Customer Story
At the LEMKEN group, the standalone Excel solutions for consolidation and planning used previously were no longer able to keep up with the company’s growth. Lucanet now provides the perfect accounting solution for the international enterprise.
LEMKEN is a manufacturer of agricultural equipment for tillage, sowing, and crop protection. Founded in 1780 as a blacksmith’s shop, the German family business has become the international market leader.
With Lucanet, our consolidation process is faster, simpler, clearer, and – most importantly – error-free. Lucanet allows us to process data consistently, thanks to its robust “scaffolding” and flexibility to supplement this with our own individual settings.
Sascha Ramachers
Group accountant
“In the past, we consolidated and planned everything using Excel. More specifically, this meant that we were using two standalone Excel solutions that were not integrated with each other. With this system, we quickly reached our limits in terms of analysis options, data validity, and speed. The error-prone nature of adding rows and columns and the “destruction” of formulas and links created huge problems for us”, says Sascha Ramachers, Group Accountant at LEMKEN. To meet the challenges of the growing enterprise, LEMKEN launched a search to find the right accounting and controlling software vendor.
In the selection process, Lucanet clearly stood out from its competitors in the marketplace – largely because of its intuitive interface. The tool can be used flexibly and can be tailored to meet the needs of international subsidiaries. LEMKEN now uses Lucanet for almost all of its accounting tasks. The software can be used to transparently present the latest consolidated financial statements, current planning, cash flow statements, liquidity analysis, and all schedules. For its reporting, LEMKEN also uses the tool to evaluate indicators and statistical data such as employee numbers, maturities, and sales by countries.
“Since we implemented Lucanet in our company, our consolidation is simpler, clearer, and less error-prone. Changes to one parameter now filter through the entire system and are applied consistently. Our staff can now generate reports more rapidly and at a higher quality. They have more time for analysis, because they no longer have to handle the complex data collection process first”, says Sascha Ramachers, when asked about the advantages of the Lucanet software.
For LEMKEN, the real added value for planning lies in the rapid and clear way in which results are compiled for the group. Lucanet not only handles P&L and balance planning at the group and company level, it also looks after sales planning.