The story of LucaNet
What made us who we are today
Our story begins with two young students who meet while studying business management in Ingolstadt. Even early on, both dream of one day founding their own company. Though they go their own separate ways after graduating, their jobs – one in the finance department, the other a financial auditor – soon lead them to realize that the systems available on the market fail to meet the needs of controlling and consolidation departments at midsize companies and large corporate groups.
Rolf-Jürgen Moll and Oliver Schmitz thus decided to strike out on their own in 1999 with the revolutionary vision of creating a software solution that would combine planning, controlling, and consolidation in one software tool without the need to switch between media and eliminating the effort required for coordination. Besides being intuitive, the solution would need to deliver validated figures whenever required. In other words: They wanted it to simplify all the processes in finance.
The vision becomes a successful software. Customers, employees, and sales increase. LucaNet's executive board grew as well. The duo becomes a trio in 2010: Dominik Duchon, who has been with the company since 2005, joins the executive board.
LucaNet has also enjoyed great success on the international stage. In the next 15 years, locations and partners around the world join the LucaNet ranks. The startup develops into a company with 500 employees and users in over 50 countries. This requires the will to change, because growth is always accompanied by change.
This change is completed in 2022. In the previous year, Elena Aubell and Alexander Domene had already joined LucaNet's executive board. With the appointment of Elias Apel, the new board is complete. Along with Dominik Duchon, it is their task to guide LucaNet on its journey from what was once a small Berlin software company to a global enterprise. Always with the aspiration to offer finance teams the best solution and excellent service.
While we’ve come a long way over the last few years, our main goal is still off in the distance. The constant effort to discover new ways to make established ideas just a bit more clever takes courage, creativity, and a desire to innovate. Driven by our impulse to keep getting better at what we do, we're always working to improve our software solutions and services on behalf of our customers, partners, and employees. After all, only those who stay curious are capable of creating something new.
So where does our name come from?
Around 500 years ago, the Tuscan Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli wrote a book which was destined to have far-reaching effects on the world of commerce.
Known now simply as the Summa, the tome’s full title is Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita. There Pacioli explains the ‘Venetian method’ of double-entry accounting. This type of accounting – which involves an inventory, balance sheet, and profit and loss statement – remains the global standard to this day. With our company name, we wish to pay a small tribute to Luca Pacioli and his work.