A peek into our monthly close at Ramp

The month-end close is often a chaotic and stressful time for the finance team. But at Ramp, we're trying to change that by asking ourselves one critical question: how do we close faster, better, and with less pain?

We currently close the books in less than 10 business days—something we’re proud of. But we’re not stopping there. Our long-term goal is a continuous close, where the latest financial data is always available and we could theoretically “close” the books at any time (yes, really). To do that, we had to dissect every part of our close and ask:

• What takes the most time?
• What can be automated?
• And where can Ramp the product help Ramp the company?

Purpose of our close process

Why is improving the financial close a critical priority for Ramp? This process is about more than just pushing journal entries. It is about understanding our process so we can better support our customers and keep helping them save time and money. Our team is zeroed in on the typical priorities:

• Provide accurate and reliable financials.
• Deliver reporting to stakeholders (board, investors, lenders, regulators).
• Support decision-making with timely data.
• Detect errors and improving internal controls.
• Lay the groundwork for forecasting and planning.

So even though the close is a backward-looking activity, it’s foundational to forward-looking strategy. That’s why it’s so critical to make this process tighter, faster, and smarter.

Close process by financial statement line item

Ramp’s close process is more than 100 steps deep, requiring coordination across accounting, FP&A, engineering, legal, and product. To keep everyone organized, we organize our close by financial statement line items, or FSLIs, and assign effort based on how much time, complexity, and judgment each area demands.

Let’s go deeper into what that looks like in practice.

1. Cash, equivalents, and investments (27% of close time)

Importance: 🔴 HIGH

We start with cash because, well, everything goes through cash. Whether it’s customer payments, card disbursements, payroll, or investment interest, it all flows through our bank accounts. Here's what the process looks like:

Actions taken:

• Pull transaction data from financial institutions.
• Categorize cash flows into interest, reserves, customer collections, etc.
• Reconcile balances between bank statements and our GL.
• Track reserve accounts tied to customer funds.
• Book money market activity from reports.
• Record investment entries for held-to-maturity securities.

2. Product revenue and COGS (35% of close time)

Importance: 🔴 HIGH

This is the most complex part of our close. We track revenue and costs for all product lines: Ramp Cards, Bill Pay, Ramp Plus, Procurement, Travel, Treasury, and more. Each has its own systems and data sources.

Actions taken:

• Download partner data from payment providers and analytics tools.
• Book revenue entries by product (we’ve worked with our engineering and product teams to automate some of these reports).
• Accrue COGS for processor fees, reserves, chargebacks, fraud losses.
• Reconcile AR and cash activity to ensure nothing slips through.
• Allocate cashback and facility interest to the right products and entities.

3. Accounts receivable, prepaids, and fixed assets (6%)

Importance: 🟡 MEDIUM

We handle multiple asset classes—some straightforward, others more nuanced (like internally developed software).

Actions taken:

• Track prepaids for SaaS tools and amortize monthly.
• Review capital expenditures and determine if laptops, equipment, or software costs should be capitalized.
• Coordinate with engineering to calculate capitalization of internally developed software (IDS).
• Invoice partners for revenue earned but not yet received.
• Amortize intangibles such as surety bonds and customer acquisition costs.

4. Accounts payable, credit cards, and accruals (5%)

Importance: 🟡 MEDIUM

This is the part of the close where Ramp really starts to make our jobs easier.

Actions taken:

• Reconcile AP balances using data from Ramp Bill Pay.
• Categorize credit card spend and sync to the GL.
• Send out accrual requests for services not yet billed (e.g., legal, audit).
• Book professional services accruals using historical trends or contract terms.

👉 Ramp is the MVP here, especially in automating procurement and syncing expense data.

5. Equity (5%)

Importance: 🔴 HIGH

Few entries, but lots of complexity, and an area that gets a lot of attention from auditors.

Actions taken:

• Pull reports from equity management system on exercises, stock comp, and terminations.
• Book stock comp expense using ASC 718 guidelines.
• Track early exercise activity and monitor repayment.
• Reconcile equity rollforwards for APIC, common stock, and options.

6. Intercompany transactions (5%)

Importance: 🟢 LOW (except during audits and compliance)

Actions taken:

• Apply transfer pricing models to allocate costs across legal entities.
• Book intercompany revenue and expense entries across SPVs.
• Create elimination entries for consolidated reporting.
• Prepare invoices for services and contributions between entities.

7. Payroll and compensation (5%)

Importance: 🟡 MEDIUM

Actions taken:

• Post payroll entries from the payroll system, which are automatically mapped to the GL and allocated directly to different departments.
• Book commissions accruals using reports from our commission softwares.
• Allocate compensation across departments and product areas.
• Record stock comp alongside equity journal entries.

8. Reconciliations (6%)

Importance: 🔴 HIGH

This is where errors go to die (or get caught).

Actions taken:

• Perform 100-plus reconciliations monthly: bank accounts, cashback, COGS, card incentives, equity rollforwards, prepaids, and more. Our long-term vision is to automate most of these reconciliations.
• Track recs and ensure tie-outs in our close management software.
• Investigate variances and correct journal entries as needed. Adjustments are made based on our threshold and materiality.

9. Review and flux analysis (4%)

Importance: 🔴 HIGH

Actions taken:

• Perform month-over-month variance analysis across all accounts.
• Partner with FP&A to explain movements and identify trends.
• Flag discrepancies and investigate before we lock the books.

10. Reporting and final close (2%)

Importance: 🔴 HIGH

We’re almost done! This is the final lap.

Actions taken:

• Consolidate financials in our ERP system.
• Prepare board, investor, and lender reporting packages.
• Submit regulatory filings as needed.
• Final review by managers and controller.

Advice for other teams

If you’re trying to level up your monthly close, here’s our playbook:

1. Map your close by account area (FSLI) to clarify where your time is actually going.
2. Quantify pain points to focus on high-effort, high-judgment areas.
3. Automate tactically and leverage AI starting where there is the biggest opportunity for ROI (AP, cash recs, revenue entries) and a high percentage of recurring and routine transactions.
4. Partner cross-functionally because your close touches every part of the business.
5. Don’t wait for perfect—realize that incremental improvements compound fast.

The close will always be a grind, but with the right tools, processes, and people, it can also become a competitive advantage for your business.