Case studies
Acquisitions and
AI implementations.
We acquire practices, and we implement bespoke AI inside existing workflows. Same method either way: embed, learn, then build.
Remote · CPG clients nationwide
MyPocketCFO, now Mars Accounting
Remote · CPG clients nationwide
A fifty client CPG practice running on manual landed cost and retailer deductions. We bought it, rebuilt the close around how CPG actually works, and took firm margin from 5% to 70%.
marsaccounting.coThen
Now
Firm profit margin
CPG clients inherited
Close, not monthly
Before
The firm we inherited
MyPocketCFO was a remote specialist shop for CPG founders selling into grocery, Amazon, and DTC: UNFI, KeHE, Shopify, the channels that make generic bookkeeping fail. Fifty client relationships, spread across the United States. Real category knowledge. And a 5% profit margin, typical of a practice doing landed cost, trade spend, and retailer deductions by hand. Close took weeks. Capacity stopped where headcount stopped.
After
What we built inside it
We learned every workflow before changing one. Then we designed the close around how CPG actually works: true landed COGS per SKU, P&L by channel and retailer, reconciliation across distributors and marketplaces. Direct API connections where they exist, and agents running on a cron where they don't, consolidating data across every source automatically. Accountants still own every number. The operational drag does not. Firm margin moved to 70%. The same fifty brands now get books that close daily.
In detail
Landed COGS, down to the SKU
Freight, duty, and inbound handling allocate to the unit rather than sitting in a single line at the top of the P&L. Gross margin becomes a fact per product instead of an estimate per month.
P&L by channel and retailer
Amazon, Shopify, UNFI, and KeHE each carry their own economics. Trade spend, chargebacks, and freight terms land against the channel that caused them, so founders can see which shelf actually pays.
Reconciliation across distributors and marketplaces
Remittances and settlement reports are parsed as they arrive and matched against invoices. Deductions and short-pays surface while they can still be disputed.
Direct connections, agents for the rest
Where a system offers an API, we use it. Where the data only exists behind a portal login, an agent runs on a cron, retrieves it, and normalizes it before the team starts the day.
Schoharie, NY
Evening Star Bookkeeping
Schoharie, NY
Town payroll and board vouchers, keyed check by check into QuickBooks. We sat with that week until check-by-check became a review.
Clients on the books
Auto synthesized
All on the same client
Before
The practice
Evening Star keeps books for villages and local businesses around Schoharie, New York. Payroll registers and board vouchers arrived as PDFs. Staff retyped checks into QuickBooks Desktop. The rest of the firm ran on a spreadsheet: weekly payroll, monthly closes, sales tax, annual filings. Files in one place, email in another. Capacity stopped at however much one person could rekey.
After
What we built inside it
We learned the calendar before we built anything. Payroll and voucher PDFs now land, extract, and synthesize automatically, waiting for review. Staff approve payees, accounts, and amounts. Then they post to QuickBooks. Mappings persist from one run to the next. Weekly payroll, closes, sales tax, and filings sit on a work board. Files and email sit with the client they belong to. Accountants still own every posting.
In detail
Payroll into QuickBooks
Reports are found as they arrive. Checks and liabilities extract against that client's mappings. Staff review payees, accounts, and amounts, then approve. Nothing posts unreviewed.
Town voucher packets
Board vouchers, split by fund, take the same path. A meeting week's data entry is now a review queue.
The firm in one place
Roster, weekly payroll, closes, sales tax, filings. Files where they already were. Email shared across the staff, not trapped in one inbox.
Their stack, not a new one
Microsoft 365 for documents. QuickBooks Desktop for the books. A watcher for new work. Clients never had to switch software.
Think there might be a fit?
Every practice we work with started as one conversation. Tell us how yours runs and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.