The short answer
In the first 30 days after a private equity closing the finance function should establish three things: transparency over cash and deadlines, an agreed reporting process, and a prioritised work plan. This checklist helps operating partners, portfolio CEOs and finance leads capture tasks, owners and open points together. It is a working proposal, not a promise that every integration finishes in 30 days.
A note for readers outside Germany
Three German formalities decide when authority actually transfers, and none of them happen on the closing date itself.
- Ownership follows the shareholder list. Shares in a German GmbH transfer by notarial deed, and the shareholder list filed with the commercial register is what third parties rely on. Until the updated list is filed, the register still shows the old picture.
- Management changes and banking authority follow the register too. A new managing director, or a change of authorised signatories, needs a filing and takes weeks. Plan for someone with valid authority to be able to release payments throughout — the mechanics are in CFO handover and vacancy.
- The statutory accounts do not become the fund's accounts. The German entity keeps preparing HGB accounts whatever the fund reports under. What the portfolio company owes the fund is a reporting package on top — the difference is set out in converting from HGB to IFRS.
One practical item for the first cash forecast: German social security contributions fall due on the third-to-last banking day of the month they relate to, before salaries are paid. A forecast built on a foreign payroll rhythm is wrong by a month on the largest single outflow — see the 13-week cash flow forecast.
How to use the checklist
Work through the points together in the kick-off. Name an owner, a date and an evidence item for each task. Use the statuses open, in progress, done, or not relevant. A point counts as done only once the agreed outcome has been reviewed. Document dependencies and update the position weekly. Where there is an acute cash squeeze or an earlier contractual deadline, that takes precedence over the sequence.
Days 1–3: settle responsibility and solvency
- Fix finance responsibility. Who decides day to day, who releases payments, who reports to the fund? Owner: CEO and finance lead. Evidence: an agreed responsibility and deputy list.
- Reconcile bank balances and available funds. Accounts, credit lines and any restricted funds; set payments falling due against them. Owner: finance and treasury. Evidence: a dated cash position with differences resolved.
- Take the deadlines out of the transaction and financing documents. Reporting dates, contractual metric tests and responsibilities, settled with the relevant advisers. Owner: finance lead with the deal team and advisers. Evidence: a shared deadline calendar.
- Secure data access and the handover. Authorised access to accounting, banking, billing and the relevant records, plus deputies, documented. Owner: finance and IT. Evidence: an access list with named owners.
Days 4–7: document the starting position and the priorities
- Turn due diligence findings into tasks. Prioritise every finance finding by urgency and effect — the review areas are in financial due diligence: what buyers check. Owner: CFO and operating partner. Evidence: an action list with date, owner and escalation route.
- Start or review the 13-week cash forecast. Expected receipts and payments with due dates and traceable assumptions. Owner: controlling and treasury. Evidence: a first agreed version and a fixed update date.
- Agree the reporting requirements. Recipients, format, metrics, definitions, data cut-off and submission date, in writing. Owner: CFO and fund. Evidence: an approved reporting specification.
- Make the closing backlog visible. Open reconciliations, missing documents and unresolved postings — the method is in closing backlog and fast close. Owner: accounting. Evidence: a prioritised closing checklist rather than a blanket completion promise.
Days 8–14: make the numbers reproducible
- Set up the closing calendar. Date every step from the upstream systems to sign-off of the monthly report. Owner: head of finance. Evidence: a calendar with dependencies, deputies and review dates.
- Reconcile reporting to the books. Account mapping, adjustments and data sources, documented traceably. Owner: accounting and controlling. Evidence: a reconciliation with the differences explained.
- Define the metrics unambiguously. In SaaS especially ARR, MRR, churn and expansion, derived from contract and billing data; cash flows looked at separately. Owner: finance with revenue operations. Evidence: a metric register with data source and calculation logic.
- Prepare consolidation. Entities in scope, contacts, reporting currency and intercompany reconciliations — the build is described in consolidated accounts after buy-and-build. Owner: group finance with the relevant advisers. Evidence: an agreed reporting pack per entity.
Days 15–21: test the first reporting cycle
- Run a reporting dry run. Bring together earnings, cash, working capital and the agreed operating metrics. Owner: CFO and controlling. Evidence: an internally reviewed report with provisional figures labelled.
- Calculate the contractual metrics traceably. Check definitions, adjustments and dates against the financing documents; settle anything unclear before the submission — see covenant reporting. Owner: CFO with the relevant advisers. Evidence: a reviewed calculation with documented assumptions.
- Explain the variances to plan. Make actuals and plan comparable; separate causes from possible measures. Owner: controlling and the business functions. Evidence: a commented plan-versus-actual.
- Update the cash forecast. Test the forecast against actual flows and explain the differences. Owner: treasury and accounting. Evidence: a version comparison with corrected assumptions.
Days 22–30: sign off and agree what comes next
- Walk the first reporting cycle through together. Go through data quality, gaps and decisions needed with the CEO and the investor. Owner: CFO. Evidence: an approved report, or clearly bounded remaining work with dates.
- Document the 30-day position. What works, what is open, and where capacity is missing. Owner: finance lead. Evidence: a short status overview with risks, owners and next decisions.
- Agree the work plan for days 31–100. Planning, consolidation, team build and system projects, ordered by effect and dependency — the continuation is in the first 100 days. Owner: CEO, CFO and operating partner. Evidence: a prioritised plan with the capacity it needs.
- Secure ongoing responsibility. Agree the running tasks, cover, and any handover to a permanent finance lead. Owner: CEO and CFO. Evidence: a role plan and a documented handover scope.
How to tell where you stand on day 30
The core question is not whether every box is ticked. What matters is whether the cash position and the next deadlines are known, whether the numbers are produced in a way that can be followed, and whether every material open point has an owner and a date. A still-provisional report with its gaps disclosed is more useful than apparent precision with nothing solid behind it.
What matters additionally in software and SaaS
Contract term, billing and cash receipt have to stay distinguishable. Document which contracts feed ARR and how churn, expansion and currency effects are handled. An ARR figure replaces neither the revenue accounts nor the cash forecast. Our finance offering for SaaS companies combines these views.
Support with the implementation
Where the finance leadership or the capacity for reporting and consolidation is missing after closing, nugrow supports with interim CFO and portfolio finance for private equity. Scope and start date are agreed against your situation.
Read on
- The first 100 days – the continuation of this sequence.
- Carve-out finance on day one – when the entity is new rather than acquired whole.
- Interim CFO in private equity – the role behind this work.
- Interim CFO references – documented mandates.
- Pricing and how it is calculated · Sebastian Janus: profile and experience.
Sources and status
A working proposal produced by nugrow from mandate experience in PE portfolio companies. References to notarisation, the shareholder list, the commercial register and social security payment dates describe German practice; corporate and tax questions belong with the responsible advisers. As of September 2026.
