How an $80M CPG Brand Saved $900K and Improved Inventory Accuracy to 98%

The Challenge: Inaccurate Inventory, Costly Write-Offs

As a fast-growing premium frozen and packaged food brand, the client was known for its commitment to quality ingredients and product availability. But behind the scenes, its inventory management systems hadn’t kept pace with its growth.

The company struggled with fragmented visibility across raw materials and finished goods. Without accurate data, financial close processes were slow, write-offs were frequent, and production planning often operated on assumptions rather than insight.

Over time, these gaps began to impact both profitability and customer trust, not due to product quality issues, but rather due to inventory inaccuracies and a lack of control.

Key pain points included:

• No visibility into raw material balances or valuation, all purchases recorded in a single GL account with no sub-ledger detail
• Quarterly and annual reconciliations that consumed significant time and led to repeated write-offs
• Inactive finished goods sub-ledger, preventing visibility by location or lot code
•  Slow, error-prone month-end closes requiring post-close adjustments
• Stockouts and expired inventory due to a lack of raw material, minimum order quantities, and rotation practices

With growing demand and complex product lines, it was clear the company needed a transparent and traceable inventory management process to restore accuracy, speed, and confidence across finance and operations.

The Goal: Complete Visibility and Control Without Adding Complexity

The company wasn’t just looking for a system upgrade. They needed an expert team who could:

•  Establish real-time visibility into both raw material and finished goods inventory
• Implement accurate, auditable accounting through sub-ledgers and reconciled balances
• Create a disciplined month-end process that delivers reliable financials without manual firefighting
• Introduce best practices like Bills of Materials (BOMs), Minimum Order Quantities, and regular cycle counts
•  Improve inventory traceability from supplier to shipment, ensuring compliance, quality, and customer confidence
• Deliver all of this in a cost-efficient model that supports scalability and future growth

The Solution: Structured Inventory Control and Traceability

A dedicated team of two full-time professionals from EA global talent pool integrated with the client finance team to close skill gaps, implement standardized best practice processes, and deliver full visibility across all inventory categories.  

The approach included:

• Implementing dedicated sub-ledgers for raw materials and finished goods within the General Ledger to ensure accurate posting and valuation
• Supported and reconciled physical inventory counts performed by warehouse teams, ensuring accurate opening and closing balances and alignment with GL.
• Developing Bills of Materials (BOMs) for every SKU to link raw material consumption directly to finished goods production
• Setting Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) and other best practices to prevent stockouts and overbuying.
• Introducing monthly physical counts and reconciliations to align book balances with actuals by quantity and value
• Activating lot-level tracking to provide complete traceability by product, batch, and location
• Aligning financial reporting through accurate cost of goods sold (COGS) calculations and streamlined month-end close processes