Parr & Ibarra - Case Study
CPA With PBS Systems Experience for Automotive Dealerships
How Parr & Ibarra CPA Helped a DFW Automotive Dealership Build a Reliable Accounting Process Inside PBS Systems
- Dealership Accounting & Bookkeeping
- PBS Systems Accounting Support
- Parts Tracking & Job Costing
- Month-End Close & Financial Reporting
Hurst, TX CPA Firm Serving DFW
Automotive Dealership Accounting
PBS Systems Experience
Phased Accounting Approach
Overview
Parr & Ibarra CPA is a Hurst, Texas CPA firm serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with additional offices in Grapevine, Keller, and Addison.
The firm provides accounting, bookkeeping, outsourced CFO, audit, and tax services for businesses across a wide range of industries. This case study highlights the firm’s ability to support automotive dealerships with complex dealer management systems and multi-department accounting needs.
A DFW-based automotive dealership with approximately $11 million in annual sales needed accounting support from a CPA firm that understood dealership operations and was willing to work inside PBS Systems, the dealership’s existing dealer management platform. Due to confidentiality requirements, the client remains anonymous.
Engagement Snapshot
Industry
Automotive Dealership
Annual Sales
Approximately $11 Million
Location
Dallas-Fort Worth Area
DMS Platform
PBS Systems
Operating Departments
New Vehicle Sales, Used Car Sales, Service Department
Services Delivered
Accounts Payable, Reconciliations, Bill Payment, Parts Tracking, Job Costing, Month-End Close
Approach
Phased accounting buildout inside existing PBS Systems environment
The Challenge: Dealership Accounting Has to Work Inside the Business
Automotive dealership accounting is different from general business bookkeeping. Dealerships operate across multiple departments, process high transaction volumes, manage vehicle inventory, track parts activity, handle service tickets, receive customer deposits, manage financing activity, and pay a large number of vendors.
For dealerships using PBS Systems, the accounting process has to be built around the way the software and the dealership actually work together. Sales, service, parts, used car activity, customer billing, and accounts payable all connect to the financial records inside PBS. A CPA firm that does not understand those connections cannot support the accounting effectively.
The client needed a firm willing to learn PBS Systems, adapt to the dealership’s existing workflows, and build a phased process that strengthened accounting without disrupting operations.
A Phased Accounting Process Built Around PBS Systems
Rather than taking over the entire accounting function at once, Parr & Ibarra CPA built a phased process that started with the most pressing need and expanded as each foundation was established.
Phase 1: Accounts Payable Entry
We started with accounts payable entry inside PBS Systems.
This gave our team the opportunity to learn the dealership's vendor list, expense categories, parts purchases, approval process, and how PBS connected accounting to dealership operations. For a service department, parts purchases need to be entered carefully: parts may relate to inventory, repair orders, customer billings, warranty work, internal jobs, or service department costs. If those costs are not entered correctly at the start, profitability becomes harder to measure later.
Clean accounts payable entry is the foundation of dealership accounting. It affects cash planning, vendor management, expense tracking, inventory activity, and the accuracy of costs flowing through the system.
Phase 2: Bank and Account Reconciliations
With accounts payable established, we expanded into bank and account reconciliations.
Reconciliations are critical for dealerships because of the volume and timing of transactions. Sales deposits, service receipts, vendor payments, financing activity, parts transfers, and operating account movement can all create timing differences. Regular reconciliations help management trust the numbers and understand cash flow clearly.
Phase 3: Bill Payment Support
Once accounts payable and reconciliations were running, we added bill payment support.
For a dealership generating approximately $11 million in annual sales, bill payment is a cash management function. Our role was to help organize the payment process so bills could be reviewed, prioritized, and paid in a controlled manner, giving management a clear picture of what was owed, what had been paid, and how vendor obligations affected cash flow.
Phase 4: Parts Tracking, Job Costing, and Customer Billing
A significant part of dealership accounting is making sure parts are tracked correctly for job costing and customer billing. In a service department, parts and labor need to be connected to the correct job, repair order, or customer invoice. If parts are missed, coded incorrectly, or not billed properly, the dealership can lose profit without realizing it.
Our accounting support improved visibility into key questions:
- Are parts being assigned to the correct jobs and repair orders?
- Are customer invoices capturing the correct parts and costs?
- Are service jobs profitable after parts and labor are considered?
- Are internal jobs, warranty work, and customer-paid work being tracked properly?
- Are parts purchases and parts usage flowing correctly through PBS Systems?
This is where dealership accounting becomes more than bookkeeping. Proper parts tracking and job costing help management understand profitability at the job level, not just the company level.
Phase 5: Month-End Close
The final phase was building a structured month-end close process.
A consistent month-end close gives dealership management better financial information every month rather than waiting until year-end or tax season. For this dealership, the month-end close was designed to provide clearer visibility into:
- Sales department performance
- Used car activity and margins
- Service department profitability
- Parts usage and margins
- Cash flow and vendor obligations
- Overall dealership financial performance
From Disconnected Accounting to a Phased, Reliable Process
The phased approach allowed Parr & Ibarra CPA to build the dealership’s accounting foundation step by step, creating a stronger process with each phase without overwhelming the dealership’s management team or disrupting existing operations.
Accounts Payable
Vendor list, expense categories, and parts purchase entry established inside PBS Systems.
Reconciliations
Bank and account reconciliations providing management with accurate, trustworthy numbers.
Bill Payment
Organized, controlled payment process giving ownership visibility into cash obligations.
Parts Tracking and Job Costing
Improved parts assignment, customer billing accuracy, and service profitability visibility.
Month-End Close
Structured monthly close providing consistent, reliable financial reporting across all departments.
Why This Matters for Automotive Dealerships
Dealerships searching for a CPA with PBS Systems experience are usually looking for more than tax preparation. They need a firm that understands dealership accounting, service department workflow, parts tracking, job costing, customer billing, reconciliations, and month-end close — and is willing to do the work inside the systems the dealership already uses.
Requiring a dealership to change its dealer management system in order to work with a CPA firm is not a realistic solution. Parr & Ibarra CPA was willing to learn PBS Systems, adapt to the client’s existing environment, and build a process that fit the way the dealership actually operated.
Parr & Ibarra CPA: A Hurst-Based CPA Firm Serving DFW & Beyond
For DFW automotive dealerships looking for a CPA firm with dealership accounting experience, Parr & Ibarra CPA provides:
- Accounts payable entry and vendor management inside PBS Systems
- Bank and account reconciliations
- Bill payment support and cash flow visibility
- Parts tracking, job costing, and customer billing support
- Service department accounting
- Used car sales accounting
- Month-end close and financial reporting
- Dealership advisory and financial planning support
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you work with dealerships that use PBS Systems?
Yes. Parr & Ibarra CPA supports automotive dealerships that use PBS Systems and need help with accounting, bookkeeping, reconciliations, parts tracking, job costing, bill payment, and month-end close. We are willing to learn and work inside dealer management systems rather than requiring clients to change platforms.
Why is parts tracking important in dealership accounting?
Parts tracking affects job costing, customer billing, inventory, and service department profitability. If parts are not assigned to the correct job or repair order, the dealership loses visibility into true profitability at the service job level, which can mask losses that are otherwise hard to identify.
What accounting services do automotive dealerships typically need?
Dealerships commonly need help with accounts payable, reconciliations, bill payments, vehicle inventory accounting, parts tracking, job costing, customer billing, service department accounting, cash flow reporting, and month-end close. The specific needs depend on the dealership’s size, departments, and dealer management system.
Do you only work with dealerships in the DFW area?
Parr & Ibarra CPA is headquartered in Hurst and serves businesses throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area from offices in Hurst, Keller, Grapevine, and Addison. Depending on the client’s needs and software access, accounting support may also be provided remotely to dealerships outside the immediate DFW area.
How does a phased accounting approach work?
A phased approach starts with the most urgent accounting need, builds a reliable process, and expands from there. For this dealership, we began with accounts payable entry, then added reconciliations, bill payment, parts tracking, and month-end close over time. Each phase creates a stronger foundation for the next, and the dealership’s operations are not disrupted by taking on too much change at once.
Looking for a CPA Firm That Works With Automotive Dealerships?
If your dealership uses PBS Systems and needs accounting support, contact Parr & Ibarra CPA to discuss how a phased accounting process can help you build cleaner, more reliable financial reporting.
