Old Grand Farm (OGF) Construction is a family-owned company based near Kansas City, Missouri, specializing in custom log cabins, premium roofing, traditional barns, barndominiums, shops, garages, and post-frame buildings.
Founded in 1991 by Greg and Beth Mullet, the business has grown from its roots in agricultural fence building into a full-service contracting business serving residential and commercial clients.
In the last five years, OGF grew from about $350,000 in annual income to more than $1 million, with an average of about 10 employees annually. That growth made stronger financial systems harder to put off. After learning about the Profit First methodology, Ben Mullet, who now runs the business his parents started, turned to Relay to make cash flow easier to organize, simplify team spending, and give their accountant cleaner expense details.
With Relay, OGF set up multiple accounts, debit cards3, expense management, Bill Pay, receipt capture, and QuickBooks integration to keep money, spending, and job details moving through one system.
Company Outcomes
10 hours to 3 hours a week managing spending
Receipts captured directly from the field
More accurate job costing with real-time expense details
3The Relay Visa® Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
Before Relay: manual allocations, card handoffs, and receipt files
At first, OGF was using a local bank while building Profit First around the business. Profit First gave Ben and OGF office manager Melanie Hartenbower the cash flow structure they wanted, but the day-to-day work still sat with them: checks came in, percentages had to be calculated, and money had to be moved into the right accounts manually.
That work did not stop once money left the business. If someone on a crew needed to pick up materials, the request often had to run back through the office first. OGF had to figure out who had a debit card, who was closest to the job, and how to get the card back after the purchase. That could pull Hartenbower away from the work she needed to be doing.
“I was sometimes having to run to grab supplies,” she says.
Cash helped crews move quickly, but it gave the office less to work from afterward. Cards created a transaction record, but the details still had to be pieced together later: who used the card, where the receipt went, and which job the charge belonged to.
Receipts added another layer of follow-up. With the old banking setup, Hartenbower had files of paper receipts, while the accountant still needed to know what each charge was for, who made it, and where it belonged.
Depending on the week, managing that process could take about 10 hours. OGF needed a cleaner way to separate money, give the right people spending access, and keep purchase details connected from the moment money moved.
The solution: putting Profit First into motion with Relay
OGF’s first steps in Relay were practical: move the accounts over, set up Relay cards, and start using expense management. The company’s former general manager helped lead the transition, then Relay support “made the process seamless,” says Ben.
For cash flow, Relay gave OGF a way to put Profit First into motion without carrying the allocation math by hand. The team could organize money across multiple accounts, move funds between them, and use each account like a clear bucket for a specific purpose. Hartenbower describes the setup as “an envelope system, but for bank accounts.”
That structure changed field spending, too. OGF set up Relay cards for its admin team and one crew member, giving the people closest to the work a way to make purchases without passing one card around. Hartenbower can see card activity as it happens, and most of the time, team members give her a heads-up before they spend.
Expense management and receipt capture keep the details attached to the transaction. When someone buys materials, they can upload the receipt from their phone. Hartenbower can add notes, assign payments to jobs, and give the accountant the context behind each charge before it turns into a question.
Bill Pay brought subcontractor payments into Relay as well. Instead of cutting checks when new invoices come in, OGF can pay subs directly by ACH. With QuickBooks integration and accountant access, the same details can move from the field to the books with less back-and-forth.
The impact: fewer handoffs, cleaner records
Less time spent managing purchases
Before Relay, managing team spending could take 10 hours a week. Now, the hands-on work takes three. The difference comes from removing the small steps that used to pile up: finding the right card, getting it to the right person, collecting the receipt, and matching the purchase to the right job.
Materials picked up closer to the work
Relay cards have changed how OGF handles material runs. Instead of routing purchases through Ben, Hartenbower, or the project manager, the team can put spending access closer to the crew. That keeps the office from becoming the middle step every time someone needs supplies.
Expense details without the paper trail
Receipt capture has also cut down on paper. When someone buys materials, they can take a photo and upload the receipt from their phone. That gives OGF and its accountant a cleaner record of what was bought, who bought it, and where it belongs.
Relay: less to double-check
Ultimately, Relay has taken much of the follow-up off OGF’s plate.
As Hartenbower puts it, “It takes a little bit off my brain to be able to focus on other things, knowing I’m not going to have to go back and double check something went through or that I notated a receipt, because it’ll already be uploaded.”
