Lucanet

What Lucanet does

Lucanet is financial reporting software, founded in Germany in 1999, aimed at mid-sized companies and larger groups. Its centre of gravity is consolidation: bringing several entities into one set of figures without rebuilding the exercise in a spreadsheet every month. Planning and reporting sit on the same data.

Features

• Consolidation: automated group consolidation that reduces manual intervention.
• Financial reporting: reporting built on automated workflows and data collection.
• Planning: corporate and financial planning on the same data set.
• Analysis: analytical functions on top of the reported figures.
• Integration: designed to connect to existing IT structures.

Strengths

• Consolidation as the core: for a buy-and-build group this is the part that otherwise eats the month-end.
• One data set: plan and actual come from the same place, so variance analysis needs no reconciliation first.
• Compliance: statutory reporting requirements are covered by the platform.

Limitations

• Pricing on request: no published prices, and the cost can be substantial.
• Ramp-up: using the full feature range takes training.
• Customisation: users have asked for more adaptation options than the platform offers.

Alternatives

• NetSuite – ERP suite that covers consolidation as part of a wider system.
• Workday – finance and HR platform with consolidation on the finance side.
• Xero – cloud accounting for companies below group complexity.

These entries are currently available in German only.

• Sage – finance software with a broad international footprint.
• QuickBooks – accounting for small and mid-sized businesses.