From Manual Consolidation to Trusted Group Reporting: Kanin Energy

 

Kanin Energy has transformed how it handles consolidation and group reporting with Joiin. What was once a manual, spreadsheet-heavy process is now automated, accurate, and trusted across the business.

By streamlining month-end workflows and embedding intercompany eliminations directly into reporting, Kanin’s finance team now saves approximately 5–7 hours per month at close. More importantly, they can consistently meet agreed loan reporting requirements, deliver investor-ready financials, and focus on insight rather than manual fixes.

The Background

Kanin Energy is a North America–based clean energy developer that converts industrial waste heat into clean baseload power.

As a project‑led business with long development cycles and external funding, Kanin relies on accurate, consolidated financial reporting to maintain investor confidence, support board decision‑making, and meet lender requirements.

The Customer

Tammy Clifford, Senior Business Operations Administrator, Kanin Energy

Tammy oversees Kanin Energy’s financial operations and reporting. She works closely with external accountants, internal leadership, and investors to ensure accurate, timely financial information across a growing, QuickBooks Online–based group.

The challenge

Before adopting Joiin, Kanin’s finance team faced a common challenge for growing, multi‑entity organisations. Consolidation was slow, manual, and becoming difficult to scale.

Financial data sat across multiple entities in QuickBooks Online and across two reporting currencies. Intercompany transactions were eliminated manually in spreadsheets, introducing inefficiencies and increasing the risk of error. Producing consolidated reports that could be confidently shared internally and externally was time‑consuming.

Timing added further pressure. Kanin operates under a loan agreement with strict covenants requiring month‑end close by the 15th of each month. With a lean finance function and manual consolidation processes, consistently meeting this deadline was challenging.

Budget versus actual analysis and management dashboards were used selectively as the business scaled. The team needed a faster, more visual way to access high‑level insights and KPIs when quick responses were required.

The solution

Kanin adopted Joiin in 2021, one year after formation, to automate consolidation, correctly eliminate intercompany balances, and move away from spreadsheet‑based reporting.

By connecting multiple QuickBooks Online entities directly into Joiin, Kanin established a single source of truth for group reporting. 

Today, Joiin underpins Kanin’s entire monthly reporting cycle.

Each month, the team produces a consolidated reporting pack including profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and budget versus actuals. Reports are generated in both USD and CAD to support internal management reporting and external investor requirements.

Tammy manages day‑to‑day financial entries, while an external accounting firm independently runs and reviews the reports. This dual approach provides a strong control framework and an added layer of confidence in the numbers.

 

The reports are used across the organisation:

  • The CEO presents consolidated financials to the board
  • The commercial manager uses the data for loan compliance and financial oversight
  • Investors receive accurate, elimination‑adjusted reports
  • The finance team uses dashboards and budget versus actuals for internal analysis

“A significant amount of time has been saved on our month end when factoring in the accuracy and efficiency improvements to our consolidated reporting.  At minimum we are saving 5-7 hours per month.”

“Joiin reporting delivers clean, reliable data that empowers leadership to make faster, better-informed strategic decisions.”

 

– Tammy Clifford, Senior Business Operations Administrator.

How Access Uses the Joiin Excel Add-in

  1. Live-linked board pack
    Each board pack combines Month, YTD, and full-year context on a single page. All figures update instantly when refreshed, allowing leadership to interrogate data live.
     “We’ve replaced copy-paste with direct links. The person who used to wrangle the spreadsheet doesn’t need to touch it now. We open, refresh and it works.”
  2. Regional and sub-regional views
    Their largest entity uses 20 tracking categories. These are now mapped directly into Excel via Joiin links, enabling instant comparison between national, regional, and sub-regional performance.
  3. One master sheet, 15 regional reports
    A single master workbook powers 15 automatically generated regional reports. With a little VBA, the team extracts individual reports from the master, ensuring consistent formats and faster distribution.
  4. Reliable and cleaner data
    Trial balance and full-code extracts exposed naming inconsistencies across entities. Fixing them once means all links now work every time, improving data integrity and audit readiness.
  5. “Set and forget” automation
    With periods pre-linked and refresh-on-open enabled, the pack now updates itself. Aside from an annual rollover, no manual rebuilds are needed.
     “It’s genuinely set and forgotten. Once a year we roll forward the periods, and it just runs. That’s the dream.”

Before Joiin

  • Manual spreadsheet consolidation
  • Intercompany eliminations handled outside the system
  • Risk of missing loan reporting deadlines

After Joiin

  • Automated multi‑entity consolidation from QuickBooks Online
  • Trusted eliminations built into reports
  • Investor‑ready financials
  • Predictable, on‑time month‑end close

The benefits

  • 18,024 total reports run since 2021
  • 496 consolidated reports run in the last month
  • 21 custom reports created
  • 4 QuickBooks Online and 2 Xero entities consolidated
  • 2 reporting currencies (USD and CAD)
  • Month‑end close by day 15 to meet loan covenants
Report packs

The conclusion

The most significant change for Kanin has been the speed at which they can now get to trusted numbers.

Intercompany eliminations were described by Tammy as one of the standout achievements. With accurate eliminations built directly into the reporting process. Streamlined reporting has freed up valuable time, allowing the team to focus on other areas of the organisation. As Kanin continues to grow, these processes provide a strong foundation for timely month‑end close and scalable financial reporting.

Key outcomes include:

  • Month‑end close consistently completed by the 15th, in line with loan covenants
  • Approximately 6 hours saved per month on consolidation and reporting
  • Removal of manual spreadsheet consolidation, reducing operational risk
  • Repeatable, auditable reporting that is no longer dependent on individual knowledge

Budget versus actual reporting has also been unlocked. With confidence in the underlying data, the team can analyse performance against plan and use dashboards to support internal discussions and long‑term project tracking.

This clarity gives management the confidence to make informed decisions quickly.

Looking Ahead

Kanin plans to extend its use of Joiin data into Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics 365 as new operational systems come online. The goal is to reuse trusted QuickBooks Online financial data across operational and executive dashboards without rebuilding reporting logic elsewhere.

For Kanin Energy, Joiin has transformed consolidation from a liability into a strength. What was once manual, slow, and uncertain is now automated, accurate, and trusted, supporting better decision‑making at board and investor level.

“It’s been a huge time saver and removed a lot of risk from reporting.”

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