Among the top priority problems, arising with need to prepare the reporting under the terms of “fast close”, is the reluctance of accounting department to accepting the new paradigm. If the shortening of closing deadlines caught the accounting department "off guard", or new accountants from 100% local companies arrived, people’s natural reaction will be:

• dissatisfaction with the new conditions; 
• resistance; 
• unwillingness to change the previously set patterns thinking and behavior, up to voluntary departures. 

To deal with the problem, the management team will have to follow a classic “change management” pattern. The scale of planned changes will determine both the technique and approaches to changes’ analysis and implementation.

In our opinion, the strategic goal for the management is to make the accounting department an supportive of the conducted changes and willing to prepare the financials ASAP.

Below you will find some tips on how to shift from current (“AS IS”) to desirable (“TO BE”) state:

1. Using their charm eloquence, the management can convey the idea that accounting is not just the “final frontier” in protecting the company from the evil "tax authorities" and government regulators, but one of the company key functions, designed to contribute to meeting the needs of the shareholders - in this case, needs for information. Moreover, the accountants get their wages from the "pocket" of the company, not from the tax office. The faster the financials (and management reporting along with these) are prepared, the more manageable the organization will be, and therefore the more profitable and able to consistently pay proper remuneration to the accounting staff..

2. In “TO BE” state, operating mode of the Company’s departments during the “fast close” assumes overtime work of employees, sometimes without days-off. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the staff with “overtime”/”days-off” premium and/or to include the relevant clause in the employment contracts in exchange for additional vacation or compensatory leave days. Each employee must be informed about these innovations individually.

3. The implementation of “fast close” requires certain background work on developing clear, effective, reasonable and clear regulations. Many processes, previously put at mercy of the employees’ “expertise”, crucially require regulations and a backup plan for critical processes in conditions of a time pressure. These regulations should be explained to each employee through seminars and presentations designed to dive all team in the new rules for drafting and submitting documents, processing and controlling accounting documents.

4. A personnel motivation system can be applied to strictly adhere to theregulations on paper-flow, entering and processing the credentials, preparing financial statements according to the new rules.

5. The success of the “fast close” implementation is facilitated through the engagement of consulting companies, since the consultants possess certain technologies for working on projects, have experience in implementing such projects and have an integrated outside perspective. Implementation of the project “in house” poses risks of reducing the effectiveness of employees' performance of their main work duties.

6. Outsourced consultants may also be hired to expand the capacity of the organization's own reporting department. It is quite realistic to outsource at least the most disturbing and labor-intensive part of procedure of preparing the company’s regular reporting.