Case study

Scaling Ocean Bottle to 50+ Employees in Three Years, Achieving £100k+ in Savings: A Financial Success Story.

Ocean Bottle's Mission

In a race against time to collect 7 billion bottles by 2025, Ocean Bottle has expanded its operations globally, now boasting over 50 employees and generating 8+ figures in revenue. The partnership with Abacai, the cornerstone of their finance team, has helped Ocean Bottle seamlessly scale, saving thousands in the process.

Extension of their team

The problem

Ocean Bottle has a great team of experienced finance professionals, including a head of finance and finance director.
Before working with Abacai, they found most of their time was spent on data reconciliation, making payments, dealing with suppliers, and international VAT returns.
This was taking them away from their value-added work, such as expansion strategies, cost analysis, and future forecasting.

The solution

Abacai provides a full team of UK-based finance professionals that act as an extension of the Ocean Bottle’s team.
Taking on tasks such as monthly management accounts, bookkeeping, payroll, weekly supplier payments, and ad-hoc support.
Abacai freed up the internal team's time, allowing them to focus all their energy on high-value projects. Having everything in one place has saved Ocean Bottle thousands on internal hires, external consultants, and accountants.

Seamless global growth

The problem

Very early on, Ocean Bottle started to gain international recognition, and customers from all over the world wanted to support their mission and buy their bottles
Quite soon, their global market became a significant driver in Ocean Bottle's growth. Selling globally, if executed incorrectly, can be very expensive and lead to a poor customer experience.

The solution

Abacai, working exclusively with scaling brands, was able to advise on a number of different strategies that were cost-effective while ensuring the customer had a best-in-class buying experience.
Liaising with external advisors in local regions, Abacai ensured Ocean Bottle saved thousands of pounds in sales tax each year while staying compliant in every corner of the world they sell to.

Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy

The problem

Ocean Bottle relies on over 50 different platforms, including Xero, Shopify, Cin7, and Amazon, to run the business.
Ensuring accurate data flows between these systems is a colossal challenge. Even a 1% error in these data flows leads to hundreds of thousands of pounds in overpaid VAT and corporation tax.

The solution

From the first day of working together, Abacai began optimizing Ocean Bottle’s processes.
This required a full understanding of all areas of the business, including sales, operations, and finance. Quickly, we were able to spot discrepancies and help implement a scalable solution that delivered accurate results every time.

"Working with Abacai has been a game changer for our finance function. They’re super responsive and being able to communicate with them on Slack and Whatsapp, means we get help and assistance when we need it. Their specialist knowledge and expertise has allowed us to navigate the complex changes associated with Brexit and has given us the peace of mind to continue to grow the business sustainably."

Nick Doman, CEO and Founder

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