Forensic case studies 

When commingled bank accounts, multi-EIN operational structures, and disconnected legacy software jeopardize balance sheets, our forensic team steps in. Review our proven reconstructions where we established symmetrical intercompany firewalls, eliminated balance sheet discrepancies, and delivered audit-grade books for commercial lenders.

Case Study

From untangling a Development Group's 10-EIN commingling crisis to engineering custom software bridges between QuickBooks and field operations, examine our specialized multi-entity solutions.

Decoupling a Multi-Entity Commingling Crisis in QuickBooks Online (QBO)

Executive Summary

  • The Client: Apex Development Group, a mid-sized real estate and construction conglomerate.
  • The Structure: 1 parent entity managing corporate overhead and 9 subsidiary LLCs (each possessing its own Employer Identification Number (EIN)).
  • The Dilemma: Over a 12-month period, the company operated out of a single primary bank account belonging to the parent entity. Expenses, payroll, and vendor bills for 5 distinct construction projects spanning across the different EINs were paid out of this single account. No intercompany allocations were made, resulting in severe fund commingling and a heavily pierced corporate veil.
  • The Goal: Untangle the 12-month historical mess, cleanly isolate costs for the 5 construction projects, and re-establish the financial firewall using QBO Location Tracking (for the separate EIN entities), Class Tracking (for the projects), and formal Due To / Due From intercompany clearing accounts.

The Cleanup Strategy & QBO Mapping

To untangle the entities without completely rewriting thousands of individual historical bank transactions, the forensic accounting team deployed a structural cleanup framework within a centralized QuickBooks Online account:

  1. Entity Isolation (Locations)
  2. Project Isolation (Classes)
  3. The Firewall Ledger: "Due To/Due From" Asset/Liability accounts 
  4. The Correction: Multi-Line Journal Entry

The Outcome

  • Decoupled Financials: By applying the Due To/Due From entries, the parent company's cash accounts perfectly balanced with the subsidiaries' operational realities.
  • Clean P&Ls: Running a Profit and Loss by Class accurately showed the true gross profit margins for all 5 construction projects.
  • Restored Firewall: Running a Balance Sheet by Location generated 10 pristine, separated financial snapshots matching the 10 EINs. If an audit or lawsuit hits Sub LLC A, the legal counsel can confidently prove that its assets and liabilities are completely firewalled from the remaining 9 entities.

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Whether you are navigating commingled IOLTA accounts or complex multi-EIN entities, we build the financial firewalls required to protect your limited liability shield.