Key outcomes
- 14 entities migrated onto a single chart-of-accounts framework
- Monthly consolidated family balance sheet delivered for the first time
- Quarterly cash and capital-call forecast across all entities
- Outside CPA, attorney, and wealth advisor coordinated through one point of contact
The challenge
The principal generation had built a thoughtful estate structure over twenty years — operating businesses owned through holding entities, residential and commercial real estate in separate LLCs, two charitable entities, and personal trusts for the next generation. Each entity had grown its own bookkeeping habits.
The problem wasn't that any one entity was poorly run. The problem was that no one — not the family, not the CPA, not the wealth advisor — could see the whole picture at the same time. Capital calls on real estate deals would surprise the family. Quarterly distributions from operating entities would arrive without anyone modeling the downstream tax exposure. The CPA spent every spring rebuilding the consolidated picture by hand, just to file.
Our approach
We sequenced the work over 120 days:
Days 1–30 — Map and standardize. Cataloged every entity, every banking relationship, and every reporting expectation. Designed one chart of accounts that worked across operating, real estate, and trust entities, with consistent class tagging for entity, asset, and family member.
Days 31–75 — Migrate and clean. Brought every entity into a single bookkeeping ecosystem with consistent monthly close standards. A controller reviewed every entity's close for the first three months to lock in quality.
Days 76–120 — Consolidate and forecast. Built the monthly family balance sheet — assets, liabilities, and net worth across all 14 entities. Layered a quarterly cash and capital-commitment forecast on top, modeling expected distributions, capital calls, debt service, and discretionary spending across the family.
We also stepped in as the single point of contact for the outside CPA, attorney, and wealth advisor, so the family stopped triangulating between three professionals every month.
The outcome
The first time the family received the consolidated balance sheet, the conversation shifted from 'what do we have?' to 'what do we do with it?' Quarterly forecasts now drive distribution timing across operating entities. A pending capital call on a real estate co-investment was surfaced 90 days early, allowing the family to fund it from operating distributions rather than drawing on a line of credit.
The CPA's spring workload, which previously included reconstructing the consolidation by hand, now begins with a clean monthly close already in place. The wealth advisor receives a structured quarterly summary and stopped chasing the family for entity-level data.
Most importantly, the next-generation family members — who had previously felt locked out of a structure they didn't understand — now sit in on the quarterly review and can read the family's financial picture at the same level as the principals.