Key questions for a CFO to reflect on now, to ensure a smooth year-end:
Our latest survey of 530 UK CFOs found one-third (30%) have found a way to get through year-end with minimal additional stress. Not because they have unlimited resources or no complications, but because they've addressed challenges and built a robust plan early, before the pressure hit.
The good news is that the major internal pressure points are rarely new. Year-end issues tend to follow familiar, repeatable patterns: late data, last-minute adjustments, stretched teams, and systems that don’t quite connect. If you prepare now, you’ll face less challenges later.
In this insight, Jenny Mahal, Director in CFO Solutions, draws on her experience working within finance teams at every stage of year-end readiness to share the internal patterns that often cause problems, and four areas to reflect on now to make this year-end feel different.
What we hear: "My team had aligned timelines internally, but critical inputs from HR, operations, and commercial teams arrived late or changed at the last minute. As a result, the close stalled or had to move forward on incomplete assumptions. My team are frustrated.”
You’re not alone. 27% of CFOs surveyed selected ‘late or incomplete information from the wider business’ as a key barrier to a smoother year-end.
In practice, delivering a smooth year-end comes down to two things: planning and awareness. Setting expectations early, and sticking to them, is one of the highest-impact things you can do.
That means agreeing a clear timetable across finance, external advisors, and the wider business. This needs to be explicit about who is required, when, and what they’re expected to deliver. Crucially, those plans need to reflect reality. If payroll cycles, inventory cut-off, or major transformation projects are happening at the same time, the timetable needs to be built around that, not in spite of it.
That said, even the best-laid plans will need to flex.
As the audit progresses, new questions, judgement calls, or data gaps can emerge, so there needs to be an appetite to pivot in real time. High performing teams communicate regularly with their advisors, respond quickly to changing requirements, and adapt without losing control of the overall process.
The second challenge is often overlooked. Outside of finance, people don’t always understand why information is being requested or how it will be used. Without that context, delays creep in and the quality of inputs suffers. The teams that handle this well invest time upfront in building awareness. For example, offering simple, practical training that explains what’s needed, why it matters, and the consequences if deadlines slip.
What really separates the highest-performing teams is mindset. They start early in the year and approach year-end with the same rigour as they do budgeting or forecasting. Done well, it becomes a controlled process.
What we hear: “I’m concerned about the impacts of FRS 102 amendments. I'm worried they’ll all surface all at once under pressure, increasing risk and requiring a lot of late-stage adjustments. We just don’t have time right now to address them.”
Only 22% of CFOs say they have fully assessed the impacts of the FRS 102 amendments to date, despite into coming into effect on 1 January 2026.
Having seen multiple waves of reporting reform, one thing consistently holds true: the organisations that start early consistently deliver better outcomes. The work is rarely linear, and pressure quickly builds across four areas: data completeness, audit readiness, processes and systems, and resourcing. Time is the biggest advantage you can give yourself.
The first step is to fully understand the technical impact, but don’t underestimate how pervasive the changes can be. Adjustments can ripple into earn‑outs, employee incentives, and key financial metrics, so it’s critical to assess not just accounting entries, but the broader commercial consequences.
From there, the focus needs to shift to execution. How will this work in practice, month‑end to month‑end? What systems and processes need to change to sustain compliance? Starting with the end in mind is key. Consider what stakeholders will need to see, and how you will clearly explain movements from current reporting to the new framework.
Ultimately, early planning is what will keep you in control. It allows time to build robust data, align teams, and shape a narrative, turning what could be a compliance burden into a more confident, well-managed transition.
What we hear: "I can clearly see where automation and better tooling would remove friction from year-end and free up time... but especially in this cost-conscious environment, investment is focused on front-office areas. The finance team getting better tools isn’t the priority. How can I fight my case?”
20% of CFOs say insufficient investment in automation, AI or other digital tools is a key barrier to a smoother year-end.
The case for technology investment is always stronger when it’s framed beyond finance. Rather than positioning it as a request for new systems, teams often start by making better use of what already exists across the business.
Connecting systems, improving data flows, and reducing duplication can often remove friction without requiring significant upfront cost.
Equally important is being clear on the outcome. While faster processing and fewer errors matter, the more compelling case is how better-quality information can drive stronger decision-making. That’s where Finance moves beyond efficiency into real value creation.
When CFOs can clearly articulate how improved data quality, insight, and visibility support the wider business, the conversation shifts. It becomes less about the cost of the technology and more about the value it enables, whether that’s better forecasting, more confident strategic decisions, or improved operational performance.
What we hear: “Since the merger, each finance team has stuck with their own ways of working... different processes, timelines, and interpretations. We’re spending as much time trying to align approaches as we are reconciling the numbers. The close is taking longer, feels less reliable, and harder to keep under control.”
20% of CFOs say inefficient or non-standardised processes are the cause of a challenging year-end.
Inconsistency is often the by-product of legacy processes. Teams develop ways of working over time and stick with them, even as the business evolves through growth, acquisitions, or structural change. While full standardisation sometimes isn’t practical, CFOs do need to define and enforce the right level of consistency across the group.
That consistency might come through shared systems, aligned accounting policies, or simply ensuring outputs are comparable at group level.
The real benefit is where finance teams can focus their time.
Instead of reconciling differences or correcting inconsistencies, they can concentrate on analysing performance and supporting better decision-making.
Getting there requires upfront effort; aligning processes, challenging entrenched ways of working, and sometimes making difficult trade-offs. The teams that invest in this early see the payoff in a more stable, predictable, and ultimately less stressful year-end.
Feeling stretched? Find out how our CFO Solutions team might be able to help – supporting your finance team to move faster, stay in control, and deliver change without adding permanent headcount.
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