Ozonics Case Study Fact Sheet (full case study below)
Company Snapshot
- Founded: 2007
- Industry: Ecommerce, hunting equipment
- What They Do: Sell ozone technology that eliminates human scent in the wild, making hunters “invisible” to animals.
- Unique Edge: Innovative ozone units also used for odor removal in homes and disaster recovery.
The Challenge
- High turnover in the accounting role led to disorganized books.
- No inventory management system (IMS); relied on spreadsheets.
- Coordinating inventory data between the Texas office and Iowa warehouse required time-consuming manual effort.
- Financial visibility was so muddied that leadership couldn’t plan confidently.
LedgerGurus Solutions
- Cleaned up the books and created a reliable financial picture.
- Introduced and integrated Finale Inventory with QuickBooks.
- Built tailored workflows for purchase orders, billing, invoicing, and inventory tracking.
- Provided ongoing bookkeeping, sales tax support, and inventory planning.
Results
- Books now impress outside investors: “Our books look so much better, so much cleaner. Our outside accounting company that looks at our books for investment purposes said, ‘Whoa, something’s happening here.’”
- Faster, more accurate reconciliations.
- “Things have been so much smoother. And it’s so much more visible.”
- Relief and trust from finally having experts who understand ecommerce.
Life Since Hiring LedgerGurus
- Greater clarity for seasonal planning and builds.
- Leadership can now make confident, timely decisions.
- Strong foundation for scaling the business.
- “The level of appreciation that I feel for the ladies that we work with specifically is enormous. Every time I talk to them, they’re so kind and so helpful.”
Client Advice to Others
- “Why wait? What are you waiting for?”
- “With all 50 states having different rules and filing periods and there are constant changes, sales tax can get messy very quickly and it can cause huge issues for your company especially when you’ve been penalized and accruing interest. Even if you have a sales tax person for your company, just to have that support of LedgerGurus there is huge.”
Ozonics has been changing the way hunters experience the outdoors since 2007. The business was born out of co-founder Dr. Scott Elrod’s passion for bow hunting and his determination to solve an age-old problem: how to eliminate human scent in the wild.
For centuries, hunters tried masking their presence with methods like doe urine. Scott knew there had to be a better way. His solution: a portable ozone unit that creates an odorless bubble around the hunter, making them virtually invisible to animals.
As Liz Yearout, Accounting Specialist at Ozonics, put it, “Scott’s pretty genius. I don’t know any person other than Scott that would just sit around one day and get an idea like that.”
While designed for hunters, the technology quickly found other uses. It can eliminate musty odors in closets and even help disaster victims clean the air in flooded homes. What started as a hunter’s solution became something much bigger.
The Problem: Disorganized Books, No IMS, and Zero Visibility
Behind Ozonics’ innovative products was an operation straining under the weight of disorganized finances and disconnected systems. The company had seen constant staff turnover in its accounting role, and each departure left the books in worse shape than before.
As Liz described it, “How do you get the books in order and fix it by yourself in a timely manner?”
Liz also described a recurring pattern: each person hired into the accounting seat would oversell their capabilities, then struggle to navigate the complexity of Scott’s interconnected companies. The result was layered errors and a financial picture no one could trust.
No Inventory Management System
Without an inventory management system, Ozonics was running its entire operation on a single spreadsheet maintained by their Iowa-based fulfillment team.
As Liz explained: “There was no IMS system. We were utilizing a spreadsheet. It was hard to maintain accuracy in the books because I’m in Texas, they’re in Iowa. So, numbers were not always in real time.”
The spreadsheet worked well for what it was, and Liz was quick to credit the Iowa team for the accuracy and care they brought to maintaining it. But the process was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and syncing data across state lines in real time was a daily uphill climb. And without an IMS, bookkeeping was exponentially harder.
“Not having an IMS made bookkeeping so much harder and time consuming, especially with inventory, sales and appropriate payment applications during our builds.” Liz says.
Accounting Challenges at the Worst Possible Time
When Liz came on board, she stepped directly into the middle of a critical period: the annual “build,” Ozonics’ seasonal manufacturing cycle where products are planned, ordered from China, and stocked in preparation for hunting season.
“I came on at the very end of our build for 2024 and it was a real challenge on the accounting side,” says Liz.
The lack of visibility made seasonal planning feel like guesswork. Leadership couldn’t get a reliable read on inventory levels, cash position, or purchasing needs. These are all critical inputs for a highly seasonal ecommerce company manufacturing overseas.
The Cost of Inaction
The consequences of disorganized books and no IMS touched every part of the business:
- Reconciliations dragged on and were frequently inaccurate.
- Purchase orders, billing, and invoicing were all tracked manually.
- Seasonal build planning was hampered by unreliable inventory data.
- Leadership lacked the financial clarity needed to make confident decisions.
- Outside investors were looking at books that didn’t reflect the business’s true potential.
Why LedgerGurus: An Ecommerce Accounting Partner, Not Just a Bookkeeper
By late 2023, Ozonics knew they needed outside expertise. But not just any accounting firm would understand the unique challenges of ecommerce:
- Multi-state sales tax rules
- Complex inventory
- Seasonal manufacturing cycles
- The need for systems that sync across geographically dispersed teams
That’s why they turned to LedgerGurus. What set them apart wasn’t just technical skill. It was the integrated way their specialized teams worked together across accounting, inventory management, and sales tax:
“There is so much synergy in the way the different teams of LedgerGurus work. Sales tax, accounting, IMS, it all just flows,” says Liz.
The Solution: Clean Books, Real IMS, and Integrated Workflows
Step 1: Clean Up the Books
Initially, the scope felt modest. The first priority was getting the books into shape.
“We wanted LedgerGurus to come in and help offset some of the initial daily bookkeeping,” Liz explains.
But once the LedgerGurus team began digging into the books, it became clear the problems ran deeper than expected.
LedgerGurus’ accounting team came in, worked through the accumulated errors, and put proper processes in place.
“It has been such a blessing,” Liz exclaimed, describing the ongoing collaboration: “When I’m finding inaccuracies in the books and my accounting brain is going at whirlwind speed, it’s so nice to just shoot my accounting manager an email: ‘Hey, this is what I’m thinking, what do you think?’ And she will either say, ‘Yes, you’re absolutely right,’ or she’ll give me a better idea.”
That kind of back-and-forth partnership, with a knowledgeable collaborator who could validate thinking and push back constructively, was something Ozonics had never had before.
Step 2: Implement Finale Inventory
With the books improving, LedgerGurus turned to the IMS gap. They introduced Ozonics to Finale Inventory and handled the full integration of QuickBooks and the company’s existing systems. The impact was immediate:
“Just integrating Finale with our books has been huge. The accuracy is outstanding. Getting our customer service and inventory teams working in the Finale IMS has been extremely helpful, as well. Everything is so much more streamlined,” says Liz.
For the first time, the Texas office and the Iowa warehouse were operating from the same real-time data. No more emailing spreadsheets across state lines. No more guessing at inventory levels.
Step 3: Build Workflows That Actually Work
Beyond the tools, LedgerGurus built tailored workflows for purchase orders, billing, invoicing, and inventory tracking, all integrated and visible across teams. The difference was transformative:
“Inventory counts, billing invoicing, purchase orders, and applying payments – everything has been so much smoother and so much more visible,” says Liz.
The sales tax team also stepped in to help Ozonics navigate the complexity of multi-state ecommerce tax compliance, which Liz flagged as a major risk for any online seller operating across all 50 states.
The Results: Investor-Ready Books and a Foundation to Scale
The Books Turned a Corner and Investors Noticed.
The most visible sign of progress came from outside the company. Ozonics’ investment partner, a firm that regularly reviews the books, immediately noticed the difference.
“Our books look so much better and cleaner. Our outside accounting company that looks at our books for investment purposes said, ‘Whoa, something’s happening here,’” says Liz.
That reaction was more than just validating. It was a signal that clean, trustworthy financials are a competitive asset, not just an internal operational win.
Real Financial Visibility for the First Time
Before LedgerGurus, leadership was making decisions in the dark. Now the picture is clear.
“We’re really able to start seeing where we are financially for the first time as a company. Where it was so muddied before and we weren’t really able to get a big picture, now we can really see it. And it’s looking really good.”
Seasonal Build Planning is No Longer Guesswork
As a highly seasonal ecommerce company that manufactures in China, Ozonics’ annual “build” process is a critical planning window. With Finale now integrated, Liz is confident heading into the next cycle:
“I know that the integration of the IMS, Finale, will help us during our next and future builds. Because we’ll be able to have the numbers in real time for inventory planning, it will allow for more accuracy moving forward. It’s super exciting.”
A Job That’s Actually Manageable
Perhaps the most human win: Liz no longer feels like she’s solving complex accounting problems alone.
“It has made my job a whole lot easier having someone there to shoot ideas off of.”
Inheriting broken books, navigating corrections without support, and trying to sync systems across two states had all been constant sources of stress. With the right partner in place, those same challenges became manageable and even rewarding.
Advice to Other Ecommerce Business Owners
When asked what she would say to another ecommerce owner considering LedgerGurus, Liz didn’t hesitate:
“Why wait? What are you waiting for? Ecommerce is a beast in itself. Sales tax alone can get overwhelming. Don’t do it alone. It all just works with LedgerGurus. There’s so much synergy.”
She was particularly direct about sales tax risk, a common blind spot for ecommerce brands:
“With all 50 states having different rules and filing periods and constant changes, sales tax can get messy very quickly and it can cause a huge issues for your company, especially when you’ve been penalized and are accruing interest. Even if you have a sales tax person for your company, just to have that support of LedgerGurus there is huge.”
A Partnership Built on People
For Liz, the numbers tell part of the story. But the relationship is what makes it real. As she put it: “The LedgerGurus team just gets it. They’re so kind and so helpful. The level of appreciation that I feel for the team we work with specifically is enormous.”
She also noted that Buddy, the president of Ozonics, has been involved in every part of the LedgerGurus engagement, a sign of just how embedded the partnership has become at the leadership level.
For Ozonics, the work with LedgerGurus hasn’t just cleaned up the past. It’s built the foundation to grow confidently into the future.
Ready to Turn Financial Chaos into Clarity?
You don’t have to keep guessing at your numbers or wasting time wrestling with manual processes and disconnected systems. With LedgerGurus, you get a team that knows ecommerce inside and out: ecommerce bookkeeping, inventory management software setup, and multi-state sales tax compliance, all working together.
👉 Schedule your free consultation today and see how LedgerGurus can help you scale with confidence.
