Landed cost you can trust, deductions reconciled to the invoice, and inventory that ties across every co-packer and 3PL your product sits in.
CPG margins are decided in places general bookkeeping never looks: the freight invoice that arrives six weeks after the container, the retailer short-pay with a reason code nobody logged, the finished goods sitting at a second 3PL that never made it into the count.
We run the accounting function for consumer brands scaling through retail and distribution, with the cost detail you need to price, promote, and raise.
Freight, duty, tariffs, and broker fees get expensed in the month the invoice arrives instead of allocated to units received. Gross margin by SKU is wrong, and so is every pricing and promotion decision built on it.
Chargebacks, slotting fees, MCBs, and co-op deductions show up months later as unexplained short-pays. Without a deduction log tied back to invoices, revenue is overstated and nobody knows true net price.
Raw materials at a co-packer, finished goods across two 3PLs, samples in a closet. If the count isn't reconciled monthly, COGS becomes a plug and the balance sheet drifts quietly.
Long POs, deposits to co-packers, and 60-day retail terms mean cash and profit move on different schedules. Without a 13-week forecast, you find out late.
We build a SKU-level cost model that carries landed cost properly, a deduction log that reconciles every retailer short-pay back to an invoice, and a monthly inventory reconciliation across every location where your product sits. Then we close in the first week of the month, while the numbers can still change a decision.
Freight, duty, and tariffs allocated to units received.
Every short-pay logged, coded, and disputed or accepted.
Across co-packers, 3PLs, and your own warehouse.
Tied to open POs, deposits, and retail payment terms.
Retail, distributor, DTC, and food service compared honestly.
Inventory method — FIFO versus weighted average — changes taxable income and should be a decision rather than a default. Section 263A uniform capitalization rules apply once you pass the gross receipts threshold. Tariffs and duty drawback are frequently left on the table. If formulation or process work happens in-house, both Section 174 treatment and the R&D credit are worth a look.
QuickBooks plus a real inventory system (Cin7, Fishbowl) works well into the mid-eight figures. We'd rather fix the process than sell you a migration. When you genuinely outgrow it, we run the NetSuite implementation.
Every short-pay is logged against the original invoice with a reason code, then rolled into a monthly deduction report. Valid deductions reduce net revenue; invalid ones become a dispute list your sales team can actually work.
Yes. Freight, duty, tariffs, and broker fees are allocated to units received, not expensed when the invoice lands. That's the difference between a real gross margin and a guess.
Tell us where you are today. We will follow up within one business day with a view on what is worth fixing first.
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