When growth started to strain an industrial developer’s financial systems, we helped upgrade their tech and hand off accounting. The result: faster processes, cleaner numbers and a finance function they could actually rely on.
California-based 9th St. Partners is a rapidly expanding industrial real estate developer.
Growth had outpaced manual accounting — QuickBooks Desktop and spreadsheet-driven reimbursements — slowing cash flow, delaying close timelines and preventing forward-looking planning.
Armanino brought in Sage Intacct software, helped modernize workflows and unified outsourced accounting and tax functions, with real-time visibility in financials, payables, draws, reimbursements and forecasting.
The new setup means faster close timelines, efficient reimbursements, real-time reporting and improved credibility with investors. Leadership is freer to focus on growth instead of back-office operations.
A rapidly expanding industrial real estate developer in California,, 9th St. Partners builds facilities from 50,000 sq. ft. to more than 300,000 sq. ft. for institutional partners. In early 2024, the firm was at a critical juncture in its evolution from a bootstrap startup.
“We started the company with the backing of an ultra-high-net-worth family and transitioned into utilizing institutional capital,” said Co-Founder and Managing Partner Tom Ashcraft. “We realized that to grow the company to what we wanted to be, we needed to upgrade our systems and support to be of institutional caliber.”
“Our old accounting provider used QuickBooks Desktop, and we didn’t have any access to it,” explained Ashcraft. “So, we weren’t seeing any information. We just knew that wasn’t a viable system moving forward.”
The lack of access and real-time financial visibility became a barrier — and for a company eager to grow, a significant source of frustration.
Richard Pinckert, VP of operations, saw the same challenges in a process overdependent on manual operations.
“We did not have access to timely information,” Pinckert said. “We were kind of spinning our wheels a lot at month end to figure out what needed to be recorded and what needed to be reimbursed.”
Invoices arrived by email. Reconciliation was manual. Reimbursements for development projects required individual spreadsheets and multiple versions of documentation. Draw requests and accounting procedures consumed significant leadership time. And the limitations were slowing the business down.
The two leaders debated hiring for in-house accounting but recognized the model didn’t fit their needs. They recognized that 9th St. needed more than just another type of software: they were looking for an operational shift. That shift would relieve leadership of the constant hunt for financial status — to a unified system with proactive guidance, scalable support and strategic clarity.
9th St. chose to bring in Armanino as an accounting outsourcing services provider to make that transformation possible.
Ashcraft summed up the new relationship: “We wanted a team that could grow with us and that we wouldn’t outgrow.”
As part of the new outsourced accounting relationship, Armanino redesigned accounting and payables workflows, created structure around project tracking and vendor management and integrated expense solutions. They also implemented Sage Intacct accounting software, and moved 9th St. off manual, spreadsheet processes into an integrated system with real-time visibility.
Armanino worked closely with 9th St. to build a custom solution, sharing training materials and having deep discussions to understand the business.
Knowing how closely accounting and tax are intertwined, Ashcraft said he wanted both services under one roof. By bringing accounting and tax together at Armanino, financial information could stay aligned across teams, eliminating handoffs and improving coordination across the business.
“Connecting the outsourcing team to the tax team ensured the financials aligned and ultimately made for stronger collaboration and easier workflows,” Ashcraft explained.
Critical processes that once happened through folders and email threads became part of a unified system, giving 9th St. leadership greater trust and speed . Armanino cut 9th St.’s average month-end closing time by 65 days through integrated cloud-based accounting, expense and AP software with automated data feeds.
“It used to take months just to close the books. Now with Armanino’s accounting outsourcing team, we have a structured process and clear reporting,” Pinckert said.
By outsourcing with Armanino, the 9th St. team can now count on key operational improvements that include:
“It took a significant amount of time to close the prior year’s books,” said Pinckert. “Now we have notes from Armanino explaining the differences between one month and the other and things that are still open and outstanding.”
“I can feel how much more efficient we run as a company,” said Ashcraft. “We’re able to focus on growth versus solving problems.”
Both principals at 9th St. emphasized what is often the hardest thing to deliver: responsiveness. Now there are fewer delays and less time spent resolving problems. Communication with Armanino is not restricted to month-end meetings, but is instead daily, open and “always available” — hallmarks of a strong collaboration.
For Ashcraft, the change was immediate.
“The days of having hour-long calls explaining problems or cleaning up mistakes are gone,” Ashcraft said. “Armanino’s accounting outsourcing and tax services teams are responsive and proactive.”
“Armanino is on top of my last-minute requests,” Pinckert said. “The team’s service and communication have been excellent.”
Outsourcing with Armanino has meant more than financial hygiene. The work behind the scenes now elevates the work in front of 9th St.’s investing and development partners — proving key to streamlining cash flow and promoting investor confidence.
“As we’ve grown and brought on new institutional partners, having these modern systems in place makes us look good to those partners,” Ashcraft said. “They know the financials are going to be in every month on time.”
The changes helped the team answer vendor questions quickly and streamline draws. Reimbursement tracking also improved dramatically . The new process has become an engine for better decision-making. Armanino’s new processes reduced 9th St.’s accounts receivable (AR) aging profile from 50% of receivables aged over 30+ days to less than 8%.
“We were always looking backward and trying to deal with reconciling previous data,” said Pinckert. “We just never got a chance to look forward and do any forecast planning.”
“It reduces the time that I used to have to spend trying to communicate between us and Armanino,” Ashcraft said. “That allows me to go do what I really enjoy doing, which is building buildings and finding new deals.”
The outsourcing solution has Pinckert focused on the future, now able to develop the company pipeline looking ahead five years. The clarity gained through outsourcing impacted hiring decisions in 2025.
“We made a decision this year to hire someone who can focus on new deals ,” Pinckert said.
Outsourcing with Armanino removed the burden of overhead concerns. Having better access to financial forecasting information allowed them to pull the trigger on a new hire.
With core accounting stabilized, automated reimbursements in place and comparative reporting available in Sage Intacct, the next evolution is forward-looking finance.
The foundation for that future is already in place. Armanino onboarding included process changes, custom configuration and automated reporting flows to give 9th St. stronger controls and visibility that supports planning. The Armanino team also maintains daily communication and stands ready to expand reporting or services as needs expand.
“If we get one project or ten projects in the next year, I don’t have to worry about growing the team because Armanino takes care of that for us,” Ashcraft said.
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