical company. It shows the blended share that closes in a given number of business days or fewer, and the estimated score at that number. | Business days | Ledge 2025, % at or below | Velosio 2026, % at or below | Blended, % at or below | Estimated score | | ------------- | ------------------------- | --------------------------- | ---------------------- | --------------- | | 1 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 96% | | 2 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 91% | | 3 | 18.0 | 9.0 | 13.5 | 87% | | 4 | 34.0 | 22.7 | 28.3 | 72% | | 5 | 50.0 | 36.3 | 43.2 | 57% | | 6 | 61.5 | 50.0 | 55.8 | 44% | | 7 | 73.0 | 59.0 | 66.0 | 34% | | 8 | 76.4 | 68.0 | 72.2 | 28% | | 9 | 79.8 | 77.0 | 78.4 | 22% | | 10 | 83.1 | 86.0 | 84.6 | 15% | | 12 | 89.9 | 91.2 | 90.5 | 9% | | 15 | 100.0 | 99.0 | 99.5 | 1% | The blended median is 5.54 business days, the 25th percentile is 3.78, and the 75th is 8.45. As a check, the curve puts 55.8% of companies within 6 business days, close to the 59% ISG reported in 2023. The score takes four steps: 1. **Convert to business days** If you count calendar days, multiply by 5/7. Seven calendar days become 5.0 business days. 2. **Find your entity factor** `f = 0.76 + 0.58 × ln(entities) ÷ ln(11)`, capped at 11 entities. The ends come from Vena’s 2026 means: 4.7 ÷ 6.2 = 0.76 for one entity and 8.3 ÷ 6.2 = 1.34 for more than 10. 3. **Adjust your days** Divide your business days by f, so a group isn’t scored against single-entity companies. 4. **Read the curve** Your estimated score is 100 minus the blended share at or below your adjusted days, rounded to a whole number. Your modelled median is 5.54 × f. Three assumptions sit behind the curve, and the checker shows all three. Ledge doesn’t publish the top of its “more than 7 days” bucket, so the curve spreads it evenly to 15 business days. Velosio’s top bucket is spread to 20 days. Velosio doesn’t say whether it counts business or calendar days, so the blend treats its figures as business days. Treat your result as a prompt to review your close, not a verdict: every benchmark here is a survey self-report, the sources use different clocks and units, and the curve and entity adjustment are our estimates. Example A 300-person SaaS company on NetSuite consolidates 3 entities and closes in 9 business days. Its entity factor is 0.76 + 0.58 × ln(3) ÷ ln(11) = 1.03, so its adjusted days are 9 ÷ 1.03 = 8.77. At 8.77 days, Ledge’s curve reads 79.0% and Velosio’s 75.0%, an average of 77.0%. Its estimated score is 23. Its modelled median is 5.54 × 1.03 = 5.7 business days, so it’s 3.3 days behind, or about 40 business days a year. Band: slower than most peers. Example A company with 2 entities on QuickBooks Online closes in 12 business days. Its factor is 0.93 and its adjusted days are 12.94, where the blended curve reads 93.3%. Its estimated score is 7, 6.9 days behind its 5.1-day modelled median, or about 82 days a year. Band: the slowest 15%. Example A single-entity company closes in 5 business days. Its factor is 0.76, so its adjusted days are 6.58 and the blended curve reads 61.7%. Its estimated score is 38. Five days sounds quick, but single-entity companies average 4.7 business days (Vena 2026), and its modelled median is 4.2. The gap is 0.8 days, or about 9 days a year. Band: slower than most peers, just below typical. Example A group with 15 entities closes in 10 business days. Its factor is capped at 1.34, so its adjusted days are 7.46 and the blended curve reads 68.9%. Its estimated score is 31, twice the 15 its raw 10 days would get. Its modelled median is 7.4 business days, a gap of 2.6 days, or about 31 days a year. Band: slower than most peers. | Example | Entities | Days | Factor | Adjusted days | Estimated score | Modelled median | Band | | ------------------------------- | -------- | ---- | ------ | ------------- | --------------- | --------------- | ---------------------- | | SaaS company on NetSuite | 3 | 9 | 1.03 | 8.77 | 23% | 5.7 | Slower than most peers | | QuickBooks Online, two entities | 2 | 12 | 0.93 | 12.94 | 7% | 5.1 | Slowest 15% | | Single entity | 1 | 5 | 0.76 | 6.58 | 38% | 4.2 | Slower than most peers | | Group of 15 entities | 15 | 10 | 1.34 | 7.46 | 31% | 7.4 | Slower than most peers | Each result lands in one of five bands: | Band | Estimated score | What it means | | ---------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Fastest fifth | 82% or more | You’re with the roughly 18% of teams that close in 3 business days or fewer (Ledge 2025). Protect accuracy and track post-close adjustments. | | Faster than most | 55%–81% | You beat your modelled median. The next gains come from [moving reconciliations and accruals into the month](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/continuous-close). | | Typical | 40%–54% | You’re within about a day of your modelled median. For a typical company, the fastest fifth is 2–3 business days away. | | Slower than most peers | 15%–39% | You’re behind your modelled median. In Ledge’s 2025 survey, the top blockers were waiting on other teams (56%), Excel-driven processes (50%), and legacy systems (40%). | | Slowest 15% | Under 15% | A close this long often traces to late cutoffs, manual [account reconciliation](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/account-reconciliation), and consolidation in spreadsheets. A three-week close (about 15 business days) is slower than nearly every company on the curve. | ## Month-end close benchmarks by number of entities Entity count is the clearest driver of close length in published data. Vena’s 2026 survey found single-entity companies average 4.7 business days and groups with more than 10 entities average 8.3, a gap of 3.6 days, or 77% longer. No public survey reports the entity counts in between, so the checker interpolates on a log scale between Vena’s two published groups. The log scale assumes each added entity adds less time than the one before; that’s our estimate, not a published finding. The table shows the factor and the peer lines for each entity count. | Entities | Entity factor | Modelled median (business days) | Fastest-fifth line | Slowest-15% line | Vena 2026 published mean | | ---------- | ------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------ | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | 1 | 0.76 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 7.7 | 4.7 | | 2 | 0.93 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 9.4 | Not published | | 3 | 1.03 | 5.7 | 3.4 | 10.4 | Not published | | 4 | 1.10 | 6.1 | 3.6 | 11.1 | Not published | | 5 | 1.15 | 6.4 | 3.8 | 11.7 | Not published | | 6 | 1.19 | 6.6 | 3.9 | 12.1 | Not published | | 7 | 1.23 | 6.8 | 4.1 | 12.5 | Not published | | 8 | 1.26 | 7.0 | 4.2 | 12.8 | Not published | | 9 | 1.29 | 7.2 | 4.3 | 13.1 | Not published | | 10 | 1.32 | 7.3 | 4.4 | 13.4 | Not published | | 11 or more | 1.34 | 7.4 | 4.4 | 13.6 | 8.3 | The modelled medians sit below Vena’s means because slow closes stretch an average more than a median. Results for 1 entity and 11 or more are anchored on published groups. Results for 2 to 10 are estimates, and the checker labels them that way. The factor stops at 11 entities because Vena reports “more than 10” as one group. Very large groups can run longer: Sage’s 2023 survey found US respondents averaged 18 entities and 8 working days. Much of the extra work is intercompany matching, eliminations, and currency translation, which the guide to [intercompany accounting](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/intercompany-accounting) walks through. ## Month-end close benchmarks by company size, revenue, and industry No major survey publishes days to close for every revenue band. The best current slice is Velosio’s 2026 study of 151 US ERP decision-makers at companies with $100M to $999M in revenue: 50% close within 6 days, 36% take 7 to 10, and 14% take longer. | Size slice | Survey | Unit | Result | | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | $100M–$999M revenue, US | Velosio 2026, 151 decision-makers | Days (unit not stated) | 9% in 1–3 days; 41% in 4–6; 36% in 7–10; 13% in 11–15; 1% over 15 | | Under 1,000 employees, 5 countries | Sage 2023, 1,031 finance professionals | Working days, mean | 7 days on average | | 51 to 10,000+ employees | Ledge 2025, 100 finance professionals | Business days, share | 50% close within 5 days | Size alone predicts less than you’d expect. Sage found larger companies within its under-1,000-employee sample slower, and entity count and the number of systems feeding the close likely explain much of that, since both tend to grow with size. That’s why the checker uses entities to adjust your score and uses revenue and employees only to pick the reference lines it shows you. Surveys don’t share one definition of company size: Ledge’s respondents run from 51 to over 10,000 employees, Sage’s sample is organizations under 1,000 employees, and Velosio defines its slice by revenue. A 500-employee company sits inside both Ledge’s and Sage’s samples. Region shifts the picture too. Sage’s 2023 averages were 8 working days in the US, 7 in Canada, and 6 in Australia, South Africa, and the UK. In iplicit’s August 2024 survey of 1,000 UK finance leaders at organizations with £1m to £10m turnover, 55% took more than a week. PwC’s March 2026 South-East Europe CFO Compass, with more than 230 finance leaders, found 61% close within 5 days (the report doesn’t state the unit). By industry, the only usable data point covers SaaS. Leapfin’s 2025 survey of about 200 SaaS, e-commerce, and marketplace teams found 51% close within 1 to 5 business days, while 55% of SaaS and subscription teams take 6 to 14 days. There’s no reliable published benchmark for professional services, consulting, manufacturing, or healthcare, so the checker tells you that rather than inventing one. ## Does your ERP change days to close? No published survey ranks NetSuite, SAP, QuickBooks, or Dynamics by days to close, so your ERP doesn’t change your score in the checker. Entities, cutoffs, source systems, and manual reconciliation work explain more of the gap than the ledger does. One survey describes a single ERP population: - **SAP** SAPinsider’s 2023 report, with 145 respondents from the SAP community, found an average close of 8 days. Respondents aren’t matched by size or entity count, so the average can’t isolate the system. What does show up in the data is the number of systems feeding the close. In Vena’s 2026 survey, 52% of teams pulling from 7 or 8 source systems spent half or more of the close manually consolidating data, against 15% of teams with 3 or 4 systems. Teams that gathered close data from email or shared documents averaged 6.8 business days, against 5.9 for everyone else. If you’re comparing close tools for your ledger, the guide to the [best month-end close software](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/best-month-end-close-software) compares the options. ## Business days or calendar days? How to count days to close Count business days from the last day of the period until the books are locked. Most recent surveys, including Ledge, Vena, ISG, and Sage, count business days. APQC counts calendar days from the first trial balance to consolidated statements. Five business days is about seven calendar days. Two choices change your number more than people expect: the unit and the clock. | Measure | Unit | Starts | Stops | Used by | | ----------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------ | | Survey days to close | Business (working) days | Last day of the period | Books locked, entries posted | Ledge, Vena, ISG, Sage | | APQC consolidation cycle time | Calendar days, weekends included | First trial balance run | Agreed consolidated statements | APQC measure 100162 | | Days to report | Business days | Last day of the period | Management pack or statements issued | Many internal scorecards | APQC’s clock starts later than the surveys’ clock, because subledger close and early reconciliations happen before the first trial balance. That’s why APQC’s 6.0-day median isn’t comparable with Vena’s 6.2: the units and the start points both differ. Six calendar days is about 4.3 business days, and that’s before you add the days spent getting to a trial balance. To measure days to close the same way every month: 1. **Fix your stop point** Use the date the period is locked with every entry posted. If you report the date the pack goes out, call it days to report and track it separately. 2. **Count working days** [Business day 1](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/month-end-close-calendar) is the first working day after period end. Skip weekends and the holidays your company observes. 3. **Log it monthly** Record the number every month, so you see a trend instead of one data point. In NetSuite, use the date you close the period on the Period Close Checklist as your stop point. In QuickBooks Online, use the date you set the closing date. In either system, the count is the number of business days between the period end date and that date. The [month-end close process](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/month-end-close-process) guide explains the steps that fill those days. ## What is a world-class month-end close time? A world-class month-end close is 3 business days or fewer. About 18% of teams reach it in Ledge’s 2025 survey, and 9% of $100M to $999M companies close in 1 to 3 days in Velosio’s 2026 study. Other sources draw the line in different units: - **APQC 2022 data** Across 10,201 organizations, top performers take 5 calendar days from the first trial balance to consolidation, the median is 6, and bottom performers take 10 (published May 2025). - **APQC 2018 publication** AI answers often repeat these older figures: the top 25% at 4.8 calendar days or fewer, a median of 6.4, and the bottom 25% at 10 or more. They come from about 2,300 organizations and were published in March 2018. - **SAPinsider 2023** A fifth of the 145 SAP-community respondents have cut their close to an average of 3 days. - **FloQast 2026** The most AI-mature teams average 6.7 days, against 8.7 for the least mature (published August 2026, unit not stated). On the checker, world-class is the fastest-fifth band: 3.3 business days or fewer for a typical company, 2.5 for a single entity, and 4.4 for a group with more than 10 entities. Teams that go further shift work out of the close window altogether, which the guide to the [zero-day close](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/faster-month-end-close) covers. ## Public vs private company close benchmarks Public companies have SEC deadlines for quarterly and annual reports, not monthly ones. A 10-Q is due 40 days after quarter end for large accelerated and accelerated filers and 45 days for everyone else. A 10-K is due 60, 75, or 90 days after year end. | Filer type | Form 10-Q (quarterly) | Form 10-K (annual) | | ----------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------ | | Large accelerated filer | 40 calendar days | 60 calendar days | | Accelerated filer | 40 calendar days | 75 calendar days | | All other registrants | 45 calendar days | 90 calendar days | Source: the SEC’s General Instructions for Form 10-Q and Form 10-K, checked November 7, 2026. Those deadlines leave weeks for review and audit, so they don’t by themselves force a faster monthly close. Ventana Research’s 2019 data, as reported by Debit & Co. in August 2026, found about half of companies legally obligated to file with a third party closed within 6 business days, against 55% of other companies. In ISG’s data, the quarterly close runs slower than the monthly close. ISG found 44% of companies closed the quarter within 6 business days in 2023, against 59% for the month. An often-quoted “69% vs 29%” figure from ISG’s 2022 research describes the quarterly close: 69% of companies using workflows closed the quarter within 6 business days, against 29% of those with limited automation. It isn’t a monthly benchmark. ## Every published close benchmark, with sources, years, and sample sizes Every figure the checker uses is dated and sized. Units differ by source, so compare like with like: business days with business days, and APQC’s calendar-day clock only with APQC. ### When, who, and in what unit | Source | Published | Sample | Unit | | ------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Vena (Centiment) | October 2026; fielded August 20–24, 2026 | 624 US finance and accounting professionals | Business days | | Ledge | April 2025, updated August 2026 | 100 finance professionals | Business days | | Velosio ERP study (Cascade Insights) | August 2026 | 151 US ERP decision-makers, $100M–$999M revenue | Days, unit not stated (treated as business days) | | APQC measure 100162 | Live, checked November 7, 2026 | 11,223 organizations | Calendar days | | APQC, 2022 data | May 2025 | 10,201 organizations | Calendar days | | APQC, via CFO’s Metric of the Month column | March 2018 | About 2,300 organizations | Calendar days | | ISG (Ventana Research) | December 2023 | Not stated | Business days | | ISG (Ventana Research) | July 2022 | Not stated | Business days | | Ventana Research 2019, via Debit & Co. | August 2026 | Not stated | Business days | | Sage, Close the Books (6th annual) | 2023 | 1,031 finance professionals, under 1,000 employees | Working days | | SAPinsider | December 2023; fielded July to October 2023 | 145 SAP-community respondents | Days, unit not stated | | FloQast, via CPA Practice Advisor | August 2026 | Not reported | Days, unit not stated | | iplicit | Fielded August 2024 | 1,000 UK finance leaders, £1m–£10m turnover | Days and weeks | | PwC, 3rd South-East Europe CFO Compass | March 2026 | 230+ finance leaders | Days, unit not stated | | BILL, via Accounting Today | December 2023; fielded October to December 2022 | 1,190 accounting professionals | Elapsed days and weeks | | Leapfin | 2025; fielded Q3 2025 | About 200 SaaS, e-commerce, and marketplace teams | Business days | | LiveFlow, via CFO Dive | May 2026 | Not stated | Days, unit not stated | | Trintech | October 2017 | 100+ finance professionals | Days, unit not stated | | SEC Forms 10-Q and 10-K | Checked November 7, 2026 | Rule | Calendar days after period end | ### What each measures, and how the checker uses it | Source | What it measures | Figures | How the checker uses it | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Vena (Centiment) | Mean | All 6.2; single entity 4.7; more than 10 entities 8.3; email or shared-doc teams 6.8 vs 5.9 | Entity factor and reference line | | Ledge | Share of teams | 1–3 days 18%; 4–5 32%; 6–7 23%; more than 7 27% | Half of the blended curve | | Velosio ERP study (Cascade Insights) | Share of companies | 1–3 days 9%; 4–6 41%; 7–10 36%; 11–15 13%; more than 15 1% | Half of the blended curve | | APQC measure 100162 | Median, first trial balance to consolidated statements | 6.0 | APQC clock comparison | | APQC, 2022 data | Group medians, first trial balance to consolidation | Top 5; median 6; bottom 10 | APQC clock bands | | APQC, via CFO’s Metric of the Month column | Quartiles, trial balance to consolidated statements | Top 25% 4.8 or fewer; median 6.4; bottom 25% 10 or more | Reference only (dated) | | ISG (Ventana Research) | Share of companies | Monthly close within 6 days 59%; quarterly 44% | Reference line and curve check | | ISG (Ventana Research) | Share of companies | Monthly within 6 days 59% (56% in a second ISG piece, August 2022); quarterly 40% (49% in 2019); quarterly, using workflows 69% vs 29% with limited automation | Reference only | | Ventana Research 2019, via Debit & Co. | Share of companies | About 50% of obligated filers vs 55% of others within 6 days | Public company line | | Sage, Close the Books (6th annual) | Mean | Overall 7; US 8; Canada 7; Australia 6; South Africa 6; UK 6 | Regional line | | SAPinsider | Mean | 8 days; a fifth averaged 3 | SAP line | | FloQast, via CPA Practice Advisor | Mean by AI maturity | Least mature 8.7; most mature 6.7 | Reference line | | iplicit | Share | More than 3 days 86%; more than 1 week 55%; more than 2 weeks 30%; more than 3 weeks 10% | UK line | | PwC, 3rd South-East Europe CFO Compass | Share | 61% within 5 days | EU line | | BILL, via Accounting Today | Share of respondents, time to do the month-end close | 62% take less than a week; 3% have a continuous close | Not used (a survey of accounting professionals, not a company benchmark) | | Leapfin | Share | 51% within 1–5 days; SaaS and subscription 55% take 6–14 days | SaaS line | | LiveFlow, via CFO Dive | Share, overlapping bands | Under 3 days 16%; 3–5 37%; 5–10 21%; over 10 16% | Not used (no sample size; bands overlap) | | Trintech | Share | 71% close in 1–6 days; 6% need more than 11 | Not used (dated) | | SEC Forms 10-Q and 10-K | Filing deadline | 10-Q 40 or 45 days; 10-K 60, 75, or 90 days | Public company line | Some widely repeated figures stay out of the checker. Gartner’s days-to-close benchmarks are behind a paywall with no public figures. An APQC and ScottMadden shared-services study of revenue bands isn’t publicly available to verify. A vendor table of close days by industry maps to no named survey. ## Why this checker is different from other close benchmarks This checker turns your days and entities into a dated, unit-normalized estimated score against published close surveys and shows its math, which no other free close tool reviewed for this page in November 2026 does. Other free tools, such as Aequo AP’s calculator and KORE1’s diagnostic, add up the days you enter for each phase, and CloseCore’s assessment scores your process maturity; none we found returns a score against dated surveys. APQC’s diagnostic does compare you with its benchmark measures, but it’s a members-only Excel file. Some benchmark articles repeat APQC’s 2018 figures without the year and mix calendar and business days in one table. Here, each source keeps its own unit, the entity adjustment is shown, and the assumptions are labeled. If your result is behind, start with the work that stretches the close: the [flux analysis](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/flux-analysis) and review cycle, and the reconciliations that wait on other teams. The guide to the [AI month-end close](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/blog/ai-month-end-close) covers which of those tasks software can now prepare before your team starts. If you also want a task list to work from, the [month-end close checklist builder](https://emptyspaces.ai/resources/tools/month-end-close-checklist) generates one for your team. ## How we approach it Our Close Agent prepares reconciliations, investigates exceptions, and proposes entries with support before your team starts, then sends each one to a reviewer. It reads from and posts approved entries to NetSuite, Oracle, SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central, and QuickBooks, reads from Odoo, and runs as SaaS in a dedicated AWS account we run for you, in your own AWS account, or on-premises. [Explore our Close Agent](https://emptyspaces.ai/product/close) [Book a working session](https://emptyspaces.ai/contact-us)