Year-end close can be one of the most demanding processes for government finance and accounting teams, where compliance requirements, audit scrutiny, and reporting deadlines converge. In this session, attendees will examine common close-cycle bottlenecks from both preparer and auditor perspectives, including data quality challenges, manual processes, late adjustments, and misaligned expectations, while exploring practical strategies to improve efficiency and accuracy. The session will also highlight how process automation, data integration, finance modernization tools, and thoughtful estimation practices can help organizations reduce close cycle time, strengthen audit readiness, and build a more sustainable, technology-enabled close process.