How this mission-driven, employee-owned company created efficiencies with Intuit Enterprise Suite

When first responders rushed to the scene following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, they heroically waded through the aftermath of deadly storms to help victims pick up the remaining pieces of their lives. And when forest fires ravaged the Western United States, taking houses and wildlife with them, first responders were there to help the survivors. 

Fire and Ice was also on the scene, feeding the first responders who do the hazardous, back-breaking work required to clean up after natural disasters. Fire and Ice operates mobile kitchens to provide food services at scale where it's hardest to get, including services for crews working in remote parts of Alaska, forest fire fighters in the Western US, correctional facilities, and beyond. 

Sonia Sorce was inspired to join the mission-driven company as Controller in 2016 after years of running her own accounting firm. “I was called into servicing our community—that type of work really inspires me. It gives you purpose when you wake up in the morning,” she says.  

With first responders and natural disaster cleanup on the line, Fire and Ice needs the backing of a business solution that will keep them running. For that, they turn to Intuit Enterprise Suite.

A new company structure leads to new challenges

Since joining the company in 2016, it has grown by acquiring businesses in the mobile catering space. In 2022, under Sorce’s leadership, the business transitioned to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and also created a holding company to bring it all together, called Fire and Ice. Sorce also became the CFO shortly after.  

Despite the company’s growth in size and several million in revenue per year, Sorce maintains a lean team of three to support finance and accounting. For many years, QuickBooks Online was a great fit, offering efficient processes and integrating with their preferred third-party applications. With the heightened reporting requirements as an ESOP with multiple entities, though, QuickBooks Online’s usual efficiencies were not as effective. 

To comply with regulations as an ESOP, Fire and Ice is now required to provide consolidated financial statements to their bank on a quarterly and annual basis to ensure an accurate valuation of the business. This initially led to what Sorce refers to as a “mad scramble” to put those financials together each time, adding, “It was very tedious to pull financials from so many different files.”

The process also ran counter to her ethos as a CFO. “It’s always been efficiencies,” she says. “If we didn’t have the tools that we have in place, I’d probably have double the staff, but I like to keep things lean and utilize the tools as much as possible.”

Intuit Enterprise Suite is the right-size solution

“It’s been a positive experience having a relationship with Intuit. A one-on-one relationship is really what we need, and it’s hard to find that anymore,” Sorce says. To make the upgrade experience even better, all of their third-party connections from QuickBooks Online Advanced remained the same in Intuit Enterprise Suite with no additional setup.

Smoke from a forest fire in Oregon is depicted in the distance beyond the encampment of firefighters, mobile kitchen staff, and other supporting personnel.

Intuit Enterprise Suite keeps Fire and Ice on time, on budget, and on mission

With Intuit Enterprise Suite, Sorce is able to create even more efficiencies. “What led me to make the switch [to Intuit Enterprise Suite] was definitely the consolidation of financial statements.” Intercompany journal entries, automated elimination, and clean consolidated reporting makes closing the books a breeze. “Now, when I need to pull consolidated reports, I can do in five minutes what I used to do in an hour,” she says.

After using Intuit Enterprise Suite for a couple of months, Sorce notices she has more time to support her employees. “It frees up so much of my time to be able to support my team, and I expect it will continue to save me time as I use more aspects of it.”