Financial Consultant (Mar 2023 - Present)
At Thornwood Partners, I was brought in to untangle their complex financial setup and bring structure to their multi-entity operations. With seven different real estate businesses running on separate books and a heavy reliance on spreadsheets, the lack of centralization was causing delays, errors, and limited financial visibility. My role was to streamline their accounting systems, automate critical workflows like payroll and homeowner payment tracking, and create a unified financial view. In short, I aimed to simplify their processes, reduce manual effort, and help them make faster, more informed decisions across all entities.
Challenge
When I joined Thornwood Partners, the financial ecosystem was disjointed and manual, leading to inefficiencies:
● Seven real estate entities were using separate, unlinked financial systems.
● Financial records were scattered across spreadsheets, causing delays and errors.
● Payroll was being handled manually without proper compliance checks.
● Homeowner payment tracking was inconsistent, affecting revenue recognition.
● Utility bills were often paid late due to the absence of a payment priority system.
● Management income calculations were unclear, with no streamlined methodology.
These issues not only slowed operations but also risked financial mismanagement.
Key Initiatives & Impact
●Unified Accounting System: Migrated all seven businesses into a single QuickBooks Online account with separate classes/entities to view individual and consolidated financials.
● Automated Payroll: Implemented ADP to process payroll across all entities, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance.
●Integrated Property Management Software: Deployed AppFolio to manage homeowner payments, track property revenue and expenses, and accurately calculate management income.
● Systematized Recordkeeping: Replaced spreadsheet-based bookkeeping with structured, cloud-based accounting, reducing errors and manual dependency.
● Utility Payment Procedure: Developed a payment prioritization workflow to reduce delinquency risk and control cash flow, helping maintain healthy business operations.
Results
The improvements I introduced delivered significant benefits to Thornwood Partners:
● Improved Financial Clarity: Stakeholders can now view financials at the entity and consolidated level in real-time
●Reduced Manual Errors: Transitioning away from spreadsheets improved data accuracy and audit
readiness.
● Payroll Accuracy Increased: ADP automation ensured compliant, timely payroll runs across all
businesses.
● Homeowner Revenue Tracking: AppFolio streamlined payment reconciliation and management fee
calculations.
● Cash Flow Management Enhanced: Utility payment workflows prevented late fees and prioritized
essential payments, reducing unnecessary cash burn.
Key Skills & Tools
● Multi-Entity Accounting & Consolidation
● Payroll Setup & Compliance
● Real Estate Revenue Tracking
● Financial Reporting & Budgeting
● Utility Payment Optimization
● System Implementation & Integration
● Cross-Functional Coordination
● Cloud-Based Bookkeeping Transformation
Tools: QuickBooks Online, ADP, AppFolio, Google Sheets, Excel, Slack
Case Study Overview
At Thornwood Partners, I focused on transforming their fragmented financial infrastructure into a streamlined, automated, and centralized system. By consolidating accounting for seven businesses in QuickBooks Online, introducing automated payroll with ADP, and leveraging AppFolio for revenue tracking, I empowered the leadership team with real-time visibility and decision-making confidence.
The results not only reduced inefficiencies and errors but also laid a strong financial foundation for sustainable
growth and property management excellence.
