The Challenge

Tintas Kolimar is a paint manufacturer with a solid market presence and loyal customers. The company had built a real business with real products and real sales. But behind the scenes, the financial picture was murky.

Data lived in spreadsheets. Lots of them. Some numbers didn't match. The cost structure was unclear—nobody could say with certainty which products were actually profitable. The company had debt, but the terms were scattered across different banks and agreements. Cash flow was a guessing game.

"We had information everywhere," one team member reflected. "But we didn't have clarity. We couldn't see the real picture of what was happening financially."

The core problem wasn't sales or operations. It was visibility. Without a clear view of costs, margins, and cash flow, the leadership team couldn't make confident decisions about pricing, spending, or growth. They were flying blind.

Debt was piling up. Fixed costs were high. The company needed to understand where money was going and why. More importantly, they needed a system that would let them act on that understanding.

The Solution

Tintas Kolimar made a deliberate choice: bring in external expertise to build a financial foundation that would last. They partnered with Berry Consultoria to redesign how the company managed money.

The work started with the basics. Berry helped the team build a proper chart of accounts. They created a standardized DRE (income statement) that showed exactly where money came from and where it went. They separated fixed costs from variable costs—a simple distinction that made a huge difference in understanding true margins.

"The structure was there," explained a key stakeholder. "But it wasn't connected. We needed everything to flow together—the DRE, the cash flow, the balance sheet. All in one place."

Berry built an integrated dashboard. Real data. Real-time updates. The team could now see contribution margin, EBITDA, and cash position at a glance. They could run scenarios. They could ask "what if" questions and get answers.

But tools alone don't transform a company. People do. Berry worked closely with Alessandra, the finance lead, to build internal capability. The goal was clear: make the team independent. Train them. Give them the systems and the confidence to manage the numbers themselves.

"Alessandra picked it up fast," one colleague noted. "She understood what we were trying to do. The whole team got it."

The company also tackled debt head-on. Berry helped negotiate with banks. The result: one major debt obligation was cut in half. Payments that had been 52,000 reais dropped to 26,000. That freed up cash every single month.

In parallel, the company made tough operational decisions. Some positions were eliminated. Costs were cut. But the cuts were strategic, not desperate. The financial clarity made it possible to cut smart.

The Transformation

The numbers tell part of the story. Monthly fixed costs dropped by 30,000 reais. Debt payments were cut by 50% on one major obligation. EBITDA in March came in 34,000 reais higher than planned. Contribution margin stabilized around 30%.

But the real transformation was deeper.

For the first time, Tintas Kolimar had a financial system that worked. The DRE was clean. The cash flow was predictable. The balance sheet made sense. When the leadership team sat down to make a decision, they had real data in front of them.

Pricing became strategic instead of reactive. The team could see which products were actually profitable. They could negotiate with customers from a position of strength. They could say yes to good deals and no to bad ones.

Cash flow planning shifted from hope to science. The company knew when money was coming in and when it needed to go out. They could plan for growth instead of just surviving month to month.

The team's confidence grew. Alessandra and her colleagues weren't just entering numbers anymore. They were reading financial statements. They were asking good questions. They were part of the strategy.

"Now we can see what's really happening," a team member said. "We know where we stand. We know what we need to do next."

The partnership with Berry didn't end with implementation. The consulting cadence shifted to monthly check-ins. The focus moved from building systems to using them. The company was ready to own its own financial future.

Looking ahead, Tintas Kolimar has a clear vision. The financial foundation is solid. The next phase is growth. With clean data and disciplined planning, the company can invest with confidence. They can expand into new markets. They can build on what they've learned.

The paint business is competitive. Margins matter. Execution matters. But so does knowing your numbers. Tintas Kolimar now has all three. The transformation from financial chaos to data-driven clarity has set the stage for the next chapter of growth.