Hear stories from small businesses and how they grew with the support of their accounting provider and QuickBooks Online.

Alex MacLean is the founder of East Coast Lifestyle, a Halifax-based clothing company that specializes in everything surf, snow and street. Fresh design and high-quality clothing give everyone an opportunity to connect with the coast from around the world.

Alex started East Coast Lifestyle eight years ago as part of a class project at Acadia as a way for Maritimers to showcase local pride.

“The brand is worn by people that are from Atlantic Canada that either are in Atlantic Canada, or they’re displaced Maritimers around the world who are proud of where they’re from and want to wear that on their chest.”

Along with VP Taylor Northey, Alex has grown East Coast Lifestyle to an established brand across Atlantic Canada, with three East Coast Lifestyle storefronts, products in over 100 locations across Canada, and a booming online store. But it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Issues with their bookkeeper led to them searching for a new accounting solution.

That’s where Grant Thornton LLP came in.

Peace of mind with Grant Thornton and QuickBooks Online

“Grant Thornton approached us two years ago, and it’s been the best switch we’ve ever made. Everything is much more organized, and we have a better understanding of our business,” Alex says.

Grant Thornton introduced Alex and Taylor to crucial tools for a business that was growing from two employees to over thirty. Grant Thornton helped to connect these tools to QuickBooks Online (QBO), which immediately made accounting much easier.

“Once we did that, I was able to do the bookkeeping myself. We didn’t need to outsource it anymore and we could be more in the know of what was going on in our business, and where money was coming in and going out.”

Taylor says that before Grant Thornton, everything was much more manual and far less efficient. Today, she is thankful to Grant Thornton for showing her that there is a better way to do business. “We used to be so worried about the money coming in and out and making sure that every transaction had been accounted for. We had a lot of moving pieces. Once we got on with Grant Thornton there was a lot of peace of mind, and I don’t think we’ll ever outsource ever again.”

Build better business in the cloud

The results of East Coast Lifestyle using QBO have been impressive. Companies that choose to use the all-in-one cloud accounting platform can enjoy the same benefits, including:

• Organized expenses
• One-click reporting
• Month-end review
• Dashboard overview
• Paperless receipt tracking