News > Case Study: Kistos plc and Lumos 365: A Scalable Platform for Energy Finance, Planning, and Growth
Kistos plc is a modern energy company built around an ambitious acquisition strategy. With interests in upstream oil & gas and now gas storage following the acquisition of EDF’s facility, the company needed a platform that could grow with it one that didn’t just keep pace but enabled agility.
But rapid expansion revealed clear pressure points:
-> Fragmented and manual financial processes
-> JV accounting limitations
-> A lack of scalable reporting across new entities
-> Inconsistent procurement oversight
-> Minimal automated support for strategic forecasting and scenario planning
With each new acquisition, complexity increased, and legacy tools couldn’t deliver the transparency, control, or speed the business required.
“We were pushing spreadsheets beyond their limits. Each acquisition added reporting headaches, and we needed a platform built for energy sector complexity not retrofitted to it. Lumos 365 not only delivered the right solution, but they provide excellent day to day operational support backed by outstanding domain knowledge and real-world experience.”
Kistos plc
Kistos engaged Lumos 365 to conduct a structured gap analysis across its financial operations. This uncovered critical areas for improvement and laid out a phased transformation roadmap.
The first implementation of Lumos 365 delivered:
-> A robust general ledger with energy specific structure
-> Automated accounts payable, fixed assets, and intercompany processes
-> Built in JV accounting logic for accurate cost tracking and reporting
-> Integrated procurement, from requisition to payment
-> Configurable approval workflows, role-based controls, and audit trails
The platform provided a unified financial operations environment cloud based, secure, and tailored for energy.
What made this phase particularly effective was the pre-templated nature of the Lumos 365 platform, which leverages industry best practices out of the box. Unlike generic ERP deployments that require months of bespoke development, Lumos 365 was built specifically for energy and natural resources meaning it was already aligned with Kistos’ operating model.
At the same time, the platform remained highly configurable, allowing Kistos to tailor key elements (such as chart of accounts, JV structures, workflows, and reporting formats) without custom code.
This resulted in a faster time to value and a cost-effective implementation reducing the typical burden of complex transformation while still delivering a solution that was fit for purpose from day one.
When Kistos acquired a gas storage operation from EDF, it faced a familiar challenge: how to integrate the new business quickly without disrupting operations or adding unnecessary cost. With Lumos 365 already in place, the answer was clear, extend the existing platform.
A second environment was deployed within weeks, using the same proven Lumos 365 architecture. This enabled Kistos to mirror best practices from its upstream operations while tailoring elements to the specific needs of the gas storage business.
Crucially, this project included a data migration from SAP, which was completed smoothly and within approximately six weeks, a turnaround time that’s exceptional by industry standards.
This rapid delivery not only ensured business continuity but also demonstrated the adaptability and scalability of Lumos 365. Kistos was able to absorb a major acquisition with minimal disruption and significantly lower transition costs compared to traditional re-platforming or long integration projects.
“What impressed us most was how fast we could scale the platform. No bolt ons, no sticking tape just a clean, efficient rollout. It made integrating the EDF asset smooth and low risk. More than that, Lumos 365 have become a true strategic partner they understand our business, anticipate our needs, and move at our pace.”
Kistos plc
As Kistos looked ahead, it needed stronger capabilities for:
-> Budgeting and re-forecasting
-> Scenario planning based on operational drivers
-> Reporting across business units
With Lumos 365 already embedded in the business, the logical next step was to extend the platform to include advanced financial planning and analytics without needing to procure and integrate a third-party solution.
By adopting Lumos XFP&A powered by Solver and natively integrated into the Lumos 365 environment Kistos avoided the time, cost, and risk associated with traditional enterprise planning rollouts. There was no need for lengthy vendor selection processes, complex integrations, or separate data synchronisation.
Instead, the company gained:
-> A unified planning and reporting environment
-> Real-time data connections across finance and operations
-> Driver based forecasting and scenario modelling
-> Collaborative budgeting with built in governance and workflows
This seamless extension of Lumos 365 ensured that planning, budgeting, forecasting, and analytics were fully aligned with operational data creating a powerful, end to end financial management platform.
Outcome | Benefit |
Unified platform across entities | Reduced duplication, faster close cycles |
Sector ready JV accounting | Enhanced cost tracking and audit confidence |
Rapid deployment post-acquisition | EDF integration completed with minimal delay |
Modern planning capability | Real-time forecasting, strategic scenario modelling |
No third-party integration needed | Lower TCO and simplified IT governance |
Looking ahead, Kistos plans to extend its use of Lumos 365 to support group-level consolidation and reporting. As the organisation grows, the ability to produce timely, accurate consolidated accounts across multiple business units and jurisdictions is becoming increasingly critical. Lumos 365’s integrated architecture combined with native multi-entity support and XFP&A-driven reporting will enable Kistos to automate consolidation processes, reduce reporting cycles, and maintain full transparency across group performance.
Kistos also anticipates further expansion of its asset base and is preparing to onboard new acquisitions using the same scalable Lumos 365 approach. By replicating the successful model used for the EDF gas storage acquisition, future integrations can be executed with minimal disruption, rapid deployment times, and reduced transition costs. This “plug-and-scale” capability will remain central to Kistos’ ability to grow strategically without increasing operational complexity.
Kistos’ journey with Lumos 365 is a blueprint for modern energy companies navigating fast paced growth. Through a single, scalable platform, Kistos gained not just control over today’s operations but the foresight to plan for tomorrow.
What set Lumos 365 apart was not only the technology itself which embeds energy sector best practices into a ready to deploy finance and operations platform but the deep domain expertise of the team behind it. From JV accounting to regulatory nuance, from asset integration to strategic planning, Lumos 365 delivered more than software. They delivered a partnership grounded in real world energy experience.
Please contact hello@lumos365.com for further information.
