Brewing Success: How Walker Brothers Kombucha Scaled with Smart Accounting and Inventory Management

Client Overview

Walker Brothers is a growing kombucha brand known for its high-quality, craft-brewed beverages. Founded by Sam and Luke Walker, the company set out to create a unique, flavorful kombucha that stands apart in the beverage industry. As they scaled, they faced increasing complexity in both financial management and inventory tracking.

The Challenge

Walker Brothers is a craft Kombucha brewery that has been navigating rapid growth in recent years. As their products gained traction, they needed a scalable solution to manage their brewing process, track inventory, and maintain financial clarity. Their previous accounting provider struggled to handle the complexities of a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand, leading to misclassified expenses and unclear financial reporting. In their earliest days, they managed inventory using spreadsheets, but quickly sought out an inventory management solution that could scale alongside the growth.

The Solution(s)

To address these challenges, Walker Brothers first implemented Ekos–a cloud-based inventory management system designed for beverage producers–as one of the foundational elements of their tech stack.  They later partnered with Accountfully for outsourced accounting that could offer the complex inventory accounting, tax and finance solutions needed.

1. Implementing Ekos for Inventory Management

One of the first major operational decisions Walker Brothers made was selecting Ekos to manage inventory and brewing.

According to Caroline Howard, cofounder and leader of Strategy and Ops,

“Ekos was very foundational for us. We knew we needed software to track our inventory and our brews.”

By integrating Ekos early, Walker Brothers benefited from:

• Real-time inventory tracking – Ensuring accurate stock levels of raw ingredients and finished products.
• Production planning – Streamlining the brewing process to meet increasing demand.
• Seamless integration with QuickBooks – Allowing for accurate financial reporting and cost tracking.
• Scalability – Supporting business growth from a small operation to over $2 million in annual revenue.

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2. Transitioning to Accountfully for Outsourced Accounting

After experiencing challenges with previous accounting providers, Walker Brothers sought a firm with deep expertise in CPG brands. A trusted advisor recommended Accountfully, and within a year, the impact was clear.

“Switching to Accountfully was one of the best decisions we ever made,” Caroline shared. “We immediately saw a shift in the usefulness of our P&L. Suddenly, we had financial reports that actually made sense for our business.”

With Accountfully’s support, Walker Brothers gained:

• Accurate CPG-specific financial reporting – Properly accounting for a complex, inventory-based business including, cost of goods sold (COGS), and properly classing charts of accounts in a way that made sense for the business. 
• Time savings – Eliminating back-and-forth email chains correcting bookkeeping errors.
• Trust in financial data – Allowing leadership to focus on strategy instead of reviewing misclassified transactions.
• Strategic insights – Leveraging Accountfully’s integration with Fathom for quick access to business performance metrics.

Results and Impact

By leveraging Ekos and Accountfully together, Walker Brothers optimized their financial and operational processes, positioning the company for continued growth.

Key Outcomes:

• Time savings for leadership – Reduced manual oversight of financials, allowing leadership to focus on scaling.
• Improved financial clarity – Clean, reliable data for investor pitches and decision-making.
• Operational efficiency – Streamlined production and inventory tracking, reducing errors.
• Scalable infrastructure – Built a solid foundation for future expansion, ensuring financial and operational systems grow with the business.

Advice for Other CPG Founders

Caroline Howard shares her key takeaway for fellow entrepreneurs:

"Changing accounting providers is an onerous process. Choose wisely—find a partner you can grow with from the start so you don’t have to switch later."

She also emphasizes the importance of implementing strong systems early:

"Having accounting and production well integrated pays dividends in the long term. If you plan to take on investors, having clean, verifiable financials will set you apart."

Conclusion

By partnering with Accountfully for outsourced accounting and utilizing Ekos for inventory management, Walker Brothers built a strong foundation that supports their growth. Their experience highlights how the right systems and expert partners can help CPG brands navigate complexity, improve efficiency, and scale with confidence.