Ag Strategy is a Kansas-based agricultural consulting and retail firm that partners with growers across the state on agronomy, chemical and fertilizer sourcing, seed sales, and precision ag services. With a lean team of two full-time and two part-time employees, the company manages the distribution of a wide product set across a statewide customer base.
Challenge: Running a statewide ag business with high transaction volume and no margin visibility
AgStrategy’s growth came from something simple: farmers trusted them. As their reputation spread, the business expanded from agronomy consulting into chemical, fertilizer, and seed sales, adding new financial complexity. Managing that complexity fell largely to Nick Bledsoe. As co-owner, Nick handles the agronomy and customer-facing side of the business across Kansas. He manages 30 to 40 accounts, fitting invoicing, reconciliation, and bookkeeping between farm visits, at the shop, and at home after hours. The volume added up fast with multiple accounts, frequent transactions, and no dedicated finance support to absorb it.
The previous invoicing platform he’d been using covered some finance basics, but it never fit the business. “It felt like it was meant for e-commerce, or someone who might have a small shop,” Nick says. “It definitely wasn’t geared toward what we do specifically.”
“We went from not knowing our margins to having everything I need to send a lender or supplier in minutes, and the business has grown with it.”
Reporting was unreliable, showing negative inventory and distorted cash flow. Without proper inventory tracking, Nick maintained a separate Excel sheet, adding another manual step to his already stretched operation. He knew his bank balance and what he owed, but margins, inventory value, and the overall financial position were impossible to see clearly, let alone share confidently with suppliers and lenders.
With multiple accounts each generating dozens of transactions per year, ACH fees were quietly eroding the margins on every sale. “Their ACH costs a lot more money, and I didn’t want to pay those high fees,” he explains. And when something went wrong, support was slow and impersonal. “I’m stretched so thin because I cover a huge territory. When I want help, I want it right now,” he says.
Then Nick discovered Ambrook. The ag-focused positioning drew his attention: a platform built for his industry was more likely to understand the realities his business faced every day. When Ambrook offered a free trial month, he took the opportunity to evaluate it on his own terms. Within the first week, he printed an Ambrook invoice next to his old one and asked his wife which one looked more professional. She picked Ambrook without hesitation. So did he.
“I knew how much money we had in the bank, and I knew how much money I owed, but what my margin was on stuff, I had no idea.”
Solution: An easy-to-use financial management platform that moves at the pace of the business
Ambrook operated like a partner from day one. Nick immediately knew that Ambrook understood his business, took his specific needs seriously, and made it clear that help would be available when he needed it.
When he raised two specific needs—secondary line-item descriptions and aggregated customer billing statements—his customer rep took them straight to the engineering team. For Nick, it was an early signal that Ambrook was actively listening and willing to build with him.
Books that run on-the-go
Now Nick runs Ag Strategy’s financial operations from one platform. From invoicing and bill pay to inventory, reconciliation, and reporting, all live in one place that’s accessible from his phone, wherever the day takes him.
His daily financial rhythm fits around his schedule. “Last night, I put an invoice into my phone while I was cooking dinner,” he says. “I downloaded the bill of lading, texted it to my business partner, who printed it out, and had everything loaded up, ready for a next-day delivery.”
Bank sync and AI categorization handle recurring items automatically, so much of the work is already done before he starts. Switching to Ambrook also reduced ACH fees: Nick now pays just a third of what he used to, improving the margin on every transaction.
Nick replaced the separate inventory management spreadsheet, too. Now, inventory quantities flow directly from bills and update automatically as products move. His sales team enters customer orders in the platform, while role-based permissions keep sensitive account and pricing data visible only to Nick.
Reporting that holds up with lenders
Before Ambrook, Nick’s view of the business stopped at the bank balance and what he owed. Now he has a live P&L, a current balance sheet, and cash flow clarity available on demand.
That clarity shows up when it counts. When Nick’s banker stopped by the shop and asked for current AR and inventory reports, Nick sent both that night. “It was super easy just to download, send, and then get a text: ‘Okay, we’ll triple your credit line.’”
“Ambrook enables me to pull up the analytics tab on my phone and turn it to my business partner right there, year to date, month to date. He can see the growth in an instant.”
As Ag Strategy grew toward $5 million in annual revenue, Nick upgraded to Ambrook’s Full Service plan, adding dedicated support to keep up with the growing complexity. “We go through transactions, reconciliation, and make sure everything looks right,” Nick says.
Between calls, the turnaround is fast. “As long as it’s before dinner time for us in Kansas, I get a response within a day.” It’s the kind of ongoing support that lets Nick stay focused on growing the business rather than second-guessing the books.
“We’re not just trying to capture a little market share on the side. We’re building a retail business, and Ambrook helped us prove that to our suppliers and our banker.”
Results: 67% lower transaction costs and the visibility to keep growing
Ag Strategy has sustained 5x year-over-year growth for three consecutive years since adopting Ambrook. Today, Nick has full visibility into margins, inventory levels, and cash flow, and can share his true numbers with his lenders confidently.
5x year-over-year growth for three years
67% reduction in ACH transaction fees
3x credit line increase approved overnight
As Ag Strategy grows, so does the team running it. Nick’s next step is to transition day-to-day bookkeeping to his wife, confident that Ambrook’s ease of use and support structure will make the handoff straightforward. For a business to sustain that pace of growth without slowing down, having tools and support that keep pace with whatever comes next is exactly the point.