Industry trends 7/24/2026 Organization: The Clouse family, owner of over 20 Ace Hardware locations. Need: Consolidated financials to meet company requirements for further growth. Outcome: The family is set up for additional business expansion and succession planning. Understanding the situation For many family-owned retailers, growth happens one location at a time. This kind of expansion can create complexity, especially when each store is structured as a separate legal entity. This was the situation facing the Clouse family, owners of Clouse Ace Hardware in northern Michigan. With roots dating back to 1914, the family had grown its operations to include more than 20 Ace Hardware locations. As the business transitioned to the next generation, growth accelerated, and the organization evolved into a multi-entity structure spanning numerous companies and business systems. While individual locations operated effectively, financial reporting across the organization became fragmented. As lending needs grew more complex, assembling a clear, timely, and consistent view of overall performance became increasingly difficult. Lenders needed consolidated financial information reflecting the full ownership group — not just individual stores — along with clear visibility into obligations and covenant considerations. Help set your company up financially for growth, succession. Exploring the challenge The family’s lender recommended CLA for its deep experience with cooperatives and multi-entity retail businesses. Early working sessions established a consistent reporting cadence and aligned stakeholders around what “lender ready” financials should include. CLA designed a consolidated reporting structure, including connecting reporting, documentation, and financing requirements across entities. In multi-entity retail organizations, lenders evaluate performance and risk at the ownership group level. CLA updated disclosures to reflect obligations across related companies and demonstrated consistent covenant awareness. CLA streamlined our financial reporting and made it consistent across the organization. Having accurate, lender‑ready information has positioned us to pursue additional growth and start planning thoughtfully for business transition. Byron Clouse, Clouse Ace Hardware Achieving results Reporting became more repeatable and less dependent on manual, ad hoc processes. The Clouse family used to manually update its debt schedule — which encompasses 80 loans. CLA created a formula that manually updates each loan status with a click of a button. With clearer, consolidated financials in place, the Clouse family’s opportunities for continued business growth have expanded. National companies like Ace Hardware generally require financial reviews from well-regarded banks and CPAs. Next on the family’s business strategy agenda is succession planning. Business transition planning works well when it’s a multi-step, multi-year process, including entity structuring, tax planning, gifting strategies, and wealth management. The Clouse family and CLA are discussing plans to restructure the family’s 50 business entities into a few holding companies for tax strategy purposes. CLA’s owner legacy services team offers a full complement of business transition services, which CLA will help the Clouse family explore. Contact us Help set your company up financially for growth and succession. Complete the form below to connect with CLA. MORE FROM THE CLA FAMILY © 2026 CliftonLarsonAllen. All rights reserved. "CliftonLarsonAllen" and "CLA" refer to CliftonLarsonAllen LLP. Securities and investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC. CliftonLarsonAllen is a Minnesota LLP, with more than 120 locations across the United States. The Minnesota certificate number is 00963. The California license number is 7083. The Maryland permit number is 39235. The New York permit number is 64508. The North Carolina certificate number is 26858. If you have questions regarding individual license information, please contact Elizabeth Spencer . CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), an independent legal entity, is a network member of CLA Global , an international organization of independent accounting and advisory firms. Each CLA Global network firm is a member of CLA Global Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee. CLA Global Limited does not practice accountancy or provide any services to clients. CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) is not an agent of any other member of CLA Global Limited, cannot obligate any other member firm, and is liable only for its own acts or omissions and not those of any other member firm. Similarly, CLA Global Limited cannot act as an agent of any member firm and cannot obligate any member firm. The names “CLA Global” and/or “CliftonLarsonAllen,” and the associated logo, are used under license.