Start-up venture – Energy Efficiency/Lighting as a Service (“LaaS”) Company (www.aquilaenv.com)
As a start-up, Aquila had no accounting infrastructure or processes. These needed to be built from the ground up. After architecting the initial infrastructure and process, ongoing oversight and monitoring was requested by the CEO to satisfy the expectations of Aquila’s capital partners.
Upon losing their in-house accountant, Aquila required a solution to completely manage its accounting function.
Brian C. McKeown PLLC created an accounting and reporting system that was appropriate for a start-up, but flexible and scalable to deal with subsequent growth. McKeown provided oversight that gave the CEO confidence in the accuracy and advanced level of financial reporting to his investor group. The McKeown team successfully managed day-to-day bookkeeping tasks as well as higher-level accounting and financial reporting asks. Furthermore, the McKeown team often doubled in a CFO capacity, running key performance reports for the CEO and its partners, modeling out future projections, and assisting in two key asset sales that provided vital liquidity for a fast-growing start-up.
The McKeown team has been a critical contributor to our business from day one. Brian’s team has been able to provide the solutions that we need at each step along the way – adapting quickly as our needs have changed over time.
It is critical to us as a growth company that our accounting function is rock solid. As a CEO, my focus needs to be on leading and developing our people, delivering a quality service to Aquila’s customers as well as growing the business. Because we have the McKeown team on board, I know that the accounting is properly taken care of which allows me to give my key objectives as a leader my undivided attention.
I believe two dimensions strongly differentiates McKeown from his competitors. One is Brian’s financial and business acumen, given his seasoned past career in Institutional Finance. Second, and moreso is his ability to relate to what it looks like from where I am sitting. It can be lonely at the top and on numerous occasions I have sought out his opinions because of his deep experience and his trustworthiness. As a CEO, you often need to venture outside of your organization to find a peer to test ideas or discuss sensitive issues with. Brian has always served as that and to me that is much more then just a consultant, but a trusted adviser.
John Sledge
CEO
Aquila Environmental, LLC