The Accounting Clarity Index: How Mature Is Your Finance Function?

Introduction

Most CFOs know their finance function isn't performing at its best. The question is: where exactly is it falling short, and what does improvement actually look like?

The Accounting Clarity Index (ACI) was designed to answer those two questions — with precision, benchmarked data, and an actionable improvement plan.

What the ACI Measures

The ACI assesses accounting function maturity across three dimensions:

1. Process Efficiency

How reliably and quickly do your core accounting processes run? This dimension covers month-end close velocity, accounts payable and receivable processing times, bank reconciliation methodology, payroll processing accuracy, and month-end error rates. Companies that score well here have documented processes, clear ownership, and close timelines under 7 working days.

2. Technology Adoption

Are your accounting systems doing what they're designed to do — or has your team built Excel workarounds around them? This dimension assesses ERP utilisation rates, automation of routine processes, reporting and analytics capability, and integration between accounting systems and operational systems. Most companies using Tally, SAP, or Zoho Books are using less than 40% of available functionality.

3. Control Effectiveness

Are your financial controls documented, consistently applied, and independently verified? This dimension covers segregation of duties, maker-checker controls on journal entries and payments, access controls in accounting systems, independent reconciliation review, and internal audit coverage. Controls that exist on paper but aren't enforced are controls that don't exist.

How ACI Scoring Works

The ACI produces a score from 0 to 100 across the three dimensions, weighted to reflect their relative impact on finance function performance. The overall score maps to one of four maturity levels:

• 0–25: Developing — reactive, manual, high error rates, limited visibility
• 26–50: Building — processes exist but inconsistently applied, technology underutilised
• 51–75: Established — structured processes, reasonable automation, controls largely effective
• 76–100: Leading — highly automated, data-driven, board-level financial intelligence

Most Indian SMEs score between 30 and 55 on first assessment. The highest scorer we've assessed to date is a Series C fintech that scored 71 — and even they had significant gaps in their control effectiveness dimension.

What Your ACI Score Tells You

Beyond the score itself, the ACI produces a gap analysis identifying the 10 highest-impact improvements available to your finance function. These are prioritised by effort required and impact on the overall score — so you can sequence your improvement programme logically.

Take the ACI

The ACI assessment takes 8 minutes to complete. The free version gives you your score across all three dimensions and your top 3 improvement areas. The paid Standard Report gives you the full gap analysis, benchmarks against sector peers, and a 12-month improvement roadmap.

Start the assessment at aci.chabilconsulting.com. If you want to discuss your results directly, contact us at hello@chabilconsulting.com.