""Outsourcing frees up time for us to focus on other areas of the business, knowing that our accounting, finance, and inventory management needs are being taken care of by one of the best companies in the industry.""
— Kyle Koehler, Co-Founder
The Challenge
Kyle Koehler spent his days in a cubicle in New York City before deciding every day should feel like an adventure instead. He quit his job, moved back to Texas, and started experimenting with a clean, unprocessed granola recipe. That first batch sold out at a local farmers market, and Wildway was born.
The company grew into an organic breakfast and snack brand, known for its regenerative organic certified oatmeal, chewy snacking granola, and crisp coconut chip snacks.
Unlike most food and beverage brands, Wildway self-manufactures everything in-house, controlling the entire process from raw ingredient to finished package. That control is central to the brand's quality, but it also created a growing accounting and inventory challenge: tracking the cost and location of every ingredient across the full production cycle.
Kyle had a background in accounting and finance, so he handled the books himself in Wildway's early days. As the business scaled, that approach stopped working.
"Prior to using Core for our IMS, we used a combination of QuickBooks and Excel to track inventory and it was a nightmare."
He needed a system built for a manufacturer, one that could also unify Wildway's ecommerce, wholesale, and distribution channels instead of tracking each separately.
"The biggest challenge was finding a comprehensive product that met our needs as a manufacturer, but also integrated our ecommerce sales channels with other offline channels in one bundled solution."
The Solution
Wildway partnered with BELAY in 2018 for outsourced accounting support, and as the business matured, that partnership expanded to include BELAY's Inventory Consulting team implementing Cin7 Core.
Cin7 Core gave Wildway a single system that combined its in-house manufacturing with its ecommerce, wholesale, and distribution sales channels. BELAY's Inventory Consulting team led the implementation and has continued supporting Wildway as an active part of day-to-day operations. Cin7's integrations with sales channels like Shopify and Amazon, plus its ability to pull data directly from QuickBooks, streamlined Wildway's reporting and monthly close.
With BELAY handling the accounting side and Cin7 handling inventory, Kyle was able to grow Wildway without switching providers or systems as complexity increased.
"Cin7 has helped us track raw materials through the entire production process. This helps us with lot tracking and traceability from the farm all the way to the consumer," Kyle said. "BELAY was integral in the transition phase, helping ensure that all of our inventory was transitioned over properly and that everything was working smoothly."
""I would recommend Cin7 to any business who is striving to find a comprehensive solution to accounting and inventory management that will grow with them as the business grows. We feel like it's the most efficient way to handle all of our accounting, A/R, A/P, billing, and inventory needs by having everything under one roof.""
— Kyle Koehler, Co-FounderThe Impact
Eight years later, Wildway still relies on the combination of BELAY and Cin7 Core to support its growth. Using Cin7, Kyle can track finite detail, down to a single dried organic cranberry, as it moves from raw ingredient to packaged granola, while BELAY provides the accounting perspective on that same journey.
"In the eight years Wildway has been using Cin7, the platform has helped us grow and scale while continuing to provide a comprehensive solution that grows with us over time," Kyle said.
That reliability has given his team room to focus on what matters most: product, manufacturing, sales, and marketing, rather than untangling spreadsheets.
"The combined services offered by BELAY and Cin7 have freed up time and given our team peace of mind that our accounting and inventory needs are being taken care of by a company and software that we can trust and grow with."
For other founders facing the same growing pains, his advice is simple:
"I would recommend Cin7 to any business striving to find a comprehensive solution to accounting and inventory management that will grow with them as the business grows. We feel like it's the most efficient way to handle all of our accounting, A/R, A/P, billing, and inventory needs by having everything under one roof."
