Many finance departments still treat the month end close as a major event. This attitude reveals a clear structural problem. Discussions surrounding the annual financial statements mostly revolve around pure speed. Teams want to consolidate, review, and report faster.
How to close the year without stress
Published Jun 03, 2026 | 4 min read
Carsten Gerger
VP Finance
When I took over the finance department at Lucanet in 2016, we were at around €10 million ARR, the close was manageable and Excel did the job. Today, we're steering close to €180 million across more than ten countries, including IFRS consolidation, CSRD requirements and an audit depth that doubles every two years. What's changed most during this time isn't the complexity of the numbers; it's the expectation of when those numbers need to be available.
However, speed alone does not solve structural problems. The duration of the month end close is usually only a symptom. You will need ten days to identify errors, correct bookings, and catch up on reconciliations. This amount of time is an exact reflection of what has not been properly prepared in the last 12 months of the year.
You can change this dynamic. Consistently shifting work from the closing window to the current month relieves your team. You end the recurring state of emergency and create a continuous, resilient process for your entire finance function.
Why the closing process is only the symptom — and not the actual problem
We also faced this challenge with Lucanet — and have reduced our closing period from ten to six days. This is a noticeable efficiency gain for the entire team.
However, the crucial insight lay elsewhere. We didn't gain these four days through better closing process. We have achieved this by consistently shifting our work into the current month. The focus must be on daily data quality.
Every day counts: How you can make your closing process more efficient
This is precisely the core of the change in thinking. Month end close as an isolated process will become less important in the long term. We are not abolishing it, it merely loses its exceptional status.
Each posting is entered, assigned to an account, and correctly reconciled on the day of the business transaction. Intercompany differences are visible in real time. Provisions are updated continuously instead of being estimated once a month. The closing is then only one click away.
That may sound like a vision for the future. But parts of it are already a reality today. We have automated nearly 100 percent of our incoming invoices. Still, automation is not an end in itself. A correctly processed invoice does not cause additional work at the end of the month if it is correctly booked on the day of receipt. The same principle applies to revenue recognition, accruals, and currency conversions. The closer the processing is to the business event, the lower the effort required at the end of the month.
Break down organizational silos
In many companies, the existing organization slows down this change more than the technology used. Finance prepares the financial statements. Tax ensures compliant tax reporting. Sustainability collects ESG data. All departments base their work on the same business transactions.
However, they work in different systems and according to different schedules and regulatory standards. Every closing remains a reconciliation marathon as long as this separation exists. It doesn't matter how efficiently individual teams operate.
The solution lies in breaking down these silos. A single source of truth is required. Financial, tax, and sustainability reports are based on this common data foundation in parallel and consistently. This is not a purely technical question; it is a clear leadership decision.
Establish the basis for forward-looking and informed decision-making
In discussions, CFOs often emphasize that their closing process takes too long. The crucial counter-question then becomes: What happens on the other 20 days of the month? That is where your greatest leverage lies.
A company with clean books every day does not need a heroic sprint at the end of the month. An annual financial statement based on 12 clean monthly financial statements is a predictable formality. Finance must move away from the periodic state of emergency and establish a continuous process. The business needs up-to-date figures to make important decisions.
Your decisions do not wait for month end close — neither should your figures. Having clean, consistent data available in real time creates the basis for reliable forecasts and strategic decisions.
End the state of emergency in your finance team and get to know our platform solution.
Carsten Gerger
VP Finance
Carsten Gerger is Vice President Finance at Lucanet, bringing over 20 years of broad experience across finance and consulting. He's known for his deep financial expertise and his ability to connect financial analysis directly to strategic business decisions. At Lucanet, he leads the development of finance processes and plays a key role in driving the company's financial performance.