System Solutions

A season in my dad’s IT business in Northbrook: a new accounting system, a budgeting and forecasting dashboard, and the start of Casa Oro Group.

Role: Senior strategy consultant
When: Late 2012 to early 2013
Where: Northbrook, Illinois
Scope: Accounting system, processes and a budgeting and forecasting dashboard for a family IT reseller

A brick industrial building with two garage doors, seen through rain — **Northbrook, Illinois,** January 2013.

In late 2012 my dad and his business partner needed help with the accounting at their company, System Solutions, an IT reseller in Northbrook. I had some resistance to working in the family business. I’m glad I did it anyway.

Fixing the books at my dad’s company

From late 2012 into early 2013 I put in a new accounting system, streamlined the processes around it, and built a budgeting and forecasting dashboard that put the numbers that mattered in one place. It was the PwC toolkit, used on a company small enough that I could watch every change land in the work.

What it led to

I left grateful, and ready to go make a dent in the world again. Early in 2013 I was back in Central America, shoveling compost at Rancho Margot.

A couple of years later I walked back into that office with a financial case for a hostel in Nicaragua. In 2015 he was one of my partners when we bought Casa Oro.

What I did

Put in a new accounting system built around the business’s needs, so the owners got real financial reporting
Streamlined the service center’s processes for speed and for the customers on the other end
Built a metric dashboard for budgeting, forecasting and reporting, with the few numbers that mattered in one place
Did it for my dad and his business partner, which meant making every case with the numbers
Came back two years later with a financial case for a hostel in Nicaragua; in 2015 he was one of my partners when we bought Casa Oro

Deliverables

A new accounting system, set up for stronger financial reporting
A budgeting, forecasting and reporting dashboard
Streamlined service-center processes

Skills

Setting up accounting systems for small companies
Budgeting, forecasting and management dashboards
Process improvement in a service operation
Advising a family business

What I learned

The discipline I learned at a big firm works just as well on a small company, and you see it work faster. Family is still a client: make the case with the numbers.