Ravenox Case Study

How technology, real-time accounting, and good proactive tax planning has transformed Ravenox.

Technology has revolutionized the way people shop, in fact the massive growth of Amazon has allowed companies like Ravenox to offer unique, high quality products to consumers across the United States without the need to establish expensive brick and mortar stores or warehouses. Sean established Ravenox in 2012 after serving on active duty in the Marines Corps for 12 years, which allowed him to travel to several unique locations and meet a variety of different people with various backgrounds and experiences. During his travels, Sean quickly saw how an e-commerce business could scale efficiently with little capital and leverage the power of technology to reach a large market share.

The Challenges:

When Ravenox was first established, Sean managed his accounting with QuickBooks Desktop, at the time he installed a Mac version of QuickBooks however, as the business grew he needed hardware that was not compatible with Apple computers so Sean switched to a PC and was forced to transition his accounting to QuickBooks for Windows. This became a significant challenge which resulted in a significant amount of information being lost. After the hard-fought transition to QuickBooks for Windows, Ravenox accounting records were disjointed and spread across two different incompatible operating systems. Another significant challenge for Ravenox was related to the lack of collaboration between Sean and his prior accountant. Unfortunately, when we first met Sean we learned that his accountant simply filed his tax returns but did not provide proactive advice to find cost savings and tax benefits for his growing business. After three years of enduring QuickBooks challenges and working with a reactive accountant, Sean was ready for a change.

The Solutions:

When Sean decided to engage Polaris Tax and Accounting we quickly converted Ravenox from QuickBooks to Xero. Our cloud accounting platform allows full access to business financial records from any Internet Connected device, so Sean could access all of Ravenox accounting records from both his PC and Mac devices. The transition from QuickBooks to Xero allowed us to eliminate the huge gaps in Ravenox accounting, providing one seamless system for better collaboration between Sean and our firm. Shortly after the implementation of Xero, we integrated several add-ons to streamline Ravenox processes including Gusto for payroll, and TaxJar to handle Sales Tax for all online sales tax reporting. With our real-time accounting model, Sean quickly realized how important it was to have accounting records updated daily. Sean could now log into Xero and quickly see up-to-date business performance, bank balances and Amazon settlement accounts. This information gave Sean the information he needed to see if his business was meeting its business goals. Once Ravenox accounting records were fully updated, we worked with Sean to implement ongoing tax mitigation strategies and provided continuously updated tax projections.

Today Ravenox is a thriving online e-commerce company, and the business once started by Sean is now a family affair. Genevieve, Sean’s soul mate and business partner, recently joined the Ravenox team and has significantly contributed to the business growth and overall direction of the company. Recently, Ravenox has grown from being an online retailer to becoming an American manufacturing company, employing workers in the United States to manufacture unique products. In fact, Ravenox is proud to work closely with a network of American-based suppliers, giving Sean and Genevieve a great sense of pride and patriotism knowing that their business is helping other small businesses in the United States. Today Sean and Genevieve remain committed to supporting veteran and non-profit organizations throughout America, they both aspire to continue their business growth and in turn give back to this great nation that has provided all of us with so much.