Consumer Goods · PE-Backed · Multi-Entity
Three systems. One clean financial picture.
PE-Backed Natural Pet Treats Platform
Multi-Entity Financial Infrastructure for a Buy-and-Build Platform
Industry: Consumer Goods — Premium Natural Pet Treats Sponsor: Lower-Middle-Market Private Equity (Discovery Fund) Structure: Three operating entities across Canada and the US Engagement: March – May 2026
The Problem
A lower-middle-market PE firm had backed an operator to build a consolidated natural pet treats platform across Canada and the US. By engagement start, the platform had three operating companies — each running its own accounting system, none of them connected.
One entity ran on Adagio. Another on Sage 50. The third on QuickBooks Online. No common data layer, no shared chart of accounts, no consolidated view. The operator was managing the business from his own Excel models. The PE sponsor was seeing numbers that didn't reconcile to their Big 4 diligence figures. There was no investor-grade reporting package — no consolidated P&L, no balance sheet, no cash flow visibility — and the platform was actively adding entities.
They needed infrastructure that could grow with the platform. What existed couldn't.
The Work
I led the engagement end-to-end: data connectivity, financial package architecture, EBITDA logic, and QoE reconciliation. A data engineer was brought in to support the adjustments table build-out.
Data Connectivity
The hardest part of this engagement was extraction. Two of the three systems are desktop-only with no API.
Adagio had no API. I connected to the client machine via AnyDesk, identified and configured an ODBC connector, and pulled GL data from 2020 through the present — with manual QC to resolve prior period adjustments and missing dates. Sage 50 followed the same ODBC approach, installed on the live machine with a backup export method as a bridge during setup. QuickBooks Online was API-connected, with a custom ETL built to extract, transform, and load GL data into the Microsoft environment.
Three systems. Three different data shapes. One clean output.
Consolidated Financial Package
Built in Excel on SharePoint — a live data model connected to all three GL feeds via Power Query, M, and cube functions, updating without manual exports. The package includes a consolidated P&L with entity-level and group views, balance sheets per entity and consolidated (validated to zero), a statement of cash flows using the indirect method, year-over-year comparisons and gross margin analysis, and EBITDA adjustments covering both management adjustments and QoE-aligned diligence figures.
A single dropdown toggles between reported, EBITDA-adjusted, and historical QoE-adjusted views. The US entity carries USD/CAD translation, and a separate FX rate toggle switches between operator rates and Big 4 QoE rates for direct PE sponsor reconciliation. The package was iterated through multiple versions with both the operator and the PE associate as active reviewers.
Big 4 QoE Reconciliation
The PE sponsor had a Quality of Earnings analysis from the time of investment. Our historical figures needed to reconcile to theirs. I produced a full written reconciliation — documenting every line-level difference between our consolidated figures and the QoE, with classification variances and FX treatment differences identified and resolved.
13-Week Cash Flow Forecast
Built in parallel by a colleague. Covers all entities with AR collections timing, freight and labor assumptions, and inventory purchasing inputs tied to the operator's budget files and AP aging exports from the controller.
Outcomes
The PE sponsor got their first consolidated view of the platform. Three entities, three systems, one live-refreshing package. There had been no single source of truth across the platform — only the operator's Excel models and a point-in-time diligence report.
The package bridged three legacy systems through to a planned ERP migration. Rather than forcing an immediate consolidation, the data layer extended the life of Adagio, Sage 50, and QBO — deferring the migration without sacrificing reporting quality.
Three stakeholders adopted it. The operator, the PE associate, and the incoming CFO all worked from the same package. PE sponsor, operator, and finance leadership aligned on one set of numbers.
The Big 4 QoE reconciliation was completed. Every historical difference between our figures and the diligence report was documented, explained, and resolved.
Why It Mattered
This is a discovery fund investment — a buy-and-build platform in a fragmented market. Every add-on means another accounting system to consolidate. The infrastructure built here wasn't scoped for three entities. It was designed to grow — multi-source data model, EBITDA toggle, QoE reconciliation layer, direct PE sponsor access. That's platform reporting infrastructure, not a one-off deliverable.
Engagement Lead: Michael Cohen Support: Data Engineer (adjustments table) Stack: Adagio ODBC · Sage 50 ODBC · QuickBooks Online API · Power Query · M · Excel · SharePoint · AnyDesk
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