Financial landing: turning closure into a real strategic exercise

Reading time: 9 minutes

For many firms and financial directorates, the closing of accounts remains an intense moment when balance sheets, tax deadlines, last-minute arbitrations and high time pressure accumulate. However, beyond the regulatory production of the financial statements, the end of the financial year offers a unique opportunity: that of operating a financial structured landing, to anticipate the results, to secure the choices of the leader and to prepare the structuring decisions of the following year.

The stakes are no longer « taking stock », but preparing for a real year-end pilot, rigorous, anticipated, documented and action-oriented.

Financial landing: a prospective vision for the end of the financial year

Financial landing is Projecting the financial, fiscal and treasury situation a company before closing, usually between M9 and M11, integrating:

Tax landing

• Estimate of accounting and tax income before and after arbitration.
• Determination of tax level (IS/IR).
• Integration of impacts related to executive remuneration, accrued liabilities, provisions, dividends or investment choices.

Cash landing

• Projection of cash level at the fence.
• Short-term needs assessment (discovery, funding, factoring).
• Analysis of the ability to absorb tax and social deadlines from the beginning of the following year.

Landing balance sheet / financial structure

• Anticipation of capital and solvency ratios.
• Analysis of compliance with banking covenants.
• Measurement of the effect of year-end decisions on the structure (investment, distribution, financing).

A controlled landing goes back to know the path on which the company will land, 1 to 3 months before closing, rather than discovering the situation after the accounts have been closed.

Recurrent end-of-year challenges for professionals

In both firms and companies, the same questions come back each year:

• What will be the actual result at 31/12 if we continue at this rate?
• What amount of tax should we anticipate, and how long?
• Can the manager receive additional remuneration?
• Is a dividend distribution reasonable?
• Does an investment before 31/12 improve or deteriorate our situation?
• Will cash absorb the first quarter expenses?

The difficulty lies in the ability to carry out these analyses quickly, reliably and reproducibly, while at the heart of the most busy period of the year.

A structured methodology for building a reliable landing

The methodological approach is based on four fundamental steps.

1. From the realized to project the end of the year

Exercise begins with a precise step point on accounting data already recorded: M9, M10 or M11.

From this realization, it is necessary to build a projection:

• extension of observed trends,
• integration of seasonality,
• adjustment in recent months (contracts signed, exceptional expenditure, change in expenses, staff).

The result: a base scenario showing the expected profit and loss account, the expected balance sheet and the cash flow at 31/12.

2. Build arbitration scenarios

Once the neutral projection has been laid, the strategic options.
Each arbitration is modelled in a separate scenario:

Remuneration of the head

• Impact on taxable income.
• Impact on IS/IR.
• Immediate and deferred effects on cash flow.

Dividend distribution

• Decrease in own funds.
• Timeliness and disbursement mechanisms.
• Impact on financial ratios.

Year-end investments

• Effect on result via depreciation.
• Effect on cash flow and funding.
• Interaction with commitments and banking covenants.

The objective is to visualize full impact of each choice, to guide an informed decision.

3. Evaluate the effects of these arbitrations on cash flow at 12–24 months

A leader like a DAF is not only interested in the result: his central concern is the cash.

It is therefore essential to extend each scenario over 12 to 24 months:

• customer/supplier cycles,
• seasonality,
• repayment of loans,
• Tax and social disbursements,
• risk or loss of activity.

This analysis allows:

• to anticipate liquidity tensions;
• secure remuneration or investment decisions;
• identify the possible need for short-term financing.

4. Produce analytical support for the review and strategy meeting

Financial landing must be Documented and intelligible, in order to become a real piloting tool.

The year-end file must contain:

• a structured projection (result – balance sheet – cash flow),
• an analysis of alternative scenarios,
• a complete comparison,
• a reasoned recommendation,
• an anticipation of the trajectory for N+1.

This support serves as a basis for discussions with the executive and is a professional deliverable that values the consulting role of the firm or financial management.

Why this approach makes a difference to traditional approaches

Historically, many end-of-year projections were made without a structured methodology.
But this approach quickly reaches its limits:

• files not uniform, therefore not industrializable,
• increased risk of errors,
• difficulties in updating during rush,
• Limited readability for managers.

Structured financial landing addresses the contemporary need: industrialize, make reliable and make the financial projection intelligible, to make it a steering tool, not a closing formality.

5. Organizational benefits for accountants and financial directorates

Operational gains

• Quick and consistent preparation of files.
• Less manual reprocessing.
• Traceability of arbitrations and consistency of assumptions.

Mission range

• The professional no longer gives an assessment: he guides a decision.
• The customer relationship is gaining in value.
• The board becomes recurring, not punctual.

Strategic piloting

• Anticipated vision of cash risk.
• Better negotiation with financial partners.
• Clear structuring of the N+1 strategy.

Make closing a springboard for the next year

Financial landing is not an end in itself; It's a Founding phase annual pilotage.
It offers:

• a prospective reading,
• documented recommendations,
• a strategic decision basis,
• a natural entry point to a regular follow-up (rollingcast, tracking deviations, quarterly adjustments).

The closure thus ceases to be an exercise and becomes a control lever of the future.

Financial landing is now an indispensable element of modern financial governance. It transforms the closure into a forward-looking exercise in which the most critical trade-offs are built: compensation, distribution, investment, financing, cash flow.

For the accountant as for the DAF, he represents a change of posture : moving from the production of accounts to strategic pilotage, based on anticipation, simulation, readability of choices and risk control.

Financial landing approach

1. Mission setting

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
1.1	Set perimeter	Identify companies, construction sites, BU	Legal organisation & group perimeter	Scoping Note – perimeter	EC/DAF
1.2	Fix Calendar	Plan M9/M10/M11 → refund	Tax constraints & production deadlines	Mission planning	EC/DAF
1.3	Divide roles	Designate preparers / validators	Internal resources	RACI Matrix	Director of Mission

2. Preparation of accounting data

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
2.1	Freeze the accounting base	Export balance, CEF, auxiliary	Balance M9/M10/M11	Folder « Landing – Base stopped »	Collaborator
2.2	Secure Writings	Quick review, key account justification	Banks, VAT, third parties, pay	Express revision note	Collaborator
2.3	Identify missing entries	Lister provisions, NPF, PCA, CSF	Purchase orders, contracts	List of entries to be included	Collaborator/DAF
2.4	Collect internal forecasts	Payment, planned purchases, contracts signed	HR, procurement, management	Table of known events	DAF

3. Construction of baseline (P&L forecast)

tap	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
3.1	Analyze the achievement	Decompose CA + charges per month	Historical monthly balance	Monthly table completed	Collaborator
3.2	Define the projection method	Annualisation, seasonality, adjustments	History N-1 / season	Projection assumptions	EC/DAF
3.3	Project products	New contracts, expected changes	Commercial pipe, purchase orders	Forecast CA N	Collaborator
3.4	Projecting Expenses	Fixed/variable loads, indexing	Contracts, pay, budgets	Forecast charges N	Collaborator
3.5	Calculate the forecast result	Marge, EBITDA, net result	CA + projected loads	Forecast P&L (neutral scenario)	EC/DAF

4. Tax landing

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
4.1	Determining the tax result	Apply Reintegration/Deductions	Table Tax reprocessing	Forecast fiscal result	EC
4.2	Calculate the forecast IS/IR	Calculation of balance, impact payments	Tax rates, instalment payments	IS/IR simulation	EC
4.3	Establish schedule	Identify disbursement dates	Tax schedule	IS/IR schedule	EC/DAF

5. Landing balance sheet / financial structure

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
5.1	Project fixed assets	Add investment + depreciation	Investment plans	Capital assets	Collaborator
5.2	Project stocks	Set Final Stock Level	Procurement & rotation policy	Forecast stock	DAF
5.3	Project receivables/debts	Apply DSO / DPO / observed times	Background	Forecast BFR	Collaborator
5.4	Project financial debts	Integrating maturities and new loans	Bank schedule	Financial debt table	DAF
5.5	Calculate own funds	Integrate result and distributions	Expected result	Projected own funds	EC
5.6	Calculate structural ratios	Gearing, solvency, covenants	Forecast	Table ratios	EC/DAF

6. Cash projection 12–24 months

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
6.1	Define projection horizon	12 months / 24 months	Financial policy	Horizon defined	DAF
6.2	Build cash flow plan	Projected CA, client deadlines	DSO, seasonality	Monthly receipts	Collaborator
6.3	Build disbursement plan	Purchases, fixed charges, pay, taxes	Internal contracts	Monthly disbursements	Collaborator
6.4	Integrate exceptional events	Remb. borrowing, investment	Timelines	Final cash flow plan	DAF
6.5	Identify tensions	Identify at-risk months	Cash flow plan	Alerts + recommendations	EC/DAF

7. Construction of arbitration scenarios

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
7.1	Define scenarios	Remuneration, dividends, investments, financing	Executive Strategy	Scenario list A/B/C/D	EC/DAF
7.2	Recalculate P&L/Bilan/Treasurery	Impacts of each arbitration	Basic scenario	Detailed scenarios	Collaborator
7.3	Compare scenarios	Income, tax, cash flow, ratios	Scenarios A/B/C	Comparative table	EC/DAF

8. Analysis & choice of target scenario

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
8.1	Identify decision criteria	Tax, cash, covenants	Comparison tables	Criteria note	EC
8.2	Assess risks/opportunities	Stress-test scenarios	Projected scenarios	Scenario analysis	EC/DAF
8.3	Hold the final scenario	Decision of the head/committee	Arbitration summary	Target scenario + actions	Leader / DAF

9. Return and formalization

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
9.1	Prepare support	Landing summary + scenarios	Tables and projections	Presentation (PowerPoint/PDF)	EC/DAF
9.2	Held meeting	Explanation of arbitration & decisions	Refund medium	Acted decisions	Leader
9.3	Write report	Formalizing decisions and actions	Meeting notes	Official RC signed	EC

10. Industrialization / Capitalisation

Step	Objective	Technical measures	Data requirements	Liquid	Responsible
10.1	Standardize models	Structure P&L/Bilan/Treasurer files	Existing models	Model library	EC/DAF
10.2	Create checklists	Procedures for employees	Steps achieved	Checklists « Landing »	Director of Mission
10.3	Deploy annual process	Systematic launch M9/M10	Cabinet calendar	Annual process	Directorate
10.4	Archive & Compare	Historical building	Landings N-1/N-2	Internal Benchmark Base	EC/DAF