Business Partner Case Study: Ceterus

Ceterus is a cloud-based accounting company based in Charleston, SC. They take care of the bookkeeping for small businesses and franchises, allowing their clients to focus on what they care about most in their business.
“I knew there were plenty of tools out there to help entrepreneurs do their books. But tools don’t solve a problem, they only help solve a problem. I wanted to solve the problem of bookkeeping for small business entrepreneurs. Not only that, I wanted to take it completely off their plates, and deliver it to them on time and in a way that would empower them to run their business better. I wanted to provide a solution to their problem – not just another tool.”
– Levi Morehouse, Founder & CEO of Ceterus
Ceterus became a Praxis business partner in January 2016 when they brought on their first Participant, Mitchell Earl, when they had roughly 30 employees. 
During his apprenticeship, Mitchell filled a variety of vital roles. He worked directly with the CEO on the company’s marketing strategy, helped bring in new customers through his sales efforts, and got exposed to the accounting and operation teams. 
Following his apprenticeship, Mitchell continues to grow with the company and is now their Chief of Staff. He owns a broad range of activities and deliverables, and works directly with the CEO to help Ceterus execute effectively.
Later in 2016, they hired Austin Zitting in Sales Operations. He was on-boarded and managed by his fellow Praxian, Mitchell. Austin is the front of the sales funnel and consistently stays several thousand leads ahead of the sales team. Austin has always been good with computers, so he is also the official IT technician of the company.
“Ceterus is on the forefront of cloud-based bookkeeping, and I love that I’m a part of something that genuinely makes small-business owner’s lives easier.
Ceterus has an incredibly laid-back work environment and absolute freedom when it comes to your work schedule. They leave it up to you whether or not you even want to work from the office, but if you do, they’ve got ping-pong and two kegs on-site. They don’t have set work hours, you’re just given an objective to meet, and it’s your call how many hours per week you want to put towards meeting that objective.
Since starting here, I’ve become proficient in Salesforce which they’re paying for me to become Administrator Certified in. I’ve also been working closely with Pardot and Outreach, which are both instrumental in our Sales and Marketing operations.”
– Austin Zitting, Praxis Participant
Leisa Miller was placed at Ceterus in January of 2017 when they wanted to focus more on building out their marketing team. She was hired for content marketing, but she does just about everything marketing related.
“I officially do content marketing at Ceterus, but in reality I do whatever needs to be done. I create a lot of rackcards, landing pages, and email templates, and also largely manage Pardot (our marketing automation software). We spend a lot of time at events and conferences trying to get new clients. So I lend a lot of support to help us rock these too.
Think of the most stereotypical Bay startup you can. I feel like Ceterus is pretty similar. The office is rife with ping pong showdowns and nerf gun wars. We work really hard and move really fast, but also have a good amount of fun.
I’m learning what works, what doesn’t, and how a business is run. Also “don’t take things personally” and “get back on the horse” are lessons that are reinforced regularly.”
– Leisa Miller, Praxis Participant
Now, Ceterus is pushing 80 employees. Their growth over the last year has been fast and steady, and they don’t plan to stop any time soon.