diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d1686ce..96b1262 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,8 +56,50 @@ const body = {
     }
 };
 
-const ofx_string = ofx.serialize(header, body);
+// By default, the serializer won't close the end node tags. To change that, pass { closeTags: true } as an option.
+
+const options = {closeTags: true};
+const ofx_string = ofx.serialize(header, body, options);
 console.log(ofx_string);
+
+```
+
+Sample result with default `options`:
+
+```xml
+    <SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
+        <SONRS>
+            <STATUS>
+                <CODE>0
+                <SEVERITY>INFO
+            </STATUS>
+            <DTSERVER>20210330
+            <LANGUAGE>POR
+            <FI>
+                <ORG>Some Bank Institution
+                <FID>012
+            </FI>
+        </SONRS>
+    </SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
+```
+
+Sample result with `options = {closeTags: true}`:
+
+```xml
+    <SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
+        <SONRS>
+            <STATUS>
+                <CODE>0</CODE>
+                <SEVERITY>INFO</SEVERITY>
+            </STATUS>
+            <DTSERVER>20210330</DTSERVER>
+            <LANGUAGE>POR</LANGUAGE>
+            <FI>
+                <ORG>Some Bank Institution</ORG>
+                <FID>012</FID>
+            </FI>
+        </SONRS>
+    </SIGNONMSGSRSV1>
 ```
 
 ## Data ##
diff --git a/ofx.js b/ofx.js
index 64de7dc..43d5316 100644
--- a/ofx.js
+++ b/ofx.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ function parse(data) {
 
     // Parse the XML/SGML portion of the file into an object
     // Try as XML first, and if that fails do the SGML->XML mangling
-    let dataParsed = null;
+    let dataParsed;
     try {
       dataParsed = parseXml(content);
     } catch (e) {
@@ -43,7 +43,12 @@ function parse(data) {
     return dataParsed;
 }
 
-function serialize(header, body) {
+const DEFAULT_OPTIONS = {
+  closeTags: false
+}
+
+function serialize(header, body, options = {}) {
+    const normalizedOptions = {...DEFAULT_OPTIONS, ...options};
     let out = '';
     // header order could matter
     const headers = ['OFXHEADER', 'DATA', 'VERSION', 'SECURITY', 'ENCODING', 'CHARSET',
@@ -54,11 +59,11 @@ function serialize(header, body) {
     });
     out += '\n';
 
-    out += objToOfx({ OFX: body });
+    out += objToOfx({ OFX: body }, normalizedOptions);
     return out;
 }
 
-const objToOfx = (obj) => {
+const objToOfx = (obj, options) => {
   let out = '';
 
   Object.keys(obj).forEach((name) => {
@@ -66,16 +71,18 @@ const objToOfx = (obj) => {
     const start = `<${name}>`;
     const end = `</${name}>`;
 
-    if (item instanceof Object) {
-        if (item instanceof Array) {
-            item.forEach((it) => {
-                out += `${start}\n${objToOfx(it)}${end}\n`;
-            });
-            return;
-        }
-        return out += `${start}\n${objToOfx(item)}${end}\n`
+    if (!(item instanceof Object)) {
+      out += `${start}${item}${options.closeTags ? end : ''}\n`;
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (!(item instanceof Array)) {
+      return out += `${start}\n${objToOfx(item, options)}${end}\n`
     }
-    out += start + item + '\n';
+
+    item.forEach((it) => {
+        out += `${start}\n${objToOfx(it, options)}${end}\n`;
+    });
   });
 
   return out;