About
I build accounting systems, not just review them.
Adegoke "Adé" Olowu, founder of Adé In The Books.
My story.
I've spent my career inside finance functions that couldn't afford to get the numbers wrong.
I started in KPMG's audit and financial due diligence practice, moved to BlackRock's Corporate Controllers group, and worked in accounting at Unity Technologies. Today I work in institutional private credit, on the accounting infrastructure of a platform with CLO structures and a multi-entity management company. I don't just advise on accounting systems. I build them.
That has meant building charts of accounts from scratch, implementing ERP and treasury management systems, managing outsourced accounting teams across time zones, and moving a company from quarterly to monthly financial reporting. KPMG taught me to document everything and get it right under scrutiny. Institutional finance taught me that systems, not intentions, are what hold up.
Outside those walls, I kept seeing the same gap: growing businesses running real operations on books nobody had built for them. The bookkeeping got done and the returns got filed, but nobody owned the close, the balance sheet, or the questions a lender or buyer would eventually ask. Adé In The Books exists to close that gap. I also serve licensed cannabis operators, and I train the accountants who serve them through the Cannabis Accounting Academy.
The name is a play on mine: Adé is pronounced "ah-DAY." And the best professional relationship, to me, feels like a knowledgeable friend in your corner: someone who tells you what your numbers mean, not just what you need to file.
Where I've worked.
- KPMGAudit and financial due diligence: learning what lenders, buyers and auditors look for, and why numbers fail diligence.
- BlackRock, Corporate ControllersControllership inside one of the world's largest asset managers.
- Unity TechnologiesAccounting inside a fast-growing public technology company.
- Institutional private credit, todayMulti-entity accounting, CLO structures, the month-end close, and treasury work across credit facilities.
How I work.
Process first
Every engagement starts with how your numbers are produced, not just what they say.
Fixed prices
Diagnostic and project fees are set before work starts.
Alongside your tax preparer
I don't prepare tax returns for general clients. I make your preparer's job easier.
Direct access
You work with me, not a rotating team.
The Cannabis Accounting Academy
I founded the Academy, a training platform for accountants and bookkeepers who serve licensed cannabis operators. Enrollment is open.
Start with a 20 minute call.
No pitch. We look at where your books are, and I tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit.