The Accountrepreneur LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a food production company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Accountrepreneur LLC?

I’d previously used three different accountants and wasn’t happy with any of them. We wanted to hand the reins of our accounting, projections, and financial components to someone I could rely on. It was taking up a lot of my time. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Alex (Founder) does our bookkeeping. He also helps create strategies for projections, run down bills, and work with distributors.

What is the team composition?

I just work with Alex. Some people on his team do backend stuff, but I only communicate with him. 

How did you come to work with The Accountrepreneur LLC?

They came recommended by a peer in the food industry.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together nine months ago, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Alex has been amazing: the team has gone above and beyond, freed up a ton of my time, and made my life way easier. He’s been super helpful with our financial strategy, fundraising, and even our dealings with investors. He knows the financial components of our business inside and out. Plus. his prices are very reasonable.

How did The Accountrepreneur LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

He’s wonderful at meeting deadlines and communication. We keep in touch over email, phone calls, and text.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Alex knows the food industry really, which is what makes him so valuable. He never gets things wrong.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nope. I’d always like to get things at a lower price, but there’s always a cost to good work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront and provide the information and access that he needs to do his job. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former controller of Neon One.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Accountrepreneur LLC?

When I became the controller at NeonOne, I needed some assistance with accounting. When I started, the accounting team in place wasn’t made up of true US Gaap accountants. The team played more of a bookkeeping role, so I was brought in to form true accounting processes.

Neon One was the parent of four different companies that all ran their own set of QuickBooks, so we had to consolidate all of the financials under a brand new system, NetSuite. I brought in Alex (Founder, Principal, & Chief Numbers Officer) to help me get four companies to report in US Gaap.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Alex worked with me and, together, we went through and reconciled every account for those four different companies. He also helped me to create processes on NetSuite and to form a true month-end closed process. 

We worked all the way down the balance sheet, put in reconciliation, and did the basics of accounting to get a consolidated financial set for the management. Additionally, since we were a conglomerate of small businesses that had been acquired, we had to undergo our first audit and needed to do purchase accounting, which is technical and complicated. 

We hired an outside firm to do the actual purchase accounting and valuation work, but Alex took the lead from the accounting side in terms of translating the valuation work into entries. 

What is the team composition?

I only work with Alex. 

How did you come to work with The Accountrepreneur LLC?

I know Alex because he used to work for me at a previous company and he was smart and educated – one of the best people I’ve worked with. When he left that company, we stayed in touch.

He was the first person I reached out to when I took on this project. I knew that I needed something quick but I didn’t need a full-time hire. I chose Alex because he’s talented, has a good attitude, and is so patient. 

He can do the basics, but he can also take on complicated tasks such as helping with entries related to purchase accounting. He has a wide breadth of knowledge.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $10,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in July 2019. I left Neon One about a month ago, but Alex is still providing them with consulting services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Alex has a lot of experience so he can work on his own without much guidance, which is key. He’s self-sufficient, his work is clean, and he always explains what he’s doing before recording the journal entries. He calls to make sure that you understand it. 

Overall, he’s conscientious, diligent, responsible, and knows the right thing to do. He’s probably one of the top two people I’ve ever hired because he’s so self-motivated. Additionally, Alex has a lot of financial skills with cash flow analysis and helping companies try and get funding.

How did The Accountrepreneur LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

In the first month, he was at my company about three days a week. As things got to be more under control, he would only come in a couple of days a month. We would always touch base every week to come up with the plan for the week. 

I would always make sure that we had laid out what we needed help with on our end. Alex and I would then go over, especially in the early phases of the engagement, what each party was working on. Additionally, he’s very organized because he works with a lot of clients. 

Even though we have a friendship outside of work, our relationship was very business-oriented. We worked according to a timeline and he always met every deadline. If a deadline wasn’t going to be met or if he ran into anything that complicated the process, he would let me know. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

His ability to remain calm was impressive. When I took on the job, I hadn’t realized that the accounting books were in such poor shape. But Alex helped to keep me calm, laying out the plan clearly. He reassured me that the situation wasn’t terrible.

He’s seen a lot of company’s books, so he has that perspective. He knows when something is a problem. When I thought the books were a huge mess, he was able to take a lot of his experience from working with businesses of all sizes and industries and set a plan.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions, to be honest. I don’t have anything negative to say about Alex. I would hire him to help me with any work in any position.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your objective. I knew exactly what tasks I needed him for and we had a plan to ramp up the process, and then eventually tail it off. He’s a consultant, so he’s not going to be with you forever. 

Make sure that you have very specific tasks. Additionally, don’t be afraid to challenge Alex. I would recommend him to anyone looking to get a clean set of books.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of Hello Beverages. We offer fiber-infused nutritional beverage products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Accountrepreneur LLC?

The Accountrepreneur helps us with a range of accounting services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When the team came in, they basically took over our Quickbooks account. Taking on a CFO-like role, at the end of each month The Accountrepreneur comes in with a complete financial package with about 10–12 different reports. It provides a vast amount of information; looking at it, we can identify margins on each of our clients as well as other details. 

We’ve also begun to raise money, and The Accountrepreneur puts together those reports as well.

What is the team composition?

I work only with Alex (Founder & Principal).

How did you come to work with The Accountrepreneur LLC?

Alex approached me on LinkedIn. I wasn’t looking for accounting services at the time, but I agreed to a meeting anyway. What I saw in the meeting blew me away, and I decided to start working with him on the spot.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in August 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

I’m able to send my investors the monthly financial reports they put together, which keeps them informed in a very professional manner. They’re always impressed with how clean, detailed, and up-to-date the information is. 

Their work has also helped us to lower our COGS and ensure all of our inventory was accounted for. It saves me a lot of time. Plus, Alex totally understands CPG. He knows what to look for on all of our invoices and documents, so I can feel comfortable knowing I’m never being cheated on something. The Accountrepreneur picks up on a lot of things I would miss—I wouldn’t work without them.

How did The Accountrepreneur LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Alex works extremely quickly and always meets our deadlines. His communication skills are great, too. We keep in touch through text messages, emails, and phone calls, and I can count on him to be available when I need him. If he can’t help me out right away, he’s extremely forthcoming and always provides a date when he will be able to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Accountrepreneur’s services would make any CEO look great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there hasn’t been anything so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Sit down with them and see where your baseline is. From there, The Accountrepreneur will analyze where you and where you need to be, and then they’ll get you there.