Last Updated on December 17, 2025 by Jason Andrew
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When Paige Kohalmont acquired Austral Herbs, she stepped into a business with huge demand and huge complexity. Stock needed to be ordered months in advance, systems were disconnected, and there was no clear view of margins or cash flow.
With no internal finance team, Paige partnered with SBO Financial. We became her end-to-end outsourced finance function, helping her take control of the numbers, fix operational issues, and scale with confidence.
How SBO Financial Helped an Inventory-Heavy Brand Scale with Confidence
The eCommerce Challenge
Scaling a product-based business is a cash-hungry balancing act.
Stock ties up capital for months. Promotions affect margin in unpredictable ways. And most systems don’t show what’s really happening with gross profit or working capital.
“I had strong revenue, but I couldn’t fully trust the numbers. It felt like I was flying blind, especially when making big inventory decisions.”
What Paige needed was a finance partner who understood the challenges of running a stock-heavy business and could bring clarity across systems, forecasts, and the P&L.
The SBO Solution
SBO stepped in as Paige’s outsourced finance team, providing everything from hands-on bookkeeping to board-level financial modelling and cash flow strategy.
We specialise in working with stock-based businesses, so we zeroed in on what mattered most: visibility, accuracy, and control.
What we delivered:
🧮 Inventory-Driven Cash Flow Forecasting
- Built a custom cash flow forecasting system linked to purchase order planning
- Set up weekly reviews to support proactive stock and payment decisions
📦 Margin Visibility
- Defined and tracked gross profit and product margin across all SKUs
- Identified problems in how freight and COGS were being allocated that distorted profitability
🔧 Operational Clean-Up
- Fixed broken links between Ostendo (IMS) and Xero, resolving FX errors, PO issues, and supplier mismatches
- Helped restructure the Chart of Accounts multiple times as the business evolved
- Uncovered and corrected issues with supplier invoices and messy rent charges
📊 Reporting & Modelling
- Created clear, board-ready reports with both financial and non-financial KPIs
- Built dozens of custom models used to secure millions in external funding
💡 Tactical & Strategic Support
- Advised on BFCM promotions and customer membership ideas
- Became part of the daily operating rhythm, including internal comms and weekly finance calls
The Impact
- ✅ Gained end-to-end visibility across inventory, cash flow, and margin
- ⚙️ Fixed critical operational errors that were distorting the numbers
- 🔍 Gross profit and product margin now tracked and used to guide decisions
- 🧘 Paige no longer has to stress about spreadsheets, payments, or P&L surprises
- 💡 Business now runs with clear numbers and confident decisions
The Takeaway
Running a stock-heavy eCommerce or wholesale business? You don’t need to build a finance team from scratch.
SBO Financial plugs in as your outsourced finance function, bringing real-world experience in inventory-heavy operations, capital strategy, and system integration so you can scale without stress.
👉 Book a call to see how we can support your growth.
