Financial Close Automation Enters a New Phase: 67% of UK CFOs Prioritise Account Reliability Over Speed, Sixthfin Research Finds

A 2026 study of 303 UK CFOs finds that the financial close puts heavy pressure on finance teams, yet account reliability, rather than close speed, remains the priority for 67% of finance leaders. The findings reframe what financial close automation software means for UK enterprises: automating controls, automating the analysis of complete data populations rather than samples, and automating balance sheet reviews.

London, United Kingdom, Oct. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The financial close is placing sustained pressure on UK enterprise finance teams, while finance leaders are also broadly open to artificial intelligence in accounting workflows. In new research among 303 UK CFOs, deadlines are a source of stress for teams at 96% of companies, and 84% of CFOs say they trust AI for the automation of repetitive and time-consuming accounting tasks. When finance leaders describe what they want from the close, however, the answer is not speed. It is confidence in the numbers.

The findings come from the Sixthfin Report on Accounting Transformation, conducted by Odoxa for Sixthfin among CFOs at large and mid-sized private UK companies who are personally involved in their organisation's monthly or periodic close. The full study is available at https://sixthfin.com/en/resource/sixthfin-report-on-accounting-transformation/

Most companies close within three to eight days. The challenge is what finance teams must accomplish inside that window: collecting information from multiple entities, reviewing accounts, investigating anomalies, documenting controls and producing numbers that can stand up to audit, board and management scrutiny. 67% of CFOs name improving the reliability of accounts as their top priority for the close, ahead of reducing delays, and only 42% describe the way their organisation manages the close as very satisfactory.

The results point to a shift in what financial close automation needs to mean for large organisations. Much of the last decade of investment automated the production of accounting information: transactions, postings, and the mechanics of getting a period closed. What the survey identifies as unresolved sits after that stage, in the review of what was produced. On that reading, close automation for enterprise finance covers three things: the automation of controls, so that testing is standardised and repeatable across entities rather than dependent on who performs it; the automation of analysis across complete data populations rather than samples, so that small or repeated anomalies are visible instead of being missed between sampling intervals; and the automation of balance sheet reviews, so that account analysis and justification are structured, documented and comparable period to period.

The tooling picture explains why that work is still largely manual. Excel remains as common as the ERP itself for analysing and justifying accounts, and just 3% of companies use a dedicated solution for account reconciliation in the sense of balance sheet substantiation and justification. CFOs do not blame the software, though. Sources of complexity are organisational rather than technical: late collection of information, multiple Excel files, dependence on key individuals and gaps in traceability and account documentation all rank well ahead of inappropriate tools.

"The past decade has been defined by the automation of transactions. ERP modernisation, RPA and reconciliation tools have significantly improved the efficiency of accounting processes. Yet our research suggests the constraint has simply shifted downstream. Today, the greatest pressure sits within the review process itself. Finance teams are looking for greater confidence in their accounts. The next phase of finance transformation will therefore be about automating controls, analytical reviews and risk detection, enabling teams to reach the same reporting deadlines with more complete analysis and stronger assurance," said François Vallana, CEO of Sixthfin.

The activities CFOs most want to strengthen support that reading. Analysis and justification of accounts tops the list, followed by analytical review of the balance sheet and income statement and the checking of manual entries. Half of CFOs also name analytical thinking as the main skill accountants will need in future, at a point when much of that capacity is consumed by assembling the numbers rather than examining them.

Closing, the company's enterprise financial close platform, is built around that review layer. It structures balance sheet reviews, account analysis and justification, standardises controls across entities, centralises financial information from different source systems to reduce fragmentation and manual reprocessing, and builds traceability of the work and documentation of controls into the process itself rather than reconstructing evidence afterwards. The platform structures and documents this review work rather than performing transaction level matching, which typically sits in ERP or dedicated reconciliation tools. Users can move from consolidated financial information into individual accounting transactions. The platform is ERP and chart of accounts agnostic; The platform is ERP and chart of accounts agnostic, working across the source systems already in place. Sixthfin is deployed in more than 70 countries, with more than 1,000 companies and groups covered by its technology in 2025. For more information about Sixthfin visit https://sixthfin.com/en/

Artificial intelligence is part of that direction of travel. Finance leaders trust it to take on repetitive work and to help detect anomalies, but on every application tested fewer than half said they trust it absolutely. Automating accounting activity is a different proposition from demonstrating that the resulting numbers have been reviewed, justified, and controlled and are audit-ready.

Sixthfin says Closing can save approximately six days per accountant per year and deliver up to three times greater efficiency in controls and investigations, with results dependent on existing systems, close processes, entity structure and deployment scope.

The consequences are not confined to the finance function. Close output feeds statutory reporting, audit, board reporting and operational decisions, so where reliability is in question the cost is generally incurred after the close has finished, in audit queries, revisited figures and decisions taken on numbers that later require explanation. For UK enterprises assessing the return on financial close automation, the calculation therefore extends past the number of close days. It covers the time spent collecting information, justifying accounts, investigating anomalies, documenting reviews and coordinating activity across entities, and whether the organisation can demonstrate the reliability of what it reports.

Survey Methodology

Online survey conducted by Odoxa from March 11-23, 2026, among a sample of 303 CFOs at private UK companies with 250 or more employees, representative of UK companies of that size. Only respondents involved in their organisation's monthly or periodic financial close were surveyed. Representativeness was ensured through quota sampling on industry sector, company size and region. The sample comprised 227 CFOs from companies employing 250 to 4,999 people and 76 from companies employing 5,000 or more, with each category weighted to reflect its actual proportion. For a sample of this size, the margin of error ranges from 2.5 to 5.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, depending on the observed percentage.

About Sixthfin

Sixthfin develops financial data control and financial close technology for complex organisations. Its Closing platform structures balance sheet reviews, account analysis and justification, control standardisation, collaborative workflows, documentation and transaction level investigation across multi-entity and multi-ERP environments. Sixthfin technology is deployed in more than 70 countries, supports 38 ERP systems and covered more than 1,000 companies and groups in 2025, working across charts of accounts, currencies and accounting frameworks without requiring organisations to replace their underlying financial systems. The company has offices in London and Paris.

Attachment

• Sixthfin Report on Accounting Transformation

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Sixthfin Report on Accounting Transformation

A sample of 303 CFOs working in private companies with 250 or more employees. Financial close in the age of AI: unreliable data, manual processes, teams under pressure, and a profession in the midst of reinvention