Accounting at Columbia

Accountants can be an overlooked but essential asset to any business, and Columbia Forest Products is no exception. Let’s take a look at how our accounting team works in parallel with the folks involved in sourcing, manufacturing, sales and logistics to keep the operation humming.

Columbia has accounting teams at each mill, processing receivables, payables and reporting, and a corporate team dedicated to the overall efficiency and analysis of the business. 

Our teams work in tandem across these locations, exchanging reports and communications to ensure that payments move smoothly and analyses are accurate. Having teams at each location also ensures a connection to the community and personal relationships between Columbia and its supply base.

Columbia’s accountants realize the importance of relationship management with customers and vendors. “We have to make sure our reputation for paying and getting paid is solid on both sides to run our business,” says Sandy Cobb, Senior Accountant. 

“‘Absolute Integrity’ is a core value Columbia takes seriously, and it certainly has a place when it comes to staying current with the people we rely on to keep incoming supplies and materials flowing,” she added. 

Much like the connection between Columbia’s mills, there is a connection between accounting and all the other teams. 

“Every team at Columbia has a financial impact, so accounting is interested in every area,” Stacy Morris, Director of Finance, said. “Everything that reaches accountants’ desks gets there because of other business operations. This means accounting acts as a partner to those other teams, overseeing and acting as a final check to everything.”

This can be difficult in many businesses, but since Columbia is an employee-owned, family-focused company, it’s not. “There are open lines of communication here…everyone knows you want what’s best for the business, whether you’re ‘corporate’ or from another mill,” Morris said. 

It also helps that most accountants have been at Columbia for a long time and have grown to know the production process. This is just another way accounting operates as a partner, internally as well as externally.

Columbia wants to thank everyone on the accounting team for their dedication and contribution. 

We also want to thank our customers. As Morris says, “We feel we’ve got the best customers in the market in so many ways, including their discipline in keeping up their end of the bargain. We very much appreciate it!”